Astronomy Day
2001
Saturday, April 28th
Kentwood MI -
Kentwood Amateur Astronomy League (KAAL), in association with astronomy clubs across the country, hosted an event in recognition of National Astronomy Day. The purpose of the event was to increase awareness of amateur astronomy, and promote an interest in astronomy with the public.
KAAL members, for the second year in a row, set up at the Kentwood Library, which turned out to be a great location for the event. Members manned displays, delivered presentations, answered questions, and helped with hands-on activities for the kids.
It was a near prefect day and the public seemed to appreciate the chance to participate in an activity that many had never done before; sunspot viewing. Telescopes with solar filters were available for individual use. Small groups of children and adults were also able to see the sun safely through the use of "eyepiece projection", using a telescope to project an image of the Sun onto a screen. They were amazed to see several groups of sunspots on the face of the Sun. They were also interested to learn about the 11 year sunspot cycle, a cycle of sunspot activity which is currently at its maximum point.
KAAL member John DeLongpre talks about sunspots to a group if interested kids.
KAAL member Donzella Hines helps some young astronomers discover the universe.
Inside the Library, members kept busy explaining different aspects of astronomy to inquisitive guests. Displays of Astrophotography, books and astronomy aids, scale model Solar system, and scale Earth and Moon aided these discussions. KAAL members pointed out interesting aspects of each display, and used the visual reinforcement to help guests understand what they were seeing.
Children were excited to have a special place just for them, where they could color some of the planets, and learn a little about the solar system at the same time. Each child that participated received a small goodie bag of astronomy related toys to take home. It was fun seeing the kids walking around with star shaped sunglasses and huge grins!
KAAL members that were outside in the sunspot viewing area had a chance to experience something that is very rare among astronomers. They received excessively high doses of solar radiation. In other words, they got sun burned! Yes, it was a long but rewarding day in the sun. Next year, they'll remember the sun block!