Student Events

Description

McQuown Scholar students at Yerkes Observatory organize astronomy events for high school students from the surrounding communities. On this page we put together information to organize ongoing events. The page will also be used to collect ideas for future events as well a record of past events, including Yerkes Young Stars and SOFIA-Yerkes events.

Ideas and Helpful Information

Advertising:

Send the letter to principals/science teachers
Send information to the Park District people
Put up posters in schools
Get information on Facebook
Get information into school newspapers?

Ideas for future events:

Participate in science fairs and organize a science fair at Yerkes
Talks by: Al (HAWC), Pernic (South Pole), Max Mutchler (StSci)

Ideas:

Astronomy Software (i.e., Starry Night, Stellarium, Starwalk)
Salsa J
IR Camera
How event planning works
Constellation pictures
Dealing with Atmospheric difficulties
Particle Physics
Spectroscopy

The Choreography of the Universe

Like graceful dancers, the stars, planets, comets, and every object in the universe moves in a beautifully choreographed display! Learn how, through the amazing power of gravity, the pieces of the universal dance come together to give us moon phases, eclipses, tides, meteor showers, and all the periodic phenomena that brighten astronomers lives.

Events 2019

Events 2017-2018

Fablab Cleanup 2018 September

Link to details on activities: Camp and Fablab Cleanup Document
Link to spreadsheet for inventory - GLAS Inventroy google sheets document.
- Log in with yerkesstudent@starsatyerkes.net to look at it.
- Contact, Kate, Kara or Marc if you need to edit it.
Look at the "Classroom" tab to see how to fill the table.
TAF

McQuown Overnight 2018-3-9 to 3-11

Schedule:

Friday evening: Observing and socializing
Saturday: Hack / Projects all day
Saturday evening: Observing and Movie

Events:

Mentors: Rick Sanchez, Kate, Kara, Marc
Movie Saturday: The Post, Hidden Figures, The Dish, Chain Reaction
DS9 Tutorial (Marc)
Set up under the dome for the blimp in the comet / pyramid / sunken temple

Meeting / Who's doing What

Ryan: Rasberry Pi setup => Rasberry pi webserver with flask.
Thomas: Working on stars pipeline to reduce SEO FITS data. => Blimp
Pernilla: Color images in DS9 - get pointing on 24 and 41" telescopes => Idata videos, 24" imAGES
Chris: Social media side of #saveyerkes. => Tactical telescope
Joe: Set up arduino on various computers. => Help Blimp
Thomas & Jack: DS9 check pointing of => Drones tutorial check, drones check
Kaleigh: Unity VR tutorial => Finish tutorial - virtual Hobbiton
Briana: Being AWSOME at GWCode => Video with Viv - celestial spheres making
Alex: Set up starsbase server => DNS server problem, Drones
Adam: Installing Rasbian => Install Raspian, Camera, Wifi Pi
Vivian: Can help DS9

Foods / Snacks

Lunch at noon 12:00
Dinner at 5:15pm
Food? Snacks? Coffee? - in lunch area. Snickers & Soda in the fridge!

Magic of Astronomy 2017 - Oct 20

See Magic of Astronomy for more details

McQuown Meeting 2017-9-18

Plan:
- Magic of Astronomy: Who will do what, what other projects are there, assign stations.
- Who was at the live show? Who will be?

McQuown Meeting 2017-8-28

For details: See Powerpoint at Google Docs

Events 2016-2017

McQuown Intro 6/26/17-6/29/17

Goals: Prepare students to work with mentors using SEO
- Know how to run SEO and do observations and reduce the images
- Get to know Yerkes, connect to each other and Yerkes community.
Admin: Mon June 26th Thrs June 29th AM with 1 overnight. 1-5pm every day. No course the day after the overnight.
Personnel: Tyler will be
- Matt and Emil: Matt would be available remotely to present with Emil about variable stars.
- Amanda: Will not be at Yerkes but will be available earlier in June to develop the SEO into part of the camp. She could help remotely.
- Tyler: Should be at Yerkes that week. Can talk about Asteroid observations and help students start on projects.
- Students: ALL THE INTERNS - present their projects - for students to see what do interns do. QUESTION: What HS interns will be here? On the payroll should be: Raki, Christie. Available will be Josh (could be here and paid).
MISSING: Tyler will be here and can talk about asteroid projects, Matt could also talk (maybe Emil and Matt can talk together about Emil's project), Josh should show some of his images.
Schedule / Ideas: (Times are tentative)
- Day 1: Library if possible
- Introductions and Observatory Tour: 1-2 p.m. ??? Tour may be later, depending on availability of R. Dreiser
- PowerPoint: development of the universe and life as we know it (Marc, 2-2:30 p.m.)
  - Introduction and Powers of 10, size of universe over all magnitudes, activity with htwins.net/scale2, Make a planet walk. https://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html (2:30-3:30 p.m.) (Kara, Marc)
  - Break (3:30-3:45)
  - Set up with SEO Queue, what Emil has been doing with SEO (Emil presentation), images Josh has taken with SEO (Emil, Matt, Josh) 3:45-5:00
- Day 2: Night sky, RA and Dec: How do you find out what is in the sky and when. Stellarium (Christy, Marc) (1-2 p.m.)

(image by Prof. Herter, Cornell)
- For Details see Activity: RA Calculations on google docs.
constellations and coordinates, time of the year, activity with Stellarium; (sun location in sky at different times/days-(Kate or Carie Volpert or Marc). (2-3 p.m.) https://tinyurl.com/y7qe8tay
Figure out the radius of Earth---use Stellarium? (Harlan) (3-4 p.m.)
Break (4-4:15)
Continue activities as needed, allow students to network (4:15-5:00)

Day 3: Observing with telescopes:
- Download and use StoneEdge images (fitsview), DS9 or image processor. (1-2:30 p.m.) (Emil, Matt, Tyler)
- Asteroids (Tyler) (2:30-3:30 p.m.)
- Break (3:30-3:45 p.m.)
- WY stydents talk about research, revisit interns and projects (if needed) (3:45-5:00 p.m.)
Overnight 10 pm to 6am, observe at YO and SEO. Movie October Sky, The Dish, Contact, Interstellar, The Martian. Personal project time.
- Being McQuown scholar: Introduce them to past projects: Magic of Astronomy, Fablab, Plate Vault original research, asteroid light curves (Kara and Marc) (10-10:45 p.m.). Interns can briefly describe their projects and maybe ideas for McQ projects. Sophia: EIS.
- Hands-on telescope usage: Groups to use Dobsonians, look at distant objects and Venus (45deg W of Sun, sets at 5pm), 24 inch (Kate or Erick)
- FabLab, basic stuff with Arduinos: Kara, James (3D printer), who else would be good?
- SEO observing (Emil, Matt, Amanda, Marc to help with Star Server)
- Exploration of ideas for Magic of Astronomy and next summer's Tech Camp, connect with mentors (Kate, Kara, Marc)
- Movies

McQuown Scholars Meeting February 2017

Discuss ongoing projects
Stonedge: check keys and log in to demonstrate
Talk Marc: Experience as an Astronomer: observing at a telescope

2015-2016

McQuown Scholars Meeting November 9, 2015

Explained learning Stone Edge will be an important part of McQuown Scholars
- We should all learn it
- Kate might be able to help us
- We will do that at our next meeting
Next meeting scheduled for Monday, December 7th, 2015
Kate mentioned learning Skynet
We also need someone to test for broken links on the new site
- Before November 30th -- contact Kate if interested
Kate also mentioned learning about the Sloan (SDSS) Database as a possibility
Went over what everyone’s currently working on
Adam and Brenna discussed YYSTARS thoughts and concerns
- Possible presenters - Marc, Vivian, Kara, etc.
McQuown Scholars will start teaching YYSTARs on different topics
Kara shared YYSTARs document with the group

21st of December is a McQuown Scholars & graduate gathering event of sorts

McQuown Scholars Meeting October 12, 2015

Agenda:
- Discuss opportunities for White House star party (learn necessary skills)
- 24Inch - Dobsonian
- Schedule next meeting to develop YYStars outreach event
- Projects for "Magic of Astronomy" event (hat)
Kate spoke about the undergraduate meeting on Saturday 10/17/15, could use potential helpers for...
- Skynet Jr. Scholars
- Stellarium
- It's also an opportunity for students who want to learn more about fablab (if you come in the morning) or Skynet / Stellarium (if you come in the afternoon)
Talked about White House Star Party, Monday 10/19/15, sign up for jobs:
- Fab Lab - Programming and electronics station & 3D printing
- Spectroscopy
- Stellarium and star wheels
Assigned positions for White House Star Party and undergrad. meeting
Brittnay is always accepting help for Family Night Events
Marc discussed writing program for "the hat" -- a program which would assist with deaf observing at star parties.
- Adam volunteered to make a first program, with Evan and Louie also being interested.
Planned next meeting in which we would schedule the next YYSTARS event:
- October 28th, 2015
Planned next two McQuown Scholar meetings:
- November 9th, 2015, December 7th, 2015
Introduced Take Satoh who demonstrated web cam model which he designed built, plus website
- Main page at melos.ted.isas.jaxa.jp/i-CAN/eng/index.html
Evan and Adam shared progress and data of the lake temperature sensor project, see Events Log for more information.

McQuown Scholar Meeting September 22, 2015

Evan & Eli appointed to "Secretaries". (Basically Evan takes notes during meetings.)
There is no more "project time", there are office hours. (Come in during office hours to work on projects.)
Kara shared her office hours calendar through Google Drive (with McQuown emails.)
Created dedicated McQuown email list with all email addresses registered to Adam.
Brenna will take care of YYSTARS for now.
Next McQuown meeting scheduled for Monday, October 12th, 7:00-8:30pm
- Possibly to learn the Dobsonian or 24 inch. In case of bad weather, Stone Edge Experience.
Everyone filled out Adam's Google form to get a sense of where everyone is at in the program.
Adam will send out email notifications to McQuown scholars before meetings.
Kara went over McQuown Portfolio possibilities.
- It's required to make some sort of portfolio to keep a record of your work. Here's the link to the PowerPoint.
Everyone should make a McQuown Web Page at Yerkes-Young-Stars / Students
- Who you are, how you got into this, your work here at Yerkes, etc.
Fun fact: Yerkes took the first picture of Pluto (1920) according to Prof. Osborn (says Marc).
Marc explained file manager to the new members.
- Talked about different research projects that have been done by past students.
- Imparted miscellaneous universe knowledge on us.
Introduced Dr. Al Harper
Brenna suggests that next meeting is "bring your own hat time" - Marc thinks it's a fun idea.

2014 - 2015

Overnight August 10, 2015

Many meteors with programming and Europa Report. Sample images and files on the file manager under stars/Outreach/YYSTARs Previous Event Info/2015_Overnight

Screenshots from a JavaScript Pong game made by Kyle. You can play it yourself HERE

Screenshots of Evan's app "Diversion Pursuit" created during the overnight.

Ben's Image Processing Examples

You can make images brighter or darker.

You can shift the RGB spectrum.

You can invert the light and dark.

And you can generate a color palette given any picture.

May 19, 2015

Plans for Summer and Next Year

Meetings for January through April were organized by individual subgroups.

December 9, 2014

Christmas Constellations

Rough Schedule:

7:30 Talk--Constellation Presentation
8:00 Project Showing
8:15 Business
8:30 Observing (Lawn and 24") OR Stellarium

October 21, 2014

Deep-space Descriptions

You hear about them all the time—Nebulae, Clusters, Galaxies, even stars themselves—but just what are they? In this meeting you’ll learn about the different astronomical objects that appear so often in books and in telescopes: what they are, what they look like, and where to find them.

Rough Schedule:

7:30 Project Showing
7:45 Business
8:00 Deep Space Talk--Kyle
8:30 Observing (Lawn and 24") OR SalsaJ

September 16, 2014

Intro to YYSTARs

Come and find out what the Yerkes Young STARs are all about! You can learn about what we do here at YYSTARs, find out which groups you might be interested in, and learn everything about how things work in this exciting group!

Rough Schedule:

7:30 Intro to YYSTARs, info about each subgroup
Ask people which groups they are interested in--make a list of who's interested in what
8:00 Project Showing
8:15 Business
8:30 Observing (Lawn and 24") OR Small Groups

Notes: LOTS of new students came--the advertising apparently worked well! Little discussion on business; hopefully that will increase as students become more active. Talks finished on time at 8:30 - good observing (Marc needs to refresh his memory on constellations). We did M57 with the 24", and various other targets on the lawn. Various students got to point telescopes: I think everyone had a very good time!

2013–2014

May 20, 2014

Summer Plans

Selection of Officers:

President: Christy
Vice President
Department of Propaganda: Christy
Group Leaders:
- Tech: Ben Mahon and Kyle (co-presidents), Adam (Vice President)
- Asteroids: James (president), Brandon (Vice President)
- Observing/Imaging: Josh (President)
- Plate-Vault Research (Ben Walters)

Plans for the summer:

Overnight (Raki?)
YYSTARs star party?
YAAYS
Internships
Other summer plans or lack thereof

Go over group goals

Congratulations to Graduates:

Kyrstyn: Swarthmore
Raki: University of California--San Diego
Neil: Cornell University

April 22, 2014 (Earth Day)

Privileged Planet

Last month, we talked about the possibilities of life on other planets, and the characteristics of planets than can support life. This month, we're talking about our own planet, Earth, and how it has managed to support such diverse life. The partnership between Earth and its life is truly something remarkable.

Rough Schedule: Clear

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Talk about Earth--Kyle
8:45 40"
9:00 Observe on the South Lawn or 24"
9:20 Upcoming events, etc.

Rough Schedule: Cloudy

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Talk about Earth--Kyle
8:45 Stellarium
9:15 Upcoming events, etc.

March 18, 2014 (The day after St. Patrick's Day)

The Possibilities of Alien Life

It's a question that humans have asked for many years: a question that has yet to be answered. Is there life on other planets, and, if so, is it intelligent? In this meeting, you'll learn how exoplanets (planets orbiting other stars) have been found, and the methods people are using to search for alien life. It's an intriguing question that many still seek to answer.

Rough Schedule: Clear

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Talk on Exoplanets/Extraterrestrial life--Marc
8:45 40"
9:00 Observe on the South Lawn or 24"
9:20 Upcoming events, etc.

Rough Schedule: Cloudy

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Talk on Exoplanets/Extraterrestrial life--Marc
8:45 Stellarium
9:15 Upcoming events, etc.

Debrief: Marc's talk went well (everybody was interested), but ran a little long: we didn't end up doing Stellarium at all. However, we were able to talk about some YYSTAR business that needed addressing, so that was good.

February 11, 2014

A few months ago, we talked about how we can observe remotely using the Stone-edge telescope. There is another resource available for remote observing as well: SKYNET. SKYNET is a system of many telescopes--our own Yerkes 41" among them--that can be used to image celestial objects without the necessity of nice local weather. At many of our star-parties, the public also gets to use SKYNET to take images, but not with the level of control that you can use. You’ll learn how to take images, and process those images--often with spectacular results. When you leave, you'll know that, somewhere, a telescope is waiting to take an image of some beautiful nebula, just especially for you.

Rough Schedule: Clear and Cold

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 SKYNET
9:00 40"
9:20 Upcoming events, etc.

Rough Schedule: Cloudy

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 SKYNET
9:00 YYSTAR Business
9:20 Upcoming events

Rough Schedule: Clear and nice (but this is February. It's not usually nice!)

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Observing on the lawn
8:40: Group 1 to 40", Group 2 to 24"
9:00 Groups switch
9:20 Upcoming events

Debrief: everyone enjoyed using SKYNET, and some people even got their images taken during the meeting! I think it all went well.

January 28, 2014

Regularly Scheduled Programming

It's in your phones, in your computers, even in your microwave ovens! Programming is essential to every piece of technology you can get your hands on. In this meeting, we'll be using the Arduino to do everything from simple tasks, such as turn a light on and off, to more complicated jobs, such as moving a motor with the wave of a hand.

Debrief: I think it went quite well: everyone seemed to have a good time, and understand what was said. We ran late enough that we weren't able to talk about the upcoming events, but we did end on time.

December 10, 2013

Remote-Control Telescopes I -- Stone-edge

Sometimes it’s too cloudy, too windy, too stormy, or just too cold to observe! When this happens, we can use other telescopes around the world—we call it ‘remote observing’. One of the telescopes that we have the privilege of using is at the Stone-edge observatory in California. You can learn to image with this telescope, and learn to process these images: creating beautiful color pictures that everyone enjoys.

As an added benefit, this meeting will be our YYSTARs Christmas party! Dress festively, and feel free to bring a plate of cookies to share!

(The picture below is for the website)

Rough Schedule: Clear and Cold

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Stoneedge
9:00 40"
9:20 Upcoming events, etc.

Rough Schedule: Cloudy

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Stoneedge
9:00 YYSTAR Business
9:20 Upcoming events

Rough Schedule: Clear and nice

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been doing
8:00 Observing on the Lawn
8:40: Group 1 to 40", Group 2 to 24"
9:00 Groups switch
9:20 Upcoming events

Debrief: It wasn't good weather, so only a few people came, but Josh and Ben were present via Skype. I think people really were interested, and had a good time!

November 19, 2013

Comets: Ison and friends

This month, comet Ison will be viewable from our area! What will it be like? We don't know. Some say that it will be spectacular, a beautiful sight not often seen. Others say that it will be a disintegrated disappointment. In this program, you'll learn about the possibilities and probabilities of Ison appearance--as well as the basics of what comets are and where they orbit. Comets are hard to predict, but they're worth it to find.

Rough Schedule: Clear Weather

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been/will be doing--incl. Ben's video
8:00 Comet Ison talk (Kyle)
8:30 Two groups: 1 to 40", 2 to Lawn
8:50 Groups switch
9:10 Family Night, Star Count, upcoming events
9:20 Give new people forms

Rough Schedule: Cloudy Weather

7:30 Welcome/Introductions
7:40 Talk about what groups have been/will be doing--incl. Ben's video
8:00 Comet Ison talk (Kyle)
8:30 Astronomy Software--Stellarium (Josh), Star-walk (?)
9:10 Family Night, Star Count, upcoming events
9:25 Give new people forms

Debrief: It was clear! Talking about projects took much longer than expected, so we didn't observe on the lawn. However, Kyle's presentation was very good: people were interested and actually took the handouts with them! We also looked at Uranus through the 40". We had twelve students, two of whom had not come before, and several adults. All-in-all, it was a good evening!

October 22, 2013

Constellation Education

Learn about the myriad constellations that grace our night sky! You’ll learn how to find and identify constellations, learn a bit about the myths behind the constellations, and make a starwheel to help you find these constellations when you’re outside. If it is clear, we’ll go outside to see constellations, and learn how to use them to find some of the deep-space objects. If it it’s cloudy, we’ll observe virtually with the computer program Stellarium.

Rough Schedule-Clear Weather

7:30 Welcome/Introductions (Christy or Raki)
7:40 Talk about what groups have been/will be doing
8:00 Two groups: 1 to 40", 2 to 24" or Sirius B
8:30 Talk about constellations (Josh/Vivian). Make starwheels.
9:00 Everybody outside for constellation viewing (Marc + Vivian?)
9:25 Give new people forms.

Rough Schedule-Cloudy Weather

7:30 Welcome/Introductions (Christy or Raki)
7:40 Talk about what groups have been/will be doing
8:00 Talk about constellations (Josh/Vivian). Make starwheels.
8:30 Stellarium (Josh)
9:00 40", Family Night, Star Party, Fundraiser, other business.
9:25 Give new people forms

We'll give the students an option: they can take their starwheels home if they want to, or we can store the starwheels here.

Debrief: It was CLEAR! Everything went well, and I think people had fun. The weather was cold, but clear, so people got to look at constellations, and look through both the 40" and Sirius B.

September 17, 2013

Intro to the Yerkes Young Scholars in Technology, Astronomy, and Research (STAR) Group

In the September meeting, we'll discuss the plans and opportunities for students in the Yerkes Young STARs group. We’ll talk about the sub-groups of the YYSTAR group: technology, plate-vault research, education and outreach, and more! Come find out what we’re all about, and learn how you can get involved!

Rough Schedule:

7:30 Welcome/Introductions (Christy)
7:40 Yerkes History Talk (Richard H.)
8:00 Intro to YYSTARs (Christy and Raki), info about each subgroup (subgroup presidents)
Ask people which groups they are interested in--make a list of who's interested in what
8:30 HAWC tour (Marc), if time.
8:45 One group to South Lawn (Christy, Kyrstyn), other to 40" (Kyle, James), then switch
9:15 Take group picture in dome (because the old one is way out of date!)

If it is cloudy, we'll talk about SKYNET from 8:45–9:15 (probably breaking into smaller groups). Then we'll go up to see the 40", take the group picture, etc.

Debrief: Only one new person came, so that wasn't good. Otherwise it went reasonably well. It was cloudy, so we did do SKYNET. We needed a little more loose time, because some people talked too much. However, I think everybody, including the new person, was interested.

2012–2013

May 20 2013 - PLAN FOR 2013-2014

Plan:

Programming with Javascript
Talk about summer activities, possibilities for student internships.
Date for alumni reunion?

Tech:

Summer

Yes

Staff:

Raki - President

Neil - Vice President

Marc - Mentor

Meetings: Thursdays

Projects:

Improvements/Goals:

Do more Tech Competitions

More science competitions

For Programming:

Break big learning groups into splinter groups

Give projects that advance programming skills

Outreach:

Staff:

Christy - President

Kyrstyn - Vice President

Vivian - Mentor

Meetings: Fridays

Projects:

Improvements/Goals:

Use 24 inch/South Building/Dobsonians/Sirius B

Sirius B Imaging

Train Outreach students to use telescopes and help people

Asteroids:

Staff:

James - President

Vivian - Mentor

Improvements/Goals:

Get computers set up for asteroid work

Participate in asteroid searches

Stone Edge (New):

Staff:

Josh - President

Vivian - Mentor

Goals:

Simplify use of Stone Edge

Observing (New):

Staff:

Christy - President

James - Vice President

Vivian - Mentor

Goals:

Observe when it's nice out

Request a night that sounds good?

Plate Vault:

Staff:

Ben - President

Dr. Osborne - Mentor

Do research with the plate-vault plates

Communications:

Staff:

KC - SUPREME RULER of Communications and Propaganda

Raki - Assistant Ruler of Communications

Kyrstyn - Backup Ruler of Communications

Sending out texts to those who prefer

Presidents report to KC for communication

Preparing propaganda materials (posters, flyers, etc.)

Yerkes Young STARs

Staff:

Christy - Co-President

Raki - Co-President

Vivian - Mentor

Goals:

More organization

End on time

New people/ veteran groups?

Time -- 7:30–9:30

Outside

Structured lectures

Feel free to interrupt

Dumb 'em down (simplify, if you prefer!):-)

Don't go overboard with help

SUMMERTIME:

Astronomy lectures

Intro to Astronomy with Karyn

Applying basic physics to astronomy

Tuesday nights (times pending)

Volunteer

YAAYS

Mentors

Kids older than kids taught

Mentor per splinter group

Bilingual Nights

Perseids Public Night

Star Party

Something about biking/walking scale of universe

High School Summer Nights

Overnight observing: 11 PM - 5 AM

Program that we did: Observing 40inch, Observing 24inch (eye and camera), Hacking in the Library (new computer, build robot, arduino), Astronomy topics talk outside, Pizza for Dinner

Orientation to Observing and Yerkes and People

April 23 2013

Plan:

Josh talks about Stoneedge and taking images Done :-)
Alex talks about the molify server. Done :-)
Marc talks about Javascript programming. No Time :-(
Observing. It was cloudy :-(

Mar 12 2013

Feb 25 2013

Plan:

Intro: 15 min

Dark Energy Talk (Dr. Rich Kron): 45 +/- 15 min

Observing / V* projects: Remainder of night

Jan 22 2013

Images and RGB imaging. We looked at images and how they are set up.
Took images with StoneEdge.

December 11 2012

Prof. Ozzie talked about working in the Plate vault and interested students selected stars.

November 28 2012

Start out in domes/observing. 24” definite, others possible. Take images using CCD camera on 24”.
In the library, they can use the i-CAN site to observe different constellations. https://sites.google.com/a/starsatyerkes.net/visions-of-the-universe/home/i-can
Fill out form at: https://docs.google.com/a/starsatyerkes.net/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dGNCOU5aUGxxc2VqVkN0OFI2aldLUUE6MQ#gid=0
Marc’s talk (30-45m). General Relativity

October 23 2012

Plan: Student Lab tour

Alternate Plan: Fab Lab introduction to 3D and 2D design for students to learn to build things.

September 11 2012

Plan: Introduction about Yerkes Activities, Talk about introduction to the Universe, Observing Constellations and 24 inch

Debrief: Ideas for next time: ask the students what they want to do - Ideas.

The 2012 Poster (attached to this page)

2011–2012

May 23 2012

Plan

Debrief

April 25 2012

Plan: Transit of Venus and observing. HAWC test demonstration. We had a larger group of students that had never been to Yerkes.

March 21 2012

Plan: Introduction into Zooniverse. Talk by Kate Meridith about working with Galaxy Zoo. Missing was an activity for the students.

February 15 2012

Plan: Comets. Talk by Vivian Hoette and making a comet with dry ice.

January 25 2012

Plan: Yerkes SOFIA high school program presentation and asteroid activities.

The slide show about our SOFIA - Yerkes group will be shown. Then we will hear a talk about asteroids and the NEAR mission to the asteroid 433 Eros in particular. After that we will load a python script to simulate orbits of objects under gravitational attraction.

Debrief: General introductions and team updates went well. We will have a few new projects in the spring. The orbits python activity was successful, all groups ended up simulating orbiting objects. Creative orbital configurations were investigated. (What was the name of the driving instructor?)

December 14 2011

Plan: Python programing and HAWC tour.

After an introduction into programing we will make a simulation of moving objects using Python. Whoever has not yet seen HAWC will be given a demonstration of the instrument.

Debrief: The introduction went well but most people has older versions of the drawlib on their computers or couldn't find drawlib. General introductions and team updates went well.

November 16 2011

Plan: Infrared Camera and SOFIA kits

We will demonstrate the infrared camera and show what can be done with it. We will also play with the SOFIA kits and show the students IR light. If the weather is fine there will be a short introduction in both of these. Otherwise we will do more extensive IR activities and let the students do their own observations with IR and the electronics. If the weather is clear we will then observe with the 24" and take images with the 41". If there is time we will show the students how to make star wheels such that the students can help out during events with younger students.

Like last time we will have short reports from each group about the progress of their projects, make sure parental waivers are complete and talk about the X-mas decoration.

Debrief: Introduction was a bit too long. Everyone played with the kits and looked at the sky. Uranus with the 40" telescope.

October 26 2011

Plan: Each group talks about their progress (also individuals). Parental Waivers and signup sheet for X-mas decoration activity. Teams should break into groups to agree on meeting times. The groups should agree on what hardware to buy (arduinos and such).

Talk by Marc about images and image analysis with demonstration and activities. After a short introduction the students will learn to use the imagegui and DS9 programs. Then, if the weather is good we can use the 24" and the 41". The students can then make their own JPEGs using the programs mentioned above. If the weather is bad, the students will continue their group projects and will use existing skynet images to make color JPEGs.

We should also get everyone's E-mail and sign people up to the Facebook group and distribute / collect the forms to be signed by the parents.

Debrief: How it went

September 28 2011

7:30-8:30 Review of the projects, then discussion who wants to participate in which project.

Debrief:

September 14 2011

Plan:

7:30-8:00 Introduction from Viv and Marc about Yerkes...show intro video

Introduction from the interns (What they are doing) (Lily, Alex, Josh, Becca)

Powerpoint on all the possiblities, ideas, and what Sam and Grant have accomplished

8:00-8:20 Short tour and demonstration of 40 inch

8:20-9:15 Split into groups accordingly

If clear.......Group A=Use dobsonians outside with phone sky applications or pre-cut star wheels. (Constellation demonstration)

Group B=Observe with the 24 inch

Group C=Constellation Photography

if cloudy.....Group A= SOFIA kits and demonstration with the infrared camera

Group B=SKYNET introduction and remote observing (show them the 41 inch?)

-or- find an astronomer to skype in (Max?)

Group C=HAWC talk (Marc)

*Depending on how long the introduction takes, we may have to cut down time for the three rotations.

9:15 Everyone together to discuss future interests and how the night went. What did they or didn't they like the most.

Debrief (How it went):

Good turnout - Interested people!!! Yay!!!

Forgot to show the movie

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