(Chelsea Update would like to thank Carol Strahler for the information in this story.)
For eight weeks this fall, Waterloo Natural History Association (WNHA) Board member and Skynet trained educator Meg Gower assisted a group of students to explore the universe through the use of professional telescopes.
Middle school students learned to control optical telescopes around the world to take photographs of astronomical objects such as pulsars, nebulae and galaxies. The youth used telescopes located in observatories in Australia, Chile, Canada and the United States.
Workshop sessions were held in both the Chelsea District Library’s computer lab and at the Waterloo Discovery Center with assistance from Youth and Teen Librarian Edith Donnell and Chelsea High School computer mentor Nic Arons.
Each week, students explored a different aspect of using the telescopes. During the first week, they learned how to use the computers to find a specific object in the sky. And, they were successful in photographing the m110 galaxy and the red star Betelgeuse in the constellation Orion.
In subsequent weeks, students built a cardboard refracting telescope, modeled after the telescope constructed by Galileo when he first observed the heavens. They experimented with exposure duration finding that longer exposures produced a more detailed image.
The amazing images produced by the Hubble telescope are produced by allowing certain wavelengths of light to pass through special filters. Students were able to experiment with a variety of almost two dozen filters on the electromagnetic spectrum from infrared through ultraviolet. Each filter yields different information about the star, galaxy or nebula being photographed. Students were also able to ask questions of scientists involved in the project.
In December, the Eddy Discovery Center hosted a display of the photographs. Students presented their findings and visitors could examine the photographs and ask questions of the students and educators. And, the images were also on display at the Chelsea District Library.
The Skynet Junior Scholars class will be offered again in the spring with the primary focus of learning to use both optical and radio emissions telescopes. Contact Chelsea District Library to register.
