Thursday, May 10, 2012

Final Family Night 2012

May 10th - Final Family Night

This was, sadly, our last Family Night of the school year; but we will have regular Family nights starting back up in September!

We wanted to make the last Family Night event something different and fun for the kids and their parents. So, we did some solar observing, something most kids have never done. The students got to view the sun in a couple different ways!

The first way the students were able to view the sun was using a small solar telescope, the iOptron. This telescope has a special filter that allows you to look at the sun without damaging your eyes.


The students also had the chance to use a sun spotter. The sun spotter shows a projected view of the sun. With this they were able to find sun spots.
Sun spots: look like black splotches or speckles on the sun spotter. These are large magnetic storms! The sun spot we viewed was #AR1476.


The last way students viewed the sun was through special solar viewing shades. These look like 3-D glasses but are very different. 3-D glasses are NOT to be used for solar observing. These are called eclipse shades and can be bought at this website.


After looking at the sun the students went on a "Planet Walk." This is a model used to show the relative size and distances of the planets. The model was written by Guy Ottewell and put together by Yerkes employee Rebecca Russell.

The last thing the families did was look through Sirius B at Venus. Those who stayed later also looked at Mars and Saturn.


Students were given certificates and they also signed certificates for the adults as a "Thank You" for helping with Family Nights. Overall it was a great day full of astronomy and family activities.