Beginning Camp 2024

Day 1, June 13th: 

After a lot of long travels (and some short ones), campers finally made it to Tucson and met for the first time! We learned about the exciting plans for the next week, said goodbye to family, and headed up Mt. Lemmon to our camp home. Some campers took the long drive as an opportunity for a well-needed nap. 

At the top of the mountain, campers got to move into their rooms and familiarize themselves with the buildings and telescopes we'll be using. We ate salad, chicken (or salmon + jackfruit), and baked potatoes. For dessert, there were blueberry bars and strawberry shortcake! A beautiful sunset led us into the night. Through the 32'' Shulman Telescope, we took a look at the bright star Arcturus, Mizar and Alcor, a globular cluster (M13), and of course, the MOON! The campers headed to bed at 11pm. 

Day 2, June 14th: 

Campers started the day with a breakfast of bread, frittata, hashbrowns, and fruit. Teams learned more about their camp group projects and worked together to choose a constellation. Each camper also chose a "personal star" in their team's constellation that they will research more about and eventually present on! Before lunch, we took out two solar telescopes and got to see some cool sunspots and solar flares :D

Lunch: Sloppy Joes!

Given a tennis ball to represent the Earth, campers were challenged to create an Earth-Moon scale model, estimating the relative size and distance of the Moon. Fun Fact: The moon is roughly 10 Earth circumferences away from us! We then migrated to the planetarium to learn more about the nighttime sky, constellations, and the grand scale of our universe. 

Dinner: Taco Bar

Campers got back into their groups for the night and rotated between eyepiece observing at the 32'', astrophotography at the 24'', eyepiece observing with 8'' portable telescopes, and looking at the night sky to identify their team constellation and personal stars. Before heading to bed, we returned to the Learning Center for a quick midnight snack to fuel our late-night stargazing and then headed to sleep. At 3 am, once the moon had set and the planets had risen, campers were given the option to wake up to see the Milky Way, Saturn, Mars, the Andromeda Galaxy, and a couple of other deep-sky objects. We went back to sleep for a few hours before needing to wake up for another day of fun. 

Day 3, June 15th: 

Breakfast: Eggs, Chorizo, Hashbrowns, and Fruit. 

After breakfast, campers learned about light and spectra. They used diffraction glasses to see the continuous rainbow spectrum of "white" light and the emission spectrum of different elements. We learned how astronomers use spectra to learn about stars, galaxies, and other deep-sky objects. 

Lunch: Wraps + Sour Cream & Onion Chips

We then went back to learn more about the Earth-Moon scale. Given Play-Doh, campers were tasked with making 51 equally sized balls and then smashing together all but one into a bigger ball. The small ball left behind would represent the volume of the moon, while the 50 put together represent the Earth (approximately 50 moons fit inside the Earth). Continuing with our exploration of the Moon, campers learned about lunar phases and how to determine when phases are visible. 

The Venus Boxes: Campers were given a box with an unknown landscape inside. The top of the box had a grid of holes that the campers would poke a measuring stick through to probe the depth of the landscape at different points. By creating a contour map from their measurements, campers could infer what the surface of their landscape looks like (mountains, valleys, plateaus, etc.) without actually having seen it (similar to how astronomers may map the surface of a planet). We also discussed potential improvements to our setup such as increasing the number of measurements (resolution) or having more precise measuring sticks. 

Moving to physics, Don McCarthy explained Newton's Three Laws with fun demos ("Egg Launch", Liquid Nitrogen Motion, and Film Canister Rocket). In their project teams, campers attempted to apply their understanding of physics to make their team's Newton's Car go the furthest. Team Hercules held the lead for a while with their first attempt but were knocked to second place by Team Draco's second run. Team Draco wins!

Dinner: Salad, Broccoli, Chicken (or Salmon + Jackfruit), Corn, Pasta Salad

Dessert: Banana Nut Bread

After watching the sunset, we got dark-adapted in the 32" and discussed the game plan for observing. Two groups (Cygnus and Cepheus) traveled to the Kuiper 61'' while the other teams (Hercules and Draco) stayed at the 24'' and 32'' telescopes. At these two telescopes, campers were able to operate the telescopes themselves to point at targets of interest and image them. After a few hours, campers got a late-night snack and switched locations. We watched the moon set at 2 am and promptly went to bed. 

Day 4, June 16th: 

Happy Father's Day! 

To stay up late each night, breakfast has been moved to brunch! Today we ate sausage, hash browns, eggs, raisin bread, and fruit. This afternoon's focus was stars. Campers learned what powers them, how they "die", different properties of stars, and how astronomers classify them (H-R Diagram). We held a little snack time and allowed teams to work together and make progress on the group presentations. 

Once again, we headed to the peak to watch the sunset and found a geocache near one of the telescopes (everyone got a chance to sign it)! Also joining us today was Tracie Beuden, an operator for the Catalina Sky Survey's 60'' telescope. Tracie gave half the group a tour of the observatory and explained how CSS finds near-Earth asteroids that could potentially collide with our planet (the other half will be visiting the CSS 60" tomorrow). 

Teams split into their teams like the night before to take turns at the Kuiper 61'' on Mt. Bigelow and the 32'' and 24'' telescopes on Mt. Lemmon. Many campers took this night as an opportunity to locate 5 constellations using their paper planispheres to complete the constellation challenge and win a nicer plastic one! 

Day 5, June 17th: 

At 11:30 am, campers gathered in the learning center for a brunch of cereal, eggs, and bacon. They ate through over 5 full boxes! We then headed to the top of the mountain for some solar observing with many different instruments. Later, campers were given photographs of various galaxies and tasked with separating them into groups. We learned about galaxy classification and cosmology.

While eating sandwiches, campers had extra time to work on their group projects before heading out for a Solar System Hike. Starting with the Sun, we hiked around Mt. Lemmon to create a scale model of the Solar System. Campers loved the amazing views.....not so much the upwards treks. 

Dinner: Salad, Carrots, Tomato, Chicken (or Shrimp + Tofu), Rice

Dessert: Lemon Squares

After dinner, everyone traveled to the Kuiper 61'' one final time to observe with David Levy, who discovered Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 that collided with Jupiter in 1994. Campers enjoyed getting to know him and learning about his life in Astronomy. 

Day 6, June 18th: 

The last full day! 

Campers woke up for their last day of camp ready to show everyone what their teams had been working on. Teams took turns presenting their slideshow about their constellations, teaching us about the constellation's lore and the personal stars they chose from the constellation. They also got to show their creative takes on a 3D model of their constellation. Everyone did an amazing job! 

The next activity was a blast! Don showed off the explosive power of Liquid Nitrogen  through a soda bottle cannon. An empty soda bottle is filled with liquid nitrogen and another 2-liter bottle filled with water is placed on top. The explosive force of the bottle rupturing under pressure from evaporating liquid nitrogen sends the water-filled bottle flying hundreds of feet in the air. 

We watched our final sunset together and looked through the telescopes one last time, taking in all the "WOW moments" we shared this week. Back at the Learning Center, we bring back the Liquid Nitrogen in a much tastier way. Don makes his delicious Liquid Nitrogen ice cream and hands out brownies as counselors read stories from the Darwin Awards, such as "Lawnchair Larry." 

Campers went to bed that night a bit earlier than the previous nights so they could wake up early for clean up and check out. 

Day 7, June 19th: 

Saying goodbye.

Campers woke up early this morning to eat breakfast, make sure all their stuff was packed, and help us clean the Learning Center. Everyone was really helpful and left the room spotless.  We loaded up into the vans and began our journey down the mountain. As a driver, it was fun seeing the contrast to the first day when getting them to talk to each other in the car was a challenge. A lot of campers made good friends here in Tucson and their chatter on the way down showed it. 

We arrived at the hotel for the graduation ceremony and found many parents excited to reunite with their kids and hear all about their camp experience. Hanga (one of the counselors) made an amazing photo slideshow for us to watch and remember the fun activities of the last week. Counselors presented each camper with a superlative and graduation certificate. Awards were also given to campers who put extra care into their camp journals. 

Everyone said their goodbyes and went back to their own worlds, ready to use the knowledge they gained at Astronomy Camp and do amazing things!