AstroTerps

Next Meeting: April 17, 2008
18:00, 0254 CSS
Camping Plans, Maryland Day, & Planet Painting!

Current News

• April 17, 2008

  Camping Trip

  We’re finally organizing an Astroterps camping trip, the first one in 3 years! We’ll be heading down to Shenandoah National Park on Friday, April 18, 2008 by around 16:00. The forecast looks a little wet, but we should still have one good night for stargazing. If you are at all interested or would like more details, please contact Matt or Curran.

• April 10, 2008

  Maryland Day Projects

  Well, our papier-mâché planets didn’t turn out quite as sturdy as we had hoped, so instead we’ll be painting styrofoam spheres for our scale model of the Solar System. Our Maryland Day activity this year will be galaxy spin art.

• Winter, 2007

  Radio Telescope Status

  Matt, Curran, and Elizabeth explored the existing radio telescope equipment at the observatory and took a photoinventory of what we have to work with. Even without power, the antenna on the roof produces a weak signal in the old analog oscilloscope. Unfortunately, we have no idea how we might power what we assume is an amplifier attached to the antenna. We are looking into acquiring a more modern oscilloscope or possibly an A2D converter to get a better idea of what kind of signal we are seeing.

• September 6, 2007

  Welcome Back!

  Welcome back to the Fall 2007 semester! We held our first meeting on Thursday, September 6, where we constructed a space history calendar for the display case. Be sure to check out the events page for upcoming events, including our next meeting on September 13.

• March 27, 2007

  Astroterps T-Shirts

  Order your Astroterps T-Shirts at http://www.cafepress.com/astroterp!

Previous News

• February 21, 2007

  Air and Space Museum

  On Saturday, March 3, we will be going into Washington DC to the Air and Space Museum. Here's the plan:

  • 12:00 – Take UMD Metro Bus to CP Metro Station (So meet at bus stop just before Noon)
  • 12:22 (or 12:34) – Take Metro to L’Enfant Plaza – arrive at 12:46 (or 12:58)
    Walk to National Air and Space Museum
  • 1:30 – Cosmic Collisions show in Einstein Planetarium
  • 2:15 – Roving Mars in Lockheed Martin IMAX
    Over by 3:00 pm
  • At this point, anyone who already has evening plans can leave. (Metro back to CPMS)
  • 3:00 – Tour NASM (or other Smithsonians) individually at no charge
  • --:-- – Meet remaining group for early dinner (depending on how long everyone wants to tour, meet anywhere between 4 and 6 – specific time to be arranged that day)
  • Metro Back to CPMS

  Metro tickets will be $1.85 a person each way. Combo Smithsonian theatre tickets will be $14.00. A single show ticket is $8.50. Not including dinner for anyone who stays, average cost will be $17.70.

  BRING YOUR FRIENDS! and if you have any questions at all, please email Matt or Jodi

• January 28, 2007

  Welcome Back

  The spring 2007 semester has begun, and there's plenty going on with the Astroterps. This semester, instead of weekly meetings, we hope to have activities scheduled on varying days to minimize schedule conflicts. The first of these activities will be Mars-Scape on February 1 at 2:30 PM in CSS 0254. Stop by any time to help decorate the CSS display case.

  In other news, we will be electing a new vice president and need volunteers to run for the position. If you are interested, please e-mail President Matt before Wednesday, January 31.

  Finally, the next observatory open house will occur on Monday, February 5, featuring the talk "Returning to the Moon." Keep your calendars free to help sell hot chocolate and candy and raise funds for our club.