Astronomy Seminar Class Report

By Bob Leavitt

An enthusiastic group was on hand for the fall Astronomy Seminar, which took place November 8th at Hyde Observatory. Sixteen people attended the class, including four children. The instructors were Steve Lloyd, Brian Sivill, and myself. Our main topic for the evening: “The Solar System.”

The class began with a near disaster, as the computer projector wouldn’t turn on. Luckily Brian was able to borrow one from his office. We rearranged the schedule to start with something that didn’t require a projector while Brian quickly retrieved his projector and hooked it up. (Whew!) After that the rest of the class went smoothly.

The class began with a discussion of constellations and planispheres, followed by a constellation talk out under the stars. We then presented an overview of the solar system. This included some PowerPoint slides and a 3D solar system simulation using a software package called SSSIM.  

Our next topic got students up out of their seats and directly involved in the class. We wanted to illustrate motions of objects in the night sky and have them see it in action. First we handed everyone a 3-foot square piece of butcher-block paper and some crayons along with a small picture of a constellation. These were the constellations of the zodiac plus a few extras. Then we had them draw a large picture of their constellation on their big sheet of paper. Next we hung the constellations on the walls as they appear in the sky (well at least we had them in the correct order).  

Brian made a set of props for the Sun and planets by painting some Styrofoam balls and attaching them to sticks. We had some students stand with the planet props in the correct solar system positions. Using our model we showed how different constellations (on the walls) appear in the night sky at different times of the year, and what it means for a planet to be “in” a constellation. Then we put the planets in motion. I know the lady who was holding Mercury understood what we had been talking about. She moved with Mercury quickly around the Sun, and yelled to Neptune, “Hey, you’re moving too fast! Neptune is supposed to go slowly in its orbit.” As you can imagine, everyone had a great time with this activity.

After a short break we moved on to phases of the moon and eclipses. Again the props came in handy. The last topic was astronomy resources (books, magazines, and web sites for beginners), upcoming astronomical events, and PAC activities.

Steve did an excellent job of leading the class and keeping us on schedule that night.  He also brought refreshments, including some delicious chocolate-chip cookies baked by his wife Ann.  A special thanks should go to Brian for rescuing us when the projector failed, and for making the solar system props. All-in-all the class went well. It was a lot of fun and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had many thank-yous and positive comments at the end of the night.