Star Gazing at BTC

Friday (4^th November) and Saturday (5^th November) 8 Senior Physics/Math B students 4 from BTC and 4 from Atherton State High spent time aligning the BTC 9 ¼ inch Schmidt-Cassegrain telescope housed in the new Sirius Dome near the BTC Kindy.  This project has been funded by the BTC Foundation through the Norm Wallace Science Discovery Fund via a combination of cash and in-kind donations from several bighearted individuals (the College thanks them for their generosity). Throughout the two days students and staff and the fund’s inspiration Mr Norm Wallace where treated to some lectures and practical telescope work under the tutelage of Dr Graeme White (Adjunct Professor at Charles Sturt University) and Senior Physics QSA program developer Mr David Platz (Atherton State High).  Students constructed a small reflector telescope each and assisted with the polar alignment of the 9 ¼ Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain, a project that went until the early hours of Saturday morning, however, everyone still made it to cooked breakfast at 8am.  Mr Rod Goodwin was instrumental in sourcing the expertise and equipment to get the project together and the College thanks him for the time and effort he has put into the venture.  The telescope is suitable for both direct viewing and astrophotography and it is expected that 2012 events like the transit of Venus (June) and the total solar eclipse (November) may be streamed to the web for viewing.  Now all we need are some clear skies for viewing and photographing

Dr Graeme White explaining the working of the Dome at the Information Night.

Our first pictures through the new telescope.