Outreach

This page is designed to keep members of the Columbia astro community informed of outreach events. Most importantly, it allows people who are interested in volunteering to check in and see what is being planned and where their help is needed. There is also a mailing list for outreach volunteers that anyone in the department can sign up for at ​https://mail.astro.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/outreach-volunteers. Keep in mind that the official homepage for our outreach activities (the one designed for the public as opposed to this one) is ​http://outreach.astro.columbia.edu; there you can read the schedule, sign up for our public mailing list, and check up on the weather and other links.

If after reading this you think there's a way you'd like to help out, or you have a suggestion, email outreach-admin@astro. Remember that you need not have any experience doing outreach/teaching to participate. The most important thing is that you care and want to share the Universe with people; after that everything will fall into place!

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Overview of Activities

Family Astro

In the past, we have held "Family Astro" days on a few weekends each semester, on which 6-12 year-olds spend a few hours doing a hands-on activity in the library. We advertise these events through our mailing list ​https://mail.astro.columbia.edu/mailman/listinfo/outreach, which is always growing.

Resources for planning the activity are on the web; for example: ​http://www.astrosociety.org/education/family/involve/educators.html). Aside from running the lesson for two hours or so, the volunteers need to get materials and snacks. It is a four-person job if there is a typical turnout of about 20 kids. Since that number can vary widely, it is useful to ask parents to sign up in advance.

Activities for Family Astro

We also get miscellaneous requests from school groups of all ages who want to see the stars and planets from our observatory, or have an indoor lesson/activity session.

Star-Gazing Nights

We try to do a star-gazing session every two weeks on the roof. Each star-gazing night is coupled with an astronomy talk and a slideshow. The talk/slideshow is especially worthwhile when the sky is cloudy, which is usually the case (less than half of the nights are clear from NYC). Traditionally it has been Friday nights; however, transient events like eclipses, transits, and comets demand alternative scheduling.

We currently have a healthy core of observing volunteers, but it's always good to have different faces, so sign up (or just show up to see what it's like)! If you are unfamiliar with our equipment, training sessions with the veterans can be arranged.

These are a lot of fun when the weather cooperates. Turnout is typically around 80-120 people - a mixture of Columbia students, local families, and enthusiasts. This number has been growing as we advertise more, and it has forced us to start holding lectures in Pupin 428 or 301 instead of in 1334 or 1402.

Volunteer Instructions

Here is a list of instructions that a volunteer should follow when arriving at a star-gazing night: Star-Gazing Volunteer Instructions

Organizational Preparation Instructions

I've put together a list of directions that someone in charge of a star-gazing night and lecture should follow to adequately prepare for an observing session here: Star-Gazing Organizer Preparation Instructions.

Observational Resources

To aid volunteers in finding good targets with the telescopes, we've created a page with observational resources including a list of different cool objects you can see from our rooftop. Check it out here: Observational Resources.

Handy Astronomical Facts

Useful figures and analogies, either for stargazing on the roof or speaking in a classroom: handy astronomical facts.

Public Astronomy Lectures

People in our department regularly give lectures aimed at the general public. Ideally these coincide with star-gazing nights, and are about 30 minutes long. Audiences are usually 50-100 attendees generally consisting of students (15%), families (20%), amateur astronomers (5%), and interested adults from around NYC (60%). Please see our past events for the titles and abstracts of previous, successful talks.

Lecturer Instructions

For those of you putting together a public lecture, I recommend you prepare it as though you are explaining an astronomical topic to someone seated next to you on an airplane with no background in science. The guideline of 30 minutes is rough, as you may go a little over or under the 30 minute mark in duration. Lectures are generally given in Pupin 301, a large lecture hall with capacity for ~300 attendees. There are 4 chalk boards, a digital projector, a DVD/VHS player, a video camera to project books or other non-digital images, a speaker system, and a wireless microphone. The speaker system is set to work with the wireless microphone (but you do not need it if you project your voice) as well as the output headphone jack from your laptop. You will need to bring a laptop, dongle, pointer, presentation, and yourself by fifteen minutes before the lecture is set to begin. If you do not have a laptop or laser pointer, we can use the ones purchased for the astronomy lab by the department, but please let us know in advance that this is what you plan to do. If you have any questions, please contact Cameron.

Astrophotography Slideshows

We offer slideshows of images of the sky during star-gazing nights, either in lieu of observing (in the case of cloudy weather--Pupin 301), or for attendees seeking a brief respite from the rooftop (during cold sessions in the Winter--Pupin 1402). These slideshows are broken into 5-10 minute-long themed groups of images (e.g. nebulae, supernovae remnants, disk galaxies, atmospheric anomalies, moons, etc.), and are presented with commentary by one of our volunteers. They allow the public an opportunity to see the sky as it really exists, not from our often overly-light-polluted skies. If you're interested in putting together a short (10 slides) slideshow on some astronomical topic, please contact Cameron.

AstroWall Events

There is a stereoscopic projection system (ie 3D pictures and movies) installed in the classroom (Pupin 1332) that is relatively easy to set up and use. It includes a wide range of astronomical datasets from stars to the cosmos and has been used for a number of public outreach and education activities. Please see Greg Bryan or Stuart Gill for more information or training.

Rooftop Variables

A new outreach program entitled Rooftop Variables is set to begin in October 2008. Spearheaded by Marcel Agueros and funded by a Chandra grant, this program pairs graduate students with motivated high school science teachers from around New York City. The program provides the teachers with an 8" telescope and a CCD camera for use with their science students with the aim of starting an astronomy club at each respective school. Furthermore, the grads mentor the teachers in proper use of the equipment and teach them how to make variable star observations (as per ​http://www.aavso.org) so the teachers are actively contributing to the scientific community. (Variable stars are an area where the amateur community has a huge impact on observing programs). If you'd like to learn more or potentially volunteer, Rooftop Variables has its own website at: ​http://rv.astro.columbia.edu.

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Upcoming Events

If you have a request/event to add, feel free to edit this, and email outreach-admin@astro.

Unscheduled/Tentative

Scheduled

​Our Spring 2009 Star-gazing and Lecture Poster

Date (Time) - Public Talk by Presenter: Presentation
Volunteers:

Jan 30 (7:00-9:00) - Public talk by Taka Tanaka: ''Eavesdropping on Supermassive Black Holes''
Volunteers: TBD

Feb 13 (7:00-9:00) - Public talk by Adam Fuller: ''The Solar System's Hat: Exploring the Rings of Saturn''
Volunteers: TBD

Feb 27 (7:00-9:00) - Public talk by Joe Patterson: ''Exploding Stars From Your Backyard''
Volunteers: TBD

Mar 6 (7:00-9:00) - Public talk by Ian McGreer: ''First Light in the Universe''
Volunteers: TBD

Mar 20 (8:00-10:00) - Public talk by Sasha Hinkley: ''Imaging New Planets from Here on Earth''
Volunteers: TBD

Apr 3 (8:00-10:00) - Public talk by Maureen Teyssier: ''Putting Hubble Images in Context: The Local Map of the Universe''
Volunteers: TBD

Apr 17 (8:00-10:00) - Public talk by Kyle Parfrey: ''Astrophysics at the LHC, or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Microscopic Black Holes''
Volunteers: TBD

May 1 (8:00-10:00) - Public talk by Antara Basu-Zych: ''The Violent Tendencies of Galaxies''
Volunteers: TBD

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Summary of Completed Outreach Activities

• 2009

• 2008

• 2007

Past Star-gazing Dates

Clear nights are underlined.

Spring 2009: Jan 16

Fall 2008: Sep 19, Oct 3, Oct 10, Oct 24, Nov 7, Nov 21, Dec 5

Summer 2008: May 30, Jun 13, Jun 27, Jul 11, Jul 25, Aug 8, Aug 22, Sep 5

Spring 2008: Feb 1, Feb 15, Feb 20, Feb 29, Mar 14, Mar 28, Apr 11, April 25, May 9

Fall 2007: Sep 14, Oct 14, Oct 19, Nov 2, Nov 16, Nov 30, Dec 14

Summer 2007: June 22, Jul 19, Aug 17

Spring 2007: Jan 19, Jan 26, Feb 23, Mar 3, Mar 23, April 20

Fall 2006: Sep 22, Sep 29, Oct 20, Oct 27, Nov 17, Dec 15

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Media Coverage

Increasingly, our events have gotten media coverage (no doubt thanks to the advertising efforts of our PR officer, Josh Schroeder).

• ​October 25, 2008 - The New York Post highlights our stargazing nights as a way for New Yorkers to reduce stress

• ​Aug 20, 2008 - Time Out Magazine interviews Kathryn Stanonik before her August 2008 lecture

• ​May 15, 2008 - Time Out Kids Magazine reviews astronomical opportunities for children in New York City

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Todo List for Improving Outreach Events

• Find new roof for observing since Pupin will soon be blocked by new science building in the West. Also make sure roof has lecture hall adjacent to it. Talk to David Helfand about this. Carman/Lerner? --Cameron

• Redesign webpage. --Cameron & Destry

• Make map of where telescopes will be located for volunteers and public. --Cameron

• Update observing targets on the wiki. --Neil

• Modify/Create slideshow presentations to be in ~5 min-long, self-contained chunks for brevity. --Robert & Andrew

• Buy: 8 more eyepiece cases (astronomics.com). --Cameron

• Add outreach as listed event on the "Talks & Events" webpage on the main astro.columbia.edu website. --Destry

• Create telescope setup/takedown lists. --Cameron

• Look at purchasing Galileoscopes. --Cameron

• Clean transit room. --Cameron & Neil