Message from CFHT Librarian, Liz Bryson:
CFHT Community Outreach July 3, 2005: Deep Impact, we were participating via video conf (Gary Fujihara at IfA in charge), and prepared images and near realtime movies for the public shows. August 28, 2005: The Waimea Festival was very successful. We had a booth with the telescope model, making a comet, and stickers. Many visitors and a lot of interest, small posters very popular. August 28, 2005: CFHT Star Party on the front lawn of the CFHT offices in Waimea. Unfortunately the clouds only parted for about 40 minutes for observing through the telescopes. There were many groups passing through the Remote Observing Room at the downtown office. Upcoming Events Early October: There is a Japanese Film Crew visiting the telescope for an afternoon of filming. December 3rd, 2005: Star Party after the Christmas Parade of Lights in Waimea will be open to the public. Various Tours of the summit coming up for teachers and students.
The sun is extremely HOT. Core temperature can reach 22.5 million degrees!
Fun In the Sun: Introduction to the Sun Activities Maintained by the High Energy Astrophysics Division of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, the Fun in the Sun: Introduction to the Sun Activities Web site offers some interesting learning activities. Students get to learn how to measure the size of the sun, how to determine the amount of energy that comes from it, and how angles spread sunlight. Each activity requires some basic materials such as paper and a yardstick, as well as a trip outside on a sunny day. Unfortunately, the activity instructions page is not very well organized, but does give all the necessary information for completing the tasks. These fun lessons are a great way for kids to spend a spring day learning about science. StarChild: The Sun This site provides information about the sun. You can choose two levels of pages based on the age of the students that use it. "The Schoolyard Solar System was developed to demonstrate the solar system to scale; to show the relationship between units of thousands, millions, and billions; and to accomplish these goals with student involvement that will re-enforce the lessons." Students and educators can find images of the Sun and the nine planets in our solar system. The website presents bulk, orbital, and observational parameters as well as additional facts for the objects. By printing out the materials and following the hands-on activity discussed at the website, students can learn about the scale of the solar system. The Schoolyard Solar System Site
Sun Fun
Here is a great NASA site which has everything one might think of including sun facts, sundials and telling time, how our weather depends on the sun, mythology, observing, and the parts of the sun. Stanford Solar Center The Stanford Solar Center is a project of the Solar Oscillations Investigation Team at Stanford and "is dedicated to sharing the joy and excitement of solar science exploration by providing hands-on web-based activities." Several quality educational lesson plans are provided on the site with titles such as Effects of the Sun on Our Planet, Build a Spectroscope, What is Ultraviolet Light?, The Spinning Sun, Galileo Challenge, Magnetism and the Sun, Sun Centered Physics, and more. Each contain a summary of the activity, its objectives, suggested grade level, and downloadable resources, all culminating in a easy-to-use resource that would be a welcome addition to any science curriculum. The Stanford Solar Center Site Upcoming Astronomical Events
All times listed above are HST. The link below contains many calendars and includes a nice section on astronomical events. Check it out!
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