Snow Day at the Observatory

Snow Day at the Observatory
During the Mars Event Jan. 2010, Prof. Joe Doyle, Jeffrey Venancio, David Spalding, Lea Fuchs, and Justin Clark.

"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the Universe." - Carl Sagan


Aloha!

My name is Lea Fuchs, but I am also known to many as "Leia"(as in 'Princess Leia' from Star Wars). I am a student at Bridgewater State University in Bridgewater, MA. I was a 2nd semester Freshman when I started this Directed Study and now I am a Sophomore. I am an Anthropology major going on to become an Archaeologist and I want to side-specialize in Archaeoastronomy. Despite the topic of this blog, I DO NOT intend on switching my major (...Mom >_>).

I work at the BSU Observatory, managing the telescopes and informing our visiting guests of the wonders of our Universe. I was one of four budding freshmen that after meeting in Professor Joseph Doyle's 1st year Seminar class Message in the Light in the fall of 2009, started working as Observatory Staff at the small Ash Dome on the outskirts of the Campus.

This blog exists to document the process of the Directed Study. Though I was only a freshman, I got a directed study to not only build a large telescope for my school but to also participate in acts of visual astronomy which I will be presenting at a Symposium. Which Symposium? Well, that depends on the completion of the telescope and how long it takes me to complete my visual observing, along with the sketches, photographs and things of that likeness.


"If people sat outside and looked at the stars each night, they'd live a lot differently." - Anonymous

Components of my Directed Study

  • Building a Dobsonian Truss Telescope with a 17.5 inch Mirror
  • Blog the process of the scope’s development
  • Take lots of pictures of the process
  • Write up a Manual about Care and Maintenance of the Dobsonian Telescope
  • Use the current 12 inch Schmidt Cassegrain Telescope in the BSC Observatory to find objects in the sky and sketch them for comparison and practice
  • Compile a list of at least 10 objects that I will research and retain the knowledge of, in order to pass this knowledge onto anyone who asks
  • Use the Dob in at least 10 viewing sessions (weather permitting)
  • Use the pictures taken by former BSC students to compare what is seen through the 12in Cassegrain and the Dobsonian
  • Create a portfolio of sketches
  • Present my findings at a Symposium either at the end of my academic year or at next year's Mid-year Symposium

Thursday, March 18, 2010

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known." - Carl Sagan

 What my Directed Study entitles:

*Building a Dobsonian Truss Telescope with a 17.5 inch Mirror
*Blog the process of the scope's development
*Take lots of pictures of the process
*Write up a Manual about Care and Maintenance of the Dobsonian telescope
*Use the current 12 inch Cassegrain telescope in the BSC Observatory to find objects in the sky and sketch them
*Compile a list of at least 10 objects that I will research and retain the knowledge of, in order to pass this knowledge onto anyone who asks
*Use the Dob in at least 10 viewing sessions (weather permitting)
*Use the pictures taken by former BSC students to compare what is seen through the 12in Cassegrain and the Dobsonian
*Create a portfolio of sketches
*Present my findings at a Symposium either at the end of my academic year or at next year's Mid-year Symposium

This is a 1 credit Directed Study which enables me to have future Directed Studies in the same or other subjects. Each Undergraduate student has four credits that can be assigned to Directed Studies throughout their time at BSU.

This is the Book that I and the other BSU staff members involved had to read in order to learn what was needed for this build.
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