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New telescope offers peeks into universe’s distant reaches

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John Jaruzel, who donated the powerful telescope shown above to Roane State Community College’s Tamke-Allan Observatory, helps a young visitor get acquainted with the device. (Photo courtesy RSCC)

By Bob Fowler, Roane State staff writer

An eight-foot-tall telescope with an 18-inch diameter lens has been donated for use at Roane State Community College’s Tamke-Allan Observatory, and it offers the clearest views yet of the universe’s distant reaches.

Like the two powerful telescopes already in place at the observatory, the latest telescope is a donation, this time from former long-time Alaska resident and avid amateur astronomer John Jaruzel, who now calls Oak Ridge home.

“It is by far the most powerful telescope (at Tamke-Allan) in terms of collecting light,” said David Fields, director of the observatory. “This scope will enable the viewer to see extremely dim stars and objects,” he said.

“This is a wonderful thing to be able to offer the students views of such distant celestial objects,” Fields said of the gift. “It’s inspiring.”

[Read more…]

Tamke-Allan Observatory has public stargazing Saturday

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Linda Fippin
Linda Fippin

Tamke-Allan Observatory at Roane State Community College continues its Summer Public Stargazing with an examination of light and light pollution on Saturday, August 3.

The gates open at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, and a public lecture will be presented at 8 p.m. by guest lecturer and retired clinical researcher Linda Fippin.

“For the vast majority of human history, nighttime lighting was limited to the hearth fire,” a press release said. “As villages, towns, and eventually cities developed, lighting was still limited to oil lamps and candles. Gas lighting was not invented until the late 18th century, and electric street lights have only been in use for about 140 years. Nighttime lighting has many benefits, but excessive and inappropriate use has led to light pollution, which not only has negative effects on people, quality of life, and the natural environment, but also wastes energy resources. This talk will cover a brief history of nighttime lighting, the effects of light pollution, and what can be done to lessen them.”

[Read more…]

Celebrate 50th anniversary of moon landing

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Julie Rhyne

Tamke-Allan Observatory will begin its summer public stargazing with a 50th anniversary celebration of the Apollo 11 moon landing on Saturday, July 6. The gates will open at 7:30 p.m., and a public lecture will be presented at 8 p.m. by guest lecturer Julie Rhyne, a press release said.

July marks the 50th anniversary of landing humans on the moon, the press release said. NASA’s Project Apollo, the program developed to land people on the moon, represented the “remarkable efforts of engineers, scientists, and many various industries around the country working together to accomplish one of the greatest feats in human history,” the press release said.

It said the July 6 presentation will provide an overview of the spacecraft and the Apollo missions. There will be pictures and memorabilia, moon globes, and hands-on learning about the Saturn V rocket that launched men to the moon, the release said.

[Read more…]

State certifies four new adventure tourism districts in Roane

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Adventure tourism is one of the hottest industries in the country and the world. To capitalize on this growing trend, Tennessee passed the Tennessee Adventure Tourism and Rural Development Act of 2011 in hopes to incentivize adventure tourism businesses to invest and create jobs in districts planned all across the state.

Tennessee’s abundance of natural resources makes it an ideal setting to support this segment of the tourism industry. The act allows qualified businesses that locate within a certified district to earn a jobs tax credit to offset a portion of the business’ Tennessee franchise and excise tax liability. Qualified businesses may include restaurants, hotels, or other tourist related attractions.

“I began the process in February and over the next few months required resolutions from each of the cities where the district resides, as well as the county. They all passed unanimously,” said Pam May, vice president of The Roane Alliance. “Roane County has so many natural resources ideal for adventure tourism—more than 700 miles of shoreline, bluffs, and vistas on the plateau, and a large number of Wildlife Management Areas—just to name a few.” [Read more…]

ORION astronomy club meeting features UT professor on Wednesday

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The Wednesday meeting of the ORION astronomy club will feature Professor Denise Phillips, director of graduate studies in the Department of History at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

Her presentation, “Can Peasants Be Scientists? Debates about the Social Reach of Science in the 18th-Century Europe,” is from her current book project, which includes both lay and professional astronomers.

The meeting is at the Grove Theater at 123 Randolph Road in Oak Ridge at 7 p.m. Wednesday April 15. (See http://orionastronomy.wordpress.com, for more information.)

ORION has supported educational and astronomy activities in Oak Ridge and the surrounding region since 1974. These include the free public star gazes at the Tamke-Allan Observatory in Rockwood scheduled on the first and third Saturday of the month. (See www.roanestate.edu/TAO or contact David E. Fields at [email protected].)

Physics professor to give sun-Earth astronomy talk at Grove on Wednesday

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High Places Community Church

The Grove Theater at High Places Community Church is pictured above.

An adjunct physics professor in east Tennessee will give a basic astronomy talk in Oak Ridge on Wednesday that focuses on “Selected Topics on the Sun-Earth Connection.”

John C. Mannone will give his talk to the ORION astronomy club at the Grove Theater at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

“Emphasis will be placed on the role of magnetic fields in the formation of our sun, the nature of sunspots, and their role in solar and terrestrial weather,” a press release said. [Read more…]

ORNL, DOE, Roane State, Borchers to take part in STEM Night at Woodland

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Bruce Borchers

Bruce Borchers

Representatives from Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Roane State Community College—as well as Superintendent Bruce Borchers—will take part in a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math Night for students at Woodland Elementary School on Thursday.

The STEM Night for students is being hosted by the Woodland Parent Teacher Organization, a press release said. It will be in the school’s gymnasium. Borchers will kick off the event with opening comments at 5:15 p.m. Thursday.

A press release said Borchers is pursuing avenues to make Oak Ridge “the” premier STEM school district in the country. [Read more…]

Stargaze at Roane State Observatory on Saturday, Sunday

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Roane State Community College’s Tamke-Allan Observatory will have its first public stargaze of the winter season at 7:30 p.m. today.

Highlights will include a general astronomy presentation at 8 p.m., followed by a guest lecture on “Buying Your Christmas Telescope.” Following the lectures, there will be full evening of telescopic viewing. The TAOAS student astronomy club will be assisting amateur astronomers.

The Sunday sunrise at the observatory near Rockwood will occur at about 7:02 a.m., and the moon will rise two minutes later. [Read more…]

Radio astronomer to speak at Roane State’s Oak Ridge campus

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Radio astronomer Stan Kurtz from the National Autonomous University of Mexico will speak at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Roane State Community College in Oak Ridge.

The lecture will be in the City Room, and it’s free and open to the public.

Kurtz conducts most of his research in New Mexico at the Very Large Array, one of the world’s premier astronomical radio observatories.

For more information about the lecture, contact Roane State’s David Fields at [email protected] or (865) 927-5155.

[Read more…]

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