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The above photo was
taken in our classroom during a recent Public Stargaze. Our next Public
Stargaze will be on August 21, 2010.
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Enjoy TAO in another Language (we have a big planet): ORION and SMAS ORION meets Sept. 1 at the Oak Ridge Civic Center at 1900 h.Topic: "Fluvial Catatrophies in the Solar System ", by Fred Sloop. ORION is a local science and engineering oriented group that supports astronomy public events, field trips and lectures on current related topics. Group activities are centered in Oak Ridge and at TAO. Orion members support the Tamke Allan Observatory family nights on the first and second Saturday of each month. Monthly meetings are held at the Oak Ridge Civic Center on first Wednesday evenings at 1900 h (7:00 PM). The Smoky Mountain Astronomical Society (SMAS) is an Astronomical League-affiliated club for astronomy enthusiasts in the East Tennessee area. SMAS provides monthly meetings at Pellissippi State Technical Community College in Knoxville, star parties at several locations, and a members-only Yahoo group. SMAS also has several loaner scopes for members, including the newly refurbished 20-inch Dobsonian, "Sasquatch." See and http://orionridge.home.att.net
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Moon Phase
Save Roane Starry Skies is in its Third year! Founded Nov. 4, 2007
or if you have a comment or questions Enter it here, or email your query directly to InfoStarrySkies@yahoo.com
Solar Photos Here are photos from Heather Fries showing the sunset, and some of our visitors.
This (below) is an earlier photo of (multiple science fair award winner) Katie Sloop, together with the visiting Dinkins family, learning radio astronomy at TAO.
Radio Astronomy is one focus ofour classroom and activities. Here is an image of a poster showing how we are using the Itty Bitty Telescope (IBT) as part of the SARA-NRAO Radio Navigator's Group (click for full size, and we are happy to share the poster).
Seti and the Space Environment Dark skies on a night in December revealed Aurora from TAO (note our weather station). Photo by Astronomy class student Robert Quinn.
The following sunset photo was taken on Astronomy Day, May 7, 2006.
Joey models the Starman shirt from TAOAS student astronomy group. POD comes to TAO We have a new POD dome at TAO (on loan from DR). The POD is big! Here is the POD with some of the admiring astronomy students:
Sometimes the POD actually glows.
Eye patches for Dark Adaptation
Blount County Zoning for Light Conservation
Conguatulations to Blount County for protecting its skies, minimizing light trespess, and setting a standard for responsible lighting. They have passed the Blount County commercial/industrial zoning regarding outdoor lighting section Section 7.14 part D can be found here The intention of this regulation is to preserve the Rural Character of Blount County, and requires that a site plan be filed for new developments. The full text (from the Oct. 25 meeting) is here |
Sunspots Today Are associated withCoronal Mass Ejections That Change the Planet and its Aurora
Image of Saturn by Michael McCulloch Friendly local astronomy groups: TAOSON (TAO Solar Observation Network) Signal (issues) Dark Skies
Check the premier International
Dark Skies site Carpe Noctem! Let's keep our little TAO dark with stars in the sky. In the map, all red areas have lost their night sky while blue areas have dark skies. Please support our dark skies. We are darker than Knoxville, but WE DO HAVE A PROBLEM from light pollution.
Past TAO Events READ April 18 Knox News-Sentinal article - Losing the SkyKingston Troup 101 on trail 2005Music on the MountainJohn Dobson's VisitClick for Astronomy Lab Photos
Here's one of us (David Fields) beside the base of the big radio telescope. David is on the board of SARA and is working with NRAO to develop a new education program called "Radio Navatators."
M33 by Roy Morrow IDEAS Perspectives on good astronomy occasionally appear on the Bad Astronomy Blog, at http://www.badastronomy.com/intro.html TAO astronomy students visited UT and built a scintillation detector containing several plastic scintillators and 4 photomultipliers. The complete cosmic ray detection system is now in place and TAO is part of the TEnnessee Cosmic ray Observatory Project (TECOP).
In doing radio astronomy, TAO supports the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA), a node of IYA 2009. |
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TAO proudly supports the NASA Night Sky Network through our associated astronomy clubs in Oak Ridge, Knoxville, and Soddy Daisy
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