50p
Stargazing at UVic
On Wednesday, May 16, Mr. Doehler’s Grade 9 Science class visited the University of Victoria in order to expand on our unit in astronomy. Mr. Freddy Mullen, a recent UVic grad who has been teaching under Mr. Doehler’s wing, thought it would be beneficial for the class of 18 students and 2 teachers. As soon as everyone arrived at the bus Mr. Doehler stated humorously “Ok, so we will be back at 11:00pm, there’s no sleep-in tomorrow and guess whose class you have first block… mine. That’s right, so no going to the Health Center saying that you didn’t get enough sleep.”
We arrived at the UVic at approximately 9:00pm. We drove through the vast, lush campus and arrived at the Astronomy building at the opposite end of the main gate. Most of us took the stairs to the 5th floor where the observatory was located while a lazy few took the elevator. When we reached the top there were undergraduates waiting for us. “ Are you guys the Brentwood group?” Mr. Doehler replied, “That’s us.”
One of the undergrads split the room in half, sending the right half to the room to the smaller telescopes on the roof and the left half to the observatory where the massive telescope was located. My group went to the roof with the smaller telescopes. Thanks to the clear skies, we were able to see the brown surface of Venus, the red sand of Mars, the huge rings of Saturn and a red glow on the star Arcturus. Erick Z noticed that you could see the glow of the planets and stars with our own eyes. If you stared at the spot long enough where you thought it was then soon your eyes would focus and you would be able to see the light.
Half an hour passed before and we switched with the other group from the roof to the observatory. The giant telescope was situated in a small room with three computers, a few seats and a moving dome. It was about 3 feet wide and 9 feet long and was made in 2010. Through its lenses we were able to see Saturn more closely, Betelgeuse and a wide variety of other nebulae and stars. Every time the telescope moved, the huge dome would move with it.
The next thing we knew it was 10:00pm and the observatory was closing so we left having viewed many extraordinary spatial wonders.
It was a great trip and, yes, I did manage to get to Mr. Doehler’s 8:15am class on time! That’s us!
Skyler R, Grade 9
We arrived at the UVic at approximately 9:00pm. We drove through the vast, lush campus and arrived at the Astronomy building at the opposite end of the main gate. Most of us took the stairs to the 5th floor where the observatory was located while a lazy few took the elevator. When we reached the top there were undergraduates waiting for us. “ Are you guys the Brentwood group?” Mr. Doehler replied, “That’s us.”
One of the undergrads split the room in half, sending the right half to the room to the smaller telescopes on the roof and the left half to the observatory where the massive telescope was located. My group went to the roof with the smaller telescopes. Thanks to the clear skies, we were able to see the brown surface of Venus, the red sand of Mars, the huge rings of Saturn and a red glow on the star Arcturus. Erick Z noticed that you could see the glow of the planets and stars with our own eyes. If you stared at the spot long enough where you thought it was then soon your eyes would focus and you would be able to see the light.
Half an hour passed before and we switched with the other group from the roof to the observatory. The giant telescope was situated in a small room with three computers, a few seats and a moving dome. It was about 3 feet wide and 9 feet long and was made in 2010. Through its lenses we were able to see Saturn more closely, Betelgeuse and a wide variety of other nebulae and stars. Every time the telescope moved, the huge dome would move with it.
The next thing we knew it was 10:00pm and the observatory was closing so we left having viewed many extraordinary spatial wonders.
It was a great trip and, yes, I did manage to get to Mr. Doehler’s 8:15am class on time! That’s us!
Skyler R, Grade 9