A Hill Full of 8th Graders

Tuesday, June 16 turned out to be an amazing night on Arunah Hill. Seven van loads of 8th graders from the Springfield Renaissance School arrived a bit before sunset for an evening of stargazing and exploration. Thanks to Keith Wright, one of the school's science teachers, for arranging the visit.

We treated the kids to a couple of rocket launches as a warm up, then took them on a hike out to Scout Heaven. After that, it was to the pavilion for a welcome and orientation talk and a little history of Arunah Hill. The kids were fascinated with the pavilion's timber frame construction techniques.

By sunset all eyes were scanning the sky to try to see the first star of the night. One of the kids found Arcturus, then Vega, Saturn, and Regulus emerged. Quickly lines formed at Ray Burk's small dob, Dan Carnevale's wonder refractor, but the longest lines of all were at the Gaertner. All 3 telescopes caused oohs and ahhs as the kids first looks at Saturn produced squeals of delight that the rings were really visible. The Gaertner was a joy, tracking beautifully and delivering crisp images. The kids were impressed with the 100 year old instrument.

A -8 magnitude Iridium flare caused quite a stir in the twilight. Once darkness descended we gave the kids a green laser tour of the constellations of spring and summer.

The kids asked great questions and soaked up the wonders of the night sky. For many kids, this was there first time under a dark sky. They asked great questions and quickly learned to master the skills of using telescopes.

All too soon it was time for the kids to head back to the vans. It was fun to be around so much energy and enthusiasm, and I'm sure some of these future scientists will long remember their evening on Arunah Hill.