The 12th Annual Astronomy at the Beach (Kensington Metropark, September 5-6, 2008)

Schedule of Events

The following is the schedule of events for the Twelfth Annual Astronomy at the Beach (held at Kensington Metropark, located near Brighton, Michigan).

Schedule for Friday September 5, 2008 (6:00 PM to Midnight)

Time	Presentation/Activity	Presenter	Location	Notes
Ongoing (repeats every 20-30 minutes)	Miscellaneous Space Exploration DVDs including: “New Horizons to Pluto,” “Field Trip To The Moon,” “Astrosmiles,” and “Hubble Space Telescope” and other fine DVDs.	Kensington Metropark	Mobile Learning Trailer	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Astronomy Equipment, Books, etc. Available for Purchase	Rider’s Hobby Shops	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Distribute Sky Tour Worksheets to Children	Rider’s Hobby Shops/All Clubs	Pavilion/ Telescope Field	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Real Time Radio Telescope Observing	The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers	Outside Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Miscellaneous Space Exploration Displays and Make & Take Activities	The Detroit Science Center Outreach Team	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
6:00 PM to sunset	Solar (Sun) Viewing	All Astronomy Clubs	Telescope Field	*
Ongoing—Every 1/2 Hour from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM	Starlab Portable Planetarium Nightsky Presentations	Detroit Science Center Travelling Science Team	South of Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
6:30 PM	Comet Talk/Comet Making Demonstration	Bob Hotaling & Mike Broughton—Metropark Nature Center Interpreters	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
7:00 PM	Basic Astronomy Equipment Talk	John Kirchhoff—Rider’s Hobby Shops and Dave D’Onfrio—Warren Astronomical Society	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
7:30 PM	Our Vanishing Night (Light Pollution Talk)	Norb Vance—The Astronomy Club at Eastern Michigan University	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
8:00 PM	How Cold is Outer Space?	Kevin Dehne—Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy for Delta College	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
8:30 PM	Astronomy 101	Gordon Hansen—Ford Amateur Astronomy Club	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
9:00 PM	“How to Feed a Galaxy” (Keynote Speech)	Dr. Mary Putman—University of Michigan Astronomy Department	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
10:00 PM	Tour of the Constellations	Kevin Dehne—Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy for Delta College	On the Beach	*
Dusk to close	Children’s Sky Tour Scavenger Hunt	All Clubs/All Telescopes	Telescope Field	*
Dusk to 12:00 Midnight	Real Time Digital Imaging	Rider’s Hobby Shop and The Detroit Science Center	Outside Pavilion	*
Dusk to 12:00 Midnight	General Viewing	All Clubs/All Telescopes	Telescope Field	*

Schedule for Saturday September 6, 2008 (6:00 PM to Midnight)

Time	Presentation/Activity	Presenter	Location	Notes
Ongoing (repeats every 20-30 minutes)	Miscellaneous Space Exploration DVDs including: “New Horizons to Pluto,” “Field Trip To The Moon,” “Astrosmiles,” and “Hubble Space Telescope” and other fine DVDs.	Kensington Metropark	Mobile Learning Trailer	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Astronomy Equipment, Books, etc. Available for Purchase	Rider’s Hobby Shops	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Distribute Sky Tour Worksheets to Children	Rider’s Hobby Shops/All Clubs	Pavilion/ Telescope Field	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Real Time Radio Telescope Observing	The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers	Lawn near Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
Ongoing	Miscellaneous Space Exploration Displays and Make & Take Activities	The Detroit Science Center Outreach Team	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
6:00 PM to sunset	Solar (Sun) Viewing	All Astronomy Clubs	Telescope Field	*
Ongoing—Every 1/2 Hour from 6:00 PM to 10:00 PM	Starlab Portable Planetarium Nightsky Presentations	Detroit Science Center Travelling Science Team	South of Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
6:30 PM	Comet Talk/Comet Making Demonstration	Bob Hotaling & Mike Broughton—Metropark Nature Center Interpreters	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
7:00 PM	Basic Astronomy Equipment Talk	John Kirchhoff—Rider’s Hobby Shops and Dave D’Onfrio—Warren Astronomical Society	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
7:30 PM	Our Vanishing Night (Light Pollution Talk)	Norb Vance—The Astronomy Club at Eastern Michigan University	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
8:00 PM	How Cold is Outer Space?	John Potts—Technical Coordinator, The Detroit Science Center	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
8:30 PM	Astronomy 101	Gordon Hansen—Ford Amateur Astronomy Club	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
9:00 PM	“How to Feed a Galaxy” (Keynote Speech)	Dr. Mary Putman—University of Michigan Astronomy Department	Pavilion	Cloudy or Clear
10:00 PM	Tour of the Constellations	Bob Victor—Abrams Planetarium, Michigan State University	On the Beach	*
Dusk to close	Children’s Sky Tour Scavenger Hunt	All Clubs/All Telescopes	Telescope Field	*
Dusk to 12:00 Midnight	Real Time Digital Imaging	Rider’s Hobby Shop and The Detroit Science Center	Outside Pavilion	*
Dusk to 12:00 Midnight	General Viewing	All Clubs/All Telescopes	Telescope Field	*

Events marked with an asterisk (*) only take place if the skies are clear. If cloudy, these events will be substituted with others at the Pavilion.

Details

Miscellaneous Space Exploration DVDs—“New Horizons to Pluto,” “Field Trip To The Moon,” “Astrosmiles,” and “Hubble Space Telescope” and other fine DVDs. (These DVDs may be replaced or supplemented with others on related subjects if availability permits.)
Astronomy Equipment, Books, etc.—Rider’s Hobby Shop will have various astronomy products including telescopes, binoculars, eyepieces, books and computer software on display and for purchase. (See also Pictorial Essay—Sponsors).
Sky Tour Scavenger Hunt (Clear Skies Only)—Using a worksheet, children move around our telescopes and binoculars to view the moon, planet(s), nebulas, star clusters and galaxies. Upon completion, a certificate of achievement and a prize are awarded. Age 3 to 17 years.
Real Time Radio Telescope Astronomy—Watch and listen as astronomers collect real time radio signals to “see” radio sources from outer space. Objects may include the Sun, the planet Jupiter, the core of the Milky Way and more!
Miscellaneous Space Exploration Displays/Make & Take Activities —Posters, handouts and various Make & Take Activities related to space and astronomy from the Detroit Science Center Outreach Team.
Sunspot and Sun (Solar) Viewing—If it is clear, visitors will be able to look through solar filtered telescopes at the sun. If we are lucky, we will be able to see some sunspots and solar prominences. Look for the scopes and binoculars with the yellow balloons. (NEVER look directly into the Sun either naked eye or through a telescope without using an approved solar filter). (See also Pictorial Essay—Solar Observing).
Starlab Portable Planetarium/DSC Starlab Nightsky Presentations—Using a portable planetarium, presenters from the Detroit Science Center provide nightsky simulation tours of the constellations and other current objects.
All About Comets and Comet Making—Learn what these special celestial visitors are and what they consist of from the Kensington Metropark Nature Center Interpreters as they make one up from dry ice and common household ingredients. (See also Pictorial Essay—Sponsors).
Basic Astronomy Equipment Talk—Thinking about buying a telescope? Learn about the different types of telescopes and other astronomy equipment at this talk. A great opportunity to ask any equipment question you like.
Our Vanishing Night—Want to know why you can’t see very many stars from your neighborhood? Learn about how light pollution is making it harder to see stars and other astronomical objects, and what you can do to help reverse the trend.
How Cold Is Outer Space?—Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy for Delta College Kevin Dehne (Friday) and John Potts Technical Coordinator for the Detroit Science Center (Saturday) will demonstrate how cold space can get through a series of graphic demonstrations using liquid nitrogen and everyday common objects. These are fun talks that everyone will enjoy.
Astronomy 101—A fascinating introduction to the science and hobby of amateur astronomy. In the tradition of “Science for Poets,” Astronomy 101 is a painless astro-primer for anyone who has every gazed at the night sky with wonder and awe. Beginning with the moon and the planets, and ending in the infinite reaches of intergalactic space, participants are taken on a glorious journey through the Universe in which we live. Sure to inspire, guaranteed to fascinate, Astronomy 101 is an experience not to be missed!
“How to Feed a Galaxy”—Our featured speaker Dr. Mary Putman of the University of Michigan Astronomy Department will explain how our Milky Way galaxy grows by gobbling up fuel to form new stars. This fuel is a form of cosmic rain that originates from our Galaxy eating smaller galaxies and condensations in the gas surrounding our Galaxy. The methods our Galaxy eats and the telescopes we use to study this process will be highlighted in this talk.
Tour of the Constellations (Clear Skies Only)—Want to learn how to find your way around the night sky? If it is clear, you can locate the major summer constellations from this tour of the night sky.
Real Time Digital Imaging (Clear Skies Only)—Watch and observe as astronomers collect real time images of deep space objects and project them on a screen through the eye of a CCD camera.
General Viewing (Clear Skies Only)—If it is clear, there will be the opportunity to look through any of the telescopes: We expect to be able to see the Moon, Jupiter and a great number of other fascinating objects such as galaxies, double stars, nebulas and star clusters. (See also Pictorial Essay—Visitors and Telescopes).

Food can be purchased at the Metropark Concession Stand (the concession stand will be open until 11:00PM). (See also Pictorial Essay—Sponsors).

Credits

Huron-Clinton Metroparks

All photographs on this page taken at Kensington Metropark during “Astronomy at the Beach.”

The following photographs were taken by:

C’mon Dad!—Greg Burnett

Web page constructed by Dave Snyder.

For questions about “Astronomy at the Beach,” contact Dave D’Onofrio at Dave1ACT@aol.com, Bob MacFarland at stargzr@wowway.com or Kensington Metropark at 1-800 477-3178.