Rachel Ross's blog

2012 AAS Conference

The American Astronomical Society (AAS) holds two annual meetings, the larger being in January. With attendance of around nearly 3000, there are always lots of exciting announcements in a variety of areas of astronomy, cosmology, technology, education, and more. This year’s winter AAS was held January 7 - 12 in Austin, Texas.

2011 Statistics for FTN and FTS

FTS Statistics for 2011:

2012 KITP Teacher's Conference

This year's KITP teacher's conference was held on January 14. This conference brings over a hundred science teachers at the middle and high school levels from across the country to Santa Barbara for a day of 'what's new' in different areas of physics with world renowned scientists.

Sedgwick Year End 2011

Here is a year end summery of activities involving the BOS telescope at Sedgwick Reserve covering education and outreach, science, and engineering.

Education/Outreach:

New Domes in South Africa and Texas

Despite cold and heavy winds, snow, and freezing temperatures, new domes were constructed in Texas at McDonald Observatory and in South Africa at Sutherland!

Science Night at Adams Elementary School

On December 1, Adams Elementary School in Santa Barbara held their annual science night. Several science and engineering groups from around town were invited to participate including LCOGT. Hands on activities covering a broad range of sciences were present including entomology, marine biology, seismology, marine biology, physics, geology, engineering, astronomy, and more packed into an hour and a half.

Science Day at the Santa Barbara Zoo 2011

This past Saturday (October 1) was the third annual Science Day at the Santa Barbara Zoo. Several booths were set up around the zoo featuring hands on activities ranging across many areas of science from zoo staff, volunteers, and community partners.

Site progress at Tenerife, Texas, and South Africa

Site construction is continuing smoothly at Tiede Observatory and at McDonald Observatory while domes have begun being assembled at SAAO.

FLOYDS first light

On September 1, FLOYDS achieved first light! This is a great accomplishment for all involved! A calibration lamp were used to achieve a rough alignment and the spectra.

End of Summer Sedgwick Star Party

Over the weekend, warm weather and clear skies created the perfect night for a star party at Sedgwick. Donated by LCOGT to the Environmental Defense Center (EDC) for their annual benefit, which includes both a live and silent auction. The auction winner was from Mesa Lane Partners, who is an active partner of the EDC.

Update at Chile Site

(This is a quick update to the blog article First Dome Installed in Chile)

First Dome Installed in Chile

After 10 days of heavy labor and several hours of sweeping away snow, scraping ice, and mopping water, the first dome 1.0m (nicknamed "Stellan" which is Latin for "Set with Stars") at Cerro Tololo was installed Friday! The second dome was installed on Saturday just in time for lunch. And the third dome will be installed on Tuesday (the walls are already assembled). John Martinez is down in Chile helping with the assembly and installation, as well as all the other details. Fantastic job to everyone involved!

2011 ASP Annual Meeting

Last week (August 1 - 3 with optional Galileo Teacher Training Program (GTTP) workshop July 30 - 31), in Baltimore, Maryland, was the annual meeting of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) held in partnership with the American Geophysical Union (AGU) and Space Telecope Science Institute (STScI). The theme was Connecting People to Science and featured many great speakers and sessions.

SBSOS Tour of LCOGT and Sedgwick Star Party

Star Party at Sedgwick for SBAU

Saturday was a case of “third time is the charm” in terms of scheduling a star party for the Santa Barbara Astronomical Unit (SBAU) as the first two attempts were weathered out. Even Saturday evening when we were gathering at Sedgwick Reserve seemed questionable. But as the Sun went down, the clouds began to clear, and we were treated to a beautiful sunset filled with many different colors.

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Rachel Ross

(Jedi Master)

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