{"55344":{"#nid":"55344","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Georgia Tech Observatory Holds Final Public Night of Semester","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Observatory will host its final Public Night of the semester on Thursday.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cWe try to schedule the Public Night\nat the best phases of the moon, which is first quarter or half full,\u201d said observatory assistant for the semester Nicole Cabrera. \u201cWe stay away from the full moon, so people can see the detail between\nthe light and the dark of the terminator [the line dividing the dark and light\non the moon\u2019s surface]. In Atlanta, there\u2019s so much light pollution, so we\nregularly view the moon and the brighter planets.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ECabrera adds a festive atmosphere\nwill accompany the evening, as food and other items will be available to those\nwho attend the April 22 event, from 8:30 to 11 p.m. atop the Howey Physics\nBuilding. A short, 15-minute information session will precede the event,\nspeaking to the crowd about what objects they will be viewing. \u201cThe Orion\nnebula, Saturn and\u2014of course\u2014the moon will be visible, weather permitting,\u201d\nCabrera said. \u201cIf it\u2019s a really good night, we can look at some other objects:\na star cluster, binary system and other nebulae.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDirected by Senior Academic\nProfessional James Sowell, the Georgia Tech Observatory hosts an \u201copen house\u201d\nto Tech students and other visitors each month. On a clear night, Cabrera says,\nthe observatory may host anywhere from 80 to 100 people, but the average number\nof visitors is roughly 60. During the Fall 2008 Family Weekend, 556 people\nvisited the observatory. While in the past more off-campus visitors have\nattended public nights, this academic year has seen an increase in more student\nattendants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWREK Radio hosted a Sunday\nSpecial on April 18 with deejay Daniel Mitchell at 7 p.m. in recognition of\nthe event. Cabrera answered students\u2019 questions, submitted in advance, during the segment.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u201cPeople are usually really\ninterested in black holes, supernovae,\u201d said observatory assistant Nicole Cabrera, who recently received her\nundergraduate degree from the School of Physics. \u201cBut questions can be about\nanything related to astronomy\u2014the solar system, the sun, comets or even\nasteroids.\u201d \u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile a good way to promote Public Night, Cabrera said the radio appearance was also a good way to clear up common misconceptions\npeople may have about astronomy. In an undergraduate class she attended, for\nexample, people were confused how the revolution of the earth around the sun\ncaused the seasons. \u201cSome people think the earth has an eccentric or elliptical\norbit, and depending on whether it\u2019s further or closer to the sun is how the\nseasons work,\u201d she said. \u201cThat isn\u2019t true\u2014the earth has a nearly circular\norbit. The tilt of the earth\u2019s axis is responsible for the seasons.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EWhile a resource to the Georgia\nTech Astronomy Club and School of Physics students, Sowell has used the\nobservatory as an opportunity for outreach. Groups are able to book private\nevents. Most recently, the Georgia Tech Environmental Health and Safety Group,\nas well as fraternities, sororities, residence halls and other student groups,\nhave attended viewings at the observatory.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003ESowell also takes this outreach to\noff-campus audiences. Area school groups have attended private events, and more\nthan 200 Boy Scouts in the past 2 \u00bd years have received their astronomy merit\nbadges through the observatory. Reaching out across the globe, Sowell and the\nGeorgia Tech Observatory have held high-definition video conferencing with\nschools for astronomy outreach, including seven elementary schools in Texas and\na girls\u2019 school in Sydney, Australia.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EThe Georgia Tech Observatory hosts the public for the final time this academic year.\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"The Georgia Tech Observatory hosts the public for the final time this academic year."}],"uid":"27191","created_gmt":"2010-04-13 08:50:37","changed_gmt":"2016-10-08 03:05:49","author":"Robert Nesmith","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2010-04-12T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2010-04-12T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"55345":{"id":"55345","type":"image","title":"GT Observatory","body":null,"created":"1449175533","gmt_created":"2015-12-03 20:45:33","changed":"1475894489","gmt_changed":"2016-10-08 02:41:29","alt":"GT Observatory","file":{"fid":"190280","name":"moon_sct_big.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moon_sct_big_0.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/moon_sct_big_0.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":43630,"path_740":"http:\/\/tlwarc.hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/moon_sct_big_0.jpg?itok=ymO5BL8d"}}},"media_ids":["55345"],"related_links":[{"url":"http:\/\/www.astronomy.gatech.edu\/","title":"Astronomy @ Georgia Tech"}],"groups":[{"id":"1183","name":"Home"}],"categories":[{"id":"129","name":"Institute and Campus"}],"keywords":[{"id":"9155","name":"Astronomy @ Tech"},{"id":"9154","name":"Georgia Tech Observatory"},{"id":"166937","name":"School of Physics"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ENicole Cabrera\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ca href=\u0022mailto:nicole.cabrera@gatech.edu\u0022 target=\u0022_blank\u0022\u003Enicole.cabrera@gatech.edu\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["nicole.cabrera@gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}