Public outreach is one of the more enjoyable responsibilities you'll have as a grad student, especially given the strong astronomical community we have.
Knowing the night sky
Sky Safari is currently held at either of two locations:
Technically, you can take whatever you can transport, including the 16" Dobson and the binoculars, but the standard equipment is one or two of the 8" telescopes and maybe a 4" telescope. The 8" telescopes are stored one in the North dome at the Campus Observatory and one in a box in the server room (Astronomy Building, first floor, through the glass door in the downstairs printer room, in a large box under the table). The 4" telescopes are in the South dome at the Campus Observatory. The laser pointer is also a great thing to bring; it's stored in the North dome, in the closet, on the shelves to the left, in a small metal case (which resembles a case for eye glasses). In theory there is also a laser pointer stashed in the telescope box in the server room, but check to make sure it's there before assuming. It's also neat to bring sky charts to hand out, but it's not compulsory.
Make sure that you have whatever you need for each telescope, in particular for the 8" telescope make sure you have an eyepiece, the diagonal (for angling the eyepiece more conveniently), the control paddle, the tripod, and the screw to attach the telescope to the tripod. Also keep in mind that the 8" can run either on battery power (C) or from an outlet (in which case don't forget the power supply).
Leave plenty of time to load and unload whatever you bring: you do not want to handle telescopes in a hurry. Check ahead of time that whatever you're bringing fits safely in your vehicle. Don't forget to have the outreach form signed by Las Cruces Natural History Museum representative. This is proof that you did the event and will help you get paid.
Doing Sky Safari but don't know what to show? Here are some suggestions:
Before you show people something in the telescope, prime them for what they will be seeing, especially for fainter objects like planetary nebulae and clusters, 'cos chances are that people are expecting Hubble-quality images and might get frustrated or disappointed when they don't see full color gorgeous images. Also mention looking with averted vision to let the more sensitive rods pick up the fainter objects.
It's also a great trick to check on Heavens Above and see if any satellites will be visible.
Public Outreach Activities
Campus Observatory
Useful documents:
Sky Safari
The electronic telescopes need to be pointed if you want to slew automatically to objects. In order to point the telescopes properly, you'll need to use 2 or 3 reference stars. It's helpful to have a general knowledge of the night sky, including a few bright stars for each season, so you don't make a mistake in pointing.
Useful websites:
Campus Observatory webpage (Fall and Spring suggested objects)
Skymaps.com has night sky maps for each month, available as PDFs, which you can give out (I'd recommend printing out the front in color and photocopying it to black and white 2-sided, otherwise the printer makes the Milky Way too faint to see)
Seds.org has information on a lot of interesting objects, the most useful of which I've found to be their Messier catalog and constellation families list
STARS constellation list a better one that SEDS, with photos of the sky and constellation line overlay
Your Sky (32*N lat, 105*E lon) generates sky map for particular longitude and latitude
SkyScopes Moon Phases our Moon and Jupiter's moons
Jupiter's Moons shows the realtime positions of Jupiter's moons
Saturn Events shows the realtime positions of Saturn's moons
Heavens Above notes satellite, space station, and shuttle location and brightness information --- great for checking for Iridium flares!
Equipment
This is the large white pillar usually stowed in the North dome. It's mounted on a base with wheels, but they can be a bit fussy. Be careful when rolling it, for the part with the wheels is not attached to the telescope frame which is not attached to the telescope. The end result is that it can tip over alarmingly easy.
These are the equatorial mounts in the two domes at Campus Observatory. They've got power outlets in the support pillars. Always make sure to turn off and unplug the telescopes after you're done using them, or they will get damaged.
The telescopes are powered either by batteries (C) or from an outlet with the power supply. There is one in one of the Campus Observatory domes (usually the North dome), which is already mounted on a tripod, and there is one in the server room (Astronomy Building, first floor, through the glass door in the downstairs printer room, in a large box under the table), which has a tripod somewhere in the server room.
There is an azimuth lock on the telescope, a silver lever on top of the base and snuggled up against the rotating part of the telescope. Be careful with this, for if you lock the telescope and then try to move it by hand, you will grind the teeth off the plastic gears. Also, keep the Azimuth lock knob
loose (unlocked) when moving the telescope around; the lock is one of the large dials on the side.
If you want to just use one of the old 8" Celestrons, let Tom know. They sort of track, though they do make lots of grinding noises, but it is a much
faster set-up: a rough polar alignment and off you go. However, the finders aren't that good, and you need to be able to use them to point.
These are equatorially mounted telescopes for use in lab and outreach. They are 114mm F/4.3, so with the supplied 17mm and 10mm eyepieces, the magnification will be 28X, and 49X. They have little motors and zero-power finders. They are light and compact, and will work for the Moon and star clusters. They are currently stored in the south dome.
They're stored in the North dome closet in cases with shoulder straps. These are great for looking at the entire Moon.
There are a variety of filters stored in the North dome, ranging from light to dark. Individually, they're in small boxes with clear plastic tops, usually stored together in a medium-sized black plastic case either in the closet or on the table. Tom notes that he has a white light filter for use with solar observing. These are stored in his office, so if you want them for a public event, you'll have to ask him directly.
This event is sponsored by the Las Cruces Museum of Natural History in the Mesilla Valley Mall. Don't forget to have the museum representative sign a copy of the general outreach form when you do this event!
15 miles north of Las Cruces on I-25, get off at exit 19 and take NM 157 west to the park entrance
W Picacho Ave & River Levee Rd Las Cruces, New Mexico 88007
located on West Picacho Avenue (US Highway 70) at the East side of the Rio Grande River
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