astronomy

White House Astronomy Night

White House Astronomy Night is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand White House Astronomy Night rather than just read about it. In short: White House Astronomy Night (and alternatively Astronomy Night on the National Mall) is an event first organized by the White House in conjunction with the Office of Science and Technology Policy to motivate interest in astronomy and science education. The original White House Astronomy Night was held in 2009 on the South Lawn.

Key takeaways

White House Astronomy Night belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect White House Astronomy Night to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of White House Astronomy Night from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

White House Astronomy Night (and alternatively Astronomy Night on the National Mall) is an event first organized by the White House in conjunction with the Office of Science and Technology Policy to motivate interest in astronomy and science education. The original White House Astronomy Night was held in 2009 on the South Lawn. In 2010 the White House and the Office of Science and Technology Policy organized a similar event with help from Hofstra University, this time held on the National Mall. Between 2010 and 2014 annual events took place at the National Mall with coordination between Hofstra University and federal agencies including: the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, NASA, and the National Science Foundation. In 2015 an event took place in June at the National Mall, and then back at the White House again on October 19. The 2012 book Rising Above the Gathering Storm by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine noted the White House Astronomy Night indicated an emphasis by the Obama Administration towards support for education in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM fields). The New Moon: Water, Exploration, and Future Habitation, written in 2014 by Arlin Crotts, observed this event and the inclusion of NASA's Lunar Electric Rover in the First inauguration of Barack Obama reflected an emphasis on the importance of science education.

Events

2009 White House Astronomy Night

The first White House Astronomy Night was held on the South Lawn on October 7, 2009. This first event coincided with the International Year of Astronomy. Science Advisor to the President John Holdren stood next to President Obama as the president made a speech wherein he emphasized the values of science education and how crucial it was to society to increase the interest of youth towards studying science. This was an attempt by the White House to increase motivation for children to enter science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Only optical telescopes were used to peer at the heavens during the events. Over twenty such telescopes were placed on the South Lawn of the White House in addition to displays of Moon rocks, meteorites, and presentations of the Solar System. In addition the Obama family, in attendance at the event was NASA astronaut Sally Ride, the first female American to travel to space in 1983. Ride wore her flight jacket and answered questions from children about the Solar System.

Amateur astronomers Caroline Moore and Lucas Bolyard attended the event. Both Moore and Bolyard had previously made noteworthy discoveries in astronomy. New York high school student Moore contributed to the discovery of Supernova 2008ha in 2008, becoming the youngest individual to identify a supernova. While a high school student in his second-year at a school in West Virginia in 2009, Bolyard found a rotating radio transient, a form of neutron star. Bolyard accomplished this through analysis of observations while a member of the Pulsar Search Collaboratory, an initiative aimed at allowing youth access to the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope through joint cooperation between West Virginia University and the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

National Mall events

Executive Office of the President department — the Office of Science and Technology Policy, hosted the next Astronomy Night on July 15, 2010. This time the event took place at the National Mall. Hofstra University helped organize the event which was open to the public. The event was held on the National Mall the next year on July 9, 2011. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum assisted through opening its Public Observatory and outer landing area to the public. Hofstra University sponsored the event, and presented both live events and space observation through telescopes. Hofstra University program coordinator of astronomy public outreach, professor Donald Lubowich, helped organize the event. Lubowich commented: "Bringing Hofstra's program to the National Mall gives us a very special opportunity to encourage children to pursue their interest and science and promote public understanding of science. Gazing at the rings of Saturn or the Moon's craters and mountains captures the imagination, no matter how old you are." The 2011 event included assistance from the Northern Virginia Astronomy Club, in addition to attendance from organizations including: the American Astronomical Society, the James Webb Space Telescope, the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, and the Franklin Institute Science Museum.

April 28, 2012, was the third time the event was held on the National Mall. It was organized with help from Hofstra University, in addition to local astronomy clubs. Organizations represented included: the National Science Foundation, Astronomy Magazine, the American Astronomical Society, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, International Dark-Sky Association, the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Space Telescope Science Institute, and the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. The fourth National Mall event was held on June 14, 2013. Lubowich arranged the event, and it featured guided tours of the United States Capitol Building, in addition to complementary tours at local museums. The director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA, Dr. Paul Hertz, attended to talk about astronomy at his institution and to provide information to youth about his field of expertise. In 2014 approximately 7,000 individuals participated in the Astronomy Night on the National Mall. Lubowich attended and organized the night which was held June 6, 2014. Montgomery College Astronomical Observatory sent staff to man a table and answer questions. Lubowich helped arrange an event on the National Mall on June 19, 2015. Astronomy Magazine came and staff passed out hand-outs, and groups in attendance to support the event included: the American Geophysical Union, the International Dark-Sky Association, the Carnegie Institution, and Georgetown University. It featured a portable blow-up dome with a lit planetarium for viewing. Instructors dressed as historical figures from astronomy including: Caroline Herschel, Tycho Brahe, and Johannes Kepler to educate children about the field.

2015 White House Astronomy Night

… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with White House Astronomy Night

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what White House Astronomy Night claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to White House Astronomy Night before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about White House Astronomy Night ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of White House Astronomy Night

In research: White House Astronomy Night appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses White House Astronomy Night in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: White House Astronomy Night is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2009 establishments in the United States, Astronomy education events, Executive Office of the President of the United States, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for White House Astronomy Night outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study White House Astronomy Night in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what White House Astronomy Night means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain White House Astronomy Night out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is White House Astronomy Night in simple terms?

Why does White House Astronomy Night matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study White House Astronomy Night?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on White House Astronomy Night.