Telescopes for School

[Shark Bait]

Through the fundraising efforts of the School Community at the Primary School my Son attends, three 8" Saxon Dobsonian telescopes have been purchased. They will be made available to all students and looked after by the Science Club.

I don't have all the details, but this Primary School is soon to be part of a pilot program run by a University (? QUT ?). The goal is to have dedicated Science Labs in Primary Schools. At the moment, the Science Club meets in a classroom set up for their Science program but it will be great to see it turned into a lab. The new telescopes will be a good fit with this program.

They ended up with 3 Saxon 8" Dobs and enough accessories to run successful astronomical viewing evenings. They will soon be set up to safely study solar activity as well. The image of the Moon was taken with a happy snapper held to the eyepiece. The artwork behind one of the scopes was completed by the students as part of their 'Read Across the Universe' book week.

I would like to thank Richard (richardda1st) for making azimuth setting circles available on ISS. I have added your setting circles to their scopes aiming to make it a little easier for the students to find some of the fainter objects. The School already has iPads loaded with planetarium software.

I would have preferred to have the setting circles set up in another way but that would have meant drilling holes or making cut outs in the base. For the time being they can get used to the current setup and when the time comes I can improve the setting circle layout.

I would also like to thank Peter of Astro Pete's for his assistance in getting this project off the ground.

Stu.

[FlashDrive]

That's very good....

Flash :)

[naskies]

What a great idea - best of luck with it :thumbsup:

[Astro_Bot]

Great stuff!

[Shark Bait]

Col, Dave & Astro_Bot,

They are a lucky bunch of kids to have Teachers who are willing to make the effort. Some of the Staff are keen to learn how to use the scopes and find their way around the night sky. I will make sure that they are made aware of IIS.

[Wavytone]

Wow... Lucky kids !

You might like to find a copy of 'Workbook for astronomy' by Jerry Waxman, it contains some simple astronomy experiments which I'm pretty sure interested year 6's would understand, even though they're a bit young to try them, as a group some could be undertaken.

[brian nordstrom]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: two thumbs up , well done and a great idea .
Brian .

[mr bruess]

This will get the kids exposure to astronomy and stimulate their interest.:D:D:D:D:D

[Shark Bait]

When I was starting high school, Halleys Comet was the start of my interest in astronomy. The kids at this school were lucky enough to have perfect weather for the Transit of Venus and that is were it all started for them. Since then they have had BAS visit for an evening under the stars. Now they can run their own evenings with smaller groups any time they want.

I wouldn't part with my 12" Dob but the portability of these 8" scopes is a big bonus. I was a little reluctant to hand the last scope over to the school after I had set it up and taken it out for its first light.

[Shark Bait]

Thanks for the tip Wavytone. I have had a look on the web and it looks like it has been out of print since Nov '96. I will have to try and get hold of a 2nd hand copy.

The Science Club Teacher is in the process of planning astronomy evenings and working through lesson plans for the kids. Initially the students will have to work out how to use Star Charts to find their way to the fainter objects. They will have lots to learn during their lunch breaks.

[mental4astro]

Very lucky kids AND teachers!

Dobs are by far the easiest to use, & least scary to use. The school my wife works at had a 4.5" Newt on an eq mount. It hadn't been used in years just because the eq mount scared the heebee heebees out of the staff, including the science staff, :rolleyes: :screwy:

I took the scope home, knocked up a dobbie mount for it, & it nolonger is as formidable an instrument.

But 3 scopes! Makes me wish I were a kid again at Stu's school!

Mental.

[richardda1st]

Good to see that this is happening at a primary school level.

What happened to the numbers? They look handwritten.

Don't hesitate to request a redesign if you decide to change them later.

Cheers
Richard

[Shark Bait]

Hey Mental,

EQ Mounts were off the shopping list for the reasons you mentioned. Still, it will be interesting seeing the Staff teach the younger kids how to set up the OTA's on True North if they want to use the setting circles and iPads.:question:

Some of the teachers will have to spend a bit of time learning the skills required before training the kids.



Hi Richard,

The degree marks were correct if the azimuth setting circle was placed on the lowest base, between the boards. This is how I would have preferred to arrange the setting circles. I wasn't willing to drill holes or make cut-outs on the upper section as the scopes don't belong to me. For this reason the degree marks had to be reversed and handwritten.

After they get used to the current setup they might be willing to let me modify the base to suit the preferred layout.

I really like the layout shown in this youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhSUxkWgHgU

If and when the time comes, I will take you up on your offer.

Thankyou.