Astronomy Club at highschool

[OwO]

My High school is giving us the option to make our own clubs. I would some opinions on making an astronomy club

 Logically I know such a club should be at night but I still wojld like to give this a shot. What do you think I should do? Thank you!

[Louis D]

Being in CA, you might also ask this on Cloudy Nights since it is US centric.  I did a search of their threads from google and turned up a few older posts on the subject that might get you started.

Being in Oakland, I'd contact the UC Berkeley astronomy department for a start.  They probably have an outreach program that could help.

[Louis D]

Found UCB's outreach page.  You're very fortunate to be so close to such a fine program.

[Red Dwarfer]

8 hours ago, OwO said:

Logically I know such a club should be at night

Start with the theory at a High School club : how to get started , the basics in observation , etc 

Then , if you get enough interest , move on to practical and arrange a star party at night 

[michael.h.f.wilkinson]

Together with friends I set up an astronomy club at my highschool, after we found out there was a small refractor at school. We organized several evening sessions, kicking off with a total lunar eclipse exactly 39 years ago today. We also organized lectures (I personally gave quite a few on stellar evolution), and we could often be seen with the scope and a solar projection set-up, observing the sun. That drew in quite a few new members.

[JOC]

My son's school were gifted an apparently large telescope and one of the physics teachers tried to set up an astronomy club - they had a sufficient amount of interest from the students, but clearly due to scheduling of other school events were required to nominate a scheduled meeting point and time immediately after school hours - coming back in the evening not being an option due to the school being closed and many pupils arriving by bus from out of town locations.  Between the few nights dark enough to use a telescope at that time of days at school during the winter terms and being able to clock for a clear night at that time the club never did get a clear observing night and although they played with setting up their 'scope on local chimney pots and had some talks the lack of being able to actually go observing meant in the finish that the club died a natural death - def. a shame, but no way around it!  Best of luck with the idea, perhaps your weather is more predictable than ours.

[Obsessed]

OwO: You should contact the head of a local astronomy club; they will guide you along, giving you options of what you'd like to do. They will certainly invite you out to join with them at their stargazing events, public outreach programs, etc. They might even have a loaner scope they can provide you with, after you learn how to use it. Ronald Lewis, Founder & President, Green Mountain Astronomers (Vermont)

[Luna-tic]

I agree with talking to someone at UC Berkeley to help you get started, at least to give you some direction. You've also got 4 great planetariums in the Oakland-San Francisco area. The Charles F. Hagar Planetarium also has an observatory. Morrison Planetarium bills itself as the largest all-digital planetarium in the world.

Obviously, observing would be a nighttime operation, but there's a lot you can do for club activities during daylight.  Good luck.

[Dave In Vermont]

First off - Greetings, OwO, and a warm welcome to SGL - it's great to have you aboard!

For help and questions - you've certainly come to the right place! We LOVE helping to find answers in these many forums.

You could start by finding some local Astronomy Clubs in your area and ask them for advice and ask if they might know of anyone who'd be willing to come and speak to your friends about how to go about forming an astronomy-group, as they've done. Ask about some professors from a local university who'd be interested in coming out - or you going to the university - and give a talk on the subject(s)  you're interested in - Astronomy!

At your school, do you have a science-teacher to sponsor you, and keep informed of what & how you're going about this to establish communications with the faculty & administration within the High School. They should be delighted by this! And setting-up a government for the club itself is a priority to work out. I suggest that every member have an equal voice regards steering the group and deciding what people would like to do: Have night's for outdoor observations together. How to get some equipment and funding to this end - telescope(s), eyepieces, star-charting books & software-programs such as Stellarium (You should all LOVE this! And it's totally free! Each member can have their own copy to set-up personally in a way to reflect their own interests & tastes. I'll leave a 'screenshot' below of my own (highly-advanced) copy of 'Stella' )

This should get you going - and keep asking any questions you find!

Starry Skies -

Dave

 

Stellarium hunting for a comet -

Click on image for larger sizes.

[Geoff Lister]

+1 for Stellarium.  http://stellarium.org/en_GB/   There are also several apps. that you can load on a mobile phone or tablet, (I use, the free, SkyPortal), that will show the constellations moving in your view as you point the phone/tablet at different parts of the sky. 

If you want to start with a little daytime observing, that does not require an expensive, complex, telescope setup, you have the Sun and Moon. I was looking at the half-Moon, yesterday, mid-afternoon, with a small refractor on a tripod, and was able to see a lot of detail on the light/dark boundary. Provided that you are very, very, careful with safety; again, using the same small refractor, but now fitted with a solar filter over its objective lens (sheet of the silvered film material similar to that used in the cardboard-frame glasses used for observing solar eclipses), I was able to get a good view of the Sun, and look for sunspots; it's a quiet period in the solar cycle, so I did not spot any yesterday.

Geoff