Local Citizen Science Project Contributes to Astronomical Research
The Research and Education Collaborative Occultation Network (RECON) has announced an occultation campaign on November 23, 2016. Local schools from The Dalles to Klamath Falls will join students and teachers from across the western US participating in this observation campaign.
Local teachers, students, and amateur astronomers will engage in hands-on data collection and astronomical research. RECON team members have been trained to successfully use telescopes and camera equipment to conduct cutting-edge science.
RECON’s goal is to measure the size of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs), four and a half billion years old frozen objects orbiting out beyond Neptune, to better understand their formation and composition. The data collected can lead to new information about the origins of the solar system.
To measure the size of a TNO, RECON uses the shadow casted by the TNO onto Earth as it moves in front of a distant star, an event called an occultation. During predicted occultations, RECON observation sites point their telescopes to specific target starts and record the star using the camera system provided by the project. As the TNO moves in front of the star, observers within the path of the TNO shadow will witness the star light be blocked during the occultation.
With the help of local community members, RECON has grown to become a network of over 60 sites throughout the Western United States, the only network in the world for systematically conducting occultation research of 100 km objects in the outer Solar System.
Local students and community members are encouraged to contact the RECON team leader for their community to learn more about the project and ways to participate.
Contact recon@calpoly.edu for information on how to reach local RECON team leaders.
About RECON:
RECON is a citizen science project started in 2012 aimed at exploring the outer solar system and funded by the National Science Foundation Division of Astronomical Sciences. It involves students, teachers, astronomers and community members from over 60 communities across the Western US to conduct coordinated telescope observations. To learn more about the RECON project, visit www.tnorecon.net . For more information, contact John Keller at jmkeller@calpoly.edu , Marc Buie at buie@boulder.swri.edu , or Ilianna Salas at isalas@calpoly.edu.
Participating RECON Communities in Oregon
Bend
Chiloquin
Gilchrist
Klamath Falls
Lakeview
Paisley
Madras
Maupin
Sunriver
Paisley
Redmond
Sisters
Oregon Observatory
The Dalles
