The astro department gets a number of requests from

 community. Outreach is 

a way of giving back to a community which is surprisingly interested in

the same thing that we are. The astronomy department requires that you participate in at least a couple of events per year. In addition, if you want university funding from ASNMSU or GSC, you will need more hours.

If you take pictures of students participating in your event, you will need to get permission from the students’ legal guardians. Get the teacher’s email, send them the pictures you want to use and the release form, and ask them to forward the form to the legal guardians of the students.

Outreach activities might involve giving a talk, running a demonstration, or showing people cool things through a telescope. Some events occur regularly, but any school or organization can contact the department and ask for us to come out and do something. This request is passed to the AGSO Vice President, who rounds up volunteers. To get credit for doing outreach, you must have a representative sign the community service form and then give the form the AGSO Vice President. If someone is interested in an event, either direct them to the department outreach request form or have them email the AGSO VP: outreach@astronomy.nmsu.edu.

Talks and Activities at Local Schools

Peruse our selection of field-tested activities and talks.

Schools have asked for people to give talks, like about Pluto or for career day, and to bring demonstrations and activities, like building a comet or understanding the phases of the Moon. They should provide details about the length of the talk, how many people you’ll be talking to, and a recommended subject. Don’t forget to have someone sign the community service form!

Supplies for outreach activities are stored in the copier room in a cardboard box labeled “Outreach Supplies”. This box also has two blue tablecloths for any table setups, as well as a banner for our

Tombaugh Observatory

It helps to choose eyepieces that are best suited for each object. Eyepieces are identified by their focal length in mm, and this determines their magnification. A larger (e.g. 32mm) eyepiece has a lower magnification and wider field of view than an eyepiece with a shorter focal length. Planets and planetary nebulae are usually best viewed with higher magnification (shorter focal length) eyepieces, while galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters are better with wide fields of view. However, the higher magnification (~9mm) eyepieces usually have very small lenses to look through, which can be difficult for the general public. Don’t be afraid to swap eyepieces out and see what works best! We have [O III] filters in North Dome that might be useful on some nebulae.

There’s an outdoor power outlet at the base of the plinth with the plaque dedicated to Tombaugh. It’s useful for powering the 8″ without running an extension cord all the way into a dome. If the power doesn’t work, it’s possible that the circuit breaker was tripped (it is on a GFCI). The reset button is found on the face of the power outlet located on the small wooden post on the NE corner of our compound.

Outdoor power outlet	Reset button for the fuses

One Friday a month during the school year, the department opens the Tombaugh Campus Observatory to the public for our Department Open House. for roughly an hour. Both faculty and grad students help out for this event. Together they might pick the objects to show in the telescopes, but it’s the faculty member’s responsibility to prepare and give a talk and the grad students’ responsibility to run the telescopes/laser pointer/hand out sky maps (in English and in Spanish!). We suggest you print a sky map out in color, first, and then make black and white photocopies (darkening it slightly). If you print the sky map out on the black and white printer, the Milky Way vanishes completely.

There should be mini-schedules at Tombaugh Observatory so visitors know when the next open house is.

For public outreach talks you can sign out laptops and portable projectors. They are stored in the astro dept server room (AY 116A). There is a sign out sheet which should be on a clipbard on the table. Please remember to sign out and sign back in anything you take, otherwise we have people wandering around the department looking for the Dell projector. Remember to test your talk before you leave the building to ensure the presentation file, laptop, and projector are all working. The password for the laptops should be the same as for the computer in BX102.

Remember that the department has two official vehicles which you can use to transport whatever you need for your event.

Telescopes and other sky watching equipment
Sometimes people ask about the magnification power or focal length of the telescopes. These have been provided using the following relations:

• • 16″ Dobson
    

    F Number	4.5
    Aperture	406mm
    Focal length	1829mm
    Eyepiece	Magnification
    2in	36x

    This is the large white pillar (the “white whale”) usually stowed in the North dome. Be careful when rolling it, for the part with the wheels is not attached to the telescope frame, which is not attached to the telescope. The end result is that it is alarmingly easy to tip over the telescope, especially if people lean on it as they look through it. This telescope is not electronic in any way, so you need to know where you object is to point the telescope to it.

• • 12″ telescopes
    

    F Number	10
    Aperture	305mm
    Focal Length	3050mm
    Eyepiece	Magnification
    10mm	305x
    17mm	180x
    20mm	152x
    36mm	85x
    40mm	76x

    These telescopes are the equatorial mounts in the two domes at Campus Observatory. They’ve got power outlets in the support pillars, but always make sure to turn off and unplug the telescopes after you’re done using them. If you don’t, the telescope will continue to track the object right until it pulls out its own power cords (yes, this happened once). These telescopes need to be pointed if you want to slew automatically to objects and to track. In order to point the telescopes properly, you’ll need to use 2 or 3 reference stars. It’s helpful to have a general knowledge of the night sky, including a few bright stars for each season, so you don’t make a mistake in pointing.

    These telescopes also have battery-powered Telrad finder scopes. Please remember to turn them off after using them, otherwise the battery drains and has to be replaced.

• • 8″ telescopes
    

    F Number	10
    Aperture	203mm
    Focal Length	2032mm
    Eyepiece	Magnification
    10mm	203x
    17mm	120x
    20mm	101x
    36mm	56x
    40mm	50x

    The telescopes are powered either by batteries (C) or from an outlet with the power supply. There is one in one in the North dome which is already mounted on a tripod, and there is one in the server room (Astronomy Building, first floor, through the glass door in the downstairs printer room, in a large box under the table), which has a tripod somewhere in the server room. These telescopes need to be pointed if you want to slew automatically to objects and to track. In order to point the telescopes properly, you’ll need to use 2 or 3 reference stars. It’s helpful to have a general knowledge of the night sky, including a few bright stars for each season, so you don’t make a mistake in pointing.The finder scopes of these telescopes tend to get bumped off alignment a lot. Before you check the pointing, use a distant light or telephone pole to check that the finder scope cross hairs are lined up with what the telescope is actually seeing.

    There is an azimuth lock (little left-right knob at the base of the U-mount) and an altitude lock (wheel on the right-hand side of the U-mount … right-hand side as you look through the telescope, that is) on the telescope. These need to be engaged if you are using the computer to slew and track. However, If you lock the telescope and then try to move it by hand, you will grind the teeth off the plastic gears. Also, keep the Azimuth lock knob loose (unlocked) when moving the telescope around to avoid accidental grinding.

    The department also has one or two old 8″ Celestrons; if you want to use them, let Tom know. They sort of track, though they do make lots of grinding noises, but it is a much faster set-up: a rough polar alignment and off you go. However, the finder scopes aren’t that good, and you need to be able to use them to point.

    Tracking issues
    Note that the default mode of operation for all of the Meade telescopes is to be in Alt/Az. We have to manually select “polar” mode for the pier-mounted telescopes to allow them to point and track properly. So,
    a) if the the telescope will not slew correctly to an object, or
    b) is tracking in a funny way
    this is the problem. To cure it hit “mode” on the hand paddle, go to “set up”, “telescope”, “mount”, and scroll down to “polar” and hit enter. A little checkmark will show up. Then hit mode until you are out of that menu. [Note: the portable 8″ Meades should be in Alt/Az!]

    Power issues
    You will know if there is no power because the red LED on the mount is not lit. All of the Meades now take 12V DC in, so all of the various transformers should work. They also all can be battery powered using 8(!) C batteries. There are little compartments on the inside of the base of the arms of the U-mount.

• • 4″ telescopes (Konus 500s)
    These are equatorially mounted telescopes for use in lab and outreach. They are 114mm F/4.3, so with the supplied 17mm and 10mm eyepieces, the magnification will be 28X, and 49X. They have little motors and zero-power finders. They are light and compact, and will work for the Moon and star clusters. They are currently stored in the South dome.

• • Laser pointers
    There are usually two high-powerd laser pointers stored in the North dome, in the closet, on the shelves to the left, in a small metal case (which resembles a case for eye glasses). These are fantastic for pointing out constellations but suffer if there is a lot of moonlight or not much stuff in the air (to reflect of off back to our eyes). People generally are more interested in the laser pointers than anything we show them in the telescopes!

• • Filters and eyepieces
    There are a variety of filters ranging from light to dark and in different colors. Individually, they’re in small boxes with clear plastic tops, usually stored together in a medium-sized black plastic case either in the closet or on the table in the domes. There should also be a set stored with the 8″ in the server room. Tom notes that he has a white light filter for use with solar observing. These are stored in his office, so if you want them for a public event, you’ll have to ask him directly.

• Solar Telescopes
  We have a few solar telescopes that are great for observing sunspots, transits, and solar eclipses. They are also used in the 110 Sun lab, so you’ll most likely get to use them at some point. We have two styles: (1) The old gold cylinders than are on camera tripods, and (2) The new electronic telescopes. The old telescopes are very easy to use: just point them at the sun. There is a small aperture near the eyepiece that operates as a finder scope by turning white when the telescope is close to being aligned. The new telescopes require a fair bit more finesse:

   

  1. Manually align altitude axis to “0”.
  2. Insert compass/bubble level into eyepiece holder.
  3. Rotate compass/level until N-S alignes with telescope tube.
  4. Loosen Azimuth axis knob (bottom), rotate until compass points to N (red end of arrow points to North).
  5. Adjust leg height until bubble level centered.
  6. Power on telescope, press “Mode” key (let telescope find time).
  7. Press “Mode” key until “Select Item” appears.
  8. Scoll to “Set-Up”, press Enter.
  9. Scoll to “Targets”, hit Enter, select “Astronomical”, hit Enter.
  10. Use paddle to slew to Sun (note the speed select key is #1 and #9 is the slew speed, so press “1” then “9”).
  11. Center the sun in the little projection finder on the top of the tube (use speed “5” once it is in the eyepiece).