University of Arizona South
Sierra Vista, AZ
by Julia Olsen
We are so fortunate to live in southern Arizona, where the skies are clear and dark - perfect for night sky observing. Southern Arizona is home to a number of amateur astronomers, several of whom have made significant contributions to our knowledge of astronomy. The Patterson observatory is a recent addition to Southern Arizona's astronomy resources, built in 2004.
Patterson Observatory, located centrally in at the University of Arizona South campus, is becoming a regional center for science education and public outreach. The Huachuca amateur astronomy club is a regular co-sponsor of public events and members bring their telescopes to compliment the observatory. But besides scheduling viewing nights for the general public, planetarium director Dr. Frank Zizza has developed a summer science program for students in this part of the state where they have an opportunity to use the planetarium as well as science facilities at neighboring Cochise College. This summer's theme is "Mars" and all of the science activities and instruction focus on the Arizona-based Phoenix Mars mission.
The summer camps benefit teachers and students in the Sierra Vista-Benson-Douglas areas and across the lower part of the state by providing professional development for area elementary and science teachers, who then co-teach the camp with Dr Zizza. They can then take these activities back to their classrooms and have a positive impact on their students throughout the school year. Students who attend are involved in an excellent program where doing science is their role. Many or most of the participating students are economically disadvantaged so this opportunity is especially important for them. I can't tell you enough about how important it is for the community to support public education and outreach such as this!
The Sonora Chapter was recently able to have a Saturday morning in the observatory. Club members engaged in learning about distance and scale in the solar system and beyond, how astronomers use light to learn about the universe, and about the (then upcoming) Phoenix Mars mission. Because it was daytime, it would be tempting to say there was no stargazing, but wait, yes there was! A secondary telescope was set up with a Hydrogen-alpha filter so everyone could observe solar flares from our nearest star, the sun!
If anyone would like to sponsor a student or two for summer camp, or for more information about the observatory, please contact Dr. Frank Zizza at (520) 458-8278 ext 2161. Here's a link to a recent news article about this summer program from the Sierra Vista Herald
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 This is an infrared image of the observatory, taken with my cell phone camera. Want to know how I did it? Ask me! |