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

Public Lectures and 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.

These are a lot of fun when the weather cooperates. Turnout is typically around 50-200 people - a mixture of Columbia students (15%), local families (20%), and amateur astronomers (5%) and interested adults from the community (60%). At a recent event we took an informal poll of the attendees and determined that only 25% of them were affiliated with the University, meaning that 75% of our audience is from the general public as a whole (great news)! Furthermore, 25% of our audience is coming from outside of Manhattan, which surprised us all.

Lectures typically last 30 minutes, and star-gazing follows that for another 1.5 hours or so. We try to offer astrophotography slideshows (essentially mini-lectures) after the main lecture but during the star-gazing so that people can cycle between the various stations and get more out of the event (or get a respite from the cold).

Our volunteer staff consists almost entirely of graduate students, although we have a few undergrads and a post-doc who make occasional appearances. 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.

Instructional webpages associated with star-gazing nights:

• Star-Gazing Volunteer Instructions
  
• Star-Gazing Organizer Preparation Instructions
  
• Lecturer Instructions
  
• Observational Resources
  
• Handy Astronomical Facts
  
• Download our slideshows

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.

Rooftop Variables

A new outreach program entitled Rooftop Variables began 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 6" 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.

365 Days of Astronomy Podcasts

The 365 Days of Astronomy Podcast is a project that will publish one podcast per day, 5 to 10 minutes in duration, for all 365 days of 2009. The podcast will be made available through an RSS feed. The podcast episodes will be written, recorded and produced by people around the world. It is a project put together for the IYA, and our department is contributing 16 podcasts to the project from 14 students and post-docs. ​http://365daysofastronomy.org/

Our schedule of speakers will be:

• Cameron Hummels - Monday, April 27th 'Will the World End in 2012?'
• Robert Morehead - Monday, May 25th 'Tides: More Than What Floats Your Boat'
• Maureen Teyssier - Monday, June 1st
• Erika Hamden - Monday, June 8th 'The Universe in Ultraviolet'
• Josh Schroeder - Wednesday, June 17th 'The Big Bang!'
• Sarah Tuttle - Monday, July 27th 'Astronomical Ballooning - Or, What Goes Up Must Come Down'
• Lia Corrales & David Tam - Monday, August 3rd 'Black Hole Street Smarts'
• Adam Fuller - Monday, August 10th 'What happened to Saturn's rings?'
• Holly Larson - Monday, August 24th 'The Reemergence of Planetary Science: Revisiting Percival Lowell'
• Destry Saul - Monday, August 31st 'The Accidental and Amateur Birth of Radio Astronomy'
• Duane Lee - Monday, September 28th 'The Connection between Metal Abundances and the Evolution of Galaxies'
• Marcel Agueros & Bobbito Garcia - Monday, October 19th 'I Keep Planets in Orbit: Astronomy in Hip Hop'
• Nitza Santiago - Sunday, November 8th 'Radio Astronomy: An Important Tool'
• Lia Corrales & David Tam - Monday, November 23rd 'The Extraterrestrials in Your Back Yard'
• Adam Fuller - Monday, November 30th 'When Galileo fell into Jupiter'
• Maria Pereira - Monday, December 28th 'Life in Technicolor'

Group Visitations

We get frequent requests from school/scout/activity groups to come visit the department. We handle these on a case-by-case basis, but generally all groups get a tour of the observatory, observing and some sort of lesson administrated by our volunteer graduate students. Events typically last 1-2 hours and are attended by 10-30 people.

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 for more information or training.

Telescopes on 125th St in Harlem

We take our portable telescopes out on 125th St to engage the public on their turf. We carry one/two 6" Dobsonians to the Adam Clayton Powell Plaza (7th Ave) and 125th St on clear evenings. Sky lights are bright, but from here we have a good view of the ecliptic, Orion, Taurus, etc. Observation of deep-sky objects is difficult, but one can get great views of the first-quarter moon and planets. Very rewarding with ~100 people stopping to look through the telescopes per hour.

Scaled Solar System

An ambitious project to place a scaled solar system across Manhattan, this is still in its infancy. The tentative plan is to have a 5-meter diameter disk representing the Sun placed in Battery Park at the Southern tip of Manhattan, and then place appropriately scaled planets throughout the island, leaving Pluto 14 miles to the North in Inwood Park. Stay tuned.

Galileoscopes

The Galileoscope is a high-quality, low-cost telescope kit developed for the International Year of Astronomy 2009 by a team of leading astronomers, optical engineers, and science educators. No matter where you live, with this easy-to-assemble refractor you can see the celestial wonders that Galileo first glimpsed 400 years ago and that still delight stargazers today, including lunar craters, the phases of Venus, the moons of Jupiter, and Saturn's rings. Kit includes a Plossl eyepiece, a Barlow lens and a 5-cm diameter glass objective lens. 25x and 50x magnification is achievable with good image quality. Tripod mount point included.

Our department will be purchasing ~500 of these at the bulk rate of $12.50/telescope, and then selling them at the individual rate of $15.00/telescope. We will then use the proceeds to finance a number of these which will be given away at our events to children, best question asked, etc.

​http://www.galileoscope.org

Educational Material Giveaways

After writing to the EPO officers for several NASA space telescopes, we've received an abundance of outreach materials including posters, pins, pictures, CDs, bookmarks, trading cards, etc. We give these away at our events depending on supplies.

From Earth to the Universe Photo Exhibition

The “From Earth to the Universe” project is an exhibition arranged by the IYA2009 that will bring beautiful multi-wavelength images of the cosmos to a wider audience in non-traditional venues such as public parks and gardens, art museums, shopping malls and metro stations. We're talking to university administration officials to try to get the images on exhibit on campus for the month of October.

​http://www.fromearthtotheuniverse.org/

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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

• Astronaut Appearance
• From Earth to the Universe Photo Exhibition - October

Scheduled

​Our Spring 2009 Star-gazing and Lecture Poster

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

May 12 (10:00-11:00AM) - Visiting Kindergarten group from Ella Baker School
Volunteers: Erika Hamden, Lia Corrales, Maria Pereira

May 15 (9:00-11:00) - Public talk by Jackie Faherty: ''The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Astronomy in the Media''
Volunteers:

May 29 (9:00-11:00) - Public talk by Jan Kratochvil: ''How Anyone Can Witness a Space Shuttle Launch''
Volunteers:

Jun 12 (9:00-11:00) - Public talk by David Hogg: ''What was there before the Big Bang? ''
Volunteers:

Jun 26 (9:00-11:00) - Public talk by Nitza Santiago: ''¿Qué te pasó, pobre pequeño Plutón?''
Volunteers:

Jul 10 (9:00-11:00) - Public talk by Jason Kendall: ''Kepler Space Telescope: The Search is on for Earth-Sized Planets!''
Volunteers:

Jul 11 (1:00-3:00) - Summer Family Astro Event
Volunteers:

Jul 24 (9:00-11:00) - Public talk by Christine Simpson: ''Galactic Archaeology: Excavating the Galaxy in the New Age of Surveys''
Volunteers:

Aug 14 (8:30-10:30) - Public talk by Andrew Brown: ''Teaching Old Stars New Tricks: The Cataclysmic Fate of Low-Mass Stars''
Volunteers:

Aug 28 (8:30-10:30) - Public talk by Jessica Werk: ''Tales from the Multiverse: Infinite Alter Egos, Parallel Universes, and Other Disconcerting Astrophysical Predictions''
Volunteers:

Aug 7 - Observing on USS Intrepid for Girls Summer Camp
Volunteers:

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Summary of Completed Outreach Activities

• 2009
• 2008
• 2007

Past Star-gazing Dates

Clear nights are underlined.

Spring 2009: Jan 16, Jan 30, Feb 13, Feb 27, Mar 6, Mar 20, Apr 3, Apr 17, May 1

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).

• ​May 15, 2008 - ''Time Out Kids Magazine'' reviews astronomical opportunities for children in New York City
• ​Aug 20, 2008 - ''Time Out Magazine'' interviews Kathryn Stanonik before her August 2008 lecture
• ​October 25, 2008 - ''The New York Post'' highlights our stargazing nights as a way for New Yorkers to reduce stress
• March 12, 2009 - Columbia University's The Record reviews our public lecture series and the history behind the observatory
• ​April 3, 2009 - Columbia University's News Site covers our 100 Hours of Astronomy Events
• ​April 7, 2009 - Night Sky Network features our 100 Hours of Astronomy efforts
• Spring 2009 - Columbia Magazine described our January 30th Star-gazing and Public Lecture by Taka Tanaka
• ​April 28, 2009 - Columbia University's ''Blue and White'' discusses how our observatory is being blocked by the Interdisciplinary Science Building

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Awards

APPLAUSE

In the end of 2008, it was decided to recognize the outstanding work done by our speakers by creating a new award this year for the best public outreach talk of the year. Votes were taken by members of the department who attended at least 3 lectures. Award criteria were:

• Interesting topic
• Content effectively conveyed
• Fluidity of presentation

We are happy to call this the APPLAUSE Award (Award for Pupin Public Lecture in Astronomy for Universal Science Education), which is awarded with a congratulatory bottle of champagne. Below is our list of past winners:

2008 - Maria Pereira: ''The Colors of Life: Astrobiology through Newton's Prism''

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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. Carman/Lerner? --Cameron
• Redesign webpage. --Cameron & Destry
• Update observing targets on the wiki. --Neil
• Modify/Create slideshow presentations to be in ~5 min-long, self-contained chunks for brevity. --Robert & Andrew
• Create telescope setup/takedown lists. --Cameron
• Implement color coded ticket system for crowd control. --Cameron & Neil
• Make survey for attendees with questions re: advertising source, origin, demographics, suggestions, etc.