Category: Outreach

Action Sun in Java – a week of learning and harmony at Bosscha Observatory - Building the Scientific Mind 2013 Blog 2

6/25/2013

I felt particularly intrigued and honoured to be a participant at the Fifth Advanced Colloquium - Building the Scientific Mind 2013. Dr Jan Visser from the Learning Development Institute sent me a formal invitation to attend back in August 2012.

The Colloquium was to have a specific focus on questions regarding this year’s theme "Science and Technology in the Service of Beauty and Harmony". Dr Visser felt that my work was eminently relevant to those questions.

These colloquia bring together prominent minds from a wide variety of disciplines pertaining to the sciences, the arts and humanities. In previous years themes were Learning for sustainable futures ( South Africa 2011) and In Search of a Home in the Universe ( Egypt 2009) )   Learning in the perspective of complex and long term change ( Canada 2007) . The initial Building the Scientific Mind was in 2005 in the Netherlands during International year of Physics. Previous participants included Nobel laureates such as the physicists Leon Lederman and Carl Wieman, UNESCO’s former Director General and noted molecular bio chemist Federico Mayor.

During Building the Scientific Mind colloquia contributors are encouraged   to think beyond the boundaries of their own specific disciplines. The overall goal of these meetings is to improve the conditions of learning, in both formal and informal settings.

Into this transdisciplinary   arena on May 27th 2013, I brought Action Sun.
I developed this workshop in order to bring the sun to Earth in real time using simple materials with collaboration from local children and the child within us all. The purpose is to teach people of all ages the features of the sun and to take time to appreciate its wonder.

The Colloquium began with very uplifting rocket launches carried out by Aldino Adra Baskoro, a local teacher. This got everyone in the mood for fun and set a playful atmosphere loose around the grounds of Bosscha Observatory.

A team of people helped carry the 12 foot X 12 foot black tarpaulin for Action Sun out to the grass in front of the magnificent dome. It had been donated by the local military; it was real tarpaulin, heavy and thick, a great canvas for the sun.

Everyone took part in building the suns photosphere, sunspots, chromosphere, and filaments. Children from local schools and orphanages, teachers, scientists, philosophers, anthropologists, economists, game builders, educationalists, representatives of UNESCO, UNAWE, astrophysicists, astronomers, theoreticians, rocket builders, mathematicians, and musicians.

Fellow educators from amongst the colloquium cohort were very quick to jump in with gusto to help distribute the paper, glue and other elements to construct what would eventually be a nine foot diameter solar disc.

As it was a cloudy day I took my sun building data from the Solar Dynamics Observatory “The Sun Now” page. Bosscha Observatory had a plasma screen set up inside the dome showing the page so participants could understand where the prominences, sunspots and filaments were during the hour that it took to bring the sun to Earth. They also had some beautiful h alpha telescopes ready for me in case the sun did actually shine on the proceedings.

Sally Roberts from California was the first to say “how can I help?” she became my super hero glue mixer and paper distributor. Vidula Mhaiskar from India took photos for me and also distributed the wonderful educational material supplied by NASA Goddard to support the workshop. With something like 100 people present it was great to have such enthusiastic assistance. Binta Moustapha   from Nigeria and Sally Roberts also got busy making the giant filament that graced almost half of the suns disc on that day.

Lovely local children flung paper and paint with great joy and curiosity and soon the sun was glowing from the black canvas on Java soil. I noticed some of the little orphans got paint on their hands; it was a slow motion moment for me in a very action packed hour. They looked at their hands like they had never seen paint before, that image will stay in my mind forever.

It seemed the child in many delegates was very close to the surface and burst out in actions of jollity. I was surrounded by professionals from many disciplines delightfully flinging paper and glue with no inhibitions. Questions were also flying at me about filaments and other solar structures. There was learning and listening magically absorbed while all the time we worked toward finishing our sun in real time. This was easy learning, it was cross cultural and for some it was language less. My sun builders were from 5 to 75 in age, they were bolted together by passion and enjoyment.
When finally our sun was created, I invited everyone to sign their names to the canvas. A few drops of warm Java rain prompted the crowd to carry the sun back into the dome. It remained on display for the rest of the week under the seven ton Carl Zeiss telescope WOW!

During the colloquium a gentle breeze mingled with the call to prayer and often fanned the passion in the room with seamless ease. Inside the observatory pools of beauty were daily being squeezed and teased out of Economics, Philosophy, Trash Anthropology, Maths, Cosmology, Music, Emotions and Football.

Bosscha Observatory was built ninety years ago and has many similarities to Dunsink Observatory in Dublin. I felt very at home there and for the first time felt even more at home amongst this gathering than I had ever felt at conferences or festivals that were solely astronomical in content.

One of the major differences at this observatory compared to Dunsink was the size of the dome and the main telescope. Bosscha’s dome was twenty two meters in diameter, the telescope named “Zeiss” weighted in at seven tons and was eleven meters long. The dome at Dunsink is 9 feet in diameter and the telescope is 18 feet long. The day after Action Sun I had a personal introduction to “Zeiss” from Dhani Herdiwijaya. WOW!!
The floor was mechanised to lift up observers so that objects could be viewed at whatever elevation was required. Massive chains on each side of the floor pulled it up under power generated by ninety year old controls. Everything works perfectly and the observatory handles 60,000 members of the public in its outreach programme annually.

This awesome telescope is double refractor made by Carl Zeiss. The main telescope lenses are 60 cms in diameter. The telescope was specifically designed for double star observing and can observe stars that are much weaker, approximately 100000 times fainter than the stars that can be seen by the naked eye. Focal length is a whopping 1080 cms or 35 .4 feet, the dome of the building has a weight of fifty six tons and is made of two mm thick steel.

One of the joys of being six degrees below the equator for me was seeing Crux for the first time and also seeing Scorpius in its entirety also for the first time. This happened one night when just a small section of the sky was clear over the hotel. Java was still having its rainy season so there were no clear sky nights to observe from this iconic instrument.

You might enjoy my photographs Action Sun,the telescope and the Colloquium in the slide show below.

A short video showing Action Sun on display under the 7 ton Carl Zeiss Telescope at Bosscha Observatory West Java Indonesia

Moon over South China Sea - Reflections on Building the Scientific Mind 2013 at Bosscha Observatory West Java Indonesia Text, Images & Video Plus What's Up for June 2013

6/15/2013

Baby Banana tree at Bosscha Observatory

Building the Scientific Mind 2013
Science and Technology in the Service of Harmony and Beauty
Bossacha Observatory, Lembang, West Java, Indonesia May 27th to June 1st 2013

A Learning Development Institute, UNESCO, Institute Teknologi Bandung , Bossacha Observatory Fundacion Culture de Paz and UNAWE event.

Moon over South China Sea – Blog 1

Altitude 41,037 ft , Speed 545 mph, Outside temperature – 71 degrees, 06:14 local time, one hour too touchdown in Singapore. Over my right shoulder framed in the super jumbo’s oval window I noticed the full moon setting over the South China Sea. This beautiful vision triggered an immediate reaction to record it in some way. I took data from the flight path graphics screen, searched desperately in my bag for a pencil but only found a biro for sketching. The crispy clear moon offered the illusion that it was suspended for a time on the wing of the plane. A double moon halo with a rich tangerine inner circle and a pale silver blue outer circle enriched the view even further. I became transfixed with the complexity of the observation before me. The moonlight made a strong glint on the wing. The light dissipated along the blue slate leading edge as we sliced through the freezing outside atmosphere.   Diffraction spikes, then developed over the wing in the moonlight. I think they were made by the window; they looked like spokes of carefully assembled, tight lined gas spectra.

For a long while the moon seemed to stay on the wing. I decided that moon drawing from a moving aircraft was a luxury I would like to have more of. The light playing from moon to wing and window was visually powerful, a painting hatched there and then. I took notes of colour tone and positions of everything for a later work as hot towels were once again handed out by the elegant flight attendants on Singapore Airlines.

A bird strike at Heathrow left all my subsequent flight connections very tight. I had 12 minutes or so in Changi before my Bandung flight at Terminal 2. The Sky Train and a wobbly run to gate 32 F did my sore foot no good at all, however I was very pleased when I was onboard the Silk Air flight on the last leg of my 8,000 mile journey ( or so I thought ) to my hotel in Lembang, West Java.

Bossacha Observatory had sent a car, a two hour journey ensued, the distance was only 20 kilometres .For most of that journey my eyes were wide open and so was my mouth as I was shocked at much of what I saw. The extreme opulence of finely designed gated houses, side by side with extreme poverty was difficult to understand. The condition of the roads, the pavements, and infrastructure left me aghast It seemed there were no road rules or standards. Everywhere there were food stalls on wheels and most of them were over open drains beside piles of uncollected rubbish which added to the chaotic view. What seemed like 500 million motorcycles competed with flash cars, angkots (local taxis) and trucks held together with gaffer tape for every available piece of road. Entire families were on these motorcycles. Babies being fed on motorcycles, children asleep on motorcycles, everyone moving at speed in between the other vehicles with inches to spare. My only conclusion was that the government did not give a care for these people in any way shape or form.

I witnessed large dogs, domestic cats and rabbits for sale in cages on the side of the road outside very grandiose houses. Where have I come to? What was I thinking of? Were the thoughts in my head as my lovely driver tried to persuade me to go shopping for water before we reached my destination. After a rather dizzy U turn in this manic road system we were suddenly taking another route with involved a kind of toll road, well actually a toll lane to be more precise.

A pole as narrow as the car was lifted by a tiny old woman to bring us into a beautiful peaceful country road with banana trees, jungle and local houses all along the way. This was a very different world to the mayhem of Bandung.

The hotel was guarded and secured, very beautiful planting and facilities. I found great peace and clarity by its Koi pond and restful thinking in the sunrays.

Allahu Akbar
God is Great
[said two times]

La ilaha illa Allah
There is no god except the One God

For the pre-dawn (fajr) prayer, the following phrase is inserted after the fifth part above, towards the end:

As-salatu Khayrun Minan-nawm
Prayer is better than sleep
(said two times)

This was my wake up call at 4 am each morning, it had me on my balcony alert and listening to the jungle sounds competing with chanting voices from somewhere in the pre dawn darkness. As the sun’s rays climbed over the valley, the view of Tankuban Perahu,a recently active volcano to my right and a stunning gorge below filled every light receiving cell in my eyes, with awesomeness. The steep terraces were flanked by exotic trees full of yellow and purple flowers. Very tiny jet black birds darted everywhere, too fast to see their shapes, butterflies of many colours fluttered in the greenery below my perch.

I had no problem with the Muadhan’s   early call, it reminded me that I was a visitor to a unique place on the planet. This country needed my effort to accept and understand its culture. ( see my short video below to hear some of it, he called from 4am - 5am daily)

My first thoughts about Java were illuminated in a broader context by a most excellent talk during the colloquium. Dr James Lees (University of the Western Cape) gave to us a presentation he regularly gives to his students. He used clips from the popular show X Factor to develop in our minds thoughts of being judgmental, feelings of empathy, and a gamut of other human emotions which were soon all present and tangible in the room. James’s presentation was a global lesson. Dr Lees works with young people suffering from HIV. He teaches people how to live and how to die with strength and harmony while dealing with this disease which finds little emphatic engagement amongst the world’s nations.

His work brings understanding to forgotten people who do not have time to enjoy beautiful moons dangling on the wings of airplanes.’ Walk in my shoes ‘   the slogan on the posters he distributed to everyone, a strong message. Extending the aspiration of that slogan slightly, the right to education is not for all the world’s children but it should be. In Bossacha observatory we were there to discuss Building the Scientific Mind with input from people of many differing disciplines. How many minds are lost to education, creative and scientific development by Hunger, HIV, War, Corruption, Ignorance, Prejudice, and Neglect? How can this planet strive to ensure that all its children now and in the future will be embraced by an education and have the freedom to indulge not just in scientific and creative expression but in life itself?

My experiences at Building the Scientific Mind 2013 can only be articulated through several blogs as it was so rich and varied in form and learning.

More on this soon and Action Sun at Bossacha Observatory

A selection of slide images for this first write up on the Colloquium

Early Morning call to prayer in Lembang West Java , the white thing in my video is the column on my balcony and the flashing red light is on a mast just in front of the volcano.

What's Up for June 2013 from Jane Houston Jones

Br Guy Consolmagno SJ Vatican Astronomer visits Bray Co Wicklow - COSMOS 2013 Irelands leading Star Party April 12th - 14th

3/25/2013

Turn Left at Orion signed for the school library

St Cronans National School Bray had a very special visitor on Wednesday March 20. None other than the Vatican Astronomer Br Guy Consolmagno SJ. Originally I had invited him to drop in and shake hands with St Cronans Stargazers our astronomy club, but he very generously offered to give a talk for the whole school. 500 boys and their teachers were treated to a wonderfully pitched talk about the Vatican Observatory, the pope’s interest in the subject, the wonders of astronomy and all things that give joy in the vast universe in which we live.

The boys asked very intelligent questions, Br Guy gave them a listening ear, his answers inspired and intrigued the entire audience. Br Guy Consolmagno SJ is an American research astronomer and planetary scientist at the Vatican Observatory. He presented Principal Maeve Tierney with a signed copy of his famous book Turn Left at Orion for the school library.

Br Guy was delighted to visit Bray, after lunch in the Martello and a walk on the prom he dipped his hands in the Irish Sea, a rare moment for him in his busy global speaking schedule.

I first met Br Guy back in 2005 at the Whirlpool Star Party, at the time I had no clue who he was but we had a warm conversation about binoculars and observing. I was invited to this premier event to give a talk about Enceladus ( one of Saturn’s ice moons) and found out next day that Guy was there to deliver a talk about Turn Left at Orion.

We met up again during International Year of Astronomy 2009. Br Guy was on a speaking tour in Ireland. The first of his talks was at the Dublin Institute of Advanced Studies and Dunsink Observatory, followed by Gonzaga College. We then continued on to COSMOS (Now - Irelands leading Star Party) in Tullamore and then to Blackrock Castle Observatory in Cork. If my memory serves me right, Guy delivered six different talks in five days to varying audiences everyone of them a polished gem in communicating the science and wonder of astronomy.

More information on the Vatican and Br Guy Consolmagno click here.

COSMOS 2013 April 12th - 14th Details here

Slide show from Br Guy Consolmagno's visit to Bray below
- School visit images by Bernard Kelleghan

COSMOS 2013 see ye there !

Get the moon in your head - What's up for September 2012 - International Observe the moon night 2012

9/10/2012

Almost Full Moon Lunation 12.75 days Sketch

Get the Moon in your head

‘At conjunction the moon occupies a position between the sun and the earth; it is then illuminated by the sun’s rays on the side which is turned away from the earth. The other hemisphere, which faces the earth, is covered with darkness; hence the moon does not illuminate the surface of the earth at all. Next departing gradually from the sun, the moon comes to be lighted partly upon the side it turns toward us, and its whitish horns, still very thin, illuminate the earth with a faint light. The sun’s illumination of the moon increasing now as the moon approaches first quarter, a reflection of that light to the earth also increases. Soon the splendour on the moon extends to a semicircle, and our nights grow brighter; at length the entire visible face of the moon is irradiated by the suns resplendent rays, and at full moon the whole surface of the earth shines in a flood of moon light. Now the moon, waning, sends us her beams more weakly, and the earth is less strongly lighted; at length the moon returns to conjunction with the sun, and black night covers the earth.’

Extract from Sidereus Nuncius (The Starry Messenger) 1610 by Galileo Galilei translation by Stillman Drake from the book Discoveries and Opinions of Galileo.

Now there ye have it, direct and clear from the master Galileo. Read it slowly, imagine it, and animate it in your mind. Observe it for yourself, spend time with the moon soon you will understand its movements.

Galileo was a great man for sharing the moon through his telescope. He shared with other scientists, princes, students, the pope, and artists. He was compelled to share it as it was such a magnificent sight even in his small telescope. He wrote Starry Messenger to share his drawings and observations of the moon, far and wide.

The way Galileo writes about the moon pulls you in to be part of his exploration. He thereby transports his readers to share his thoughts as he figures out the lunar surface, phases and features of the moon observed over 400 years ago. Today you can still find freshness pouring from his enquiring mind in his descriptive writing.

Sharing the moon with the public is an affliction borne with large smiles by many astronomers all over this planet. It’s amazing that there are so many people today that have never had an up close and personal view of the moon in a telescope. International observe the moon night invites astronomers to show the moon to people on September 22nd. This is a global event, with an increasing bubble of participants.

If you have binoculars or a telescope consider joining in and showing the moon to your neighbours. Register here its easy.

Check the map for other IFAS clubs sharing the moon on the night

The moon is a constant in our existence; our eyes are drawn by it to look up from all over the planet. Galileo made sense of the moon for us, at great risk to his freedom. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin lifted the entire planet by landing on it for the first time back in 1969. On September 22nd you can easily pick out the Sea of Tranquillity with your eyes. Wink at the moon is an action request from Neil Armstrong’s family, to honour his memory. It’s also a really cool simple public outreach exercise.

Weather permitting I will be on the promenade near Bray head with St Cronan’s Stargazers and our telescopes from 19:00 hrs till 20:30 approx September 22nd.

What's up for September 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

Action Sun at St Pauls Senior Girls School Dublin 12 - What's up for July 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

7/5/2012

WOW !! this is huge in the hall

St Pauls Senior Girls National School in Greenhill’s Dublin 12 is just a few minutes’ walk from the house where I grew up. It was fortuitous to have the opportunity to carry out my third Action Sun for a school in this area.

On June 25th 47 young girls from third class, took part in building the sun. This was a very positive group all eager to get going and get busy. Streamers of orange and red paper flew through the air in vast amounts. In a short time the photosphere began to grow in the schools courtyard.

The activity of Action Sun supports the school curriculum in its art as it uses mixed media to create the sun. The program uses paint and paper to convey activity and explosive movement on the solar disc. Action Sun also supports primary school art as it enables children to use the characteristics of the materials to make structures and features on the solar disc. Making the sun in this way is both creative and explorative. Learning a little science through the arts facilitates the use of many kinds of intelligences. The learning process in the making is as valuable as the finished suns. Textures and spatial organisation also comes into the creation of this work. The girls at St Pauls School were very good at working as a group, helping each other out. They also made good decisions during the activity which showed they were an excellent team. This is kinesthetic learning, learning by doing.

Action Sun compliments science in the primary school curriculum on several levels. A short information talk in between making the suns features informs the children about our suns role in the solar system. We talk about the scale of the sun and the Earth. We talk about the energy of the sun and its function in relation to the other planets. The mini talks make sure that the children understand that the sun is our main source of heat and light. By building the sun the children learn by hands on investigation. The children literally explore the physical features of the sun with their hands in mini scale. A quick review of the evaluation sheets shows the quality of the learning. Several children not only drew sketches of the complex sun but also put in arrows to the different features and labelled them all correctly. The action of throwing the paper was very popular, signing their names was also a highlight and for some children carrying the sun into the hall was the stand out moment of the day.

When I look at the sun in my solar telescope I see a huge amount of detail and very often in the past I have shared that view with children. However it takes a long time to show this view to a large group as the sun presents as a small disc with tiny features. It is difficult for children to comprehend the enormous scale of our nearest star. I put Action Sun together to bridge that gap and help more people achieve some understanding of this wonderful star in safety with a big fun element.

The features of the sun itself were totally new to this young group, but at the end of the programme words like photosphere, chromosphere, filaments, prominences and sunspots were all a little more familiar. We closed our eyes at the end of the build and held our faces up to the sun to feel its heat and remind ourselves that it takes eight minutes for its light to get to us here on Earth, a 93 million mile smile. Building the sun took about 90 minutes. The 7.9 X 4.9 meter tarpaulin was pre prepared at home using four litres of matte black masonry paint. During the activity we used approx 3,500 individual pre cut pieces of crepe paper ,15 litres of washable PVA glue, 6 litres of yellow paint , 1 litre of red paint, plus the energy of forty seven eight and nine year old third class girls.

My thanks to Sarah Jayne Reid for setting up Action Sun at St Pauls and to Phil Curran for all her efforts prior to, during and post the build. Thanks to Ms Keating, Ms Daly and Principal Sr Maureen for their support during the activity. NASA Sun Earth Day bookmarks, posters and other educational material were provided to the teachers. The solar feature data for this Action Sun was an observation of the disc made from my PST earlier that morning. The Solar Dynamics Observatory website was pointed out to the girls so they could continue to watch the sun safely.

What's Up for July 2012 from Jane Houston Jones

Action Sun – Lets bring the Sun to Earth © by Deirdre Kelleghan - What's Up for June 2012 from Jane Houston Jones - The Transit of Venus

6/6/2012

As I approached the City of Kilkenny medieval towers and spires broke the dull May skyline. Pure yellow rapeseed fields painted sunshine on the landscape. Rich green wheat moved slowly in the cold breeze each side of the motorway.

At Kilkenny Castle on National Drawing Day my Action Sun participants were young families randomly stopping by and taking part for short periods. Small children throwing crepe paper photosphere clumps with smiles on their tiny faces. Just as well for the completion of the project that two boys Max Gronowski aged 12 and Daragh Lynch aged 12 got stuck into it from the start. They helped paint the acrylic / glue base, the root for two of the suns atmospheres. As the solar build progressed my information spiel became simply a three and a half hour conversation with the boys. They asked questions, I answered; we discussed the photosphere as we threw our orange paint dipped paper targeting the empty spaces on this sixteen foot highly textured sun. They asked ‘where did the sun come from’? What will happen to the sun in the future? How big is the sun? They could not wait to fill in the photosphere and move on to apply the chromosphere. We talked about solar telescopes, space telescopes, the dangers of looking at the sun, the Venus Transit, Apollo 11, becoming an astronaut, Mars, going to Mars, Mars Science Laboratory, photosynthesis, energy and light. At that point Action sun had become a constructive dialogue with two very tenacious boys. Some parents came to help for a while and we were joined for the last hour or so by Matthew Shortall aged 9 who helped to make our photosphere denser which on a solar disc of that diameter was a very big task. Daragh said it would be great if we had music to work by, ‘what kind of music?’ I asked,   Beethoven was the unexpected reply.

We had dragged the sun through the clouds and reproduced it on the ground. Groups of adults got answers to ‘what’s going on here? Is that the sun? ‘Ha ha I have not seen that for weeks’. ‘Does it really look like that?’ ‘What are the black things?’

Max helped place the sunspots using my drawing made directly from the Solar Dynamics Observatory website at 09:02 IST. We made the filaments, I added the prominences; local papers took photographs of the creation. The sun never showed its face at Kilkenny Castle that day but as each hour went by the sun on Earth was growing brighter every minute as our build continued.

Venus, a black polystyrene ball on the end of a stick, demonstrated the transit   as seen from Ireland against the newly created sun. The Earth had escaped from my car earlier and spent   the day in the middle of my driveway.

We actually ran out of time, our photosphere big as it became, was just not dense enough and the boys knew it. Our red thinly spaced solar chromospheric   paper   fluttered in the wind. Sticky hands and paint splattered tee shirts told the story of almost four hours of creative work.

For their wonderful effort I gave the boys NASA Sun Earth Day packs. They helped me give out Venus Transit information to all who passed by. Max, Darragh and Matthew signed their names proudly to the giant canvas as they had done most of the work. The 7.9 X 4.9 meter Action Sun will hang at Dunsink Observatory during Solarfest on June 23rd. The photosphere will be complete by then.

Action Sun first light was with St Cronans Stargazers children’s school club on May 4th 2012. Sixteen boys and I constructed an eight foot solar disc based on my early morning observations. This eager group worked on the sun interspaced by pockets of solar information delivered in short bursts which punctuated the action.   Link to blog

Action Sun was funded by Dublin City of Science 2012 and The Butler Gallery Kilkenny Castle , Kilkenny City. Action Sun was a NASA Sun Earth Day event also
Action Sun – is an indoor or outdoor activity which allows groups of children to participate in building a large solar disc or several solar discs. This Earth built sun mimics the photosphere and chromosphere of the sun, includes sunspots, filaments, and prominences present on the sun ideally in real time. The materials are simple, paper, glue and paint. It is kinaesthetic participatory learning for young children. The activity educates and supports science through art and the creative process.

Slide show of Action Sun at Kilkenny Castle

What's Up for June 2012 from Jane Houston Jones - The Transit of Venus of course :-)

SUN EARTH DAYS 2011 - We looked at the sun, had lots of fun, learned a lot and created amazing drawings

3/23/2011

Sun Earth Day 2011 for St Cronans Star Gazers - Slideshow and Drawing Winners below

“The earth has received the embrace of the sun and we shall see the results of that love.”
Sitting Bull

March 14th 2011 – A lovely blue sky day greeted my eyes. At St Cronan’s Boys National School That morning I delivered a short talk on the features we see when we observe the sun in a h- alpha telescope. This was followed up by showing the boys a DVD supplied by NASA Goddard “Journey to the Stars” narrated by Whoopi Goldberg.

The boys who answered my sun questions after the presentation received “Looking through the Solar Atmosphere” images. We then went outside to have a look at the sun for real in my special solar telescope. We were very lucky to have a clear view of an Active Regions 1166, 1169, and 1172, on the solar disk and several prominences around the limb.

March 15th I ran my solar drawing workshop “The Suns Massive” for forty nine of the boys in Mr McGovern’s classroom. So many boys turned up to take part that some of them ended up working happily on the floor. We took a close look at some of the magical images taken by the Solar Dynamics Observatory (a NASA telescope out in space). We learned a little bit about the suns explosive outbursts, prominences, solar flares, and CME’s. We looked at the sun in different wavelengths of light and we looked at the magnetic atmosphere of our nearest star.

Over the course of the workshop we made a lovely colourful mess in Mr McGovern’s class, but the children created some astonishing drawings in the process. The best drawing will be honoured by being featured on the Solar Dynamics Observatory site, and a package of solar outreach materials from NASA Goddard will be presented to the winning child. Many thanks to Mr Dodd for helping with the solar viewing on the 14th and facilitating the SDO drawing workshop on the 15th. Thanks also to Karl O’Broin for technical assistance on the day.

March 19th was actually Sun Earth Day 2011 – I took my solar telescope to the green at Sans Souci Wood to share the view of Active Region 1175 on the solar disk. Members of the astronomy group turned up and I also shared the view with some neighbours and parents who came along. Sun Earth Day posters and NASA STEREO fridge magnets were give to each attendee.

Earlier that morning I had observed the largest prominence I have ever seen on the western limb of the sun. I shared that sketch with the children and adults that arrived to give them some idea of the awesome power of the sun that can be seen if you have the correct equipment.

You must never ever look at the sun if you do not have totally safe equipment. The sun is dangerous; never take a chance looking at it by eye or with an ordinary telescope. You will be bringing the all the suns light and heat into your eye and will be blinded for life.

The winners of my Solar Drawing Workshop are these fantastic works , check them out !
Play the slide show

The Big Moon Ball Project - What's Up for March 2010 from Jane Houston Jones - My Solar Painting on NASA Solar System Exploration What's Up Page

3/3/2011

The Big Moon Ball Project – A work in progress

The Moon? The Moon? How on Earth do you explain the Moon to small children? In many other talks I had done so in graphic from and with images but wanted to try something different. I figured I would have a go at an interactive workshop in a field, as one would of course .

Made me a Moon ball and put it on a stand , borrowed a super two million candle torch , put it on a stand. Then I invited my new astronomy group St Cronans Stargazers to join me at our usual place. As it was midterm a small but smiling group turned up, perfect for a first run! We pretended the torch was the sun and the children were the Earth and I became the Moon. For the first orbit of the Earth I spoke about the phase they see from the Earth as they looked at me ( the Moon Ball) moving from New to First Quarter, then Full, then Last Quarter , then back to New.

The children got the idea very quickly as the sun ( torch) illuminated the phases while they ( the Earth ) turned in unison in the field at the end of my road. The Big Moon Ball beamed the moons phases into their eyes. Clip boards and paper were provided for the second orbit of the Earth .The children sketched the four main Moon phases as they happened and wrote down the names . The parents were very helpful ,standing at the points of the phases and also helping the children see their clipboards and their drawings in the dark.

Of course this workshop would be so much more powerful if the Moon was in the sky at the same time . I am continuing to develop the activity , it suits the Irish cloudy sky syndrome and is also an indoor workshop. Every child wanted to hold the Moon Ball and help put it in the car afterwards . A whole bunch of fun was over in a blink , the children had lovely practical drawings for their folders , and were on their way to understanding the Moons movments.

The Big Moon Ball Project was welcomed by Engineers Ireland as part of Engineers Week 2011
Huge thanks to my husband Bernard for help with the sun and for taking the photographs.
The Moon Ball is getting an upgrade , the far side is being painted in now and the near sids is developing more details , craters, rays and mountains.

I am so pleased and totally knocked out that my dear friend Jane has included one of my Solar inspired paintings on her What's Up page this month.

My painting is 8 inches by 8 inches
acrylic and pastel on canvas. It was inspired by the images of the Solar Dynamics Observatory.

You can see the image more clearly on the link below here and find many interesting solar system connections too.

Solar System Exploration

Waning Gibbous Moon - Drawing Exhibition in Bray - St Cronans Star Gazers Adventures in Astronomy - What's Up for February 2011

2/4/2011

Waning Gibbous Moon
Bray, Co Wicklow Ireland
January 28th 2008
200mm dob/FL 1,200mm/25mm eyepiece/48X
Lunation 19.60 days 01:35 – 03:42
Pastels and conte on black paper

On Feburary 20th 2011 the waning gibbous moon will make a lovely triangle with the Planet Saturn and the star Spica.

Here in Ireland look east at 22:30 and you should be able to see this visual delight for your self.

If you have a telescope , have a look along the terminator find Mare Crisium
( the sea of crisis) It should look awesome as the terminator will be right through the middle of it. The moon will be 17.84 or almost 18 days past new. In my sketch the waning moon was 19.60 days past new . Crisium was already engulfed by nightime on the lunar surface and not visible.

Our Moon has no light of its own, what we see is the sun light reflecting back to our eyes.
The Moon is said to be waning when it is moving toward new. Each waning night it has less light shining on its lovely near side as we look at it.

Our Moon is said to be waxing when it is moving from new to full. Each waxing night is has more light shining on its lovely near side as we look at it. The Moon is filling its near side with sunlight until it is full of light as we view.

Our Moon is said to be waning when it is moving from full to new. Once again it has less light shining on its lovely face as we look at it. This cycle continues each lunar month, the more we observe it, the more we understand it.

My waning Moon sketch will be on exhibition with other drawings at The Signal Arts Centre in Bray Co Wickow from February 15th to February 27th . The exhibition is called Myriad Visions
do drop in and see all the work.

I look forward to sharing Saturn at public viewings during March and April when Saturn will be higher in the night sky earlier in the evening. A date for your diary is March 12th when we will be looking at Saturn from Glendalough , the upper lake car park . 7pm - A talk on the Cassini Mission to Saturn at the Education Centre followed by a viewing of the planet WEATHER PERMITTING OF COURSE.

Also during March I intend to hold several public Moon and Saturn viewing sessions here in Bray , details to follow. All are weather permitting.

I am very proud of my new astronomy group here in Bray , St Cronans Star Gazers are a great bunch of enthused children , parents and teachers who delight in learning a little bit of astronomy . You can read about our latest adventures by clicking on the link .

Whats Up for February 2011 from Jane Houston Jones - enjoy !

St Cronan's Boys , parents and neighbours Say Hello to Astronomy from Bray Ireland and Partial Solar Eclipse from Greystones Beach

1/5/2011

Say Hello to Astronomy from Bray Ireland by Deirdre Kelleghan

January 3rd I held an almost impromptu star party for the new astronomy group attached to St Conan’s National School in Bray Co Wicklow. The group is so new it has not got a name yet so for the moment we will call it St Conan’s Young Astronomers. About 50 children and adults arrived at the green Sans Souci Wood, a very cold evening for stargazing.

On offer the sky had a very close conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus plus the Galilean moons in the same view. Jupiter and Uranus will not be this close again till 2024 .The magnificent winter constellation Orion the hunter rising over Sans Souci House was impressive even in the slight haze. The star forming cloud M42 in the sword of the Orion was a prime target. Several other messier objects and constellations got a run out.

Parents and children lined up to see the largest planet in our solar system shine and show off in the sky over Bray. As part of the experience I encouraged some of the children to draw Orion and its nebula after the y had seen it in the large binoculars. Four of the boys did a great job on the sketches Sean Stanley, Kevin Morley, Sam Ferrie and Tony Jackson.
We were joined by several enthusiastic neighbours and friends all braved the cold to learn a little appreciation for the night sky.

Partial Solar Eclipse South Beach Greystones Co Wicklow
January 4th a fantastic sunrise greeted the families and individuals who turned up at the beach at 08:30 hours. The solar disc was already partially eclipsed as it rose over the sea in-between thin gray cloud slivers. Some of the St Cronan’s boys arrived with their parents to see this phenomenon.

Random dog walkers were delighted to be taken by surprise and handed special eclipse glasses
to view the event. Smiles all around beamed from the golden sun splashed faces. The attendees sported trendy eclipse glasses provided to me by NASA Goddard. There were hollers and woops!!! of delight from both kids and adults (including me) as the moon appeared to slide over the left hand side of the rising sun. The colours created by the sun seemed to warm the winter and bring joy with every passing minute to our motley gathering by the sea.

NOBODY SHOULD EVER EVER EVER LOOK AT THE SUN WITHOUT SPECIAL EQUIPMENT EVER.

Your next chance
If you miss this eclipse, you'll have to wait until 16 January 2028 to see a similar spectacle, when the Sun sets while nearly 60 per cent eclipsed from an Irish point of view.

Both events were part of the BBC Stargazing Live Programme and were also connected to Astronomers without Borders (a global organisation promoting astronomy education)

Deirdre Kelleghan

Irish Representative AWB - Vice Chair Irish Federation of Astronomical Societies
I n association with BBC Stargazing Live chick here to see the photo gallery

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