Friday evening, March 4, was the first of many in the 2011 season for star parties at Sedgwick Reserve. Rachel Ross and Robert Paulson of LCOGT attended, as well as Fred Marschak and one of this students from Santa Barbara City College.
The evening began with a group of about 50 fifth grade students along with teachers and parents. Following an early dinner, Fred held an interactive presentation of the Solar System and stellar spectra (which included the use of diffraction grating glasses to look at bright light sources). There was then a round of “Are You As Smart As A Fifth Grader” where the parents went up against the students where the students won by a landslide, 8 to 2! Afterwards was a short hike up the hill to learn about stars and constellations with a night sky tour given by Rachel and observing through three different telescopes, including the 0.8m Byrne Observatory (BOS), a 178mm Astro-Physics refractor, and an 8” Meade Schmidt-cassegrain. Time was limited for the group so each telescope was only pointed at one object (the BOS gave a breathtaking view of the Orion Nebula and the young students were very excited to look at the “baby” stars of Trapezium). The night concluded with roasting marshmallows over a fire and making s'mores before loading the bus and heading back home.
After the group of fifth grade students left the observatory, a group of about a dozen biology students including their professor from a university in Vermont got their turn to look through the telescopes and participate in a sky tour. With a smaller group and more time flexibility, we got to look at several objects through the BOS including the Orion Nebula (M42), the Crab Nebula (M1) (and the group learned a new technical astronomy term – fuzzy blob), the Pleiades(M45), and open cluster M41. We even had some time to participate in this years Globe at Night campaign!
The sky was mostly clear, the weather calm but cold, and both groups were very enthusiastic … all in all, it was a great kick off to the 2011 season of star parties!
