Tag Archives: astronomy

Solar Eclipse: April 8, 2024

Posted on June 3, 2024 by davidvblack

After all of our work getting ready for the annular solar eclipse of Oct. 14, 2023 I knew what to expect for the next eclipse, which would take place about six months later. This one would be total for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, clark planetarium, corona, eclipse, eclipse glasses, eclipse party, moon's orbit, partial eclipse, path of totality, pinhole projectors, PUNCH mission, solar eclipse, sun, sun moon earth alignment, sunspot | Leave a comment

Outreach Visits for Clark Planetarium

Posted on May 15, 2024 by davidvblack

Now that the 2023-24 school year is drawing to a close, it is time to look back at the outreach visits to schools I’ve done as part of my job at Clark Planetarium. I am a full-time Education Program Specialist, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, clark planetarium, education, highway 89, informal STEM education, kinesthetic learning, kingston canyon utah, outreach visits, science, solar system model, solar-system, space science education, stem education, teaching, utah schools, utah seed standards, zion canyon | Leave a comment

Starting Work at Clark Planetarium

Posted on October 20, 2023 by davidvblack

It is far too long since I have posted on this blog. I have been neglecting things; what with working toward my dissertation research and life in general, I have put aside these blog posts. It is finally time to … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged annular solar eclipse, astronomy, astrovan, clark planetarium, informal science education, science communication, space science, student-created digital media projects, three-dimensional choice, utah seed standards | Leave a comment

Counting Stars: BYU-RET Week 3

Posted on July 22, 2014 by davidvblack

For my first two weeks at BYU, I have essentially been in background research mode between preparing my Prospectus and learning how to use IRAF. I hope to eventually work through the process of applying the calibration frames (zeros, darks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, daophot, dominion astrophysical observatory, full-width at half maximum, fwhm, gaussian curve, IRAF, open cluster, photometry, point spread function, scattering of light, scientific data, stars | Leave a comment

Mastering the Dark Arts: BYU-RET Week 2

Posted on July 18, 2014 by davidvblack

With my prospectus completed and approved, I was ready to begin my actual research project at Brigham Young University. I am here on a Research Experiences for Teachers (RET) program funded through the National Science Foundation (Grant # PHY1157078). I’m … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged argelander, astronomy, bonner durchmusterung, Brigham Young University, byu ret, CCD, data analysis, data bias, data reduction, experimental methodology, IRAF, master darks, master flats, National Science Foundation, photometry, preparing data, process of science, reducing data, research methodology, scientific method, SOFIA, Uintah and Ouray Reservation | Leave a comment

Prospectus: BYU-RET Week 1

Posted on July 8, 2014 by davidvblack

For the next ten or so posts, I will report on my experiences doing astronomical research at Brigham Young University this summer (2014). As I mentioned in a previous post, I have been selected to participate in a National Science … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, be star, binary star, black hole, blue straggler, cassiopeia, cepheid, cmd, color magnitude diagram, delta scuti, evolution of stars, high mass x-ray binary, hmxb, hr diagram, hydrogen alpha, m 67, main sequence, neutron star, ngc 659, ngc 663, nucleosynthesis, open cluster, rr lyrae, supernova, turnoff point, variable stars | Leave a comment

SOFIA Instruments and Operations

Posted on July 1, 2013 by davidvblack

In order to be on vampire time for tonight’s flight, we were encouraged to stay up as late as possible last night and sleep in this morning. I got up to eat breakfast about 7:00, then went back to sleep … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged astronomy, bolometer, coating mirrors, daof, dryden aircraft operations facility, exes, fifi-ls, flitecam, FORCAST, german receiver for Astronomy at Terahertz Frequencies, hawc, hipo, infrared, SOFIA, stratospheric observatory for infrared astronomy, vapor deposition | Leave a comment

The Nearby Stars

Posted on May 5, 2013 by davidvblack

It would seem that I’ve been neglecting this blog lately, as I have not posted or made changes for over two months. This isn’t because I’ve being lazy or forgetful, it’s simply that I’ve been extremely busy doing other things. This … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 3D model of stars, alpha centauri, astronomy, astronomy activity, binary star, brown dwarf, close stars, crosscutting concepts, declination, exoplanet, light year, nearby stars, next generation science standards, nsta, red dwarf, right ascension, scale and proportion of the galaxy, scale model of stars, sirius, space science, stars, stars within 15 light years, stellar coordinates | 1 Comment