Scouts Astronomy Merit Badge

June 16, 2014 edited June 17, June 23, July 1, Oct 8 Look down this page for activity times.

USCA planetarium http://rpsec.usca.edu/planetarium/planVisit.html 803.641.36542014

Only these shows are suitable for merit badge.

Worlds in Motion 2015 August

More than Meets the Eye 2014 November 1,8,15,22,29 8 P.M.

Most other planetarium shows at USCA are for younger children and have little value for Boy Scouts.

$6 adult, $4 student (no child under 4yrs old admitted), and call ahead to make a reservation.

Directions: Univ of SC Aiken can be reached from downtown Augusta by taking the Gordon Highway crossing of the Savannah River (Highways 1, 78) toward Aiken for 12 miles, turning north on 118 Robert Bell Pkwy about a mile, turning east on Trolley Line Rd, in 100 ft take a right to enter campus, in 600 ft take a right, in 200 ft see the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center which has the DuPont Planetarium on the right entrance. Buy tickets at the little store. If the seeing conditions are good, the astronomer may come after each show to let people look through the 8" reflector telescope, inside the dome on the roof. The show host may be glad to turn on the "ecliptic" when she does the star & planet presentation, ask politely and see if she will.

The Orionid meteor shower peaks overnight from Oct. 21-22, Tuesday evening. Look at Orion, above the east horizon, after 9 P.M. but preferably at 3 A.M. when Orion will have moved to the south, well above the horizon.

Expired, but call for new session: Tuesday, October 21 6 P.M. to 8:30 P.M. Astronomy Merit Badge learning session in Grovetown at John & Margaret Engelbrecht's apartment, 12311 Culebra Road #6104 San Antonio. At least one parent must stay with any number of scouts, & all are welcome. No reservation needed. Bring your supper if you like. Just before going home, look for the Orionid meteors, though they will be better at 3 A.M. at your own home if you get out of bed to look for five minutes, if you can see the constellation Orion.

Saturday, Oct. 25, evening. The moon passes just north of Saturn in the evening but Saturn is becoming hard to see, too near the horizon.

http://www.space.com/27309-best-skywatching-events-october-2014.html

Jupiter becomes visible in the evening in February 2015 and rises higher out of the East as the months progress.

August 12 evening observing is canceled due to predicted thunderstorms much of Tuesday and in fact Saturday through Wednesday. Parents want an observing session that is 80-90% sure, when they have to be up late and travel to Thurmond Lake. The clouds were indeed blocking much of the sky Aug 12 evening. Mr. Engelbrecht went outside his residence to check for meteors at 4 A.M. since the clouds cleared out. Even with a street light at my back, 50 feet away, I did see Perseid meteors, about one every two minutes. One of these was bright and came down almost vertically toward Grovetown. That makes for a short trail and condensed light, and there was a lingering trail visible over one second, which is unusual.

Meteor Shower on Tuesday, Aug 12 at Lake Springs Park, a Corps of Engineers park. Check at this web site after 5 P.M. on Aug 12 to see if this event is canceled due to clouds or call Mr. Engelbrecht 706 421-6044.

8:45 P.M. to as late as 10:45. Bring insect repellent. Satellite watch, telescope for Mars and Saturn's rings, and meteors. Binoculars if you have them.

Lake Springs Park is on Highway 221, 2 or 3 miles south of the dam. Inside the park, please deposit $4 at the entrance hut if the envelopes are there (the deposit slot is on the right of the metal box, you may have to step out of your car to find the slot). Proceed toward Pine Point but take a right to get to Center Point, where we have a good view toward constellation Perseus in the north. (This park is normally day use but Mr. Quebedeaux says the gates will be open.)

If you try this meteor shower from your neighborhood with street lights nearby, you will be disappointed. Have your parents check with each other about car pooling. Parents, please remain with your scout during this session.

This web site is https://sites.google.com/site/solderandcircuits/home/scouts-astronomy-merit-badge

The following is from the Merit Badge Requirements.

8. With your counselor's approval and guidance, do ONE of the following:

1. Visit a planetarium or astronomical observatory...

2. Plan and participate in a three-hour observation session that includes using binoculars or a telescope. List the celestial objects you want to observe, and find each on a star chart or in a guidebook. Prepare an observing log or notebook. Show your plan, charts, and log or notebook to your counselor before making your observations. Review your log or notebook with your counselor afterward.

3. Plan and host a star party for your Scout troop or other group such as your class at school. Use binoculars or a telescope to show and explain celestial objects to the group.

4. Help an astronomy club in your community hold a star party that is open to the public.

5. Personally take a series of photographs or digital images of the movement of the Moon, a planet, an asteroid, meteor, or a comet. In your visual display, label each image and include the date and time it was taken. Show all positions on a star chart or map. Show your display at school or at a troop meeting. Explain the changes you observed.

Let's net this out, what is best for Troop 10 in Augusta?

Scouts and parents, of these five activities, #2 and #3 seem to be the same. #1 requires travel to a planetarium, and often the planetarium shows are entertainment, not learning. Mr. & Mrs. Engelbrecht saw More Than Meets the Eye at the Ruth Patrick Science Education Center, DuPont Planetarium at USC Aiken on June 29. It is OK for scouts. For #4, there is a local astronomy club but I don't know if they are open to scouts leading their observing session.

All in all, #1, #2/#3, or #5 seem most practical and educational for Augusta. Mr. Engelbrecht and Mr. Blake will work with you as you plan your activity. Show us your plans and we will help you adjust your plans so there will be success instead of disappointment.

For #5, it will be the Moon or Jupiter (Jupiter is bright in the morning, east sky, well before sunrise). You may take

1) at least six photos during one clear morning (for Jupiter, starting at 3 A.M.) or evening (for Moon) over four hours with your camera fixed on a tripod, preferably with the horizon visible, or

2) one photo early morning at the same time for ten nights during a month, of Jupiter, or

3) one photo per night at the same time for eight days of the Moon, starting from soon after a New Moon or, in the early morning, starting ten days before a New Moon.

For the second and third options, the time of the photos must be within 10 minutes of each other.

If you choose to photograph Jupiter, you must first do some trial photos to see if your camera can see this planet and preferably some nearby stars. You can arrange to come to Mr. & Mrs. Engelbrecht's apartment, 12311 Culebra Road #6104 San Antonio, to use the Stellarium program which lets you get a preview of planet motions during two months. 512 773 9266

For #2/#3, a group of scouts working together on one three-hour observation session is the best plan because three hours is a large commitment of time. This is not suitable for scouts who can't focus their attention for the three hours. The three hours may be broken up into two sessions on different nights, but one of the sessions must be conducted with dark sky, away from lights. Each scout must be able to explain the various things that you plan for the three-hour session, even if you didn't come up with the ideas. Late summer is a better time than early summer because the days are getting shorter and parents don't want to be up until midnight. But doing this before school starts is a big advantage because we will be up late. On the other hand, the maximum of the prolific Perseid meteor shower is expected during the night of August 12. The Perseus constellation will be low in the NNE sky, so a dark horizon in that direction would make these meteors most visible. They come at a rate of once a minute at 3 A.M. but at 11 P.M. they may be once every four minutes.

The best merit-badge activity may be a combination of More Than Meets the Eye at the planetarium in November and a one-hour observing session in a dark place.

Finding a place away from streetlights and big lit areas like mall, I-20, and car dealerships, but a place that is safe for a group and not too far away and not down in a valley, is the leading need. Thanks to Mr. “Ranger Dave” Quebedeaux, we know that Lake Springs Park at Thurmond Lake has good observing conditions but it is a day-use park unless you make arrangements with Mr. Quebedeaux.

Some activities for #2/#3: get several binoculars together, especially binoculars that fit on a tripod. Just after sundown, look for satellites during 45 minutes. When it is dark, there are particular things to look at. Mr. Engelbrecht has a 60mm telescope (a small telescope) that can see the rings of Saturn and moons of Jupiter, and Mr. Blake might be able to bring his 6" telescope. There are lots of reference books that your adult leaders have, and we will use them to look for things--some of the looking will be unsuccessful, and we will learn WHY it was unsuccessful. Scouts may wish to look for random meteors, but that only happens once an hour!

For #2/#3, the event might be clouded out and have to be rescheduled. This web page, https://sites.google.com/site/solderandcircuits/home/scouts-astronomy-merit-badge, will be the place to post the event details and any reschedule.

July 19, 2014, 2 PM to 4:45 PM in the Meeting Room downstairs, which is in a corner under the stairs: The main learning session for the merit badge, at Columbia Cty Library, 7022 Evans Town Center Blvd, call Mr. Engelbrecht if you can't find it, 706 421-6044. No food or drink, please, but the excellent little cafe upstairs has lots of food for parents who stay, and parents are welcome to listen to the merit-badge activities. This session will repeat for scouts who can't come on this day. Agenda here: Astronomy Merit Badge Learning Session highlighting things that help campers.

Two astronomy programs Mr. Engelbrecht has on a Linux computer: Celestia for an orientation to the Milky Way and Stellarium for sky views with planets. These are both interactive and have fast-forward to see the future.

Mr. Blake has a 6" reflector telescope, which has 6x the light gathering ability of Mr. Engelbrecht's 60mm refractor. Mr. Blake's telescope is much heavier & larger, not as easy to set up.