10000 Skyline Blvd., Oakland, CA 94619
(510) 336-7300
Chabot
ASTRO NOTES
Space & Science Center
A Newsletter for the Volunteers
Volume 3, Issue 4
of the Chabot Space and Science Center
June/July 2006
Published on 8/17/2006
CELEBRATING 123 YRS —
“A VIEW TO THE STARS” EXHIBIT OPENS 2006.08.12
By Judyth Collin, Public Relations. A similar article was released to the press on July 27, 2006
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
VIEW to STARS Opens
VPC Retreat
New Staff
Growing up at Mt.
Hamilton
Field Trip-Hayward Fault
Teacher Research Ctr.
Lecture-Climate Forecast
Science Award
Black Hole - New Show
Techbridge Summer Acad.
Elastic Concrete
Exoplanet
Lecture–Cosmic Origins
Lecture–Pleiades
VOLUNTEER SERVICES
Volunteer Manager
Megan Gray
mgray@chabotspace.org
(510) 336-7414
VOLUNTEER STAFF
L to R: Charles Burckhalter, John Brashear, and Ambrose Swasey (From Chabot Archives)
his new permanent exhibit allows visitors town Oakland. It has since moved twice and is
to share a nighttime experience of the his- currently situated in the Oakland Hills, where
toric observatory during the museum's day- it houses three telescopes that are open to the
time hours. The 2,800-square-foot exhibition public: the original refracting 8-inch Alvan
spans the three observatories and recounts the Clark telescope, named "Leah," built in 1883;
123-year history of Chabot and its telescopes. the 20-inch refractor telescope, named
The exhibition contains informative graphic "Rachel," built in 1915; and the newest 36-inch
panels, multimedia kiosks, interactive com- reflecting telescope, "Nellie," which opened in
puter programs, hands-on stations and his- 2003. The meridian transit telescope, used to
toric artifacts. The ribbon-cutting ceremony set the official time for Oakland from 1885was on Thursday, August 10, from 3-5 pm 1915, is on display in Astronomy Hall. When
during a VIP and press Founder's Day event. it was in operation, it automatically rang a
The event honored those who had been instru- bell at Oakland City Hall twice a day.
mental in founding the new Chabot, including
"mad-scientist" Kinglsey Wightman, Chabot's "The Bay Area should be very proud of
director from 1947–1991.
Chabot's 123 years of service in civic science,"
commented Executive Director Alex Barnett.
Chabot is one of the oldest public observato- "Millions of people have had their first look at
ries in the United States. The original observa- Saturn through the telescopes. I know many
tory opened in 1883 in Lafayette Square, down(Continues on Page 4)
T
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
June / July 2006
Editor/Production:
Helen Chou
astronotes@chabotspace.org
Staff Writer:
Steve Matthews
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Volunteers
Terry Galloway
Steve Matthews
Bill Drelling
Cecile Weaver
Dede Dewey
Cristina Deptula
Chabot Staff
Judyth Collin
Megan Gray
Sharon Fletcher
Diane Davis
Bernadette Powell
V-3, I-4
Page 1
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
By Judyth Collin, Public Relations
T
he Fall calendar of events, available at the end of August for the period of September through December, will be reported in
the next newsletter. <>
COMING ATTRACTIONS
By Megan Gray
Saturday, Sept. 16, 2006, 8:30 AM
Sunday, Sept. 24, 2006, 4 PM
Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2006, 10:30AM-12:00PM
Field Trip #2, scheduled for , will be a visit
to Mt. Hamilton. We will meet at the Center at 8:30 AM and carpool. A bagged
lunch is suggested. Sign up with Marie
at (510) 339-1774.
Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 Astronaut
and Chairman, Association of Space Explorers Committee on Near Earth Objects
Managing the Conflict of Evolution and
Intelligent Design
"Are we still Dinosaurs? The Asteroid
Test” Protecting the Earth from the next
big cosmic collision.
James Moore Theater at OMCA (Oakland
Museum of California) <>
See volunteer website for details
VOLUNTEER PROGRAM RETREAT BRINGS TOP ISSUES INTO FOCUS
By Megan Gray
R
ecently, I orchestrated our first Vol
unteer Program mini-retreat. Our
mission was to utilize collaborative
thoughts and experiences to identify issues that are important to the volunteers,
and to collect suggestions for their improvement. The participants included
Volunteer Program Committee members
and invited volunteer guests.
The two main areas of the volunteer program that we tackled included: School
Groups and Exhibits. My goal for the discussion groups was to identify and define the top three priorities in each of these
areas for the next year and record their
specific volunteer suggestions.
The following were identified as the biggest issues of concern for the Volunteer
Manager, staff, and fellow volunteers to
focus on in the upcoming year.
School Groups Issues
1. Content and delivery of educational
experience for students
2. Orientation and expectations for
school groups
3. Volunteer scheduling, coordination
and training for working with school
groups
Exhibits/Observatory Deck Training &
Resources
1. Need more frequent training with a
focus on visitor experience (rather than
content) for both new and old exhibits.
Experienced volunteers to play a key
role in training.
2. Dissemination of information:
Volunteers need to be aware of what is
going on (since they are the ones
answering questions for the public).
3. Recruitment and Training: We need
more well-trained, regular, dedicated
volunteers
Other topics discussed
* Move monthly enrichments to
Tuesdays starting in September
* Enforcement of rules and behavior of
visitors on the floor (volunteer vs. staff
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
vs. security). Security was identified as
a logical model in this effort.
* Better integration of nighttime deck
activities, volunteers, and the center to
increase the number of telescope
visitors who also visit the center, see a
show, and enjoy a well-rounded
experience.
* Staff/volunteer teamwork.
I'd like to send a special thank you to Volunteer Program Committee members
(Cecile Weaver, Bill Young, Jean Spees,
Helen Chou, Robert Graham, David
Holzman, Ray Wong, Marie Kenaga, Doug
Milikien, and Teri Schlesinger) who have
been some of my greatest mentors and
who have helped the volunteer program
evolve over the years.
If you would like detailed notes on issues
and suggestions discussed at this meeting, or if you are interested in becoming
more involved in volunteer program
evaluation and planning (VPC role), please
contact Megan directly to discuss.<>
June / July 2006
V-3, I-4
Page 2
CHABOT ANNOUNCES DIRECTOR OF FINANCE AND FACILITIES
By Judyth Collin, Public Relations. A similar article was released to the press on August 24, 2006
A
ugust 24, 2006 — (Oakland, CA)
Chabot Space & Science Center is
pleased to announce the appointment of
Jill Knowland as the Center's new Director
of Finance and Facilities. Ms. Knowland has
over 13 years experience in accounting,
business management, software selection,
implementation and training.
For the past several months, she has been
working as a financial consultant for
Chabot and will commence full-time
duties as Director at the end of August.
She will be responsible for Chabot's financial management, accounting, business controls, and external financial relations.
She will also serve as a member of the
senior management team and provide
financial forecasts and analysis to the
Board of Director's Finance Committee.
"I am very excited to be a part of Chabot,"
said Knowland. "I have a deep investment
in the City and feel that the Center is one
of its shining stars. I look forward to uti-
lizing my years of experience in public
accounting and business management in
guiding the finances and operation of the
organization."
In 1999, Jill founded Libris Solutions, an
Oakland software selection and implementation consulting company that focused on the nonprofit sector, servicing
Blackbaud clients and products. This
past year she has served as the CFO for
Building Opportunities for Self-Sufficiency (BOSS), a Berkeley nonprofit dedicated to helping homeless, poor, and disabled people achieve health and self-sufficiency. Previously, she was Vice President of Kono Consulting and established
the software consulting department at
certified public accounting firm, Burr,
Pilger & Mayer.
She is a graduate of California State University Hayward, and holds a BS in Business Management.
"We are very pleased that Jill has agreed
to come on board," said Alex Barnett,
Jill Knowland - Director of Finance
Chabot's executive director. "She possesses exceptional skills and experiences
that will strengthen our management
team, stabilize our finances, and carry
us forward into the next phase of our
development." <>
ENRICHMENT LECTURES — A PERSONAL VIEW
By Cristina Deptula
M
any of you probably know Chabot
hosts regular volunteer enrichment lectures (Enrichments), and that
they are great "fringe benefits" for us as
volunteers, bringing us together to learn
and share ideas relating to various areas
of astronomy and science. The Enrichments can also provide us with ways to
better communicate with visitors; they
give us background knowledge on topics relevant to the exhibits, as well as
"startling facts" we can casually drop into
a conversation with visitors. Some of the
visitors come to Chabot to see the exhibits and don't necessarily want to hear us
talk a lot. The Enrichments provide facts
and short anecdotes we can use to help
spark someone's interest in an exhibit in
the little time we have with them.
Last month, I attended the talk by Dr. Blitz
on modern telescope technology and a
preview of the black hole films. One of
the films illustrated the life cycles of different sizes of stars and discussed the
development of a pulsar - a star that rotates after burning through its atomic
fuel to form heavier elements. What
stayed with me afterwards was how
some pulsars shrunk down to incredibly
small sizes - one only 12 miles across! I
could see sharing that with a family in
the Destination Universe exhibit when
they are viewing the exhibit on star life
cycle activity.
Later on, Dr. Blitz discussed the workings of telescopes. He used the analogy of
a Texas gunfight to explain the relationship between sensitivity and resolution
of the scopes. That's a good technique for
talking with visitors; we can use simple
terms and everyday activities to explain
complicated scientific concepts.
He also talked about some of the goals of
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
telescope construction and why astronomers want larger and more powerful
scopes. By looking far into outer space
one can look back in time, and thus obtain information about the early universe and the processes by which the
universe was formed. With powerful
telescopes, one can search the sky for faraway planets and solar systems and perhaps discover a system similar to ours and
perhaps life as we know it would be more
common. For the first-time visitor, some
of the lofty goals of high-powered telescope construction might not be obvious.
So, I would definitely encourage people
to attend the Enrichments. These lectures are presented with in-depth technical information in an informal and easy
to understand format. It's a great resource, not just in terms of our own education, but also to improve our interaction with visitors. <>
June / July 2006
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Page 3
NEW STAFF
By Megan Gray
Camie Bonitaites - Dev. Grantwriter
Camie Bontaites introduces herself: “I’m
from Boston originally, and can do the
accent unnervingly well if coerced into it.
I started fundraising and writing grants
six years ago when I was the Program
Director for a Bay Area environmental
education program, and have continued
writing grants on a contract basis while
finishing my PhD in the History and Philosophy of Science. In my free time I sing
in a band called Tony and the Danzas,
(take Balkan singing lessons on the side),
keep bees, and backcountry camp whenever I can. In one month at Chabot I have
seen mini rockets explode in the courtyard, sat in on a Mission to Mars where
Stars Exhibit
Gibson Cuyler - Facilities Technician
we almost lost all of our oxygen, and
watched six year olds flailing wildly with
robotic arms –I am thrilled to be here.”
Chabot is pleased to welcome Gibson
Cuyler (pronounced ky-ler) as our new
Facilities Technician. Originally from
New York, Gibson has lived in the Bay
Area for about three and a half years and
lives in an artist collective in the warehouse
district of West Oakland called LoBot.
"We have a constant line of art and music shows, and in the two years since
we've been in operation we've received
two "Best of the Bay" awards for underground music and art venue…San Francisco magazine referred to us as "a work
in progress" … says Gibson.
Chris Markiewicz - Film Projectionist
Gibson spends most of his free time in
the studio. He plays in a duo band called
"Jozie and little Big." When he's not playing, Gibson enjoys making new art for
upcoming shows…"My work kind of occupies a place that uses photography and
painting and has begun to serve as a comment on organics and math," says Gibson.
Chris Markiewicz was hired as our Film
Projectionist. Chris grew up in Hawaii
and has a degree in theatre production.
He has worked for both live theatre
companies and cinemas. In his spare
time Chris enjoys film, classic/collectible cars, architecture, reading and hiking. <>
(Continued from Pg. 1)
people today who fondly remember
their visits to the old Chabot on Mountain Blvd. and now come back with their
children to our current site."
The telescopes have been used for significant research, from studying eclipses to
looking for planets around other stars.
Included in the exhibition are astronomical photographs taken through Chabot's
telescopes, along with historical images
and artifacts from the institution's first
century of operation. Interactive computers allow daytime visitors to "look
through" a telescope at an ideal Oakland
night sky and try their skill at locating
astronomical targets. Hands-on exhibits
let visitors experiment with light sources,
mirrors, and lenses to learn how telescope
optics create images of distant objects.
The multimedia kiosks recount Chabot's
history and include the accomplishments of Chabot's first director, Charles
Burckhalter, whose turn-of-the-century
eclipse photographs earned him worldwide recognition. The kiosks also feature
stories of the Eastbay Astronomical Society and its ongoing support of the observatory.
Chabot has played an important integral
part of the culture and history of the Bay
Area. Its archives contain a treasure chest
of Bay Area anecdotes, including patri-
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
otic stories of the everyday folks who
were searching the skies for Sputniks in
Operation Moonwatch, the lectures given
by early directors about their travels to
exotic parts of the world, and the nuisance of the cows that got loose on observatory grounds.
Major funding for the $350,000 project
was provided by Proposition 40 funds
from California's Historical and Cultural
Resources Preservation Program. Additional funds were provided by voter approved bonds from Measure G. The
project also includes improvements to
the observatories that will allow Chabot
to conduct classes for elementary and secondary students from Bay Area schools.<>
June / July 2006
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Page 4
LICK OBSERVATORY ON MT. HAMILTON — A PERSONAL STORY
By Cecile Weaver
I
grew up on top of Mt. Hamilton during the 20s and 30s as my father was
an astronomer at Lick Observatory. It
was a very small community of about
50 people all associated with the observatory: instrument maker, electrician,
carpenter, truck driver, computational
assistants (this was way before computers), photographer, secretary, as well as
astronomers. Our houses - in fact everything - belonged to the University of California. At that time it was a campus of the
University. It was very isolated: good
for observing the stars; no smog, no haze,
known for its clear skies and good seeing.
And what a view of the whole Bay Area!
As children, we felt very connected to the
Observatory, the telescopes, the construction, and loved to go "up top" as we
called it for visitors' nights or to be at the
post office and see the stage arrive at
noon six days a week bringing the mail
and food ordered from San Jose, as well
as perhaps some passengers. How exciting to have some newcomers arrive -perhaps a visiting astronomer from Europe
or a graduate student from the East Coast!
We attended the Mt. Hamilton School:
one room, one teacher, grades 1-8,
around 13 children. When I was in third
grade, we moved into a new schoolhouse
with a stage and a furnace. There were
just two of us in my grade, occasionally
three when the child of a visiting astronomer or perhaps from a "neighboring"
ranch, attended.
While we were closely connected on the
west by a winding road to San Jose, on
the east there was a narrower dirt road
we seldom traveled. It continued past the
mountain eventually ending in
Livermore. We could see the mountains,
valleys covered with yellow tidy tips in
the spring and streams and knew there
were ranchers "out there" but our contacts with them were few. Sometimes my
mother would go hiking in the
backcountry along with a group of young
people from the Observatory.
Every fall, we would see hunters in their
jalopies and trucks heading east to go
deer hunting and returning with their
bounty strapped onto their vehicles. Occasionally, there were forest fires and the
fire department from Smith Creek would
come over the mountain heading for the
backcountry. We would watch anxiously to see if the fire was spreading toward Mt. Hamilton.
Growing up on a mountaintop meant
many things. It meant being careful with
water; some years the director had to rule
only one bath a week. It meant few flat
spots for playing - balls rolled down the
mountainside, and even though we
scrambled to catch them, mostly they
were never to be found. It meant learning to be surefooted and walk on narrow
trails.
But the greatest thing was probably the
spectacular view of the stars on a moonless night. From the top, one had a clear
view of the multitude of stars, not visible anymore because of the light from
the cities. In summer there was the brilliant Milky Way starting with Scorpio in
the south and arching across the sky. In
winter, Orion dominated the sky, and
even with the naked eye one could see
the great nebula. Then there were more
wonderful sights to be seen through the
36inch refractor- the cluster in Hercules,
for example.
How could I do anything but study astronomy after growing up at the Lick
Observatory! Please join me and your
fellow volunteers for a special trip to
Mount Hamilton and the Lick Observatory on Saturday, September 16th. For
details check the Chabot volunteer site
at www.chabotspace.org/csscvolunteer.
<>
“THE HAYWARD FAULT EXPOSED” EXHIBITION — CHABOT FIELD TRIP #1
By Dede Dewey
W
hen I heard that Chabot volunteers
were organizing a field trip to see
the Hayward Fault Exposed Exhibit, I was
one of the first to sign up for the opportunity! I'd like to share a few of the highlights that I got out of attending this event.
My education started in the parking lot.
A docent pointed out how to identify
the difference between a crack in the
road and a fault line crack. She then
went on to point out a variety of
reasons that people should be concerned about fault lines and earthquakes. Some of the eye-opening
comments I recall:
(1) Remember: The Bay Area is our home.
(2) People have taken an apathetic
approach and are not prepared for a
disaster. People do not have a plan and
they do not have a kit.
(3) People forget to turn off their gas
after an earthquake. They tend to just
get out.
4) Residents do not have a plan for their
pets and don't realize that human shelters
will not accept pets in case of a disaster.
(5) Most hospitals will be damaged or
unsafe.
(6) Landslides (due to unstable soil) are
a bigger danger than building collapse.
(7) Studying earthquakes by taking
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
core samples is a lot like archeology. It
was interesting to learn what characteristics and facts can be deciphered
from the color of the soil.
Overall, this was a relevant, practical,
(Continued Next Page.)
June / July 2006
V-3, I-4
Page 5
Field Trip
(Continued)
and informative field trip that was also
a lot of fun. I encourage you to look into
further resources on earthquake preparedness by visiting http://earthquake.
usgs.gov/learning/preparedness. This
exhibit is open Saturdays and Sundays
from 10am-3pm till Oct. 2006. Visit http:/
/www.msnucleus.org/haywardfault/
This field trip was organized by Marie
Kenaga. She is a member of the Volun-
teer Program Committee and has been
with Chabot since 1999. She played a
part in the old Volunteer Advisory Committee, was a Challenger Learning Center Scheduler and Mission Assistant, and
did various other activities. <>
KATHY SAWYER, A FORCE IN THE “TEACHER RESEARCH CENTER” (TRC)
By Diane Davis, Science Education Project Manager
I
n August 2005, Chabot volunteer,
Kathy Sawyer, embarked on a journey
to help the Programs Department assemble the Chabot's Teacher Research
Center/Library (TRC) from nearly a bare
room with empty shelves into a useful resource for staff, educators, and volunteers.
Every Thursday since August 2005,
Kathy has tackled boxes of books, journals, and magazines which have been
brought up to Chabot from an offsite storage facility by Chabot's Archivist, Elia
Van Lith. Kathy sorts the books, makes
sure they are correctly labeled, classified,
wrapped, and recorded for entry into our
database. Kathy has also been "making
huge strides learning to navigate the
Dewey Decimal classification manuals,
in addition to all her other hard work,"
says Elia.
The purpose of the TRC is to provide educators with an array of science resources.
The collection includes standard print-
based curriculum guides, current science
journals, astronomy journals, science
references, books on science education,
astronomy and telescope making, and a
wide range of multimedia content (DVD's
videotapes and CD's). The Center has two
computers for teachers to access and
download media such as NASA images
and short video clips for classroom use.
A special feature is a collection of
children's books featuring science and
astronomy themes for your reference.
The facility is made possible from generous support by Kaiser Permanente, Margaret and Lawrence Hauben, the Chestnut Hill Charitable Foundation, the U.S.
Department of Education and NASA.
Diane, who has coordinated with Kathy
throughout the past year says, "Kathy
has really put a lot of hard work into the
TRC. We greatly appreciate her time and
dedication to this project. She has done
an incredible job!!" In her own words,
Kathy Sawyer
putting books in order with a smile
Kathy said: "It's getting exciting to see
how close it is to being able to open it to
the teachers." Chabot hopes to launch
the TRC in the next school year. <>
INDIGENOUS CLIMATE FORECASTING VIA THE PLEIADES
Lecture by Dr. Chiang, summarized by Cristina Deptula
I
n June's volunteer enrichment, Dr. John
Chiang, a member of UC Berkeley's geography faculty, discussed research he'd
performed, with Dr. Benjamin Orlove of
UC Davis and Dr. Mark Cane of Columbia, investigating the possible scientific
basis for weather forecasting using the
visibility of the Pleiades cluster.
In summary, indigenous people in the
eastern slope of the Peruvian Andes have
learned that the visibility of the Pleiades
in June is an accurate predictor of the success of that season's potato crop. High Pleiades visibility forecasts plentiful rainfall
and abundant crop, while low visibility
predicts little rainfall and poor crop.
The Pleiades indicator has been shown
to be consistent with the formation of
high cirrus clouds during El Nino years,
but not during non El Nino years. During non El Nino periods the wind comes
from the Atlantic to the northeast, bringing moisture and rainfall to the eastern
Andes. However, El Nino weather patterns heat the air above the Pacific, causing warm moist air to move in from the
west. The moisture then drops on the
western Andes, depriving the eastern
slopes of moisture and disrupting the
moist airflow from the northeast. These
conditions help lead to the formation of
high cirrus clouds that obscure the June
visibility of the Pleiades, as well as bringing about droughts that lessen crop yields.
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
Drs. Chiang, Orlove, and Cane see their
work as an interesting example of a potentially fruitful partnership between
indigenous peoples and modern researchers. Traditional ritual and folklore
could suggest new directions for research
and phenomena to observe, while local
villagers could also learn more about the
workings of their environments from
research scientists.
Once again, this was an interesting and
informative enrichment event at Chabot.
It provided unique and interesting information that I can share with visitors
about the Pleiades and the intersection
of culture and science. <>
June / July 2006
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THINGS TO DO ON A SUNNY SUNDAY
By Terry Galloway
L to R: Dan Miller, Terry Galloway, Celeste Burrows
July 23, 2006. Photo credits: Robert Goddard
Girl and Solar Telescope
July 30, 2006. Photo credits: Terry Galloway
O
n Sunday, July 23, 2006, it hit 100.20 °F at 4:30 PM. Dan Miller, Board Member, enjoyed seeing the sun in hydrogen alpha
light with a big prominence shooting out from the sun, while volunteer, Dr. Terry Galloway, and staff, Celeste Burrow,
looked on and discussed the solar phenomena. The air-conditioned Center was full of visitors. Despite the heat outside in the
Pleiades courtyard, we had a large number of visitors who stopped to look through the solar telescope.
The domes and telescopes were closed owing to the construction underway. Our solar telescope on the Pleiades courtyard
continues to attract large numbers of visitors on Sundays. <>
CHABOT 2006 SCIENCE AWARDS GALA: REACH FOR THE STARS, 2006.05.20
By Bernadette Powell, Development Director
C
habot's Science Award Gala and
Summer Solstice Fundraiser, held on
May 20, was attended by over 200 guests
and brought in over $225,000 in support
of our science education programs. An
event production company and Chabot
volunteers helped to transform the whole
Center for the occasion. Hundreds of
votives on the glass wall ledges turned
the sky bridge into a magical space. Astronomy Hall was cleared of floor exhibits and became a dark silver and blue dining room, highlighted by vivid flowers
on the tables.
The event honored those who inspire
school children in our community to
reach for the stars. Dr. Claire Max of U.C.
Berkeley's Lick and Keck Observatories
received the Chabot Science Award for
her work on adaptive optics. John Collett
of Newark Memorial High School was
honored as Accenture Teacher of the year.
Each gave a short inspiring talk on their
work.
The evening also celebrated all Chabot's
teachers, including the teen volunteers
(Galaxy Explorers) who so effectively
engage Chabot's young visitors. Students Sophie Lee and Jonathan Hewitt,
expressed their appreciation of the Galaxy Explorers program through which
they are trained to lead science activities
at Chabot and in the community at science fairs and in partnership with Boys
and Girls Clubs of Oakland. As Jonathan
said, the experience greatly enhances
both the students' science learning and
their communication skills.
The event concluded with a live auction.
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
Guests bid on items that ranged from a
star-gazing trip to Yosemite to a "Space
Odyssey" pinball machine, to trips to
ancient Maya cities and the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Gala sponsors included Accenture, Edward E. & Camille
Penhoet, Alta Partners, Chevron Corporation, Earl & Bonnie Hamlin, Kaiser
Permanente, Gordon and Betty Moore
Foundation, Barclay and Sharon
Simpson, Eric & Stephanie Tilenius and
Union Bank of California.
Thank you to the following volunteers
for assisting with set up, greetings
guests, coat check, sharing exhibits, auction spotting, and clean up: Steve and
Elaine Markowitz, Dede Dewey, Bill
Young, Lynn Brechtel, Paul Hoy, Kevin
Tam, Josephine Moh, Janet Weaver, Jim
Pearson, and Marie Kenaga. <>
June / July 2006
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Page 7
BLACK HOLES: THE OTHER SIDE OF INFINITY
By Judyth Collin, Public Relations. A similar article was released to the press on June 30, 2006
O
PENS JULY 15, 2006 - Planetarium
Show Narrated by Liam Neeson.
*How black holes form from massive
stars that die in violent explosions called
supernovae
OAKLAND, CA (June 30, 2006) - Cross
the cosmic threshold into the bizarre
realm of a black hole when Chabot Space
& Science Center opens its new planetarium show, Black Holes: The Other
Side of Infinity in the Ask Jeeves Planetarium on Saturday, July 15. Narrated
by Liam Neeson, the show provides a
groundbreaking, scientifically accurate
perspective on black holes and presents
the latest compelling evidence that black
holes are real.
"The visuals are stunning," said Chabot's
executive director, Alex Barnett. "We are
pleased to bring to Bay Area audiences
something that is beautiful on top of being accurate and educational. The show
delivers the real experience-at least if
Einstein's theory of general relativity is
correct. But be warned: don't expect it to
look like anything you've seen before."
Black Holes brings viewers along on a
thrilling ride to the inside of a
supermassive black hole. This is made
possible by a unique software program
called a Black Hole Flight Simulator,
which transforms real scientific data
about black holes into stunning, colorful
*That gamma-rays are telltale products
of black hole formation, and how a NASA
space telescope called Swift is looking for
these signs right now
*The difference between regular, stellar
mass black holes, and immense,
supermassive black holes, and how each
type forms
*Strong evidence demonstrating there
are supermassive black holes at the center of galaxies
visualizations. Viewers encounter a
range of spectacular cosmic wonders,
including a depiction of the beginning of
the universe, the Big Bang, endless seas
of dust and gas drawn together by gravity to form the first stars, the collision of
two galaxies that cross paths in the vastness of space, and a virtual trip into the
center of the Milky Way galaxy. The show
also gives an overview of the fundamental concepts and terms essential to the
understanding black holes:
* Einstein's concept of general relativity,
and how the gravity of massive objects
warps the fabric of space
Suitable for ages 12 and up, Black Holes:
The Other Side of Infinity is 25 minutes
in length. Black Holes: The Other Side of
Infinity is a Denver Museum of Nature &
Science Production, supported by grants
from NASA's Gamma-ray Large Area
Space Telescope project and the National
Science Foundation. It is directed by Thomas Lucas and coproduced with the
National Center for Supercomputing
Applications. Science directors include
Dr. Andrew Hamilton (University of
Colorado) and Dr. Lynn Cominsky
(Sonoma State University). Distributed
by Spitz, Inc. <>
GIRLS BUILD GREEN DOLLHOUSES IN TECHBRDIGE SUMMER ACADEMY
By Judyth Collin, Public Relations. A similar article was released to the press on June 15, 2006
J
une 15, 2006 -- (Oakland, CA) Designed
to show girls how to make the world a
better place using science and engineering as tools, Techbridge's Green
Dollhouse Project at Chabot Space & Science Center, scheduled from June 19-June
30, will culminate in a presentation of
green dollhouses created and designed
by sixteen Bay Area girls.
Girls will learn about green construction
as they design, build, and wire
dollhouses that use solar panels and recycled materials. Along the way, they
will meet role models and take field trips
to see green construction at the Gordon
& Betty Moore Foundation and the SF
Federal Building. They will also take a
roof-top tour of Chabot to view solar
panels and learn about landscaping with
native plants, worm composting, and see
presentations of recycled and green materials.
"In a survey, girls let us know that they
are concerned about the environment
and are very interested in learning about
how to work with materials that do no
harm to the planet," shares Techbridge
Project Director, Linda Kekelis. "So we
came up with this academy that addresses just these needs. We have
planned a series of activities that we hope
will impact them for the rest of their
lives."
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
Girls will meet role models in green construction, structural engineering and
water treatment and learn about recycling, the use of recycled materials and
energy conservation. The academy will
conclude with presentations made to
their families, on the morning of Saturday, July 1st.
The goal of Techbridge is to encourage
girls in engineering-a field where women
are underrepresented. Afterschool workshops, summer academies, role models
and career information can increase girls'
interest in engineering, reinforce the relevance of schoolwork, and provide guidance to begin planning next steps for their
career goals. <>
June / July 2006
V-3, I-4
Page 8
THE SAGA OF NELLIE’S PEDESTAL
By Terry Galloway, Ph.D.
R
ecently, our intrepid astronomers
Ryan Diduck and Conrad Jung noticed
vibration problems on Nellie’s CCD camera.
A task was at hand. EAS and Chabot
volunteers, Alan Fisher, Paul Hoy, Terry
Galloway, and Steve Matthews pooled
their special talents to analyze and solve
the problem. Our architect, Aus Vitols
who engineered the pedestal, and our
contractor, Overaa Construction who
initially built the pedestal happily and
quickly came to diamond saw the concrete slot out, removed all the concrete
blocks and debris. Finally, EAS member,
Gerald McKeegan, and our Chabot Astronomer, Conrad Jung, did the final testing to confirm that the pedestal vibration problem had gone away.
The key to solving the problem was the
elasticity of concrete. Nellie sits on a concrete pedestal resting on bedrock which
makes it very stable. The building, however, sits on a concrete pad supported by
steel posts. The concrete pad does not
need to be in contact with the pedestal;
but it was. The vibration was transferred
through the concrete pad to the pedestal. The
solution was to separate the concrete pad
from the pedestal by making a trench between the concrete pad and the pedestal.
I would not call concrete highly elastic -nobody thought it was elastic at all until
we started to share our seismometer test
results with various professionals. It
was Steve Matthews who said: “Yes,
from a Physics standpoint, the concrete
is just barely elastic enough to explain
our observations.” We had to use a seismometer (from old Chabot) to make these
measurements that would show vibration that caused the stars to wiggle in
the telescopes with people walking
around on the 2nd floor.
Here is a little background on Nellie.
In 1992 Bill Porch, Mike Reynolds, and I
convinced Lawrence Livermore Nat'l
Lab, Department of Energy, to donate the
36" mirror from the Nevada test site. We
built the structure and pedestal for
Nellie with our facility building funds.
We sent the mirror off to Kitt Peak Optical Shop to refigure, re-polish, enlarge the
hole, and testing. During the next few
years, Mike solicited additional funds to
complete the building, put on the roll-off
roof, and began building the telescope.
During the next three years Chabot assigned Kevin Medlock to design the fork
mount with the help of DFM Engineering
of Colorado. In June 18, 2003, Nellie was
up and running with the help of a donation from Merrill Martin family and Mrs.
Harschmann. <>
ELASTICITY OF CONCRETE CAUSED VIBRATION OF NELLIE'S PEDESTAL
By Steve Matthews, Ph.D.
I
t's hard to imagine that concrete can
be elastic, but in fact, it is. This property of cement has to be considered when
building large cement and steel structures like bridges and skyscrapers.
What does it mean that cement is elastic? It means that if you have a piece of
concrete and you try to bend it or squeeze
it, it will deform within a very limited
range, like a piece of rubber. The amount
of deformation is proportional to the applied force producing the deformation.
Of course, if you apply too much force
and deform the cement beyond its elastic limit, the concrete will crack and eventually break.
Nellie's basement is a rectangular cement
pad that supports the floor above, where
we all walk. Nellie herself is held up by
her cement pedestal which rests on the
ground, and not on the cement pad.
However, when the cement pad was
poured during Nellie's construction, the
pad was poured around and in contact
with the pedestal base. Quite possibly,
the engineer thought that by anchoring
Nellie's pedestal to the concrete pad, a
stronger base would be obtained.
Now consider the elasticity of cement.
Because cement is elastic within a very
limited range, the cement pad oscillates
up and down within that limited range,
vibrating like a membrane. Since the
pedestal is anchored to the pad, the pedestal and telescope also oscillate and blur
Nellie's photographs.
How does the cement pad vibration get
started? The floor above is supported by
vertical steel posts all around the floor
periphery. These posts rest on the periphery of the concrete pad. When people walk
on the floor above, which by comparison
is only a thin metal foil; the floor vibrates
with a small amplitude and low frequency,
like a slow, heavy drum skin. These vibrations are then transmitted down
through the vertical posts to the periphery of the cement pad driving the pad to
oscillate vertically, like a very heavy drum
skin, shaking Nellie's pedestal.
Gap between the base of Nellie's
pedestal and the cement pad, where
the cement was cut away. Vertical
steel posts supporting the floor above
can be seen in background.
The solution to this problem is to
decouple Nellie's pedestal from the cement pad. This was done by cutting
away the pad from the base of the pedestal. Then the vibrating pad can't shake
the telescope. <>
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
June / July 2006
V-3, I-4
Page 9
LETTER FROM A 15-YEAR-OLD YOUNG ASTRONOMER — EXOPLANETS
O
n August 8, 2006, Tom Estill,
Chabot’s Challenger Center Flight
Director, received this letter from a young
astronomy enthusiast:
“Hello, my name is Alekzandir Morton. I
am 15 years old and will be a junior at
Deer Valley High School in Antioch. I am
a student of Jeff Adkins and he gave me
your name and told me you could an-
swer some questions I have. I am currently part of a team using the Spitzer
Space Telescope and ground based observations used to determine the SED of
a GLAST AGN target. I am looking for a
new project to start, and I read an article
on exoplanets. I was told that Chabot
astronomers are trying to detect
exoplanets. I wanted to know what
method of detection you are using. Also,
as a new project, I wanted to either study
a previously discovered exoplanet or aid
in the detection of new ones. Any information you could give me about how I
would be able to do this would be greatly
appreciated. Thank you for your time
and for any information that you can
give me.
Alekzandir Morton” <>
THE PROFESSOR’S RESPONSE — CHABOT’S EXOPLANET RESEARCH
By Terry Galloway, Ph.D.
H
i Alekzandir: Congratulations on
your involvement with the Spitzer
Space Telescope. This is a wonderful experience to see how the real science of
astronomy is done: with great instruments, data acquisition, data analysis,
and the interaction with other scientists
in the field.
Our work at Chabot Observatory using
the 20-inch refractor telescope involves
taking repeated images of a particular
candidate star assigned to us that is suspected of having one or more ExoPlanets
orbiting around it. So we center the star
in the telescope and then send its image
into our Apogee CCD camera that has 16
million pixels with a 14 bit intensity resolution. The chip is about 35 mm square
so it has a large field of about 25
arcminutes.
This field has the candidate star in the
field as well as several other photometric standard stars. So these images that
are taken about every 10 minutes are
measured with a photometry program
to determine the instrumental magnitude of each star in the image. Then we
calculate the ratio of this instrumental
magnitude between the candidate star
and each of the other photometric comparison stars in the field. This allows us
to look for very small changes in brightness of the candidate star with an accuracy around 0.01 magnitude. The comparison stars help us remove the effects
of atmosphere variations. The change in
brightness is very small as the result of a
little planet occulting a big star causing
it to dim a few tenths of a percent. So
these measurements give us a light curve
of the candidate stars over many hours
of time to look for this small change.
Each night we do our work on the 20"
refractor, the ExoPlanet Team (www.
transitsearch.org) assigns us a small list
of prioritized candidate stars. You can
go to this site and put in your location
and it will suggest a list of candidate stars
for you too. There is also great discussion on this website you will enjoy also.
We are just one of about 60 collaborators
working for this ExoPlanet Team that is
run by Lick Observatory of the University of California, where the first discoverer, Prof. Geoff Marcy, is in charge.
Amateur astronomers with good-size
telescopes at home participate in this
ExoPlanet work and have been successful in discovering new ExoPlanets. So the
work is not limited to large observatories and can be done by dedicated students as well.
It is a very exciting area of astronomy
today -- revealing most interesting facts
about other solar systems evolution, distribution of planets, sizes of planets and
how few are Earth-like with temperatures favoring liquid-water and life as
we known it here on Earth. You will be
interested to see how much we know already about the four planets orbiting
around 55-Cancri as one of our most
likely solar systems like ours that could
have life.
Hope this description of our ExoPlanet
group at Chabot gives you some idea of
what we are doing. Come and visit us
some time: we work Monday and Tuesday nights and I am a volunteer showing off our 20-inch telscope (as well as
our other scopes) to our public visitors
every Sunday, noon to 5 pm. <>
SEARCH FOR HABITABLE NEW WORLDS AND FOR LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
By Terry Galloway, Ph.D. and Bill Drelling
O
n June 27, 2006, Prof Geoff Marcy,
the leader in ExoPlanet research and
the first discoverer of an ExoPlanet, conducted a teleconference via a computer link
on the search for habitable new worlds
and life in the universe. About a year
ago, Dr. Marcy gave a lecture at Chabot
as part of our Enrichment lecture series.
Terry Galloway wrote: Dr. Marcy's talk
was terrific; it was almost a full hour. Although they did not get to our group's
questions entered in star-one, since the
question period was cut short to 10 minutes, he provided a lot more detail than
in his lecture at Chabot. The most current progress on the new Lick telescope
for ExoPlanet searching was revealed
that they are looking at red dwarf stars
since they are smaller in mass and there-
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
fore are tugged around more substantially by smaller, earth-size planets. So
they can get down to earth-size planets
in a reasonable period. Also because red
dwarfs are cooler, the IR heating of the
planet face against the star should be visible. Another question revealed that although his group is working on 2000 star
wobblers, they have only completed 120
(Continued next page.)
June / July 2006
V-3, I-4
Page 10
Search
(Continued.)
orbits with enough periods to be certain
enough to publish the results. Thus, some
1180 wobblers are backlogged waiting
for more data to cover more of longer periods. So now we can see how important
our collaborative work is with his group.
Bill Drelling wrote: It was an excellent
talk. He also indicated that the level of
precision regarding the movement of the
parent star is down to 1 meter per second--that is the speed at which you walk.
Imagine that, we can detect the motion
of a giant star moving at the equivalent
of walking speed. Dr. Marcy said that
gets us down to under 10 earth masses.
By shifting to red dwarfs, which are
much lower mass than a "normal" star,
he believes they will be able to detect 2-3
earth mass planets. The reason is that
the lower mass of the red dwarf will
show the effects of the tug from a smaller
planet in orbit around it.
After the call I thought to ask him if he
sees any technology on the horizon that
will enable us to detect earth sized planets around stars. The other fascinating
point he raised was that perhaps our
assumptions about intelligent life in the
galaxy are not accurate. It was a long
explanation, but basically he estimates
that the galaxy should spawn (statistically) 2000 intelligent civilizations. He
estimates that our sun/earth system is
about half the age of the galaxy, to statistically 1000 civilizations should have
existed before us and 1000 should exist
after us. Yet there is no evidence that any
have existed--even SETI has not detected
any. Assuming an even distribution of
evolution over the age of the galaxy,
many civilizations should have come into
existence and died off (perhaps) thousands and millions of years ago. Their
electronic signals would still be crisescrossing their way around the galaxy
even today. Yet we have not detected
them. He wasn't saying that intelligent
life does not exist, just that there are problems with the idea.
Anyway, it was a great talk. It was my
first, but now I will do more of them! <>
EXPLORING COSMIC ORIGINS WITH THE NEXT GENERATION OF TELESCOPES
Presented by Prof. Leo Blitz, UC Berkeley Dept. of Astronomy, May 24, 2006. Summarized by Steve Matthews, Ph.D.
T
he conventional image of a telescope
is a tube that you look through. In
reality, telescopes have evolved far beyond that image. The Cambridge Pulsar
Telescope, designed to detect radio emissions from rotating neutron stars, is nothing like the conventional image of a telescope.
Cambridge Pulsar Telescope
How is it that telescopes have evolved
so far from their conventional image? The
reasons have to do with a telescope's sensitivity, which is directly related to the
collecting area of the objective; the image
resolution, which is directly related to
the objective diameter; and the electromagnetic spectrum that the telescope is
designed to examine. High sensitivity
enables the viewing of dim objects. High
resolution allows fine detail to be seen in
the image. In telescope design, objectives
with larger area and diameter are better.
Telescopes that look at non-optical wavelengths such as x-rays or radio emissions
will appear significantly different than
optical telescopes.
Early telescopes were optical and their
objectives were glass lenses like Leah and
Rachel. Increasing sensitivity and resolution demands forced telescope builders toward larger and larger objective
lenses, but the size of a lens supported at
the edges is limited. The weight of large
lens causes the glass to sag and change
shape as the telescope tube scans the sky.
Telescopes with mirror objectives supported at the base, like Nellie, can have
much larger diameters than lenses, and
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
mirrors have no chromatic aberration.
The limiting diameter of an objective
mirror is also determined by its weight,
which causes it to sag and change figure
as the telescope moves. The actual limit
is probably at the Mt. Palomar mirror
diameter of 200 inches. The Soviet six
meter (236 inches) telescope never
worked right.
200 inch diameter Mt. Palomar mirror
(Continued next page.)
June / July 2006
V-3, I-4
Page 11
Exploring
(Continued)
Computerized controls have made
newer telescope designs like the Keck
possible, which use objectives made of
panels of mirrors, each held to a one nanometer alignment. This design significantly increases both the diameter and
area of the telescope objective. The fact
that resolution is directly related to objective diameter is dramatically shown
by the 107 inch McDonald Telescope mirror (Texas), which received seven bullet
impacts from the pistol of a deranged individual, but suffered very little degradation of its image resolution.
107 inch McDonald mirror w/ 7 bullet impacts
The electromagnetic radiation emanating from space encompasses an enormously broad spectrum from long wavelength radio waves to ultra short gamma
ray waves. The visible or optical band
composes only a small slice of this spectrum. Telescopes sensitive to non-optical wavelengths, such as the 85 ft. Hat
Creek Telescope, built by our very own
Harold Weaver, look significantly different than optical telescopes.
Structure
within the cosmic microwave background
VLA Telescope
These new instruments have allowed
astronomers to gain a deeper insight and
understanding into three important astronomical areas: (1) Cosmology (how did
it all begin?); (2) Planet Formation (how
did we get here?); (3) SETI (are we alone?).
They allow us to peer back in time to find
the youngest galaxies and see how they
evolve into the ones we see today. When
the cosmic microwave background
(CMB) was first discovered in 1965, it
appeared uniform throughout all parts
of the sky. It wasn't until the 1980's that
better radio telescope sensitivity and
resolution allowed the discovery of structure within the CMB. The difference between the most intense and the weakest
part of the CMB is only one part in
100,000. Computer models employing
basic physical principles to successively
replicate the CMB structure is evidence
of our deeper understanding of the events
unfolding within the early universe.
High resolution telescope observations
of various stages of dust cloud collapse,
star formation and stellar dust rings have
reinforced our understanding of star and
planet formation.
Dust rings surrounding newly born stars
The Allen Telescope array is the first telescope dedicated to SETI in its search for
artificial emissions from extraterrestrial
beings. It could detect a cell phone at Neptune and the most powerful humanmade emissions at 1000 light years. Even
if it doesn't find any extraterrestrial signals, it will set an important limit on how
common civilizations like ours are in the
Milky Way.
Allen Telescope array
85 ft Hat Creek radio telescope
The objective diameter of radio telescopes
can be increased by building arrays of
antennas, like the high resolution Very
Large Array telescope with an objective
diameter that can be as large as 20 miles.
Computer
modeling replicates CMB structure
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
Today's technology allows the construction of even larger telescopes of the future that could provide information
about the nature of dark matter and dark
energy. The construction of new telescopes is determined by science (what
can we learn), feasibility (can it be built),
but mainly by funding (show me the
money). <>
June / July 2006
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THE PLEIADES
Lecture presented by Gibor Basri, Ph.D. , Dept. of Astronomy, UC Berkeley, Board of Directors, Chabot Space & Science Ctr.
Summarized by Steve Matthews, Ph.D.
T
he Pleiades is an open, gravitationally-bound cluster of approximately a thousand stars at a distance of about 400 light years from earth.
All the stars in the cluster move together
through the galaxy. The stars were all
formed together about 120 million years
ago in a contracting dust cloud.
We see the Pleiades as the Seven Sisters,
but we are only seeing the few bright,
massive members of the cluster. These
hot, bright stars are about ten times the
mass of the sun. Most of the stars in the
cluster are less massive than the sun and
there are approximately one hundred
brown dwarfs that are less than a tenth
the mass of the sun. The process of stellar evolution (within a simultaneously
born cluster of stars of mass distributions
ranging from ten times the sun down to
the brown dwarf limit of eight percent of
the sun's mass) is of great interest to astronomers.
At first, it was thought that the Pleiades
were only several million years old because of the dust that is seen within the
cluster. Dust within new born star clusters like the Pleiades only lasts for a few
million years before the radiation pressure from the new born stars blows the
dust away. However, closer inspection
revealed that the dust and the star cluster are moving at different velocities. The
dust did not come from the Pleiades. It
came from a distant, earlier exploded star
that is being concentrated into streamers by the radiation from the hot stars in
the Pleiades cluster. The Pleiades are older
than several million years.
The age of the cluster can be estimated
by examining the position of each star in
relation to the main sequence on a luminosity-temperature diagram. This position is determined by the star's luminosity and its surface temperature. Most
stars, when plotted on this diagram, lie
on a narrow band called the main sequence.
As a star evolves, its luminosity and temperature change. It moves on to the main
sequence during its birth and moves off
as it dies.
The Pleiades cluster of approximately a
thousand stars
The position of a star on the diagram provides information about the star's mass
and age. The high mass stars in the Pleiades, with the shortest lifetime, could be
seen leaving the main sequence. This information predicted an age of 70 million
years for the cluster.
Luminosity vs. surface temperature
diagram showing main sequence
The 70 million year age came under question when it was observed that the lower
mass stars in the cluster had burned up
all their lithium. At a 70 million year age,
there should still be lithium present.
Lithium was found only in the brown
dwarfs, which don't get hot enough to
burn their lithium, and also in the very
lowest mass true stars, which are so cool
that they burn lithium very slowly. The
lithium age placed the Pleiades cluster at
120 million years old. The discrepancy
between the lithium age and the 70 million year age has been resolved by a process known as convective overshoot in
the higher mass stars. This process mixes
additional hydrogen from the star's stable,
outer region into the star's core, thereby
making it burn longer before leaving the
main sequence. The lithium age of 120
million years is considered accurate. <>
CLASSIFYING PLUTO
T
here has been a lot of discussion on the subject of classification of Pluto as a planet. Visitors have been posing questions
on this subject to our volunteers on the floor. Chabot astronomers are aware of this issue and have been actively
participating in the discussion. We will have an in depth look into this discussion in the next newsletter. <>>>
Chabot Space and Science Center, Oakland, CA, USA
Volunteer Newsletter
June / July 2006
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