The current gate closure time is 7 p.m. After that time, a code is needed for park entry (& access to the astronomy field).



2010 Chapter Outreach Events

  • 2010-11-12 Winnona Park Elementary School’s “Night under the Stars”
    We reached out to the Winnona Park Elementary School in Decatur. We did show the students how telescopes work and we let them build one! We also gave them a feel of how tiny earth is in our solar system. Very clever students with great questions!! After the presentations the students took a look at the Moon and Jupiter with 4 of its moons. Thanks to all the students and to Mrs. Hamby and Ms. Horne for inviting us, and the great parents for participating Click here for some pictures
  • 2010-11-09 Harbour Oaks Montessori (Middle Grades) while at Charlie Elliott
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers did a Solar and dark sky observing event for the students while at CE. At noon, about 15 students, staff and teachers observed Sunspot 1121 and some nice flares on the sun, and learned about the relative distances in the Solar system. At night they saw our moon, Jupiter with four moons, globular and open clusters, planetary nebulas and more. Click here for some pictures
  • 2010-11-04 Memorial Middle School – Conyers, NASA Space Night
    About 200 students and family members attended Memorial Middle “Space Night” and we thank Mrs. Peters for letting us participate. The cloud forecast at 4:00 P.M. was bad, so we did not take any scopes to the event, but we let the students build a telescope on a table. Everyone could look throught he scope they build by looking at the articficial moon and a star (Large Flashlight). We also showed them what goes on in NASA’s control rooms when important milestones are reached in missions. We showed them our short movie “The Phoenix has landed” Since many students registered with NASA to have their name taken to Mars by the “Mars space Laboratory”, we also showed them a short movie about this new Mars Rover. Thanks to Frank and Theo to offer their time for this event. Click here for some pictures of the presentations
  • 2010-11-03 Hopewell Middle School – Alpharetta
    Hopewell Middle School was the lucky receipient of some 8″ Newtonian Scopes donated by Andy Lunt from Lunt Solar Scopes. Stephen Ramsden’s Charlie Bates Solar Astronomy Project did the assignemnt for Lunt and Stephen called on the Charlie Elliott Chapter of the Atlanta Astronomy Club for help in giving the students guidance in putting the scopes together. Before Frank and Theo started the assembly in each of the three classes, we demonstrated the components of telescopes and how they work, using the tools provided by the Night Sky Network. Than the groups of students were assigned tasks and put the scopes together themselves. They did a great job and need to be congratulated on a job well done!! Click here for some pictures of the workshop
  • 2010-10-27 “Introduction to Space” Memorial Middle School – Conyers
    About 900 students and faculty attended an introductory program to Space. October is the school’s “Space Month” and we expanded the view of “weather” as we experience it on earth with an introduction to “Space Weather”. In addition to clips of solar flares, CMEs, a flight from the White House to the sun, etc. the presentation explained the effect the activity on the sun has on our lives on earth. An interactive demonstration of the relative sizes of the sun and planets and and distances in the solar system rounded off the presentation. Next week we will be back to participate in the school’s “Space Night” with hands on projects and observing of the night sky through our scopes. Thanks to Mrs. Peters and Mrs. Schrader for contacting us and asking us to participate. Thanks to Frank and Theo to offer their time. Click here for some pictures of the presentations
  • 2010-10-20 The Children’s School from Atlanta (Group 2) while at TODS at Charlie Elliott
    Frank Garner, Stephen Ramsden and Theo Ramakers did another Solar and dark sky observing event for the second group of this school. At noon, about 25 students, teachers observed the sun, and learned about the relative distances in the Solar system. In the evening the students learned more about the constellations, the solar system and on the observing field they saw the craters of our Moon, and Jupiter with its moons and dark belt. Click here for some pictures of the events
  • 2010-10-16 Georgia Perimeter College at CE
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers did Night Sky observing event for a group of 10 Georgia Perimeter College students and their teacher Sarah Flynn at Charlie Elliott. This was a great group of Astronomy students and so were their questions. I believe they liked what they saw and heard and I believe they will be back when we have some real dark skies Click here for some pictures
  • 2010-10-15 Georgia Cyber Academy at Fayetteville Library
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers did a Solar observing event and inside presentations for a group of 15 Academy students, their parents and their teacher Mts. Duncan in the Fayetteville Library. Everyone was able to see two sunspots and some flares and/or filaments on the sun. Inside they learned about the relative sizes of the planets and Sun and the distance of their orbits around the Sun. They helped Frank build a telescope and learned about optics and the laws of light. We ended the program in flying through the solar system and visiting several planets and some of their moons. Special thanks to our member Debbie Tisdale for arranging this and her son Chris for helping Frank and me. Click here for some pictures
  • 2010-10-13 The Children’s School from Atlanta while at TODS at Charlie Elliott
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers did another Solar and dark sky observing event for these students. At noon, about 25 students, teachers observed the sun, and learned about the relative distances in the Solar system. At night Ken and Dee also joined and the students learned more about the solar system and on the observing field they saw the craters of our Moon, Jupiter with its moons, the Andromeda galaxy and even the Ring nebula M57 in Lyra. Click here for some pictures
  • 2010-10-05 Our Lady of the Assumption Catholic School while at TODS at Charlie Elliott
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers did a Solar and dark sky observing event for the students at this event. At noon, about 35 students, teachers observed the sun, and learned about the relative distances in the Solar system. At night Steve Bieger also joined and the students learned more about the solar system and on the observing field they saw Jupiter with its moons, globular and open clusters and a Red Giant star and even the Ring nebula in Lyra. Click here for some pictures
  • 2010-09-28 Harbour Oaks Montessori while at TODS at Charlie Elliott
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers did a Solar and dark sky observing event for the students at this event. At noon, about 26 students, parents and teachers observed Sunspot 1109 and some large flares on the sun, and learned about the relative distances in the Solar system. At night they saw Jupiter, globular and open clusters and a Red Giant star. Because clouds moved in we were not able to show them faint objects such as nebulas etc. Click here for some pictures
  • 2010-09-24 Morgan County Middle School
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers went to Morgan County Middle School in Madison for a presentation and Solar Observing. About 30 students observed Sunspot 1108 and some flares on the sun, and learned about the relative distances in the Solar system, why sometimes we see the rings of Saturn and sometimes we don’t, and how telescopes work. Thanks to Mrs. Elo for inviting us again to her Astronomy club. Click here for pictures
  • 2010-09-24 Stone Mountain Middle School
    Steve Bieger did his Galileo presentation again for some 70 students from Stone Mountain Middle School. the students had some real good questions and all like the presentation and learned how hard things are when you are under house arrest. Thanks to Mrs. Hill for asking about a repeat of this presentation. Click here for pictures
  • 2010-09-21 Stone Mountain Middle School
    Frank Garner, Phil Sacco, and Theo Ramakers went to Stone Mountain Middle School for all day presentations and Solar Observing. About 350 students observed Sunspot 1108 and some flares on the sun, and learned about the relative distances in the Solar system, how our planets and some of their moons look like, and how telescopes work. Thanks to Mrs Hill for inviting us again. Click here for pictures
  • 2010-09-18 International Observe the Moon Night
    Participating in the InOMN, five chapter members brought out their telescopes to Hibbett Sporting Goods next to Kroger in Covington and let the public observe the moon. In addition, they were able to take a peek at Venus and later at Jupiter and four of its moons. About 120 adults and children took advantage of this!!! Thanks to Frank Garner, Dan Schmitt,Steve Bieger, Alan Bolton and Theo Ramakers for volunteering their time for this successfull event! Click here for pictures
  • 2010-07-11 Garden Club of Georgia Star Party
    Three chapter members came out to Charlie Elliott to show the campers of the Garden Clun of Georgia a nice view of the night sky and teach them a little about astronomy. Thanks to Frank Garner, Dan Schmitt and Phil Sacco for volunteering their time!
  • 2010-07-01 Charlie Elliott’s Summer Camp Night Sky Observing
    Theo Ramakers gave the kids of CE’s Summer Camp a view of the night sky. During the session the kids continued to learn about our solar system and each kid had a chance to see the “Half Venus”, Mars and Saturn with its rings. Because the group had to leave before it really got dark, we were unable to show them some nebulas and clusters. Click here for some of the pictures.(click the thumbnail for the full sized picture). But the kids loved what they saw.
  • 2010-06-29 Charlie Elliott’s Summer Camp
    Marie Lott, Stephen Ramsden, Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers particiapted in this event. The Solar event was scheduled for 10:00 A.M but the temperature was already 96 degrees. However the kids saw a nice sunspot and three very nice prominences. During the evening indoor session the kids learned about our solar system and each made a model of the relative distance each planet orbits around the sun. Because of the stormy weather, the observing was rescheduled. Click here for some of the pictures.(click the thumbnail for the full sized picture).
  • 2010-06-19 Astronomy Event at Bert Adams Scout Reservation
    Frank Garner, Alan and Sally Bolton, Milena and Jimmy Choy and Theo Ramakers particiapted in this event for the Scouts. The first scouts arriving after the camp fire saw Venus, Saturn, Mars, and the Moon, The rest had to be satisfied looking at the clouds. However we did talk much about our solar System, the Milky Way and the Universe!! Click here for some of the pictures.(click the thumbnail for the full sized picture).
  • 2010-05-15 JAKES Day at Charlie Elliott
    Marie Lott, Annette and Pierre Michel, Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers brought Astronomy and Solar Observing to the participants of JAKES Day. Great kids with a great number of questions!! Thanks all for showing interest! Click here for some of the pictures.(click the thumbnail for the full sized picture).
  • 2010-04-28 The Harbour Oaks Montessori at TODS week 4
    We did 2 events at the Outdoor Discovery School at Charlie Elliott for the Harbour Oaks Montessori school of Grayson, GA. The noon event was great, except that clouds kept obscuring the sky, but the students learned some about the relative sizes and distances in the Solar System. At night, each student created a mini-solar system showing the orbits of each planet. They took a trip through the solar system and did visit some planets and some of the moons. At the Field they all saw Jupiter and a few of its moons, Mars and Venus as well as some far way galaxies and the complex star Mizar. Click here for some of the pictures.(click the thumbnail for the full sized picture).
  • 2010-04-28 The Outdoor Discovery School Week 2 at Charlie Elliott
    We did 2 events at the Outdoor Discovery School at Charlie Elliott for the Fayette Montessori school of Fayetteville, GA. At noon the students had a chance to see the sun through 5 solar scopes in visble light, H-alpha filters as well as Calcium-K. They also got a feel for the distances from earth to the moon and the sun in relation to each other. The second phase in the evening took them on a ride through the solar system to vist some planets and some of their moons. At the observing field they got a chance to see the rings of Saturn and its moons Tethys and Enceladus with their own eyes as well as Venus, Mars, the Orion Nebula, some constellations and a beautiful rising full moon! Click here for some pictures. Click here for some images of the event (click the thumbnail for the full sized picture).
  • 2010-04-23 Astronomy Night, Summerour Middle School, Norcross
    Frank Garner, Annette and Pierre Michel, and Theo Ramakers did participate in Summerour’s Astronomy night. Franks showed participants how telesopes work and Theo in another classroom flew about 50 students and parents through the solar system and visited several planets and some of their moons. Outside the sky became cloudy so we only could show the moon through a layer of clouds which washed out the view and no other objects were visible. Overall a great event for the 120 that attended. thanks Marjorie Veasey for inviting us to participate. Click here for some pictures of the event
  • 2010-04-21 The Outdoor Discovery School at Charlie Elliott
    We did 2 events for the Outdoor Discovery School at Charlie Elliott, who was hosting the Garden of Discovery Montessori of Grayson, GA. At noon the kids had a chance to see the sun through 5 solar scopes in visble light and H-alpha filters. They also got a feel for the distances from earth to the moon and the sun in relation to each other. The second event was a classroom presentation by Frank and observing at Jon Wood Field, giving them an understanding of how big the solar system, the milky way and the Universe is as we know it. They were able to see Saturns rings from the side and some of Saturns moons. In addition, they saw the orion nebula and close up views of the moon. It was too bright to see some gallaxies. Click here for some images of the event (click the thumbnail for the full sized picture).
  • 2010-04-16 Hightower Trail Elementary school, Conyers GA
    This was our 6th Space Camp for the school. The forecast was clear, so we did not participate with the inside activities, but setup 4 telescopes on the playground and let the students experience the views of Saturn with its moon Dione, M42, some double stars, and the moon. We also discussed some constelations. Because the clouds kept moving in and out, only a few studens got to see the galaxy M65. But the students loved what they saw and a very rewarding evening for our participating members. Click here for some pictures of the event. HTS is teaming up with NASA for some real exciting activities. Click here for more details.
  • 2010-03-20 Anna Ruby Falls, Helen GA
    Alan Bolton was the coordinator for this great outreach Solar Event. Almost 1000 visitors were given the opportunity to see the sun with their own eyes trough our visual light, calciumK and H-alpa filtered telescopes, which included some real nice prominances and flares. Click here for some images of the event (click the thumbnail for the full sized picture).
  • 2010-02-18 Pucketts Mill elementary school, Dacula GA
    Frank Garner and Theo Ramakers responded for a Star Party at Pucketts Mill Elementary School at their Science Night. There was a tremendous turnout of students and parents, who appreciated looking at the Moon, Mars, the Orion Nebula and some other clusters. In addition, the students learned about our solar system and how small earth really is. Click here for some images of the event and click the thumbnail for the full sized picture.
  • 2010-02-16 Scout troop 211 – Covington, GA at Charlie Elliott
    Wow what an event. 6 Chapter members defied freezing temperatures to show the Universe to Scout Troop 211 from Covington. Stephen Ramsden, Steve Bieger, Frank Garner, Jim Soboleski, Steve Kennedy and Theo Ramakers showed the group the moon, the orion nebula, Mars, and some open and globular clusters. In addition, the troop learned a lot about our solar system and some of the planets and took home some photos provided by the Night Sky Network. Thanks guys for the strong support! Click here for some images of the event.
  • 2010-02-10 Ficquett Elementary School – Covington, GA Solar Event
    Frank Garner and Theo went back to the 4th grade science class of Mrs Kristen Emerson for a Solar Event where the students could observe the sun through visual light and H-alpha filters. The kids also received sunglasses so they could look at the sun without damaging their eye sight. The event ended with an invitation to all students to visit us at Charlie Elliott and a lecture on proper use of the safety in using the glasses they received. Thanks to Mrs. Emerson for letting us come and allowing the kids to see some sunspots. Click here for some pictures of the event.
  • 2010-02-01 Ficquett Elementary School – Covington, GA
    Frank Garner and Theo did an event for the 4th grade science class of Mrs Kristen Emerson. Frank presented the Solar system presentation, and explained how Telescope work using our telescope toolkit. Students who answered questions correctly received photos of different planets of the solarsystem. Finally Theo showed them some movies from the impact scar of Jupiter, Comet Holmes and the two missions of Columbus as well as some solar flares made by Frank and Theo a few weeks ago. Thanks to Mrs. Emerson for letting us come and demonstrate some of the features of our solar system. Click here for some pictures of the event.
  • 2010-01-22 Morgan County Middle School – Madison, GA
    Frank Garner and Theo did our first outreach event of the year for the Astronomy Club of the Morgan County Middle School in Madison GA. Our plan A was to let the studens see the sun in visible light and H-alpha but clouds prevented us from doing this. So Frank presented the Solar system presentation, while Theo setup the Telescope demonstration. Each of the students received photos of different planets of the solarsystem. Finally Theo took them on a flight through the solar system using Celestia and they visited Jupiter and Saturn as well as some of the stange moons that orbit them. Thanks to Mrs. Heather Elo for giving us a chance to let us show our passion for Astronomy. Click here for some images of this event.