FUTURE GALILEOS 2012

2012-01-05T08:07:00.000-08:00

The Cincinnati Observatory Center (COC) has undertaken a bold program to award 100 quality telescopes and training for 100 individuals or teams to become astronomy ambassadors and further astronomy education in the Cincinnati area. And we’re looking for you to join us and win a great telescope!

SUMMARY:

Future Galileos follows the theme of the International Year of Astronomy - astronomy outreach. Most people in the Cincinnati area have never looked through a telescope. To date 80 educators with 80 telescopes in the program have reached over 24,000 people in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana and conducted over 500 events.

Year 1 of the project (2009) involved the awarding of 40 telescopes and was funded through donations, awards, and a grant from the Ohio Space Grant Consortium. NASA is funding years 2, 3, and 4 of the project (2010-2012). The COC will award 20 more telescopes and train 20 teams in each of these three years. You are invited to apply for Year 4 (2012). Our hope is that this distribution of a total of 100 high grade telescopes across our community will celebrate astronomical and scientific achievement and multiply the reach of astronomy education to the region. These telescopes will make a lasting impact and ignite scientific curiosities for the next generation.

To become a Future Galileo 2012 and get your own telescope you must thoroughly fill out the application form and submit it to the Observatory between January 1 and March 31, 2012 (sending it by email is preferred). Applications will be reviewed by a panel of Observatory staff, and will be judged on a balance of academic merit and intended use of the telescope to extend the reach of astronomy education. In other words, special consideration will be given to applications that will use the telescope to engage large numbers of people, and/or reach diverse or underserved audiences.

Applicants who are accepted into the program will be expected to do the following:

1. Attend three (3) training sessions at the Observatory, in order to learn from local experts how to use the telescope, how to find objects of interest in the night sky, and how to present educational programs with the telescope.

2. Present three (3) public star gaze programs, either independently or assisting with existing Observatory programs. Documentation of the number of people and community served for each program must be submitted to the Observatory.

3. Become members of the Observatory and gain access to all of the resources and benefits available to members.

4. Attend the graduation / telescope awarding ceremony at the Observatory on September 7, 2012.

Once each Future Galileo participant completes the training requirements and graduates, the telescope is theirs to keep! Participants are encouraged to stay involved with the Observatory, and to continue using their telescopes to further astronomy education throughout the region. These telescopes are impressive – with a tube 5 feet long, 8 inches in diameter - they will attract a crowd. Together, we can use the wonders of the cosmos to ignite the scientific curiosity of a whole new generation.

RULES & REGULATIONS

Applicants may submit an application between January 1 and March 31, 2012. The application process is open to anyone (or team) 16 years of age and above who resides in Ohio, Kentucky or Indiana. The application form is used to record the applicant’s biographical and academic information, and their innovative plan to use the telescope to further the reach of astronomy education in their community. Applicants must attend at least three telescope training sessions. From April through July 2012, the Observatory staff and volunteers will present a series of sessions on 1) How to use the telescope; 2) How to conduct a public program with the telescope; 3) Finding objects with the telescope beyond the Moon and planets. Attendance at the three classes is mandatory. The participant will then present three public star gazes using the telescope (on temporary loan) between April 1 and August 31, 2012.

The applications will be reviewed by the panel of judges in April 2012. The judges will select 20 preliminary winners and 5 alternates. The winners will be informed by the end of April and provided with a schedule of their training dates through July 2012.

Concurrent with the notification of the 20 finalists, 5 alternates will be notified. If any finalist cannot meet the requirements of the program, alternates will be selected and included in the program as needed.

The Observatory will have ten, 8-inch Dobsonian telescopes from Orion Telescopes to be used in training and may be borrowed by the 20 finalists for the purpose of conducting a star gaze (public astronomical program) at their school or community. A finalist may either borrow a telescope for up to three days to conduct public star gazes off of the Observatory campus and/or hold one of these public star gazes at the Cincinnati Observatory during one of the Observatory’s normally scheduled public programs. Solar filters may be borrowed to conduct safe solar viewing events with the telescopes as well.

These public star gazes provide the finalists an opportunity to share a view of the sky and therefore extend the reach of the program. Finalists will then submit a report of their event including the number of people and community served. Completion of the project, with proper documentation must be received by September 1, 2012.

The telescopes will be formally awarded to graduates of the program on Friday September 7, 2012 at the Cincinnati Observatory. If you have any further questions please contact Dean Regas at 513-321-5186 or dean@cincinnatiobservatory.org

For a Future Galileos application please visit:

2012 Application in MS Word Format
2012 Application in PDF Format