Program Overview

YASSE participants using sun spotter and sun dial

YASSE participants using sun spotter and sun dial

Topics Covered

  • Motions of the Sun and Moon in the Sky (seasons, moon phases, eclipses)
  • Bright Seasonal Constellations
  • Telescope Optics
  • Basic Spectroscopy (rainbows, gratings, and prisms)
  • Basic Digital Astrophotography
  • Remote Sensing (Helium balloon) 
  • Basic Aeronautics (lift, thrust, control)


Take Aways

  • Keplerian telescope (that participants will build)
  • Flitetest Airfoil glider (that participants will build)
  • Diffraction grating slides
  • Print of astrophotography results

Schedule

YASSE participants should arrive at LFOP between 8:15am and 8:30am during the days of the program. Participants should be picked up between 3pm and 3:15pm. 

The days will be broken up into two, three-hour blocks, from 8:30am to 11:30am and then 12pm-3pm. Depending on the weather, we will normally do outdoor activities in the mornings (rocket launches, observing the Sun and moon), and we will do mostly indoor activities (planetarium shows, computer labs) in the afternoon. 

Lunch

Participants should bring their own bagged lunch, a water bottle, and a snack for the day. If the weather is nice, we will plan to eat lunch in the Farnam Gardens from 11:30 to 12pm each day, otherwise we will eat inside the observatory classroom. Participants should also bring a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen.

Activities

Morning: 
- Rocket launches
- Helium balloon launch and recovery
- Observing the Sun and Moon
- Autonomous Gliders

Afternoon:
- Guest lectures
- Planetarium shows
- Build a telescope lab
- Kerbal Space Program
- Astrophotography
- Coding challenges