UM astronomer inspires young stargazers to watch the sky

University of Montana astronomer and physicist Diane Friend paid a visit to Lakeside Elementary School, last Thursday, bringing with her a portable planetarium and a couple of high-power telescopes to inspire students to look up in wonder at the night sky.

Friend, who boasts 32 years of experience in the field of astronomy, met Lakeside science teacher Holiday Madich during an astronomy class that Friend taught at the university as part of the Montana Math and Science Consortium grant. Madich knew immediately that she had to get Friend to do a presentation for her fifth grade students.

"Her enthusiasm is contagious," Madich said of Friend. "She truly loves what she does. She believes in education and the wonder of learning about the universe we live in. I just feel her positive energy is so important to have the kids exposed to."

That happened for the first time two years ago, when Friend brought her telescopes for a late-night stargazing session. The session proved so successful that Madich felt compelled to bring Friend back again.

"I especially love getting to come back and see teachers I have worked with on grants before," Friend said. "The teachers at Lakeside are wonderful, amazing teachers. I really love working with elementary kids, because they have so many questions, and they want to know how the world works. They're always fascinated with everything, and it's a good reminder of why I do what do."

Friend set up her Starlab Planetarium - one only a handful in the state of Montana - in the middle of Madich's fifth grade classroom. The silvery dome nearly filled the classroom with its nylon-reinforced shell and entry tunnel when fully inflated, yet could be collapsed quickly, folded and stored in a large duffle bag.

The inside surface, which consists of an aluminized reflective coating, clearly displayed various models of the night sky, thanks to a special projector that Friend used to point out everything from star constellations to the arch of the sun from one season to the next. Friend explained that our galaxy consists of only a few hundred billions stars.

Friend also used spectral glasses to show students how scientists can determine what elements a star consists of by the colors that are singled out of the light spectrum. The most common elements, particularly in small stars like our sun, are hydrogen and helium. However, larger stars also contain other elements like nitrogen, oxygen, carbon, silicon, magnesium, neon, iron or sulfer.

Students were surprised to learn that stars produce their light and energy through nuclear fusion, which is taking place continually within the star's core. In fact, every second, our sun converts between five and six million metric tons of hydrogen to helium. In the process, five million metric tons of excess material is converted into energy every second-about one octillion watts. On earth, we receive only about two billionths of that energy - lucky for us. In one year, the sun converts 157,680,000,000,000 metric tons into solar energy through nuclear fusion.

"I think these enrichments - especially in math and science - help to inspire a sense of wonder," Madich said. "That's so important to the desire to learn. To me, the enrichment part of our education is just as valuable as the foundational aspect.

Of course, the Starlab was just the beginning, and dozens of students returned to the school campus later that evening with their parents to get a closer look at some of the wonders of the heavens. Shortly after 9:30 p.m. the telescopes were fixed on the surface of the moon, allow students a good look at the craters that scar its surface. A little later, they were able to view Saturn and marvel at its bright rings and nearby moon, Titan.

By 11 p.m. students, parents and staff were gazing at marvels like binary stars, globular clusters and more, including the Herculean Cluster - a cluster of about 100 galaxies, more than 650 million light years from earth in the constellation Hercules.

"I think one of the main things kids take away from it is to look up," Friend said. "In the schools, we do a lot of wonderful things with biology, watersheds, chemistry, things that are on or of this earth. Until high school, we don't really get a lot of exposure to astronomy. That's one of the big things that I want the kids to take away from it is just to look up and wonder what's going on up there."

That, Madich said, was definitely a byproduct of Friend's visit. In fact, she related an experience with one student who usually has a difficult time getting into school but who made a dynamic connection with the astronomy and became excited about locating the different constellations. Madich described seeing the transformation as an emotional experience that nearly brought tears to her eyes.

"It was very moving for me to see her get that excited," she said. "To see that makes everything worth it. We just touch a few people every now and then, and it's empowering to know that an experience you can give someone can make that kind of a difference. Being able to do these kinds of things really makes my job."