Where the sun rises

I walk to school each day and notice that certain times of the year the sun rises straight ahead as I walk east and the shadow cast by rocks and sticks on the sidewalk is due west.  At other times the sunrise is either north or south of that.  It might be interesting for students to gather data about the location of sunrise over several months and consider how that data might relate to Earth's tilt and revolution around the sun.

(From email by Dr. Dale to P.Idema - shared with permission)

Thanks for the input, Chip.

Along those lines, I wonder if it would be good to track the moons of
Jupiter over the course of a night or two.  Yes, you can see the four
brightest moons easily with binoculars, but actually taking images with
a big telescope like that would allow the students to both digitally
analyze the moons' positions, and to detect some of the fainter moons.
Thus, with the measured angular distances and the observed orbital
periods they could learn something about the physical properties of the
Jovian system.  I've never tried such a project, but my guess is that it
would work as long as Jupiter doesn't saturate the images too much.

Likewise, if they could have a neutral density filter affixed to the
telescope, they might be able to safely observe the amplitude and
evolution of solar spots during the day.

Danny

CMS Astronomy Research Blog

I began this project after the state science fair by asking Dr. Danny Dale from University of Wyoming if he would be willing to participate in this discussion.  He agreed (see his reply to my email - shared with his permission) and said he would talk to a colleague.  Dr. Chip Kobulnicky agreed to participate as well (see his email comments shared here with his permission).  Finally, I invited Dr. Bruce Watne from Northwest College to participate and he agreed as well.  So, lets begin the discussion!

Dr. Dale:

Hi Peter,
Thanks for contacting me.  It does indeed sound like a fantastic (and
rare) opportunity for the students.  I would be happy to contribute
ideas, and I will see if any of my colleagues would also be interested.
Best Regards,
Danny


Dr. Kobulnicky:

Likewise, I'd be happy to offer ideas and help from a distance if I
could.  We ought to get them here for a visit to the Wyoming Infrared
Observatory some time.
Observing asteroids is a good project for a small telescope.

Chip