CAMPUS ACTIVITIES

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13th, 2005

 - Several hundred people joined us on the new "Observatory Plaza' to view the MOON, JUPITER, and SATURN. Telescopes, and binoculars, were available from 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. Members of the Sheboygan Astronomical Society were on hand to help answer questions, and to demo their telescopes.

                SUMMER ACTIVITIES

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 15th, 2005

- About 50 campers joined us at SANDERLING NATURE CENTER for a slide presentation on the "Hubble Space Telescope", plus telescopic views of the MOON and JUPITER.

SUNDAY, JULY 3rd, 2005

 The DEEP IMPACT probe was due to strike Comet Temple 1 around 1 AM, CDT, on July 4th. Unfortunately, this event took place AFTER the comet had set in Sheboygan skies. Attempts to image the comet, and to let the public view the comet before and after impact, had to be cancelled. The reason for this is shown in the image below. On July 1st, ACUITY activated a beam of light to illuminate the new flag pole. As shown in the image, it produces pollution in the exact place where the comet was to appear.

(Image by David Schenk)

Below are several early result DEEP IMPACT images from JPL.

The image on the LEFT shows Comet Temple 1 during the approach phase. A coma, and a short tail are visible. The CENTER image shows the nucleus of the comet just moments before impact. Note the craters on the surface. The image on the RIGHT shows the comet at the moment of impact.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 13th, 2005

- About 25 campers joined us at SANDERLING NATURE CENTER for a slide presentation on the "Galileo mission to Jupiter". It was followed by telescopic views of the MOON and JUPITER.

FRIDAY, JULY 29th, 2005

The EAA Fly-in at Oshkosh featured a display of SPACESHIP ONE. This vehicle was used to win the X-Prize for making the first TWO sub-orbital manned flights to an altitude of at least 100 kilometers.

FRIDAY, JULY 29th, 2005

Today, astronomers announced the discovery of an object which orbits the Sun at a distance of 97 A.U. The object appears to be LARGER than the planet Pluto. It was one of three large objects discovered, and announced this week. There is some controversy as to calling it a 10th planet. It orbits inside the Kuiper Belt, and may just be a huge comet.

An artist view of the new object which has been given a tentative name of XENA. There are several solar system bodies that are larger than Pluto. These include moons of Jupiter and Saturn. It remains to be seen what the future status of Pluto and Xena will be. (See note for 09/14/06)

FALL ACTIVITIES

     PLANETARIUM FIELD TRIP

- Over 50 students, family and friends, joined us for a FIELD TRIP to the Barlow Planetarium on Sunday, NOVEMBER 20th. The cost was $6 per person. Youngsters and seniors received a discount at $4. We attended the 3:30 PM show called "Wisconsin Skies". For more information regarding future trips, please contact Harald Schenk at hschenk@uwc.edu

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 7th, 2005

- An attempt to view the conjunction of the planets VENUS and JUPITER from "OBSERVATORY PLAZA" failed. (A storm prevented students from observing the conjunction. During a future session, we were able to view Venus, but Jupiter had set behind clouds along the horizon. This event was part of the campus PASSPORT activities. A number of students DID get to send their name to Pluto.)

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 26th, 2005

- Cloudy weather again prevented students from seeing MARS. It would have also been a chance to observe the planets VENUS and MERCURY during their greatest elongation from the Sun. Students in PASSPORT, who have not had a chance to see Mars due to cloudy weather, should see me on any clear Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday evening after class. Mars will be visible after 8 PM in the east.)

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 04th, 2005

- Today it was announced that the planet Pluto may have TWO additional moons. This gives it a total of THREE satellites. There has been much debate on whether Pluto should be regarded as a planet. It orbits well inside the KUIPER BELT. This is a reservoir of huge comets at the outskirts of our solar system. Pluto may be such a member. However, astronomers can't explain how Pluto could have collected a family of three moons. (They may have been produced by a giant impact.)

SPRING ACTIVITIES

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 03, 2006

- Today, astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) released an unusual satellite into space. It consisted of a discarded spacesuit filled with instrumentation to measure conditions inside. The suit transmits signals that can be picked up by anyone with a scanner. Tune in at 145.990 MHz FM. Signals are scheduled to repeat every 30 seconds.

SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 05, 2006

Field trip to BARLOW PLANETARIUM. The show is called "Wisconsin Winter Skies". It started at 3:30 PM. (A nice turn-out. Students from UW-FDL joined us for this field-trip.)

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2006

Registration started today for the 6-week Astronomy 100 Summer class at UW-S. This class can be taken WITH, or WITHOUT, the lab. An 8-week Astronomy 105 Summer class is also being offered at UW-FDL. It does NOT include a lab.

Freshmen appear to look younger every semester.

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 08, 2006

The astronomy lab students invited the public, staff, and other students to view the Moon, Mars, and Saturn this evening. By mid-afternoon, the weatherman predicted rain for the evening. In the meantime, a new comet is visible in the morning sky. Look in the SE near bright Venus. The planet Mercury is at greatest elongation from the Sun. Look for it about 1 hour after sunset in the west. A new RED SPOT has been discovered on Jupiter. This planet is currently visible in the morning sky.

The Moon as it appears when holding a simple digital camera against the eyepiece.

FRIDAY, APRIL 21, 2006

The NORTH CENTRAL REGIONAL of the ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE met in Appleton on Friday and Saturday. Students who were interested in attending had a chance to hear Apollo astronaut Schmidt talk about the last mission to the lunar surface. Schmidt was the only Geologist to make the trip to the Moon. Other activities included trips to the Barlow Planetarium, the IMAX, and the EAA Museum.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 03, 2006 & SATURDAY, MAY 06, 2006

Members of the public joined us in celebrating NATIONAL ASTRONOMY DAY. Observing sessions were held on campus, and at Maywood Environmental Park.

Previous Astronomy Day activities have taken place at UW-S, at Maywood Park, at Sheboygan Memorial Mall, and at the John Michael Kohler Art Center. Please feel free to join us for viewing the heavens on future dates.

SUNDAY, JUNE 25th, 2006

The Summer students made a visit to the Barlow Planetarium. The Sunday Show starts at 3:30 PM. Topic is: "Expedition to Southern Skies". Cost is $6.50/person. Visit is by car-pool.

FALL ACTIVITIES

THURSDAY, AUGUST 24th, 2006

The campus began a mentoring program for incoming students. Mentors will meet with the students until advisors are available later in the semester.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6th, 2006

The Fall semester began with a new class of students. This semester, we will begin a study of the SOLAR SYSTEM. This is a timely topic, because PLUTO has been demoted from planet-hood. We now have EIGHT planets in our Solar System.

The gang!

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 14th, 2006

What an exciting time we live in. Today, the IAU (the governing body that demoted Pluto as a planet) assigned a new name to the object that had been called 'XENA'. It will now be known as 'ERIS'. It's moon has been designated as 'DYSNOMIA'. These objects are representative of the new category of 'Dwarf Planet'.

MONDAY, OCTOBER 2nd, 2006

Students made a field trip to the Barlow Planetarium on Friday, October 20th. The show started at 7 PM. The cost is $6.50/adult. Children and seniors are $4.50. We car-pooled by leaving campus around 5 PM. Many who joined us, brought a friend.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8th, 2006

This afternoon we saw a TRANSIT of the planet Mercury across the face of the Sun. Due to cold weather, and the low position of the Sun, we projected an online image of this event on a screen. The image was sent from a site in Japan. This made it easy for students to view the event.

Tiny planet Mercury traveling across the face of the Sun.

SATURDAY, JANUARY 20th, 2007

Today marked the opening session of the Yerkes Astrophysics Academy for Young Scientists (YAAYS).

We had 454 parents and students take part..

The students were given a tour of Yerkes Observatory, had a chance to take part in a tele-conference with Max Mutchler of the Space Telescope Science Institute, and were prepared for future activities.

Max Mutchler (STScI) talking to the students from Baltimore.

During upcoming sessions, teachers will form the students into teams. They will use the 40" Yerkes refractor to make observations, they will also collaborate on a proposal for use of the HST. Several teachers are being trained to take part in observations onboard SOFIA. This is the newest airborne observatory.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28th, 2007

Today, the NEW HORIZON probe made it's closest approach to the planet Jupiter. The mission will be the first probe to reach distant Pluto. The fly-by gave astronomers a chance to test the instruments that will give us our first direct view of Pluto. Here are some of the images that were returned during the fly-by.

The volcanoe TVASTAR is seen erupting on the moon IO (left). IO is the closest of the four largest satellites of Jupiter. The image on the right shows the second large moon EUROPA rising over the edge of Jupiter, This moon is covered by a shell of ice, Astronomers suspect that there is an ocean under the crust.

Jupiter has a feature called the 'GREAT RED SPOT'. As seen in the left image, the spot resembles a hurricane on Earth. This feature is about TWICE the diameter of our planet. It has existed for hundreds of years. The planet Jupiter is also known to have a faint ring. In the image on the right, the NEW HORIZON probe was able to image it.

The other two large satellites of Jupiter are seen above. On the left is GANYMEDE. It has a strange surface that suggests it may have broken apart in the past, and then re-accreted. On the right are two images of the outermost of the four large satellites. CALLISTO is like a dirty snowball. The surface has collected a lot of dust from satellites further away. A comparison of these four large moons is shown below.

From left to right are the four Galilean satellites that were discovered by GALILEO. These are IO, EUROPA, GANYMEDE and CALLISTO.

THURSDAY, APRIL 19th, 2007

This was ASTRONOMY WEEK for the lab students. We had an astronomical poster display inside. It was up all week. Outside, we had beautiful weather. It gave us a chance to proceed with a public observing session.

Members of the public observing from OBSERVATORY PLAZA.

Sheboygan Astronomical Society President Diane VanMinsel helps us with her 12" telescope.

Objects viewed included the Moon, Venus, Saturn and the International Space Station. This came over Sheboygan twice on the same night.

Inside the Science Center, students had a display of over 20 posters. Each dealt with a different aspect of astronomy.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21, 2007

Saturday events included SOLAR observing with a Lyman alpha telescope.

The Sun with a Lyman alpha filter. (Image by David Schenk)

FRIDAY & SATURDAY, MAY 4 & 5, 2007

Rockets for Schools activities included:

Students, staff and the public were invited to take part in ASTROLAB activities.

NASA sent a special media bus to update people on space activities.

SUMMER ACTIVITIES

MONDAY, JUNE 11th, 2007

    The Summer Astronomy 100 class began with 8 students. Classes meet four times each week. There was an initial small lab as well. Observations were made of VENUS, JUPITER and SATURN.

FALL ACTIVITIES

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13th, 2007

This was the first year that amateur astronomers celebrated TWO Astronomy Day events in one year. To compliment our first event on April 19th, we opened the semester with a second Astronomy Day event on Thursday, September 13th.

This event was also open to the public. The turn-out was great, but clouds forced us inside by 9 PM. The public was able to view another student poster display inside the Science Building. A second viewing session was conducted on Saturday, September 15th at Maywood park. It was with the Sheboygan Astronomical Society.

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 06, 2007

A campus Astronomy Club was formed. Members are called 'STAR TROOPERS'. Their mission statement is 'To promote the pleasures and science of astronomy among our members, and the community at large'. Check out some of our activities on the Club link.

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 07, 2007

A bright comet has been seen in Sheboygan skies for over a week. Comet Holmes is located between the orbits of Mars, and Jupiter. It should be about +17th magnitude, but it has brightened to about +2. This compares it to the stars in the Big Dipper. The comet can be seen near the constellation of Perseus. This is in the NE part of the night sky.

The actual coma of the comet is now larger than the planet Jupiter. The above image shows the apparent size with the Moon. Our first attempt to photograph this comet was made by Peter Schenk. Three images show it's appearance.

Another upcoming event is the approach of the planet Mars. It will be closest to us by Christmas, 2007. Here is what it currently looks like in a telescope.

WEDNESDAY, 19 DECEMBER, 2007

After the final exam, we had several telescopes available in front of the Science Building entrance. Kevin Koski, and a member of the Plymouth group, joined the few students who were brave enough to venture outside. Objects observed were the Moon, and the planet Mars.

The planet Mars as it appeared with the HST during this close approach to Earth.

WEDNESDAY, 02 JANUARY, 2008

Two comets now grace the evening skies. Comet 17P/Holmes is still a bright object. To the west, Comet 8P/Tuttle is visible in binoculars. On this date, the comet passed almost in front of the galaxy M33.

((Map from the Spaceweather site)

MONDAY, 14 JANUARY, 2008

The MESSENGER spacecraft made its first fly-by of the planet Mercury today. This is only the second time that a probe has photographed the closest planet to the Sun. Mariner 10 made several passes of that planet, but was only able to photograph one half of the surface. MESSENGER will eventually enter into an orbit around Mercury.

The planet Mercury during approach by Messenger.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20th, 2008

A total eclipse of the Moon took place in the evening hours. The display was observed by students with telescopes, and by naked eye.

ON THE LEFT, Eclipsed Moon with the planet Saturn at lower left. ON THE RIGHT, Moon as seen through telescope.

MONDAY, MARCH 03, 2008

A new course was announced at UW-Sheboygan. Phy 261 will be the first course in Astronautics in the UW-C system. The course may start in conjunction with the opening of the new Great Lakes Aeronautics Center in the fall.

SATURDAY, MARCH 18, 2008

Field trip to the Milwaukee Public Museum to see the planetarium show on 'Life in the Universe'. The IMAX has been converted to dual use. It can now show planetarium presentations as well as regular IMAX shows.

MONDAY, MARCH 24, 2008

The Cassini mission to Saturn has made a number of interesting discoveries among the moons of Saturn.

    1) The moon ENCELADUS was found to have a 'plume' of volatiles shooting out at the south pole.

    2) The moon TITAN may have an underground 'ocean'.

    3) The moon RHEA appears to have a 'ring'.

From left to right. The plume of volatiles coming off the surface of ENCELADUS. An artist view of the ocean under the surface of TITAN. An artist view of the ring around RHEA. (Images from JPL)

TUESDAY, APRIL 01, 2008

The Sheboygan Astronomical Society, and the STAR TROOPERS of UW-Sheboygan invited the campus to see the new movie "DARK SIDE OF THE MOON". The show will be held in the Physics Lab starting at 7 PM. Free popcorn will be offered.

SATURDAY, APRIL 19, 2008

The North Central Region of the Astronomical League (NCRAL) will hold it's annual meeting in Port Washington. Instructor Harald Schenk was invited to give one of four talks. The topic of this presentation is "Mysterious Comet SW-1".

THURSDAY, MAY 08, 2008

The annual celebration for ASTRONOMY DAY took place at UW-Sheboygan this evening. Student posters were  on display inside the Science Building during the week.

MONDAY, AUGUST 08, 2008

A new semester is about to begin. There are plans to incorporate a high-altitude balloon component to the lab. This will fit in with the new Phy 591 course in the spring. As a result, I attended a workshop at Taylor University in Indiana. Below are some images that were taken by the balloon payload.

Edge of Earth is visible at the left. The ground from 20 miles up can be seen on the right.

Recovery of the payload was on a farm field.

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