“Star
light, star bright; first star I see
tonight…”. As children we
learned this rhyme as part of our
fascination of looking up into the
night sky. The goal of the Star
Light—Star Bright Observatory, is to put
astronomy directly into the
classrooms that serve our primary
grade students and their teachers
from throughout the local community,
across the state of Colorado, and the
Nation. The observatory is operated
in partnership between the non-profit
National Space Science &
Technology Institute (NSSTI),
Trailblazer Elementary School, and
Colorado Springs School District
Eleven.
The Star
Light—Star Bright Observatory
primary instrument is a
8” f/6 Maksutov-Newtonian
telescope, mounted on a Paramount GT
1100 computer controlled telescope
mount. Accessories include an SBIG
ST-5 and ST-7 CCD cameras. This
equipment was provided by
the Cowan-Fouts Foundation,
and is housed under a Technical
Innovations 10' dome.
The mission of the observatory
is to fill the educational void in
space science that has existed far
too long for primary grade students.
This state-of-the-art observatory is
energizing young students and
teachers to quickly take advantage of
this new educational asset. The
teaching of space science to
thousands of primary grade students
is being strengthen and the
observatory is having a positive
impact in other disciplines such as
reading, writing, and mathematics.
The Star Light
– Star Bright Observatory is
providing the means to capture and
build upon a child’s fascination
and wonder of discovery with the
night sky, and use it to form the
cornerstone in their education!
|
|
Moon
Images collected on18 Dec 04
using eyepiece projection on
to 35mm 200 ASA color print
film |
Comet
Machholtz - Jan 9th, 2005
Photo by: Tom Damon
Star Light--Star Bright
Observatory |
Saturn
- Feb 24th, 2006 |
Total Lunar Eclipse
28 Aug 2007
Colorado Springs, CO
300 mm f/2.8, ASA 800, 10 secs
Photo by Norm Black
To
arrange for a free observing session
at the Observatory for your class or
youth organization (sorry, no
birthday parties), please email your
request to:
spaceflightcol@earthlink.net
Please
provide the following information
with your request:
Point
of Contact, w/address
& phone number(s)
Requested
Observing Date
Name
of School and District or
Youth Organization
Number
of Children & Adults
Planning to Attend
Primary
purpose for the observing
session
Map
to Star Light
(2015 Wickes Road-On the
grounds of Trailblazer Elementary
School)
Major
Contributors Who Believe in Helping
Children Reach for the Stars!
Universe Sponsor
($10,000+)
Planetary
Sponsors
($500
- $999)
 |
Apollo
Sponsors
($100
- $499)
 Trailblazer
Elementary Students &
Staff
|
Pat
Scanlon |
 United
States Karate Academy |
 Universal
Kempo Karate Schools
|
John
& Laura Harvey
Bob
& Jacquelin Peters |
Chipeta
Elementary-PTA
Jackson
Elementary-PTO |
Link
to construction & dedication
photos
