Gifted Atlanta

Parents of astronomy enthusiasts, take note: I just received word from the SPACE Club at Georgia Perimeter College that they’ll be hosting a special open house in the observatory on the Dunwoody Campus this Thursday evening. Here is the information as I received it from observatory supervisor David Penly:

SPACE Club invites you to the Dunwoody Observatory this Thursday, June 21, 7:30 to 10:00 pm to celebrate the summer solstice (a day late) and take a look at the Moon and the planet Mercury, which will be in conjunction that evening.

We’ll set up our telescopes before sunset to take a look at the Sun, which has been surprisingly active lately.  We can also see Mercury and the Moon in the daytime sky with our telescopes.  Later, as the sky gets darker we may be able to spot Mercury with our naked eyes.  Since it is always close to the Sun and never up when the sky is dark, it is hard to spot Mercury in the sky, though it is a fairly bright object.  On Thursday however, the proximity of the Moon will help us locate it.

After sunset at 8:51 pm we can also take a look at Saturn and Mars – a regular parade of solar system objects.  So stop by after classes or work and help us celebrate the balmy evenings of summer.  Refreshments will be served.  As always, viewing will be contingent on open skies, but good conversation will not:  bar pouring rain, the observatory will be open.

From the creative minds at Tellus Museum in Cartersville:

There will be an extra “tick” to the clock on June 30 as scientists add a leap second, and Tellus Science Museum is celebrating with a special contest for kids. One lucky child will get to be “Director for a Second,” giving our hardworking executive director a well-earned vacation.

Leap seconds are introduced periodically to keep up with Earth’s slowing down as it spins around its axis. A tiny effect, only 2 milliseconds have been added to the day in the last 188 years. Since the building of the great pyramid of Giza, 4500 years ago, the day has only grown 1/14 of a second longer. 

On Friday, June 29 at noon, Tellus Executive Director Jose Santamaria will take a one second vacation. The winning child will win a free entry into the museum for their family, a planetarium show, a behind-the-scenes tour of the museum, and a special gift bag.

 The contest runs through Thursday, June 21, and is open to children under 14. Entries can be e-mailed to TellusMuseum@gmail.com and must contain the child’s name, the parent’s name, phone number and e-mail address, along with what the child will do with their extra second.

Thanks to my friend, Jamie F., for pointing me to the “Geek Dad Day” article in Wired magazine with ideas for science projects you can do with your kids at home. Sample projects include:

• Build a motorized, drawing “art bot”
• Build a working hovercraft
• Measure the speed of light with chocolate

Just be sure to read the experiments carefully and provide adult supervision as necessary. Doesn’t seem like you’re going to want your middle-schooler building, say, a steam engine solo.

Looking for something to do with the kids when school lets out? Tellus Museum is offering a coupon for $2 off admission through the end of May.

The museum, located just off I-75 in Cartersville, includes a large rock and mineral gallery, a fossil gallery, and interactive exhibits. The museum’s newest exhibit features images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope, to be on display through the summer and into fall.

Also new are the two current planetarium shows. “Planetary Thrill Rides” simulates roller coasters on other planets (expressly not recommended for anyone who’s prone to motion sickness); “When Venus Transits the Sun” looks at a celestial phenomenon that will take place June 5.

And if your child loves rocks and minerals, mark your calendar for Rockfest 2012, taking place at Tellus June 9-10.

The coupon is available through the Tellus Facebook page.

This Saturday,  May 19, people from Seattle to Senegal to Sydney will take part in Scratch Day, with events focused on Scratch, a beginner’s computer programming environment developed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Locally, Scratch Day will be celebrated at Start:Code Learning Labs in the Toco Hill area of DeKalb County. From 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m., guests can experiment with Scratch and see student projects developed using Scratch. Bring a laptop with you to participate in activities.

Georgia Perimeter College welcomes visitors to view the night sky in its Dunwoody campus observatory this Saturday, May 12, from 9 p.m. to 10:45 p.m. Arrive before 10 p.m. for viewing.

Can’t make it this weekend? Not a problem. The observatory holds open house hours on the second Saturday night of every month. The hours vary seasonally, based on when the skies become dark. GPC also allows visitors to use the observatory telescope at other times, by appointment.

If your child enjoys astronomy, a trip to  Tellus Museum for National Astronomy Day will offer a day full of opportunities to learn about space.

Astronomy Day at Tellus will be held from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, April 28, 2012. Highlights will include meteorite specimens — even some you can touch — stargazing tips from local astronomy clubs, solar astronomy, planetarium shows, stargazing via telescopes and the observatory, and nighttime guided tours of the stars.

All activities are included in the regular admission price (or free if you’re a Tellus member).

National Astronomy Day is next Saturday, April 28, and Fernbank Science Center in Decatur has planned a busy day of stargazing in the planetarium and the observatory.

Guests at Fernbank can view Venus in the observatory (weather permitting) and take in planetarium shows throughout the day. Admission to the science center, as always, is free, but there is a small fee for the planetarium shows — $4 for adults; $3 for kids.

An Ohio teen who loves science and wants to foster scientific exploration among high-school students is starting an academic research journal — and she’s looking for like-minded teens who want to join her.

En Kephalos Teen Science will give students a place to publish their scientific research. Founded by Anamika Veeramani, currently a sophomore in high school, the journal will be overseen by an advisory board of representatives from colleges, high schools and hospitals.

The journal is seeking candidates for several editor positions, as well as a marketing coordinator and a web designer. The deadline to apply for these positions is April 25, 2012.

The journal also is looking for research to publish. High-school students can submit articles about their original research, or reviews that summarize a body of research done by others.

For more information, contact Anamika.

Warm weather means fireflies should soon appear in our area. They’re amazing to watch, and for budding young scientists, they can be an opportunity to take part in a vast, nationwide study of the firefly population.

With the Museum of Science Firefly Watch, you and your kids can work as research scientists. And you don’t need any special training. If you can count lightning bugs, you can provide data that will help researchers evaluate how firefly populations are changing. It’s not a huge time commitment, either — just 10 minutes one evening a week during firefly season. You report your observations online, and you can see what data others have collected.

My kids and I participated last year, and it was easy and fun. Sign up now so you’ll be ready when the lightning bugs make their debut!