Report Outreach Activities for 2nd Citizen Sky Workshop!

Hi! I'll give a short talk at a workshop that aims to build a network between amateur astronomers and teachers in Germany. I think this could be a great opportunity to demonstrate to teachers that photometry and spectroscopy of variable stars can be a great subject for school projects. Workshop "Amateurastronomie und Schule" 20th November 2010 Haus der Astronomie (co-located with the Max-Planck Institute of Astronomy), Heidelberg, Germany http://www.haus-der-astronomie.de/ Needless to say, the school project presented at the workshop by Sally Seebode and the Science Olympiade activities are excellent examples. BTW, if there are any other school related projects associated with Citizen Sky or Variable star science in general, I'd be really greatful to learn about them, so I could use them as examples in my talk. CS Heinz-Bernd

Hello, Here is a brief summary of my Citizen-Sky related astronomy outreach activities to date. 1) This fall I have taught 25 undergraduate students at the University of Saskatchewan how to do differentialphotometry using 10-inch and 12-inch telescopes equipped with CCD cameras. They have collectively studied a dwarf nova (SSCyg), an SX Phe star (DY Peg), a Cepheid (SZCyg) and 2 eclipsing binaries (V455 Cyg and ZZCyg)plus an asteroid (Ara)and several exoplanet transits. 2) I have prepared a 20-minuteastronomy presentation to be given during a modern Canadian music concert that features new music with an astronomical theme. I will give this presentation at the concert at Gustin House in Saskatoon, Saskatchewanon November 21, 2010. 3) Iam mentoring 2 keen high school students in photometric techniques. They obtained their first sequence of observations of an exoplanet transit last night. They are keenly interested in analysing some data that is being obtained using an AAVSO telescope. 4) I have submitted photometric data on 14 exoplanet transit this fall to the ETD international database. My current total is 57transit sequences. I still have numerous data sets to analyse. 5) I was the invited speaker at the Saskatchewan Summer Star Party at Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan on August 14, 2010. I spoke to about 200 amateur astronomers on the topic of using their telescopes for amateur photometric projects. 6) I helped organize a public open house of our Sleaford Astronomical Observatory that was attended by about 300 members of the general public on October 16, 2010. I was assisted by members of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, Saskatoon Centre. 7) I have authored the "Skywatchers 2011 Calendar" that is available now from online bookstores or from Heritage House Publishers.The 2010 calendar sold about5000 copies. 8) I hope to engage some seniors in the Citizen Sky Project next spring. Stan Shadick

Hi All, After attending the second Citizen Sky workshop, I have done the following outreach: 1) Made an Extended Learning Opportunity for Let's Talk Science using the 10-star observing guide. Let's Talk Science is a volunteer science outreach organization that pairs students/instructors with classroom science teachers. I'm hoping that this will give a legacy after I leave the U of S for other presenters to use. 2) I wrote a piece for Saskatoon Skies, the newsletter of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada Saskatoon Centre. It appeared on October's issue and reached about 100 people. Jeff Swick has contacted me eyeing this as a project for himself. 3) I regularly promote Citizen Sky to Young people while working at the Observatory (For Stan Shadick). 4) I am now using the available data and presentation for the RASC Saskatoon Centre. It is scheduled for the RASC meeting in November. It should reach about 15 to 20 people. That's it for now. There may be more as I've finished my thesis and am trying to keep busy. Thanks, Lorin

We had a wonderful turn out at Arnold's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center inOkeechobee, Florida for their fund raiser event. I set up 2 telescopes and about 70 people gathered around for almost 2 hours as I showed the constellations and bright stars with a green laser pointer. I spent some time talking about Epsilon Aurigae and Algol as I pointed them out with the laser. I explained the Citizen Sky project to the folks. The Moon, Jupiter, Andromeda galaxy, ET Cluster, Gamma Andromeda, Double Cluster, and the Pleiades were the hits of the evening. I received many compliments. This was our third event at Arnold's, and they have been well received by the public. Chris Stephan Robert Clyde Observatory Sebring, Florida USA

Hi! Here's some feedback from the workshop I gave a presentation to in Heidelberg, Germany. The workshop was attended by ca 100 people, evenly split between teachers and amateur astronomers. It turned out that none of the teachers had ever done light curve measurements with their classes. I hope I could raise some interest for variable star observations, especially after demonstrating that it takes only very basic equipment to make food measurements (tripod, DSLR, software). I guess there is a great potential for the AAVSOin schools waiting to be developed. CS HBE

Tonight Riverwoods Field Lab in Cornwell, Florida hosted the 9th grade earth science class from Forest Hill Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. We had 2 teachers and 15 students. The sky was absolutely clear, 6.5 magnitude naked eye. I did a night sky presentation with my green laser pointer, showing the constellations and bright star names. I spent a fair amount of time discussing Eps Aurigae, and the Citizen Sky project. The students were quite fascinated. I showed them the comparison stars and showed them how to make a magnitude estimate of the star. We also spent a bit of time on Mira, and I showed them how to make a magnitude estimate of that star. The highlight of the evening was Jupiter. The planet showed a good amount of detail with Riverwoods' 12 inch reflecting telescope. Our hope is that we can get some of these students interested in astronomy. Several of the girls really showed and interest and asked lots of questions. Chris Stephan Robert Clyde Observatory Sebring, Florida USA

Riverwoods Field Lab of the Center for Environmental Studies of Florida Atlantic University http://www.ces.fau.edu/education/riverwoods/ hosted 17 students and their instructor from the environmental science program at St. Pete Communuity College in St. Petersburg, Florida on Friday March 25, 2011. We had a beautiful clear night, 6.5 magnitude naked eye limit. The students were very excited and asked many questions. I used a green laser pointer and pointed out all the visible constellations and bright stars by name. I showed them 3 satellites. I spent a good amount of time discussing Eps Aurigae, which I pointed out. I talked about Citizen Sky and about the worldwide effort to observe Eps Aur by both professionals and citizen scientists. I discussed some of the current theories about Eps Aur, and that we hope to refine those theories with all the data being collected on this star. I also showed them the 2.6, 3.2, 3.8, 4.3 comparison stars and showed them how to estimate the magnitude of Eps between these stars. I told them that Eps Aur was just beginning to come out of its eclipse. We used Riverwoods' 12 inch reflecting telescope to look at many deep sky objects. The thrill of the evening was Saturn in the east. None of the students ever saw the rings of Saturn, and there were many exciting reactions by the students. We saw 2 moons of Saturn. A student took a group photo, which I hope to get soon. When I do, I will attach it to this post. Chris Stephan Robert Clyde Observatory Sebring, Florida USA

Last night, Saturday March 26, 2011, Riverwoods Field Lab of the Center for Environmental Studies of Florida Atlantic University http://www.ces.fau.edu/education/riverwoods/ helped with the special fund raising event at Arnold's Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in Okeechobee, Florida. We had beautiful skies, about 6.0 magnitude naked eye limit. Dennis Randolph of Avon Park, and myself from Riverwoods set up 3 telescopes. Approximately 75 people attended and spent almost 2 hours after dark at the telescopes. Before dark, the people enjoyed seeing all of the various rehabilitated animals. I even got to pet a bobcat's paw. Yes, I still have my hand! We had a tour group from France, and fortunately, they had an interpretor with them, so I had to speak a little slower. I showed the visible constellations with my green laser pointer. I also showed all the bright stars by name. I spent a fair amouont of time talking about Eps Aurigae, after pointing it out with the green laser pointer. I showed them the 2.6, 3.2, 3.8, and 4.3 comparison stars. I showed them how to make a brightness estimate of Eps Aur using these comparison stars. I then told them about Citizen Sky and the international effort by professionals and citizen scientists to study this stars and try to figure out the mystery of it. I explained the current theories, and told them with the new data, hopefully either the theories will be refined, or an entire new theory will be made. They were very fascinated with this. We then showed them many deep sky objects through the telescopes. Of course, the favorite object of the evening was Saturn. We saw 3 moons this night. The event was very successful and we hope to hold another in the autumn of 2011. Chris Stephan Robert Clyde Observatory Sebring, Florida USA

I presented a workshop on citizen observing campaigns, including Citizen Sky, in Honolulu, Hawaii on March 17th.

Hi Susan, Very cool. Did the topic of DSLR Photometry come up? Tom

I did review the tools Citizen Sky participants have used, and directed workshop participants to the forums and teams on the Citizen Sky web site via a web site I had created: http://www.wix.com/remoteobservers/iste#!astronomy-research. The three hour workshop was for teachers interested in understanding the tools of astronomers and how to participate in observing campaigns. The workshop took place at Windward Community College outside of Honolulu (21 participants). I had also presented a one hour session on the same in a scaled back form to a group of Girl Scouts and their parents at a library in Honolulu on March 18th (15 participants).

Chris Martin and I presented a one hour session on student participation in astronomy research campaigns at the National Science Teacher Association conference in San Francisco on March 10th (15 participants). Although the focus was asteroid searches, the Citizen Sky observing campaign was noted as one of several other opportunities. I have created a web site with a page devoted to free and open source astronomy research tools, classroom resources, and international observing campaigns:http://www.wix.com/remoteobservers/iste#!astronomy-research

I will be presenting a two hour workshop on analysis of Earth and space images using free and open source software during the International Society of Technology Education conference in Philadelphia on June 27th. A former student of mine and I will be sharing our experiences with different astronomical tools that we had used in the course of participating in different international observing campaigns. Citizen Sky will be presented as one of several international observing campaigns that welcome student participants. I have created a web site of resources and observing campaigns for participants to refer to:http://www.wix.com/remoteobservers/iste#!astronomy-research.

CS, Please see the web site noted in my March post below. Please contact me via email for more information. Susan Kelly Bridgewater, CT

I will be presenting a seven hour workshop on the value of multi-wavelength observing, and relevant classroom activities and research applications, on April 3rd at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Ned Wright, the PI for the WISE telescope, and several WISE E/PO staff members will be co-presenting. Although the focus will be infrared astronomy and the WISE mission, I will review opportunities for citizen/student research, including Citizen Sky, and will direct participants to the web site I have created: http://www.wix.com/remoteobservers/iste#!astronomy-research. (40 participants have registered)

I attended the International Marine Debris Conference in Honolulu this month. The conference takes place once every five years, and participants come from all over the world (400 participants). I saw a need to maintain and expand on the initiatives and connections made during this conference and recommended that a site be developed for this purpose. I have directed the conference media director at the United Nations Environmental Program to Citizen Sky as a model site, and explained how the platform and its organization has fostered collaboration and sharing of resources.

Hi! For the records :-) I will hold a talk on Amateur Astronomy and Citizen Science at the Volkssternwarte Paderborn, Germany, at May 2nd, 2011 Needless to say, I'll mention observing Variable Stars in general and the Citizen Sky project in particular. If you happen to live close to Paderborn, Germany, here's our events booklet for the 2011/2012 season: http://www.vspb.de/VSPB-Programm-2011.pdf CS HB