(Viewed 2,158 times)

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Astronomy Day at the Adler

The day showed great promise of clear skies and warm temps for a day of solar observation, and it was a good assumption.

Starting out about 11:00 am, we set up Adler scopes for public viewing. We brought out the H-Alpha scope, a 8" Dob with aperture filter and a 8" SCT. I took the role of lead "astronomer" for the event and with a great crew of fellow telescope operators, started to set up. As part of Adler certification, telescope operators need to know their scopes and the operation thereof. So I took the opportunity to go thru the basics of the scopes with the crew. I have confidence they will pass quite easily.

Team Solar:Stephanie, Tony, Phillip, myself and Sue.

I decided that the SCT was more than we needed for the day, as I could not easily get the entire solar disk on my projection screen. I replaced it with the 4" refractor for a much better view. I also screwed on a yellow filter for a more aesthetic image of the sun. I find it better than a plain white image.

The sun had one large sunspot and a much smaller one, and my red laser pen came in quite handy to point out the spots. It was noticed that the motion of the sun throughout the day made it seem like the smaller sunspot was orbiting the larger one in a clockwise direction.

In H-Alpha, the sun was rather quiet this day, but some prominences were visible, but not much.

The time went by rather quickly, but we were searching for shade after spending hours in the sun. We have a deck umbrella in the telescope storage area, and I think I'm going to see if I can adapt it to the Telescope Terrace area for the solar teams for respites and better shade for solar projection.

There were many representatives from various astronomy clubs throughout the region and we spent a good time discussion aspects and activities of their organizations. One young woman told of her home made Dob from a sono tube and toilet paper focuser. Too cool! I passed on this forums info to her and hope she stops by to tell us more.

I made it a point to meet fellow Chicago Astronomer member Jeff from ITT. He had a table set up for his Mac/ astronomical intergration. We had a nice small chat and I encourage him to join us in an observational session at the Adler one evening, as he has exotic optical equipment and it would be great to peek through a few of them. It was nice to have met him and his family.

The day ended for us about 3:00 pm and we broke down the equipment and put it all away. I enjoyed the time with my team as they explained various solar components quite well and made the event a more pleasant one.

Respectfully submitted

Joe Guzmán
Telescope Interpreter
Adler Planetarium

[Centaur]

So that's where the Sun is kept. Funny, I always imagined it to be larger than that. Thanks for sharing.

[Chicago Astronomer - Astro Joe]

Lol...if you notice that the sun is at my feet too!

Before the event started, I was searching for a model of the sun to assist is demonstrating various aspects of solar phenomenon, spots, granulations etc... But I couldn't find suitable model in the Planetarium resource areas, and not that I know where everything is kept either.

Just as I was about to give up, I spotted this box that was a eclipse demo kit. Since it was the only sun I had, I took it. While during the morning orientation, I was in the back inflating the orb with a hand pump, making ghastly noises ala an asthmatic with bronchitis.

I really didn't use it at all for demo purposes, as it wasn't that accurate, we used a book with NASA images to show instead. But it did make great shade for the solar projector screen!