Page 29 - Journal 2018A

about space and about how their interests were developing.
The Sentinels, Port Noarlunga
Although these events are transient, they provide a connection to and an insight into the happenings in an exciting eld, and surface some of the student interests and ideas that may otherwise not nd a forum.
The ongoing legacy of this event lies less in the speci c sessions but rather in our greater understanding of the sort of questions to ask in this area and hence the learning we can design with our students and expose future cohorts to the excitement of and careers available in space.
3. Astronomy Camps
There are always students with a fascination with the night sky, whether or not they have had the opportunity to observe it. A camp can be a great way to give these opportunities. We have run overnight astronomy camps at Monarto aiming to provide this experience. When we run the camp at Monarto, students are involved with a zoo program, which gives a second focus.
Does equipment cost a fortune? It certainly doesn’t have to. A telescope is a must, but modest sizes that are easy to transport will allow plenty of interesting viewing and are relatively inexpensive. Cheap and cheerful
is great. Consider some of the truss-style Dobsonian mounts – these save money and are easy to manoeuvre. There are plenty of good suppliers happy to help. The ASMS has a 12-inch telescope, which gives great viewing but is unwieldy. We’ve just obtained a solar lter which should allow us to use it during
the day. It is large and heavy so to make it easier to take to darker locations, we have just upgraded its case. With this type of telescope, we’re able to look at anything from planets to some of the deeper sky objects. Binoculars
are a great asset as they are easy and quick to align and provide an interesting way to see the sky.
When we plan the camps, we tend to choose a darker moon phase to allow some viewing of nebulae and faint objects. The most important, though, is to nd a time when at least some
of the brighter planets are visible. With our cohorts, we have found that the wonder of seeing Jupiter or Saturn for the rst time with a telescope generates the most discussion and interest afterwards – so very highly recommended. Sometimes this means two sessions to the astronomy – one as it gets dark, and then another session getting up very early to see planets rising before dawn.
Blood moon over Adelaide
Number 01 / 2018
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