On Tuesday, November 26th, Mr. Peters's AP/ECE European history class came to the planetarium to explore the models and discoveries that were part of the Copernican Revolution. The students saw the contributions and models of Ptolomey, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, Newton and Galileo.
Ptolomey's model of the solar system, with the Earth at the center.
Copernicus's model of the solar system, with the Sun at the center.
On Friday, November 22nd, the Astronomy club visited the John J. McCarthy Observatory, in New Milford. Thanks so much to the volunteer staff at the Observatory for teaching our students how to use their fabulous computerized telescope, and also for showing us their collection of meteorites.
Ms. Gambino’s Video Game Design class visited the planetarium on Monday, Nov 18, to gather background information for their space video game design project. Students had brainstormed areas of interest, including spacecraft design, spacecraft launches, galaxies and space exploration. Mr. Hermans presented examples of spacecraft, exoplanetary systems, black holes, asteroids, galaxies and the known universe.
On Friday, Nov 8th, the Shepaug Astronomy Club hosted a telescope making demonstration, with guest speakers from the Springfield Telescope Makers from Springfield, VT, and the John J. McCarthy Observatory in New Milford. Participants got to try out the experience of hand-grinding a telescope mirror, and also learned about different telescope designs. The goal was to leave everyone with the sense that they did have the ability to build their own telescope, and that the process would be both fun and challenging.
Eli Goldfine demonstrates the technique for rough-grinding an 8" telescope mirror.
Rough Grinding.
Anyone interested in participating in a possible telescope making class (6-8 sessions, dates TBD), please contact Friso Hermans at hermansf@region-12.org.
Presenter Dick Parker and participants at the telescope making workshop, Nov 8, 2024.
The Bridgewater-Roxbury-Washington boy scouts visited the planetarium on Wednesday, January 17th, for a show and stargazing event. This event prepared the scouts for meeting the requirements of the Astronomy merit badge, and introduced them to the scale and structure of the solar system, the night sky, and more. Thanks to Pierce Johnson (Shepaug Junior, class of 2026) for presenting the size and scale of the solar system and stars.