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Written by Nathaniel Whitehead
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The Tzec Maun Foundation is striving to provide students from all over the world with access, through teachers and professors, to astronomical instruments that can be easily incorporated into the classroom and even used from home. |
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SW College "Science Shack" |
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Written by Nathaniel Whitehead
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 | | Roland Fields and Don Wells standing inside
the SW College Science Shack.
Credit:Don Wells | |
Sitting most unassumingly behind the Scarcella building of the Stafford campus of the HCC South West College is a small, rectangular building that houses far more than meets the unknowing eye. The “science shack”, as it is being called, is being filled with an impressive array of astronomy and science equipment for everything from astronomical observations and photography to seismic sensor data and meteor recording. With the persistent conviction of Mr. Don Wells, production manager of Stafford METV and Mr. Roland Fields, the Supervisor of Technicians at HCC SW, the college has launched forward in pursuit of better science equipment all around. With the addition of several top of the line microscopes, 3D scanners and printers, and a plethora of astronomical tools and telescopes, the road to improving the ability of teachers to effectively use advanced equipment in and out of the classroom is being paved with opportunity. |
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Written by Nathaniel Whitehead
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Three Professors and a Telescope
 | | | Image above: from left to right; Mr. Marc Wetzel, Dr. Juan Carlos Reina, Dr. David Wood, and Mr. Alfred Alaniz standing in front of the T.O.R.R.E. telescope. |
In a recent visit to the McDonald observatory Dr. Juan Carlos Reina, astronomy professor at Houston Community College (HCC), along with Dr. David Wood and Mr. Alfred Alaniz, both astronomy professors with the Alamo Community College District (ACCD), got the chance to tour the world renowned McDonald site and look at the housing and equipment for the T.O.R.R.E. (Texas Outreach for Remote Research and Education) telescope facility. The T.O.R.R.E. site will house a refurbished 30-inch telescope that will allow observers in areas where the seeing isn’t so good to have access to top of the line equipment and resources. HCC and Rice University are cooperating on the project, and now San Antonio College with a strong Astronomy department and part of the large Alamo Community College District will join them. They aim to expand the ability of teachers and students in astronomy and space science by providing remote access for observation of the night sky, including research opportunities that would be near impossible without the level of equipment that the program will provide.
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A Trip to the McDonald Observatory |
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Written by Nathaniel Whitehead
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Dr. Chris Johns-Krull from Rice University and Dr. Juan Carlos Reina from Houston Community College, TORRE project's PI and Co-PI, made a recent visit to the facilities at the McDonald Observatory in Fort Davis TX to tour the site of the future T.O.R.R.E. telescope and see the vast array of resources at one of the world's most renowned observatories, including the massive Hobby-Eberly Telescope. Click on the PDF link to view a slide show of the trip with details about the T.O.R.R.E. project. PDF Presentation For a complete photo gallery from this trip click here |
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New Type of Pulsating Star |
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Written by Nathaniel Whitehead
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Astronomers Michael Montgomery, Kurtis Williams and graduate student Steven Degennaro using the 2.1 meter Otto Struve telescope at the McDonald Observatory have confirmed the existence of a “pulsating carbon white dwarf”..... |
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