Sandburg Center for Sky Awareness
A Fairfax County Public Schools Planetarium

* * * Sun-Earth-Moon Day 2001 * * *
Sandburg Sun "Block Party" 2000

On Wednesday, 03 May 2000, amateur astronomers from the National Capital Astronomers (NCA) and Northern Virginia Astronomy Club (NOVAC) visited Carl Sandburg MS for a day of safe sunspot observing through a variety of telescopes. [Originally planned as part of the SCSA's local observance of National Sky Awareness Week (April 23-29, 2000), inclement weather forced us to reschedule the event several times.] Special thanks to Andrew Seacord and Ed Witkowski, Outreach Coordinators for NCA and NOVAC (respectively), and NOVAC members John Avellone and Bob Kwartin--at CSMS, we sincerely appreciate your spirit of volunteerism and willingness to share your expertise and enthusiasm for observational astronomy!

Students prepared for the day of sunspot observing by completing an in-class activity, Happy Birthday Sunspot Plot - Sunspots and the Solar Cycle, a NASA Thursday's Classroom activity adapted by Walter Sanford, SCSA Director. By graphing the past 14 years of annual sunspot numbers, students discovered the 11-year solar cycle which peaks in 2000-2001.

Disclaimer: NEVER look directly at the Sun, especially when using an optical device such as a camera, binoculars, or telescope--blindness may result! With the exception of the "ProjectorScope" (which allows indirect viewing of the Sun's image), every telescope used during this event was equipped with a solar filter which permits only about 1/1000 of 1% of the incoming solar radiation to enter the telescope! Safely view near-real-time solar imagery (including sunspot imagery) by visiting the SOHO Images Web site (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory).

(Storyboard reads left-to-right, top-to-bottom. Click on thumbnailed images for larger view.)
CSMS Principal Donna Pasteur and SCSA Director Walter Sanford welcome members of NCA and NOVAC. Shown left-to-right: Ed Witkowski, John Avellone, Donna Pasteur, Bob Kwartin, Walter Sanford, and Andrew Seacord. In preparation for a full day of sunspot observing, NCA President Andrew Seacord sets up and tests his equipment (including an 8-inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope equipped with a solar filter from Orion Telescopes & Binoculars).
Further preparation as Ed Witkowski checks out his TeleVue Pronto 70mm refractor telescope (equipped with a Solarskreen solar filter)... ...while Bob Kwartin manually aligns his Celestron C90 hybrid spotting scope/telescope (equipped with a Thousand Oaks form-fitting glass solar filter).
Before making introductions and handing-off to the guest speakers, event coordinator Walter Sanford greets Ms. Long's class (one of five Grade Level 8 science teachers whose classes participated in the event), providing an overview of the lesson plan, discussing safe solar observation... ...as well as the UV Index and the risk of overexposure to ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. Thanks to Mr. Daugherty, Ms. Hayward, Ms. Long, Ms. Williams, and Ms. Wallace for allowing their classes to partcipate in the event!
John Avellone shows students several devices which may be used for safe solar observation, such as a No. 14 welder's glass (left hand), Eclipse Shades®, or special telescope solar filters. Next, Mr. Avellone provided a clear, concise explanation of telescope design... ...then the group moved to the telescopes for direct observation of sunspots.
Telescope builder John Avellone aligns his ingenius homemade "Solar Projector Telescope" (built around a "department store" 50mm refractor telescope) which projects a small image of the Sun inside a "dark box" enabling... ...completely safe sunspot viewing by small groups of students. The 5-inch diameter image of the Sun is magnified 43 times.
Another group of students look at the "Solar Projector Telescope" while a young man tests a pair of Mr. Avellone's Eclipse Shades®. Don't be fooled by their similar appearance--these glasses are not simply mirrored sunglasses! Ms. Pasteur looking radiant as she looks at the Sun through a pair of Eclipse Shades®.
Mr. Sanford and Bob Kwartin watch as a student peers through Bob's telescope (foreground) while Ms. Pasteur learns about the cycle of solar activity from retired professional astronomer Andrew Seacord (backgound). Mr. Seacord's large-aperture telescope reveals spectacular detail in an especially large cluster of sunspots near the solar limb (the edge of the disk of the Sun). The daily sunspot number for 03 May '00 was 76.
Groups of students patiently wait their turn... ...to look through each telescope...
...as Ms. Pasteur makes the rounds of all of the telescopes too. Ms. Long watches as one of her students discovers the lesson learned by all participants: there's more than meets the eye to the little yellow ball in the sky!
Photographs courtesy Judy Kramer, Sandburg MS Enrichment Specialist.
Thumbnail images prepared using photoweb v1.2 by Phil Wherry.
Sun-Earth-Moon Day 2001 | SCSA Home | www.wsanford.com