Saturday, October 23, 2010

Green Banks, West Virginia - October 21 - 22

 The Green Banks radio telescope from afar. Digital cameras were not allowed past a certain point in order to protect the sensitive telescopes from radio wave interference.
The bus ride was long and windy through the Blue Ridge Mountains.



The students dropped coins down a vortex simulating conditions in space.

The Exhibition Hall






We dined in style!







After dinner the students made up constellations of their own and performed skits that explained their invented mythology.





After dark, Joe took the students in small groups to operate the 40 foot educational telescope. At the telescope, the students scanned the night sky for hydrogen clouds. While they were gone the rest of us amused ourselves with games.



The students slept (and played and told scary stories) in bunk rooms.



On day two the students used handheld AM radios to scan the visitor center for radio interference.
This telescope was equipped with a filter that allowed us to view the sun.

1 comment:

  1. Julia, How wonderful to have this blog! It gives me so much insight into the class and what is going on with Kiley and her friends. Not to mention that I can now have pictures of her in all these events! Thanks for taking the time to do this and share this with all of us!
    Cheers,

    Margaret

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