Lakeshore Library System’s ‘Dream Big: READ’ Star Party
Saturday, July 28th, 2012
Approximately 200 members of the Lakeshore Library System
participated in the Dream Big READ program and were rewarded by coming to
Yerkes Observatory for a private star party! There were several different telescopes
set up with knowledgeable people eager to explain what was up in the sky and
answer any questions. In addition to the
many telescopes, activities were set up all over Yerkes for families to take
part in.
It was a beautiful, clear night for stargazing! Among the telescopes on the south lawn were a few Dobsonians, an i-Optron,
a 12” Meade LX200, a Celestron, a Questar, ‘Sirius B’ which is Yerkes 8”
telescope in the white dome, and several more. Some of the celestial objects observed that night were Saturn, the Moon, double stars and nebulae.
Activities:
Family Sun Craft- Family members worked together to trace
out their hands on construction paper and attach them to a paper plate to create a cute sun!
They decorated it, looped on a string, and brought it with them to hang up at home.
Crater Demo- One of our high school students, Raki,
demonstrated how craters form and disappear on planets. He had kids use rocks to create craters in a sand
pile. Then he explained how a planet with
an atmosphere has weather (rain, wind, etc.) to slowly wear down craters. He demonstrated this with a watering can and
a fan.
Story Reading- Kids of all ages gathered around Rhonda in
the Yerkes library to hear her read exciting stories about space.
Skynet- We had several computers set up in the Morgan room
for everyone to explore Skynet. Skynet is a network of telescopes that can be
controlled remotely. Families were able
to ask a telescope in Chile to take a picture of the celestial object of their
choice and send it directly to their email!
Tour- Richard Dreisser gave 3 of his very entertaining and
informative tours of the history of the building and the famous 40” telescope.
24” Tour- Teenagers ages 12 and up and their parent were able to
go up the spiral staircase in the north tower and look through the 24”
telescope.
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