(meteorobs) Student observations

[Bruce McCurdy]

Terry, thank you for sharing this. Delighted to hear some astronomy is being
taught in Arkansas! Two schools? Oh, my. 

 

Those observing reports lifted my heart, a Herculean task some days. The
girl's report about the two planets - presumably Mars and Saturn - with the
ISS pass and then a meteor exactly matched a couple of brief trips I took to
the school field this past summer. Go  for the ISS pass, scan the sky in
general, and get a bonus meteor. 15 minutes well spent.

 

The exchange student's opening words were sad indeed but the rest was great.
Took me back to when I was starting to really learn the sky, and I would sit
outside in the gloaming and look for the stars to come out one-by-one. After
a while I'd know where to look, but they'd only come out in order of their
magnitude (give or take a little atmospheric extinction). After a time I
found I could name or label a few dozen stars as they appeared before I got
overwhelmed by the 4th mags! 

 

Thanks too for the kind words about my observing reports. I regret that I
did not receive your private emails, my spam filter must have got them?  

 

To me a session under the stars is an experience, and a memorable one
deserves to be properly described as such. When it comes to meteor sessions,
science is the first priority but by no means does it need to spend the
night alone. Any more than I do. Birds, bugs, frogs, bats, owls, coyotes,
beavers, snipes, etc. will make their presence felt. Other times there is
music, still others feature blessed silence. The dynamic sky is always ready
to surprise with aurora or lightning flashes beyond the horizon or an
Iridium flare and always, the potential for that next fireball. Lastly, when
left to its own devices in the quiet and the dark, the human brain is
capable of surprising with the odd "fireball" of its own!

 

Clear skies to you, and thanks for reading!

 

Bruce

*****

 

From: meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org
[mailto:meteorobs-bounces at meteorobs.org] On Behalf Of Terry Johnson
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2014 4:56 PM
To: 'Meteor science and meteor observing'
Subject: (meteorobs) Student observations

 

Thought I might share some recent experiences with the group.

 

I'm teaching high school astronomy for the first time at my school, which is
something special since I believe at this moment my school is one of only
two schools in the state of Arkansas to offer the class.  I have a standing
weekly assignment to write a 15-min observation log.  These kids are brand
new to astronomy, so I don't expect them to know what they're looking at.  I
just want them to go outside and look up and tell me what they see.
Essentially, by having them do this before they learn about the sky, I'm
hoping to discover what each of them believes is important.  I'm finding
their reports most fascinating!

 

After their first report was taken up, I handed out print-outs of a few of
the reports here.  I LOVE reading the observation logs of George, Pierre,
and especially Bruce McCurdy (to whom I've written at least twice to tell
him so), and others.  Showing my students what you guys find memorable (like
wildlife, mosquitoes, musical selections, etc.) should make them more
comfortable with just writing about their evening.

 

Since I'm taking some of your reports for my students, I wanted to share of
couple of their reports here.  My first reports were what you might expect,
with kids trying to impress me by naming whatever planet or constellation
they might already know, but there was one impressive standout.  I'm
reprinting it here in full, with the young lady's permission.

 

 

 

Date: 8/22           Time 8:45 - 9:10

 

Moon Phase:  Not visible at this time.

Weather and sky conditions: Humid, clear sky

Location: Backyard

Description of observation location:  Houselights, lights from rodeo about
30 paces from my house, house behind me

 

Log Entry:

It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but after they did,
the sight was amazing!  I found two non-blinking objects (which I assume are
planets) and a slow moving dot. (Maybe the ISS?) As I was following the slow
moving dot, a bright dot fell towards Earth then blinked out of existence.
It was kind of sad, yet magnificent.

 

 

 

.I found that short report to be just magical.  What a perfect description
of what she saw in terms anyone could understand.  I simply loved it. [oh,
and it *was* the ISS she saw that night.]

 

I also have an exchange student from Mexico City in the class.  He started
with the statement, "I have never seen the nighttime sky outside the city."
Then he filled both the front and back of the page with the things he saw!
I honestly got a little emotional reading about the his first view of the
heavens from a decently dark location.  He broke up his 30-min report into
10-minute sections because he started viewing as the sky was darkening and
he was describing the view as the stars were appearing.  He ended with,
"There are so many stars out now!!!  There even seem to be white clouds of
stars, but I know that is just my eyes."

 

Oh, no, young man.  That is your heritage.  That is the feeling you are
supposed to get when you look into the night.

 

In a few more weeks I'll join them in a star party where we'll tour the sky
together.  I'm so excited!!!!

:o)

--Terry

 

 

 

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