How to organise/run an Astronomy night at your school: How to organise/run an Astronomy night at your school


Some good reasons to try: Some good reasons to try To increase interest among your Students To do some ‘real’ observations To complete some activities that you introduced in the classroom


Preparation: Preparation When? Find a site Find some helpers Plan the events Locate equipment Prepare the students Practise


When?: When? The weather can ruin your plans at ANY time of the year! Plan for a ‘backup’ night – but not a Friday! Look for a few days up to first quarter of the moon consult the Astronomy ‘annuals’ - 1. Astronomy Almanac (Perth Observatory) 2. Astronomy Australia Example - September 17/2007 – 3 days before first quarter What time is sunset - 1809, moonset - 2334 Are any planets visible? – Jupiter is overhead at 8pm


Find a Site: Find a Site The school oval Consider - trees, lights - can you organise to have lighting turned off for the duration of your viewing?. The local park – do you need permission to use it – ask the local council. Is power available? When on camp – away from the city lights!


Find some helpers: Find some helpers Science teachers – ask them Other staff – email them Students – ask around Parents – send a letter home


Plan the events 1: Plan the events 1 This is my model for a ‘beginners’ viewing night: The night consists of three major events – I have tried having a fourth i.e. showing a DVD etc, but have found that this is best left for the school day. You – and the helpers will need to set up the telescopes on the oval before sunset. This, and the packing up, are the ‘intense’ parts of the evening. You will need advice and practise to set up a telescope correctly*. Telescopes and mounts can be damaged at this time. The whole evening may take you 4 hours from start to finish. You can start with Event 1 just after sunset. Event 1 ~30 minutes Point all the telescopes to view the moon. Use a variety of magnifications This allows everybody to see ‘something’ quickly. Many people have never seen the moon through a telescope before and the ‘wow’ factor is great. You should talk to the group about the surface features of the moon just before they get a look. The students should have been be ‘primed’ for moon features/phases, in the classroom previously. *more later about this


Plan the events 2: Plan the events 2 Event 2 ~30mins ‘Talk’ the group around the sky. When the sky is dark I get everybody seated on the ground and give them a talk about what is in the sky, above them. This talk requires some preparation, experience and confidence. Items to mention: 1. The milky way galaxy - location, shape, size – introduce the concept of the light year – i.e. it is a unit of distance! Make sure that you tell them that, nearly everything they can see in the sky above, with the naked eye, belongs to the Milky Way Galaxy 2. Indicate the Southern Cross – if it is above the horizon! Get the students to draw how to find south using the cross and the pointers on the sheet you have prepared for this! 3. Indicate Alpha Centauri – give its light distance. Get the students, next day in the class, to calculate how long it would take to drive to A centauri at a constant speed of, say, 100 kph 4. Point out some constellations – indicate their shape. Reason for the name etc 5. Indicate any planets – have the students indicate the planet/s position on the prepared sheet. 6. Indicate any double stars that they will later view e.g. A centauri 7. Indicate any globular clusters e.g. Omega Centauri, 47 Tucana, that they will view later. Don’t bother about galaxies – too faint in the light pollution.


Plan the events 3: Plan the events 3 Event 3 ~ 30 mins Second viewing session. With, say, 5 telescopes and one planet you can do something like this: Scope 1. Low power- on the planet Scope 2. High power- on the planet Scope 3. On a globular cluster Scope 4. On a nebula Scope 5. On a double star Have an adult or reliable student (who knows what they are doing) in charge of each telescope. This person is responsible to maintain the object in view and give instructions for focussing. Do not let students pull on the eyepiece. You may need to preset the height of the tripods for little kids. Note: Have the telescopes in a line – I prefer North/South. Give strict instructions about movement – no running, as there will be cables on the ground to run the tracking motors of the telescopes. For Years 10, and below, I always insist that a parent accompany each student. Keep things moving along - don’t let the students ‘mess around’. Let the parents know that you expect their kids to behave. I have run nights with up to 100 people without too much trouble. Plan it carefully, do a ‘dry’ run. The first night that you run may affect your sanity but YOU WILL get better and YOU WILL really start to enjoy them.


Plan the events 4: Plan the events 4 Finally: Tell the students/parents to bring 1. Mosquito repellent 2. Binoculars if they have any 3. A clipboard/pens pencils 4. A blanket to sit on 5. Warm clothing if necessary 6. A torch with red cellophane to cover the lens Supply the cellophane yourself from school supplies. The ‘red’ light produced preserves night vision. 7. Make sure that you collect all the worksheets from the students before they leave – if you intend to assess them!


Locate equipment: Locate equipment What do you need – Telescopes, binoculars? Ask the students Ask the staff Ask the parents Regional loan pools There are telescopes ‘out there’ that you can access. The Regional technicians can help locate telescopes but they will insist that you can demonstrate that you can use them correctly. You will need to be shown how to setup and use a telescope. Plans are in hand to run familiarisation sessions for interested teachers. These sessions will be advertised on this website soon.


Slide12: An example of a sky chart


Slide13: An example of a sky chart showing the South Celestial Pole


Prepare the students: Prepare the students Use the software to show the students the night sky they will be looking at Discuss the issues Expectations Behaviour Parents – year 4 – 10 students must be accompanied


Practise: Practise Go outside and look – its not difficult to find your way around the sky Learn the major constellations first – start with the zodiacal constellations and Southern Cross. Print off the sky sheets for that night and go outside and find them Borrow a telescope With the telescope learn to find the moon, planets (especially Jupiter and Saturn) and move onto double stars, clusters and nebulae. You don’t need to know everything


You can do it!: You can do it! With a little practice you can run an effective Astronomy night. The MAIN idea is to get the students interested! Good Luck – email me and get some help! murray.thomas@det.wa.edu.au