Author Archives: John

Preliminary Reports from First Campaign

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This past weekend, fifteen telescope sites associated with RECON coordinated to collect data from a predicted occultation by Pluto. The most recent predictions prior to the event placed Pluto’s shadow in the Southern Hemisphere, but this occultation provided a good inaugural opportunity for the RECON network. While we are still in the process of confirming data collected from the network, preliminary reports back from each site indicate both successes as well as lessons learned. Below is a summary of preliminary reports:

Six of RECON teams were able to successfully get on the Pluto star field and record data during the predicted times. Given the challenges of the Pluto’s location low on the eastern horizon, this is a significant accomplishment!

Two teams were able to record data but got on the field about 10 minutes late. This is not surprising because Pluto was just rising and was very low in the eastern horizon, so there was limited time to get on the field.

One team faced cloudy conditions but was still able to do a three star alignment through holes in the cloud cover. The team also did a “precise-goto” and got near the Pluto field and start their recorder, but the clouds never cleared in the target region.

The remaining six teams dealt with various issues both in and out of their control and were not successful in recording data but learned good lessons. These involved making proper adjustments to the camera gain control, re-centering the telescope on the target field, dealing with mountains and trees on the horizon that blocked the rising star field, fighting power failures associated with a design flaw in the power connection for the CPC-11, and explaining to concerned passers-by what folks were doing out with telescopes at 1AM.

All in all, things went very well for this first observation campaign. There were great lessons learned and with just a little more time and practice we would have had at least eight and likely even more scopes on the field for the event. Also, I just received email confirmation from Marc that the occultation was detected at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory (CTIO) in Chile. Marc will provide more details next week when he is back from Brazil.

Great job all!!! Feel free to add additional details of your experiences as a reply to this blog post.

North of Reno Part 2

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This blog is a bit late, but I wanted to provide an update on the last two days of our trip visiting prospective communities north of Reno last week.

Tulelake Water TowerOn Monday, October 29, Marc and I met up with the middle school and high school science teachers in Tulelake, located on the California/Oregon border.  They were very enthusiastic and plan to talk with others in their community about participating.

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We then drove through Alturas and stopped by the local library.  The librarian there, Cheryl, provided several suggestions of individuals from Alturas and Cedarville who might be interested in participating.  One of these leads has resulted in potential connections with Surprise Valley High School.

 

That afternoon, we stopped by Lassen High School in Susanville for a followup visit with the science teachers there and also a tour of their campus.  Following this quick visit, we ended our day in Reno.

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On Tuesday, we had a very productive meeting with three science teachers from Carson High School.  One of these teachers has been coordinating with volunteers from the Jack C. Davis Observatory in Carson City to involve his students in occultation research already.    We also enjoyed meeting with an amateur astronomer who drove up to meet us from Gardnerville who is interested in joining our project by purchasing his own camera setup to use at his personal observatory.

Finally, we received a very thorough tour of the University of Nevada Reno campus from faculty there. We are still making arrangements regarding the venue for our training workshop to be held in late March or early April.

Over the course of our six day tour, Marc and I were able to meet up with 39 individuals in a total of 12 meetings.  We were both very encouraged by the level of interest and enthusiasm as well as diversity and character found in each community we visited. We look forward to receiving Community Team Applications and Observation Mentor Applications for all that we visited and more. We will begin reviewing these applications on December 3 and plan to identify our key network leaders before the end of the year.

Thanks to all who were able to meet up with us on our trek and for those of you who are following our blog posts.  Feel free to contact recon@calpoly.edu for additional information on our project.

Recruiting north of Reno

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Over the past week, planetary scientist Marc Buie and I have been visiting communities north of Reno to recruit participants to RECON.  The response has been tremendous so far.

On Thursday, we had engaging conversations at the Fleischmann Planetarium at University of Nevada Reno and visited their telescope facilities at the UNR Redfield Campus.  We also met with enthusiastic volunteers at Jack C. Davis Observatory on the Western Nevada College campus in Carson City.

Telescope facilities at UNR Redfield Campus

Friday, we headed northwest up to Quincy, California, where the Quincy Jr/Sr High School homecoming festivities were in full swing.  After talking with one of the science teachers and principal there, we watched the Trojan homecoming parade down main street.

Watching the Quincy Homecoming Parade

Visiting Greenville High School

In the afternoon, we met with a large and engaging group of community members and teachers at the charter school in Greenville as well as an amateur astronomer who drove up from Chico.  The group was very excited about the opportunities for students to do authentic astronomy research through the RECON project.  We then quickly headed up to Susanville to meet up with teachers from Lassen High School at the Bateson Observatory.

Mt. Shasta viewed from McArthur, California

On Saturday morning we had an early morning meeting at Burney Jr/Sr High School followed by an afternoon conversation at Fall River Jr/Sr High School in McArthur. Marc and I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about each community and to explore ways to best deploy the RECON network.

Tomorrow, we head up to Tulelake High School on the California/Oregon border. We’ll then head down through Alturas, back to Susanville, and end up in Reno by nightfall. We are both very encouraged by and grateful for the warm receptions we have received on this trip. Let us know if you or anyone you know lives between Tulelake and Tonopah and is interested in learning more about this citizen science opportunity to measure the sizes of Kuiper Belt Objects!