Robb Walker: One Dark Sky

OneDarkSky is proud to participate in ALCon2012 by providing public outreach services. The evening of July 4, the Marriott Lincolnshire will host fireworks and a star party in honor of ALCon2012. The event is free and open to the public. OneDarkSky’s Robb Walker will be at your service to highlight the celestial wonders of our night sky.
Though the event officially begins at 8:30 pm, I will arrive and set up around 7:00pm for a bit of solar observing before the main event. So, arrive early if you’d like to take a look at our neighborhood star and see how it’s gearing up for its Solar Maximum in 2013. Once the sun sets and the stars come out, we will begin a celestial tour of the night sky to include (but not limited to):

Saturn
Mars
The Moon
Double and Multi-star Systems
Globular Star Clusters

After an intermission for a wonderful fireworks display, we will continue the “Oohs” and “Ahs” as we peruse the jewels of the night sky. If the weather cooperates and the sky is nice and calm, we’ll try peering a little deeper and see if we can check off some of the objects on the ALCon 2012 Observer’s Challenge list. In addition to telescope observing, we will also enjoy wide-field views with our naked eyes as we trace out constellations and asterisms and simply enjoy the majestic views of our greatest natural resource, the Dark Night Sky!

Education: Technical college, chemical engineering

Profession: Environmental sound specialist City of Veendam (Netherlands)

Hobbies/passions:

-          Music. Singing in classical choirs (tenor)

-          Bats, mainly because of their amazing ultrasound

-          Amateur radio

I got my amateur radio licence in 1978 and since that time I have been rather active on a lot of the amateur radio bands. Mainly VHF and UHF. I always dreamed about doing Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) radio contacts but it took until 2006 before it finally came within my grasp. Techniques which were to difficult or to expensive (or both) in the old days have now evolved and are within amateur reach. Also the possibilities of the computer are a welcome addition to the ability of receiving the very very faint radio reflections of the moon. In 2004 I ran into someone who told me about the Dwingeloo radio telescope and the ideas for giving it a second life. At that day my life changed. Within months I was up to my neck into the Dwingeloo project…. It is so great to be able to rescue this first ever 25 m dish which means so much for radio astronomy. And it is so fantastic to do EME with it. The amazing strong signals it produces and receives from the moon!

This project attracts all kinds of people with all kinds of interests and it is an absolute joy to work with them and to enjoy the capabilities of this magnificent dish… Bats draw my attention in 1994. I have always been very interested in nature, but bats eventually stole my hart. Bats produce ultrasonic sounds which can not be heard by the human ear. But with a device called a batdetector you can hear them. When I experienced this for the first time, a whole new world of sound opened up for me.

Since then I do a lot of lectures and excursions about bats. Very rewarding, especially when some kids are in the audience. As a young boy at the age of 8 I sang a lot at school. I loved to sing and my teachers liked my singing so it probably was not too bad….

But as it goes, I grew up and as my family is not particulary musical I did not develop my singing abilities. But at the age of 35 I met a choir director and before I knew it I found myself singing in his choir. A lot of choirs have difficulties finding men who love/like/dare to sing so since that day I sing in several choirs. The one thing that all those hobbies/passions (and my work) have in common is WAVES.  Sound waves at my work, sound waves when I sing, ultrasound waves when I listen for bats and radio waves when I do amateur radio !

Picture(s): Me working at my homebuilt 3m dish for EME in my backyard.

Sue Rose, “Teaching Astronomy Through the Computer Manipulation of Digital Astrophotographs:  Thinking Outside the Box”

Everyone has seen the beautiful photos released by NASA. Let’s take those and use them to help teach astronomy. The new educational emphasis on STEM lets us, as amateur astronomers, fit right in with the multidisciplinary curriculum. Our club, the Amateur Observers’ Society of New York, took a gamble and applied for a grant. They loved it. You can learn what we did and how we did it.

I’ve been an amateur astronomer most of my life, since my great-grandmother chastised my Mom for letting me gaze upon the Moon at age 2. Nearly 40 years has been spent with the Amateur Observers’ Society of NY, the last 25 on the board. I’m also involved with all of our club outreach activities (AL Master award), Young Astronomers program, Night Sky Network and Project Astro, along with being the Regional Representative for NERAL and the Caldwell Observing Program Chair. It’s a good thing I’m retired because there aren’t enough hours in the day — or night!

Mark Webb standing next to the classic Zeiss Mark VI planetarium projector (left) and the innovative Megastar 2 planetarium projector (right) during a side by side test.

Mark Webb is the Manager of Adler’s Planetarium Theaters as well as a Sky
Show Producer at the museum. In the early 1980’s he investigated creating art
with modern technologies such as lasers, electronics, and very early computer
graphics at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He found a home for
his love of art, science, and technology in the planetarium field. Mark has an
extensive knowledge of planetarium technical systems and has also written
and produced sky shows that have been presented around the world. He was
hired by the Adler in 1995 and has been responsible for the well-being of Adler’s
theaters every day since.

Mark was an integral member of the team that designed the Adler’s StarRider
Theater, the world’s first fully digital planetarium theater. A decade and a half
later Mark pushed the boundaries of the planetarium again with the Grainger Sky
Theater, the most technologically advanced planetarium to date. He is frequently
requested to provide expertise to groups who are planning to build a planetarium
in their community and is also an active advocate for redefining the planetarium
for the future through creativity.

In July 2011 the Adler Planetarium opened the Grainger Sky Theater. This was a complete renovation of the Adler’s original Sky Theater which had been in daily operation since 1930. Rather than rebuild the past, it was decided that the renovated Sky Theater would represent a new leap forward for planetarium design. Based on our 21st century understanding of the universe, the Grainger Sky Theater is capable of meeting the present and future needs of the Adler’s audiences. In addition to pre-recorded playback the theater has a 3-dimensional database of astronomical objects that can be explored in live, in real time, by the audience.

The screen is a 191 degree dome 70 feet in diameter. The dome travels all the way down below the sightline of the audience to better represent space as an three dimensional environment surrounding us instead of the old concept of an upside down bowl over our heads. Created by a special process, Absolutely no seams are visible on the screen under projection conditions.

The Grainger features an ultra high resolution and contrast image created by 20 separate projectors. These projectors were created for the simulation industry and are used by the military for night vision training. The 20 channels are combined to create a sinlge image with a resolution of 8120 pixels along a 180 degree arc, nearly at the limit of human ability to detect visual detail. Audio in the Grainger is reproduced by a 15.1 surround system with the capability to precisely place and move sounds in 3-dimensional space. The dome, audio, and high resolution image together can trigger 3D perception mechanisms in the brain, creating the illusion of infinite space and making bright objects appear to float off the screen against the invisible black background. The theater seats 199 visitors.

Dr. Donald Lubowich, Coordinator of Astronomy Outreach, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 

In this session I discuss different approaches to bring science directly to the public -to people who do not regularly come to star parties, science museums, or science festivals.  My successful programs have included astronomy at free concerts outdoor concerts and low-cost music festivals; Astronomy Night on the National Mall; faith-based institutions (churches, synagogues, conferences of ministers and rabbis); Ronald McDonald Houses; children’s medical centers; summer camps for special needs children; Halloween Stars featuring costumed kids looking through telescopes; a “Super Bowl Star Party; the World Science Festival in NYC, the Princeton University Science and Engineering Expo; and the USA Science and Engineering Festival (USASEF) in Washington DC.  These activities have attracted thousands of people to astronomy, including many young girls.

I have been awarded $403,000 in NASA outreach grants for Music and Astronomy Under the Stars (MAUS); for extremely ill children and their families staying at the Ronald McDonald House of Long Island, New Hyde Park, NY, and for hospitalized children at the Winthrop UniversityHospital Children’s Medical Center, Mineola, NY.  These programs have included hands-on activities, edible astronomy demonstrations (a great way to introduce children to the fun and delicious side of the hobby), and telescope

MAUS is an evening, nighttime, and cloudy weather traveling astronomy festival combining solar, optical, and radio telescope observations; a live image projection system; large outdoor posters and banners; videos; and hands-on activities before and after the concerts or at intermission. Our New York events are assisted by the Amateur Observers’ Society of NY.  MAUS attracts large enthusiastic crowds often with young children participating in this family learning experience.

With the assistance of the Adler Planetarium, the Chicago Astronomical Society, Society, Naperville Astronomical Association, Northwest Suburban Astronomer, Skokie Valley Astronomers, Skyscrapers, Inc. (Providence, RI), and Springfield Stars, music lovers at the Newport Folk (Newport, RI), Tanglewood (Lenox, MA) or Ravinia (Highland Park, IL) festivals were treated to a cosmic extravaganza.

MAUS has reached 50,000 people at events for all musical tastes including classical, folk, rock, pop, opera, and county-western.   Past performers at these concerts include Yo-Yo-Ma and the Chicago Symphony or Boston SymphonyOrchestras, the McCoy Tyner Quartet with Ravi Coltrane, Esperanza Spalding, the Stanley Clarke Band, Phish, Blood Sweat & Tears, Deep Purple, Patti Smith, Tony Orlando, Debbie Boone, and Ronan Tynan.

In 2010 I created the Astronomy Night on the National Mall co-sponsored by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy.   The National Capital Astronomers, Northern Virginia Astronomy Club,  Astronomical Association of Greenbelt,  Goddard Astronomy Club, Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers, Harvard Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics/Chandra X-Ray Center, the Hubble Space Telescope, NASA, National Optical Astronomy Observatory, National Science Foundation, the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, and USASEF have participated in this annual event.

These events can have a dramatic influence on peoples’ lives. One time, seeing the rings of Saturn so excited one of the children that he ran home across the street to tell his grandmother. A few minutes later, she came out of her house in her bathrobe and slippers to look through a telescope for the first time in her life!

Marni Berendsen, employed with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) since 2002, is the lead project manager and developer of the NASA Night Sky Network (http://nightsky.jpl.nasa.gov/), a nationwide coalition of 380 (and growing!) amateur astronomy clubs dedicated to astronomy outreach. The Night Sky Network is an ASP and NASA-funded program to create and disseminate informal outreach materials and training specifically tailored for use by amateur astronomers.

An amateur astronomer for many years, Marni is a Project ASTRO partner and a member of the Mount Diablo Astronomical Society in Concord, California, participating regularly in the club’s outreach programs and contributing to club management.

Her interest in astronomy was sparked as a young Girl Scout camping out in a high Sierra meadow while Scout leaders told stories of the Greek gods illustrated by the tapestry of constellations over their heads.

Five Easy Steps to Growing Your Astronomy Club

Workshop Thursday 9:30 – 11, Indiana Room, Third Floor

Plenty of resources are available to support our observing habit, but where do we turn for support to run our clubs and grow the hobby? How do we inspire the public to join us? With more than eight years of research and experience with astronomy clubs, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific and the NASA Night Sky Network provide you with the steps to addressing many of the challenges clubs face.

Presenters: Marni Berendsen, Astronomical Society of the Pacific and NASA Night Sky Network 

                  John Bunyan, Grants Pass Astronomers in Oregon

Biography:
I use large aperture reflectors to observe challenging deep-sky objects at the limit of visibility. Brown dwarves, gravitational arcs, high-redshift quasars and colliding dark matter galaxy clusters are some of the things visible in amateur equipment. I like to share and challenge others to view phenomena at the edge of current research.

Robert Holmes

Robert Holmes is a faculty member at Eastern Illinois University and the director of the Astronomical Research Institute located near Charleston, Illinois where he works for NASA in Near Earth Object observations on a full-time basis.  Over the past 6 years, Holmes has been the leader in both total numbers of observations and has made the largest number of faint NEO observations with many to magnitude 23.6.  Since 2006 Holmes has made over 50,000 near-Earth object measures and is second in the world to the LINEAR sky survey in total observations.

He is currently completing a 50 inch telescope which will be the worlds largest privately owned research grade instrument which will be operational in the fall of 2012.  At his observatory complex there are two additional telescopes, a 24 inch and a 30 inch which are also used for near-Earth object observations as well as education and public outreach programs.