"Meet the Universe" classes:

“Meet the Universe – Fall 2010” is planned as an ten-week course in Introductory Astronomy taught as an after-school program in the Cambridge Community Schools.

How do we “know what we know” about the Universe? As part of this course, each student will construct a telescope and learn how to use it; we will also have a chance to operate much larger robotic telescopes in Cambridge and in Arizona. We will get familiar with the night sky through sessions inside a portable planetarium. We will then practice making models of planets, asteroids, stars, and galaxies, and delve further into the nature of black holes, antimatter, dark matter, and dark energy.  We will even launch our own rockets! As a culmination of the course, we will have a student-run “star party” at the nearby Harvard Observatory to which parents, family, and friends are invited!  

We will be offering an "Introductory Astronomy 4" course during the Fall 2010 semester. The class meets from 8 PM to 9 PM for 8 Tuesdays, from September 28 to November 16, 2010.

As the days of Fall get shorter, night inevitably intrudes into our lives. Rather than resisting, we can embrace the darkness and what it brings; on clear New England nights, that includes a sky full of sparkling stars and brilliant planets. If we learn a little astronomy, we can make friends with the night sky and understand what those points of light really are. Indeed, some of those bodies – remote though they are - have powerful lessons to teach us, not only about our place in the Universe but about better ways to understand and take care of our own planet right here on Earth! Did you know that Mars helped end the Cold War, and that Venus is the ultimate example of global warming gone wild?

At an agreed-upon time, we will meet at a local observatory; there we will be able to use a large telescope to enjoy views of Jupiter (with its moons and mysteriously-vanishing cloud belts), Uranus and Neptune (planets unknown to the ancients), and numerous double stars, star clusters, and nebulae.  

No math or science background required!

8 Tuesdays 8:00 PM – 9:00 PM. Begins September 28, 2010.

What's New

Many people are astonished to learn that at least one planet – Venus – can be visible to the naked eye in broad daylight. Yet when the planet has a sufficient angular separation from the Sun – as it does now – this is commonly the case. Needless to say, a clear sky is required – at least in the vicinity of the planet’s location. But there are a few other caveats to watch out for, and some tips to make the search a little easier.

First of all, if it’s daylight, the Sun, by definition, must be up, and since Venus is always within 46° or so of the Sun, utmost caution is required. Never look at the Sun with an optical instrument; instant and permanent eye damage can result. In fact, it’s not a good idea to look at he Sun directly even without optics. A safe technique is to station yourself in the shade behind some structure that nevertheless affords a view of the portion of sky you will be searching.

The first problem one encounters that finding Venus in the daytime requires knowing exactly where to look. Needless to say, as bright and noticeable as the planet may be by evening, it is very difficult to see against a brilliant blue sky. One technique is to first find the planet with a “goto” telescope and to use its aim as a guide. (This in itself presents difficulties if the telescope had not be already aligned the previous night, when alignment stars were available.) Another technique is to use the Moon, which is much easier to locate in the daytime sky, as a guide; after all, the Moon must pass Venus at some time during every lunation. Of course, the Moon is only close enough to Venus to be useful as a guide for, at most, a few days, once a month; timing is critical. In July, the Moon passes closest to Venus on the 14^th; the configuration of the two bodies is shown in the diagram below:

One can soon encounter another problem when searching for a tiny white speck such as Venus against a featureless background sky: one’s eyes tend to “defocus” when they have nothing to focus on. What is required is some reference object at “infinity” to focus on as they search the background sky. In the scenario above, the nearby Moon provides a perfect target; an occasional glance at it will provide a perfect reference to keep the eyes focused at infinity. In fact, if you can find Venus without its help, the Moon doesn’t even need to be nearby; I recently found that this trick works even if the Moon is just rising on the opposite side of the sky from Venus.