Sun-Earth Day 2010 at the Buffalo Museum of Science March 20, 2010

A big astronomical thank you to all who performed in the BAA Traveling Astronomy Roadshow, "Sun-Earth Day 2010"  at the Buffalo Museum of Science.
http://www.sciencebuff.org/calendar/detail/538/
http://www.sciencebuff.org/content/files/CSL/program%20flyers/Sun%20Earth%20day%202010%20Buffalo%20Museum%20of%20Science[1].pdf


We had a very large number of visitors of all ages throughout the day. The Sun also cooperated with providing all in attendance with entertaining rooftop telescopic views of our nearest Star in H-alpha and white light. On the floor of Hamlin Hall were our various solar-themed demonstration displays including  "Anatomy of the Sun", "Magnetism", Live broadcasting from the BAA "Space Weather Prediction Center", Telescope "Show and Tell", and our BAAinformation booth.

Here's some photos from the solar themed day !

Our Stellar Volunteers:
An immense solar flare thank you to the West Seneca Y.E.S. (Youth Engaged in Service http://www.wsyb.org/yes/) group who performed face paint and assisted in hands –on astronomy projects that included "Tricked out Star Charts", "Star Clocks", "Create an Exoplanet", "Make a Planisphere", and "Straw Sundials" . All though a bit short handed the volunteer solar team of  Brianna Smith,  Rebecca Schmitt and Emily Ambrose under the tutelage of Y.E.S director Jolynn Keane performed brilliantly throughout the entire solar spectra of events. Face painting at the speed of the solar wind... Bravo girls.

Bravo and a Standing Ovation to the BAA SUN-EARTH DAY 2010 Cast:

Rooftop Performers: "The Narrow Bandwidths and the White Lighters":

"The Narrow Bandwidths":
H-alpha Scope Handlers Alan Friedman, Jeff and Janice Gardner, Darand Land and their 6562.8 Angstrom co-stars went chromospheric as they promenaded with solar prominences and filaments throughout the day. Their bandwidths were right on for the day's performance.

The White Lighters:

Telescope Tricksters Scott Smith, Mark Morgis, and Bill Brown filtered out 99.9999% of the solar spectrum and were eventually showcasing photospheric sunspots as atmospheric conditions improved and sunspot group 1056 evolved. All were Umbrally amazed.

Hamlin Hall Performers:

BAA's own, Rick Janus irradiated sun lovers in all wave lengths with solar knowledge and exhibited current sun images via the web.

"The Magnetograms"
Proving that opposites attract, Dipoles Jan ("Mrs.Magnetism") and sidekick Dick Zehr polarized the crowd with their hands-on magnetism act to the fascination and amusement of all. Some visitors were delightfully repelled by their antics.

  

 

Spaceweather New Station:
BAA space anchorman, Tom Heyer broadcasted current space weather forecasts with the assistance of live webcam "space weather co-anchorkids". A live webcast from NASA's Sun Earth Day Activities were also aired from 1-2 PM. Beware Don Paul(weatherman on local TV station)!

      

BAA Crooner Steve Smith and his "One-Man -One 12" Dob" standup routine wowed all interested astronomer wanna-be's. He also crooned the crowd with the hobby highlights of amateur astronomy. None of his eyepieces walked off the stage either.

BAA orator Joe Orzechowski crewed the BAA information display, sung the various activities of the BAA and proclaimed the virtues of BAA membership. He entertained questions too.

Craft Solar Services:
Janice Gardner, in addition to her solar observation matinee gig provided craft services to satisfaction of all the hungry palates of BAA cast members and Y.E.S. volunteers. (non SUG approved)

BAA extra, Bon Hughes danced his way from rooftop to Hamlin Hall answering any questions directed his way. A fine space mission pundit and heliospheric  showman.

Thanks to Dr. Steele Hill, media specialist (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/about/hill.html) for NASA's SOHO mission for providing us with all the great solar material handouts.

The Supporting Solar Crew available at:

http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2010/index.php

http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/swac/

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

http://mlso.hao.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/mlso_homepage.cgi http://www.nso.edu/

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/

http://bass2000.obspm.fr/home.php

http://www.solarmonitor.org/index.php

http://www.spaceweather.com/

http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/spaceweather/FlexApp/bin-debug/index.html#

Four Thumbs up for the debut performance of "Sun Earth Day 2010" by the BAA

astro troupe!

A Stellar Show!

Thanks for all your help.

Mike

HOW ABOUT THIS "PRESS RELEASE":
BUFFALO NY - A stalwart band of BAA volunteers engaged a massive public onslaught Saturday and went on to win a thrilling final during Sun-Earth Day festivities at the Buffalo Museum of Science. 

Led by their ebullient head coach Michael Anzalone, the BAA remained focused and cheerful, despite being outnumbered on the field 100 to 1 during the closing minutes of the game. 

"Our final count was 1,672 people in attendance and you & your crew played a huge part in keeping them all engaged. Please thank everyone for us…" commented Michelle Rudnicki, Museum Director of Development. The huge crowd, fed by an M&T Bank special promotion, promised long lines at the activities tables and solar observing telescopes. Despite the lengthy wait, the mood of attendees remained cheerful, buoyed by a thrill of discovery conveyed by the BAA ambassadors. "This is soooooooo cool!" remarked LeShante Garris, freshman at Canisius College, as she got back on line for another look at the sun in the crimson wavelengths of Hydrogen Alpha light. 

Although food was in short supply throughout downtown Buffalo as thousands of ravenous March Madness basketball fans sought relief from any and all watering holes south of Winspear Avenue, comestibles were ample and delicious at Sun-Earth Day thanks to a delicious game plan put into action by BAA members Jeffrey and Janice Gardner. With their stamina nourished, the BAA contingent remained strong through the closing minutes of the afternoon sunshine. 

As equipment was carried back down the spiral stairway and literature carefully packed away for another day, the BAA was clearly weary yet invigorated from the successful event. When informed of the attendance estimate of more than 1500 visitors, BAA board member Scott Smith was not surprised. "This was a massive win for the club" said Smith, who spent the afternoon providing views of the sun through his 10" telescope, "... and I have the eyepiece goo to prove it!"

"If you missed this event, don't despair," says Anzalone. "The BAA will be back at the Museum in full force on Saturday, April 24th to celebrate International Astronomy Day." 

Alan Friedman

special correspondent

Buffalo Astronomical Association Inc.

www.buffaloastronomy.com

Drive-By parks it at the Buffalo Museum of Science Saturday March 3, 2010

Another impromptu "Astronomy Gig" at the Museum today. As the clouds parted in western NY this morning it prompted a frenzy of activity in the "Drive-By" household as "D-B" scurried to organize and load his gear for both some daytime solar as well as some night time observing from the grounds of the Buffalo Museum of Science.

I arrived about 3 PM and instead of going to the museum rooftop I decided on the front entrance to the museum as our observing stage. A new exhibit, "Sesame Street Presents : The Body:" had just recently opened so I new there would be a "bevy" of younger visitors and their parents who might otherwise not make it all the way up to the rooftop.

Sol did not disappoint the little solar-crazed munchkins nor their parents. "Cory" my 60mm H-alpha went to work as I sat back and let him do his thing. Solar prominence activity was rather quiet at the start but over the next 1-3 hours it exhibited a significant increase in activity with some very nice prominences of approximately 2-3 earth diameters jettisoning off the solar limb into the sun's atmosphere.

 "Some upcoming gigs"

I was overwhelmed by my  solar induced crazed state and inadvertently I broke out into an uncontrolled chorus of "'O Sole Mio" of which the audio was captured on exterior museum security cams:

http://www.google.com/url?q=http://popup.lala.com/popup/1873778952181541183&ei=P-2cS_eCBMH48AbJvZGODg&sa=X&oi=music_play_track&resnum=1&ct=result&cd=2&ved=0CAcQ0wQoADAA&usg=AFQjCNHj4wf0-4YkdW2tf0AXg-MGAX3tzQ

Our Sun, song and dance routine ended around 5:30 so we took a little break and did a little stroll around the museum as well as partake in a non-SUG approved non-Chubby Hubby 2010 approved snack break as you can see below.

Post gooey chocolate circumventing my face and a quick emailed photo of this delectable dessert to the SUGster I  was now ready for my glucose fueled evening of observing with the visiting public. 

In spite of city lights, parking lot and building lights illuminating the entire observing location like a night game at  Bills Stadium, Mr TV101 (with the recent poor attitude) took the stage and  went immediately to work providing views of Venus low in the west (my first viewing for the season), Mars above the rooftop of the museum and it was quite spectacular with its polar ice cap clearly visible as well as M42 putting on a dazzling show even amongst the anthropogenically photon infected night sky.  Nice steady flow of approximately 50 or so visitors partook in their turn at the scope over the following 2 hours.

  

The evening ended around 9 PM but that wasn't good enough for the TV101 and me. We needed some deep sky views of light that traveled the cosmos for hundreds to millions of years. It was off to the Beaver Meadow Observatory to meet friend John Riggs for some dark sky telescopic adventure. And the evening did not disappoint!

SUGster spotted in Nevada !!!!!!!!!!!

Sidewalk Universe Guy (SUG) spotted in the Reno Nevada area.

Months have passed with no word of the "SUG". No posts no nothing! Is he OK?

Celebrity gossip news "TMZ" purports a possible "SUG" sighting. Apparently he was located and photographed. A cell phone image was captured by an attendee to an Astronomy Workshop at the "Sierra Nevada Journeys" facility in Reno, NV (http://www.sierranevadajourneys.org/) However his identity is awaiting confirmation. The individual does possess the "SUG"ster's dashingly good looks.

Sources on the ground report that the "SUG" presented over three evenings to approximately 20 local school teachers. Not surprisingly he astonished all in attendance and apparently infected all with a virulent strain of astronomiphilia.

Local school officials have confirmed that numerous teachers who attended his presentations have transmitted this infectious love of astronomy on to their students. Local health officials state they will let this deep space strain run its course. Schools will remain open.

Drone Surface imagers have been deployed to region to track his location. His current whereabouts is presumed to be in the Sparks, NV area.

Will "SUG" resurface?

No Quiet Areas at the Eden, NY Library September 25, 2009

The librarians were not shushing anyone tonight. Ooohs and aaahs could be heard throughout the night. It was difficult for those in attendance to stay subdued with all the amazing telescopic views. Celestial Show Time (CST) was 8:30 to 10:30PM.

Alan Friedman, Scott Smith and daughter Sarah, Irene Z., Marilou Bebak, and I ventured out to rural Eden, NY a predominately farming community that over the past number of years is increasingly becoming more suburban in some areas. This Friday observing event was organized through the Buffalo Central Library and was held at the Eden Library (http://www.buffalolib.org/libraries/Eden/index.asp). It is a very nice library branch and a wonderful site to do some observing except for some troublesome lights.

I arrived around 7:30 to begin setting up the large screen projector, projection screen, 10” Zhummel equipped with Alan’s Astrovid camera, and the Televue NP 101. Alan arrived shortly after in his cool hip little mini Cooper and his 130mm Zeiss Refractor with Astrophysics mount, and newer member Irene arrived with her 8” Dobsonian. Marilou was on the scene by 8:30 and began answering many of the visitor's questions. Poor Scott and Sarah got lost enroute but stumbled upon us around 9:00 with his 10”Dob and I believe a 5” Vixen Newtonian Reflector.

Some very nice ladies on staff with the library provided cookies(many in the shape of stars) and hot chocolate for all who attended. They also kept us quite well fed as well. Absolutely no healthy snacks were provided(Sorry SUG, president of the Healthy Eating Observing Club(HEOC).

The skies were quite good escept the library staff could not figure out how to turn off the extremely bright parking lot lights. We didn't let that deter us from putting on an extraordinary astronomy roadshow.

We were inundated almost immediately with visitors and the crowd grew very quickly within the first half hour or so to about 175-200 people of all ages. As we knew we didn't have the moon for long with it being low in the sky and a significant treeline to our south, we all first featured La Luna. The crowd loved it! I had my “Live Moon Theatre” and red arrow laser pointer out to identify some lunar topography. I did my mare, crater, rille, rima, lunar ray, albedo, terminator, limb, sea, marsh, bay, mountain, etc.. lunar feature song and dance routine. They seemed to enjoy all the different named features especially the Lake of Death, Lake of Dreams, Marsh of Sleep and the Bay of Love as well as some of the Apollo landing sites. Projecting the moon works quite well from an educational stand point as it helps orient the viewer when they go to the scope and see the various objects under greater magnification and detail.

I was scrabbling a bit between manning the TV101 and keeping the 10” Dob with Astrovid aimed on the moon. I REALLY COULD HAVE USED THE SUG”S ASSISTANCE. SUG we currently have a position open with the Buffalo Astronomical Associations's Traveling Astronomy Roadshow. No salary, no health benefits but amazing enjoyment and satisfaction.

We all then moved on to Jupiter with its posse of Galilean moons. Sorry librarians we couldn't keep the crowd silenced. Numerous choruses of "Is that really Jupiter", "That is so Cool!", "Those are really its Moons?", "How far and how many stars does that galaxy have?", etc... From there we stayed with the standard brighter objects due to the amount of light pouring in from the parking lot light. M11,M31, M13, Albireo and I did give some a view of Comet Christensen and M57.

Were were treated to a wonderful Bolide which lite up the night sky and ground and ended with an amazing brilliant white explosion above the library. At first my head was down when I noticed a bright light illuminating the entire area and my body and scope were casting a shadow. I quickly looked up and witnessed the end of the show. At first it resembled what is best described as a single firework type rocket display. It was then confirmed later by John Riggs who was observing about 40miles to the north that he had witnessed it himself and said it was the brightest he had seen in over 30 years. Over the next day others from the club reported seeing it too. What was really strange is that it appeared to be very close by, as if it was above the library roof in the sky just across the street. I did really think it was just a single firework that someone had set off in the neighborhood.

Here's Marilou on the left with some happy guests:


Well we finished up the night around 11PM by the time we had it all packed up.

Alan and I headed back to my house for a post observing Bass Pale Ale and recounted the wonderful evening to my wife. We partook in only one cold one as we have another Solar Program tomorrow at 10am at the Reinstein Library (http://www.buffalolib.org/libraries/reinsteinjuliab/) .

(Can't seem to fix the whacky variation in font style and size)