Observatory News and Events 2024 and Before

November Open Observatory night had 42 signed-in visitors, and probably a few more. There was a nice mix of campus and town folks, and several children. We saw the moon, Jupiter, and Saturn through the telescope, also tried out a few new eyepieces. With 10 or 15 persons in the dome at any time, it was cozy despite the freezing cold outside. The activities in the lab were a good chance to warm up: cloud chamber (shown in picture ), line spectra of different gases, moving electrons with a magnet, crater making, and demonstrations of the lunar orbit and moon phases. We had several repeat visitors, as well as first-time visitors. Good conversations ensued. Some of the younger visitors were quite inquisitive, and taken by all of it. Adult visitors often ask about the technical details of the telescope, as well as about the experiments in the lab. Many expressed gladness about the availability of this experience for all. One of the teenage visitors inquired about more opportunities to be in the observatory. Perhaps, we have a new member of the observatory squad? Ethan Schmitz and Sylke Boyd managed things for this evening.

We discovered a new problem with the telescope. This was the first cold observing night, outside temps flirting with 0 degree Celsius. However, the building temperature is kept at 22 degree Celsius. The closed observatory sits somewhere in-between. But that means, that the telescope undergoes a wild ride of changes: (1) a cool-down after the dome opens, probably 20 minutes, (2) a warm-up as people come in and out and linger, (3) an increase in humidity in the dome from transpiration and warm-air advection from the hallway. It all leads to two things: condensation in the optics and uneven thermal expansion. Both affect the ability to sharpen the view. This problem will become greater as winter progresses. We need to test out a protocol to minimize these effects since they affect usability of the telescope. Perhaps, opening the dome early for acclimation, always closing the hallway door, limiting the number of people at any given time, might help. First line of attack is to learn more: We're getting a little weather station, at least thermometer, hygrometer, and barometer, to track conditions inside the dome.

The October Open House fell during fall break on campus. Most students traveled home for fall break. The open house saw 25 visitors, mostly from the town of Morris and from Alexandria. We welcomed adults and children, alumni, and employees, as well as interested people from town. Special visitor was professor of chemistry Kevin Boyd. He is the caretaker for the observatory at Aquinas College in Grand Rapids Michigan, and supported open night with his expertise. Clouds moved out around 6 p.m. to leave us with a clean sky at dusk. Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) was visible in the evening sky just after sunset, and so we opened already at 7 p.m. in the hope to catch a glimpse. After all, this wanderer will not come back until about 80 000 years later! It was only discovered last year. With a 90.3% full moon we had some views of the terminator on the Moon, in particular the region around craters Anaximander and Herschel. Around 8 p.m., we turned the dome toward the west. Gasps of delight erupted when the comet became clearly visible to the naked eye. Many cell phone pictures were taken. We also trained the telescope on the comet's core. It appeared only as a fuzzy bright spot. Definitely, a better experience unaided. As the evening progressed, we got a glimpse of Saturn. Unfortunately, clouds moved back in and obscured the view to Saturn and Moon. We had a brief later view of the moon, and a short visit with Albireon, a double star system with resolvable components. The forecast called for the first hard freeze of the season. In the Astro Lab, we had prepared discharge lamps for hydrogen, helium, and neon, together with handheld spectrometers. Most of the visitors came for the first time this year, and also enjoyed making craters, and playing with the phases of the moon. A little time in the lab offered a warm-up between telescope views.

As part of the activities in the Kapemni program, we often invite speakers on interesting topics in astronomy and physics to the Morris Campus. Dr Lindsay Glesener is a heliophysicist who studies the sun, in particular with respect to its X-ray emissions. She is an Associate Professor in the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics in the School of Physics and Astronomy, University of Minnesota. Lindsay also is part of the group of faculty on the Kapemni Project, a collaborative, NSF-funded initiative between Morris and the Twin Cities to create a pathway for Native American students to enter into the field of astrophysics. 

Highlight of her visit was her presentation on "Exploring the mysteries of the sun: Explosions on our nearest star". The lecture was held in the evening in the Science Auditorium. About 45 people from campus and the larger community attended the lecture. We learned about projects to place an X-ray camera with higher resolution into orbital space to capture the behavior of solar flares.  The connection between solar activity and Earth's space weather extends beyond the appearance of Aurorae. The intense fluctuations in the magnetic field in earth-near space can influence satellite activity, communications, and in particular the power grid. Imaging the active regions of the sun in different wavelength yields different kinds on information that enhances our understanding of the solar processes. Lindsay reported on her group's research campaign in Alaska earlier this year, using sounding rockets launched into suborbital space during an ongoing solar flare event. Her research group has successfully collected data for a couple of instances of solar flares. The launch videos were impressive to watch. Data evaluation and publication will take some time.

In the afternoon, the observatory was open for the public to look at the solar surface. It was a day of high sunspot activity on the face of the sun. Just the day before, the sun had released a giant X7.1 flare from the large active region on the southern part. One day later, it was topped with an X9 flare. We were not very successful focusing on the sunspots with the telescope. Atmospheric turbulence, vision challenges between bright sunlight and darker view in the eye piece, as well as some inexperience made it harder to spot the sunspot through the telescope. Eclipse glasses and the Sunspotter device on the side still allowed visitors to see the active region. We had at least 25 visitors in the observatory for this event, including people from town - grandparents and children.

Lindsay also visited with the Dean and Division Chair, as well as with students of the Science and Math Division. Many good conversations were had, about the sun, about plans for the continuation of the Kapemni program, and about the nuts and bolts of teaching and learning. 

Below, you can find some pictures from the day.

The observatory had many visitors. Thirty signed in, but I guess we had about 40 people visiting. Several were repeat visitors, most were students from campus. Viewing conditions were perfect for bright objects, with just a bit of high-altitude smoke dispersed in the atmosphere. The Moon presented as a waxing crescent, allowing us to view the terminator region around Mare Serenitatis and southern craters like Maurolycus and Clairaut. We had a chance to test various eye pieces as well, giving a varied view of the lunar landscape.  Nova is a talented optical experimenter, leading to clear views and well-aligned telescope settings. There was a bit of lunar mambo-jumbo to do in the astro lab. Expecting a different audience, we had crater-making, orbital magic, and the models of Mars, Venus, and Moon out on the tables. As the view to the moon deteriorated in the lower atmosphere, we trained the telescope to Saturn. The view was sublime, and not comparable to our camera images from the week before! Visually, one could distinguish the rings, the stripes, and even several of Saturn's satellites (with some patience and targeted search). Many amazed noises were heard in the dome that night. Perhaps, they will become a choral piece, given that professor and composer Nate Froebe was there and taking notes. 

We may have to advertise better in town. All visitors were campus visitors. I noted no townies.

Thirty-two visitors signed the Telescope Log that evening, and almost certainly there were a few more. It was a lively night on the 4th floor. Most visitors were students, and some staff of the university. We viewed Deneb and later the rising moon. Unfortunately, the andromeda galaxy was obscured by low haze. Clouds moved in fairly quickly around 10:45 pm. However, activities in moon craters and lunar orbit magic entertained those who waited for more telescope turns.  Trekky T-Shirts and moon-viewing to Star Wars music made this quite memorable. 

The Kapemni program is a collaboration between faculty from the Minnesota Institute for Astrophysics and the Morris campus. A new website for the Kapemni program introduces several aspects of this program.

The NSF is funding this effort to increase diversity in the science community, in particular physics and astrophysics. Both fields are dominated by people of European and Asian descent. The problem with that lies in a variety of unintended effects on the field. Decisions on observatory locations, for example, are often made based on  technical, political, and economical factors. That has lead to conflicts with indigenous communities on whose land these amazing instruments were placed. One prime example is the Keck telescope in Hawaii. Since the decisions on large scientific endeavors often can not be detached from socio-economic factors, it is of importance that as many voices as possible are heard. Representation matters! One tangible example of such targeted effort is the increase of women PhDs in the physical sciences. Women now are earning about  22% of new physics PhDs, up from 10% in 1990. This has a noticeable effect on the culture in the field.

The goal of our  partnership is to create a pathway for Native American students to enter into the field of astrophysics. The statistical data from the American Physical Society show that physics Ph.D.s by indigenous people are almost not there, lying between 0 and 2 (out of several thousand over a five-year span). 

The Morris campus offers a tuition waiver for Native American students, due to its  painful history as a Boarding School. This tuition waiver is more general than the one offered by the University of Minnesota system at large. Hence, Morris's student population includes a fairly large group of Native American students from all backgrounds. Morris is a perfect place to create a pathway into physics and astrophysics for underrepresented groups. 

The Kapemni program has laid out the following strategies:

1. Reach out to new students on campus to encourage engagement in physics and mathematics. The work with the Gateway program, and sessions with the NASS Morris1001 freshmen sections are part of this. Getting the observatory back into operation and use it actively for outreach is another part.

2. Create cohorts, and support Morris students for one semester on the Twin Cities campus. This is for any student in the physical sciences and computer science who is interested in taking specialized astrophysics classes in the cities. Kapemni will support housing and travel costs, as well as provide a stipend. These students return to Morris for the following semester and serve as "ambassadors" for the next cohort. Amaya Terry' 25 is our first such Kapemni student. She spent the spring'24 semester studying astrophysics, and now is working on a summer research project with Claudia Scarlata. 

3. Provide attractive research opportunities, and support student research. The Kapemni program provides support for research students. For example, Joseph Erdrich and Amaya Terry both were supported by this program through the summer of 2024. Scientists all have started somewhere, needed encouragement, learned the messiness of research work, had the experience of the power of their imagination and mind to move things forward. Student research serves a unique place in education. It is one of the most influential things a student can do during their undergraduate time. It sets confidence, direction, new knowledge, and gratification. 

4. Bring cutting-edge seminars and events in astrophysics to Morris. Part of encouragement arises from meeting the scientists who work in the field. This seminar program has brought us talks by Pat Kelly on gravitational lensing, by Vuk Mandic on gravitational waves, by Jim Rock on indigenous people's sky knowledge. There will be more in the next few months. The visits include meetings with students and faculty in Morris, sometimes shoptalk on various things like the telescope, etc. 

5. Support the physics and astronomy -related infrastructure in Morris. This point is the reason for this news item. One of the goals of the Kapemni program was to revive the Morris telescope for outreach and for student research. I think we are on the right way.

We had visitors from Minnesota State University in Moorhead: physics prof Matt Craig and his research students. Matt is the director of the astronomical observatory in Moorhead. We learned a lot today about astrometry.net, flats and darks, telescope alignment, handling data transfer, the Seestar telescope, and many other nuts and bolts of observatory practicalities. The sharing of experiences with the technical, software, and administrative aspects of campus observatories turned out to be encouraging and enlightening for all.

The visit was supported by the Science and Math Alumni Fund. 

Physics faculty Laura Chajet and Sylke Boyd invited to a small lecture on the history of eclipses, as well as an eclipse party with various games and devices. Despite the rain, the eclipse party was well-attended. The sun did not poke through the clouds.  However, who wouldn't like mm's?  If you stand outside the science building, holding an mm in front of your eye to just cover the dome of the observatory, you have created the following size relation:

eye ball : mm : dome   = Earth : Moon : Sun

in distance as well as size. Eat the mm, and do more measurements, ok?