Hubble Constant

Oops...

jack.northrup@ops.org — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 01:25:00 GMT

It has been known to happen, mark the calendar. I made a mistake. Last July we got a new show called IBEX from the Adler Planetarium, Chicago, IL. I wrote a discription and posted it to the Planetarium Show page (it's on the left). However, I forgot to make it visible to visitors, so people coming to the site could not see it. I was able to make the text visible but the pictures are still invisible - I tried to get them visible but they keep appearing as a negative.

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Simulations and models

jack.northrup@ops.org — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 02:20:00 GMT

Astronomy 7 students made some simulations and models during this year. Here are the final projects.

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Two post Thursday

jack.northrup@ops.org — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:58:00 GMT

This week was the Summer Solstice and there was a nice amount of news coverage about it. Including some cool pictures of homemade sundials. Astronomy 7 students have built sundials in the past, normally using found materials or protractors with pens. However, I was able to find a website with several nice designs for sundials that you can build at home with minimal supplies.

www.sundials.co.uk/projects.htm

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Question emailed to the planetarium...

jack.northrup@ops.org — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 12:49:00 GMT

If you follow me on Twitter (Link to the left) you may have seen a tweet about a question that was emailed to me about the Gulf oil spill.

"Will the oil in the Gulf change the height of the tides?"

This led me to theorize two possible directions of thought from the writer. The writer could be thinking:

The oil layer will act more like a plastic and suppress the tides.
The oil will have a lower density than the water and make for higher tides.

The answer: I don't know I am going to do a bit of research and see if I can find an answer. So thank you for giving ME the homework over summer break.

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ANGEL and Mr. Northrup

jack.northrup@ops.org — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 18:40:00 GMT

Some parents and students are aware that I use the Learning Management System ANGEL in the classroom. For those who are unfamiliar with the system here are a few of the key points for why all of my classes are now ANGEL classes.

Digital assignments, when an assignment is sent to the student it is kept online so they can access it to work on it at home, library, or school.
Fast feed back - students can send me an email from ANGEL about questions on assignments and I can reply to assignments to ask students for clarification on their answers.
Writing process - when a student turns in a draft, I can edit it and send it back to the students for revision.

More to come on some of the other parts of ANGEL and how they are used in the Astronomy classes.

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The finished dome

jack.northrup@ops.org — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 22:34:00 GMT

I am happy to say that the dome is finished and working great. I have run four presentations and the images are so clear and the contrast is great. However, the kudos need to go to our bang up paint crew.

From L to R: Zeus, Jimmy, and Darren

When I took the picture they wanted to make sure that there was proof that I was there also.

Your Intrepid Planetarian

I am working on quite a few projects getting the planetarium and KSTM ready for the fall. This August KSTM and the MLK Planetarium are hosting the Western Alliance Conference of Planetariums. This a conference for all the planetariums west of the Mississippi river, we are of course accepting registrations from planetariums outside this area.

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Painting the Dome Day 2

jack.northrup@ops.org — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:56:00 GMT

With the star projector and video systems covered or removed we started to cover the chairs and carpeting. Instead of removing the chairs the painters used scaffolding to create an artificial floor.

In the afternoon they attached dropcloths to the inside of the dome to protect the LED lights and the cove itself. The all-sky projection portholes were blocked from behind to minimize blow though of paint.

Tomorrow one last look before the painting.

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Painting the Dome Day 1

jack.northrup@ops.org — Thu, 27 May 2010 20:10:00 GMT

King Planetarium's dome has served us well since it was installed during the 1988-1989 school year. However, it was starting to show it's age. During the next few days I will be posting some pictures from our experience of painting the dome.

First up, Why are we painting the dome? It's not like a wall or ceiling in your house, it is made of metal with thousands (sic) Millions of tiny holes. Over the last few decades the dome has collected dust in the pores and darkened overtime. Here is a picture without flash to show the amount of darkening we have seen.

You are not supposed to see the ribs that hold the dome together.

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Painting the dome

jack.northrup@ops.org — Tue, 25 May 2010 01:21:00 GMT

Getting the planetarium ready for paint has been quite a job. The dome is being repainted the next couple of days and we had to prepare the space. All the chairs were covered, as was the star projector. The Sphemir was stored away to protect the mirror, I am going to miss having students help me realign the system. So teachers who read this blog watch out, I am looking for keen eyes and about 15 minutes of your time.

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Infrequent blogging

jack.northrup@ops.org — Fri, 21 May 2010 00:58:00 GMT

First, I have to appologize that I have not been posting as often as usual to this site. As many of you know, during the last two years the Astronomy 7 and IT Essentials courses have migrated to OPS' Learning Management System "ANGEL." So there has been less material to post here, however I have been thinking about a change in direction. Changing the blog from instructional to informational. That would mean more stories about what is going on in astronomy or IT and less on lessons in the planetarium.

If you have a thought or opinion please post a comment and we will see what the readers feel.

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