Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2008
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008aas...212.3308s&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #212, #33.08; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 40, p.535
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Amherst College was left a legacy of an 18 inch Alvin Clark refractor and a Spitz planetarium. We just completed a new Museum of Natural History and have a close relationship with a very active amateur astronomy association. We have taken these assets and recommitted ourselves to community science educational outreach. My poster describes those activities and future plans.
Our method is to communicate basic astronomy in a lively presentation that focuses on the current night sky including sun position, planet locations, constellation and stars, current events in space exploration such as ISS, space based telescopes, deep space probes as well as current news in astronomy that has reached the popular press such as extra-solar system planets and galactic structure and evolution. In all our efforts we trace the history of telescopes from Galileo through our own Alvin Clark refractor to current space based telescopes. In the museum, the talks on Valley geology rely on a knowledge of sun position, earth processes born of its formation and position in the solar system. Evolution and extinctions are tied to astronomical events such as asteroid and comet collisions, the possibilities of life and organic compounds being extra-terrestrial, and the role that our galactic orbit may play a role in regular mass extinctions.
We seek to reach the following audiences:
pre-K-12 school children
College classes in observational astronomy
Boy and Girl scout troops working on merit achievements in astronomy
College alumni
general public
College dorm student groups
Retirement communities
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