[Peyton-observing] Hosting Cub Scouts on 10/21 for Public Observing

[Jegunn]

Hi, Ai-Lei.

That would be wonderful. Please come.

--jim

On Thu, 9 Oct 2014, Ai-Lei Sun wrote:

> Dear Jim,
>
> If we expect to have more people on 10/21 I am happy to come to help. I was also a scout when I was a kid, so I'd be happy to see them.
>
> Best,
> Ai-Lei
>
> On Oct 9, 2014, at 10:26 AM, Jegunn <jeg at astro.princeton.edu> wrote:
>
>> Hi, Sean.
>>
>> Sorry for being so pokey. Yes, we can certainly do that. How many
>> boys will there be?
>>
>> Given the general lack of understanding of even semi-technical terms,
>> I am a little unsure of what you mean by `focus'. To us, it simply
>> means adjusting the eyepiece so that the image you are looking at is
>> sharp ( ie `in focus' ). To others, it might mean more, like
>> acquiring a distant object (`pointing' to us). The latter we cannot
>> accomodate, since the telescope's pointing is computer-controlled,
>> though we could let the boys adjust the pointing with the control
>> paddle, which instructs the computer how to make small corrections.
>>
>> --jim
>>
>> On Thu, 9 Oct 2014, Gaffney, Sean wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Professor Gunn – just following up on my question below.  If you could
>>> let us know in advance if your staff could cover item #1 below, I would
>>> really appreciate it.
>>>
>>> Thanks.
>>>
>>> From: Gaffney, Sean [Fin]
>>> Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2014 12:42 PM
>>> To: 'jeg at astro.princeton.edu'
>>> Cc: 'pdankers at comcast.net'; 'barry.lydon at sanofi.com'
>>> Subject: Hosting Cub Scouts on 10/21 for Public Observing
>>>
>>> Hello Professor Gunn – my name is Sean Gaffney and I am parent of a
>>> Hillsborough Cub Scout (Pack 189) whose Den is interested in earning their
>>> Cub Scout belt loop for Astronomy.  I was hoping the folks at the Astronomy
>>> dept at Princeton could help us out.  My son and I have been to the Peyton
>>> Observatory before and have had a wonderful time observing with your
>>> students and staff.
>>>
>>> In case you are not familiar with the Cub Scout program, our Webelos II
>>> scouts (all 5th graders) are working on achievements (badges) to earn their
>>> way into the Boy Scouts in 6th grade.  One of the achievements we are
>>> tackling is the Scientist achievement, where we learn about Newton’s Laws of
>>> Motion, Bernoulli’s Principle and Pascal’s law.  We also can earn an
>>> Astronomy belt loop if we can cover the following tasks:
>>> 1.       Demonstrate how to focus a simple telescope or binoculars. (A local
>>> astronomy club may be a resource for this activity.)
>>> 2.       Draw a diagram of our solar system—identify the planets and other
>>> objects.
>>> 3.       Explain the following terms: planet, star, solar system, galaxy,
>>> the Milky Way, black hole, red giant, white dwarf, comet, meteor, moon,
>>> asteroid, star map and universe.
>>> If you could help explain how the telescope works at the observatory and
>>> explain the terms for the kids, we will ask each boy to bring in their
>>> diagram of the solar system.  We were hoping we could meet during the 10/21
>>> open house (weather permitting) at the observatory.
>>> Could you let me know if you and your staff would be willing to host us on
>>> 10/21?  I appreciate your time and attention and look forward to your
>>> response.  Thank you in advance.
>>> Sean Gaffney
>>> 908-262-7612 (h)
>>>
>>>
>>>
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