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Alachua Astronomy Club, Inc. |  Member Astronomical League |
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| FirstLight's First Ten Years |
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| 29°39' N, 82°21' W Altitude: 50 Meters (more or less) |
Updated Jan. 17, 1999 | ||
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| FirstLight is the official, monthly publication of the Alachua Astronomy Club (AAC), Gainesville, Florida USA. Copyright © 1987-99. All rights reserved. |
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Gilbert's Grants
by Gilbert BernardoJust an update on what's happening in astronomy education at Branford High School (K-12). In addition to the $5000 grant I received for Solar Astronomy and Weather, I was recently notified that $1840 has been granted for my project "Star Search".
My rationale for "Project Star Search" is as follows. Since most astronomy takes place at night, and school takes place in the day, something must be done to bridge the gap. This grant provides for telescopes that can be checked out of the library for a period of three weeks to be utilized by the entire family, friends, neighbors, etc. I have ordered three 8" Odysseys from Coulter Optical along with Telrad finders and low and medium power eyepieces. I think these will make good beginner telescopes.
As in many "free-bees" from government agencies, there is a "clinker" in the works. These grants are called "in kind" grants. The grant was written for a total of $1840. However, I only realized $1140 in actual cash. The other $700 is "in kind". That means volunteers donate goods and services that are assessed a dollar value to make up the balance. I hope to call upon the ACC (sic) for help in this part. On behalf of the ACC, I am donating an f/10 5" reflector to the project, and if ACC (sic) members could donate a little time by offering a star party or two, the rest of the "in kind" obligation could be fulfilled. The sky is beautiful in and around Branford, the students and their parents are interested, and I'm sure a community wide star party would be very well received. I'll keep you posted.
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