Mar 29, 2008: Girl Scout Overnight Astronomy Camp (V)

Michael Richmond
May 28, 2008

The RIT Observatory has hosted several special events for local Girl Scouts recently:

Our latest overnight camp took place on March 29, 2008, when we finally had both clear skies and relatively warm temperatures. All 40 scouts, and their leaders, had a chance to see the stars (and Saturn)!

You can look at our schedule for the night (and next morning).

We arranged the Scouts into four groups and rotated them through a set of four activities. If the pictures below aren't enough for you, peruse the complete album of pictures from the Astronomy Overnight.


  1. Stacey Davis (NTID) helped the girls to make "star wheels". After making the devices, the scouts went outside and used their wheels to find constellations.

  2. Christine Trombley (CIS graduate student) and Lucy Hatfield (CIS postdoc) explained why some of the planets (such as Earth and Mars) are almost perfectly round, while others (such as Jupiter and Saturn) look slightly squashed. The scouts built their own centrifugal spinners to investigate ...

  3. Tracy Davis (Physics) and Roger Easton (CIS) gave the scouts a chance to see Saturn and other objects through the Observatory's telescopes.

  4. Michael Richmond (Physics) explained how scientists use the spectrum of a star to determine its chemical makeup. Just put on these magic eyeglasses ...


Early the next morning, I put out the fixings for breakfast and made several pots of strong coffee. The scouts and their leaders gradually woke up, ate breakfast, and headed home.


For more information


Last modified 5/28/2008 by MWR