Are there astronomy competitions?

[GiantSheeps]

I run an astronomy club at my school, and I recently discovered that the robotics club gets $2000 from the school every year to build a robot. They then go on to compete in tournaments with that robot, so that justifies the $2000.

It would be great if I could get the school to give us $2000 to buy a really nice telescope, but of course we would need to compete in some kind of competition or find some other way to make the telescope beneficial for the entire school. There's the obvious benefit of learning and experience and all that that goes along with owning and operating the telescope, but they need something more tangible like the award that could come from a competition.

So what I'm asking is, are there any sort of Astronomy Competitions that we could compete in that we could use such a telescope for? Or some other way to rationalize the purchase of the telescope?

I am a student, and here's the telescope I was thinking of:
http://www.highpointscientific.com/...9j5-4k_S1vSmzNf3oR27GI-2hvrKICrcWgRoCVk3w_wcB

and then I was thinking we would get it rigged up to a gps thing, computer and monitor, if that's possible, and then maybe get the university (my high school is located on a university campus) to provide us with a dome of some sort. But that's all next step if we can even get the school to give us the money.

Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

All I can think of is the Astronomy Olympiad, but that doesn't have you looking through a telescope. http://www.usaaao.org/

Have you approached your supervisor or principal and ask for ideas or solutions?

 

[Drakkith]

Competitions would be difficult, as observations typically take a long time and are extremely dependent on location and weather. I can't think of any real competitions off the top of my head.

 

[wabbit]

This seems a strange idea... Competitive astronomy ?
But maybe you could find another way to make it interesting for everyone, perhaps organize an open night where members of the club show everyone the sky, visually and through the scope. You could time it to coincide with some interesting astronomical happening. Or maybe do some presentation about celestial mechanics. Or something else educational to let others get a glimpse of what there's to see. Or you could run some kind of observing program with your scope and display the pictures with a presentation... Just some thoughts...

Edit : just saw the scope you're considering is mostly a visual instrument, so strike the idea about pics, but the rest stand I think.
You might also want to consider something like an 8" computerized SCT which would have more potential for pictures and scientific observations, while still providing nice views visually.

 

[GiantSheeps]

That looks interesting, I'll look into it. Thanks for pointing it out! I haven't spoken to my supervisor yet, but I will first chance I get

EDIT: I meant for this to be a reply to Greg Bernhardt by the way

 

[GiantSheeps]

This seems a strange idea... Competitive astronomy ?
But maybe you could find another way to make it interesting for everyone, perhaps organize an open night where members of the club show everyone the sky, visually and through the scope. You could time it to coincide with some interesting astronomical happening. Or maybe do some presentation about celestial mechanics. Or something else educational to let others get a glimpse of what there's to see. Or you could run some kind of observing program with your scope and display the pictures with a presentation... Just some thoughts...

Edit : just saw the scope you're considering is mostly a visual instrument, so strike the idea about pics, but the rest stand I think.
You might also want to consider something like an 8" computerized SCT which would have more potential for pictures and scientific observations, while still providing nice views visually.

It does seem strange, but I remember seeing an article titled "super bowl of astronomy" or something like that awhile back, and I didn't read the article but I assumed it was some sort of competition. Those are all good ideas, I could present those to my supervisor and see what he says.

Also for the telescope, is it not possible to get some sort of adapter to connect a DSLR camera to the telescope? Would this do that? http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation_T_Adaptor_1_25__.html

 

[davenn]

Also for the telescope, is it not possible to get some sort of adapter to connect a DSLR camera to the telescope? Would this do that? http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation_T_Adaptor_1_25__.html

Yes, that's a T-ring adaptor, I have one for my Pentax camera. Still haven't got around to getting one for my Canon cameraDave

 

[wabbit]

Also for the telescope, is it not possible to get some sort of adapter to connect a DSLR camera to the telescope? Would this do that? http://www.telescopehouse.com/acatalog/Revelation_T_Adaptor_1_25__.html

Certainly, you can take pictures with this telescope. Its photographic capabilities are however limited by its dobsonian mount, which does not provide for easy tracking. Most targets suchs as nebulas, galaxies, etc, being quite faint require exposure times from several mimutes to several hours, so accurately tracking the target is essential.

 

[Chronos]

This might be of interest http://afterschoolastronomy.org/index.html

 

[wabbit]

This might be of interest http://afterschoolastronomy.org/index.html

I didn't know about this, must say it looks like an excellent ressource, I see they have lots of concrete suggestions about activities you might set your club to - activities that should be of interest to the school.

 

[Uollises]

I didn't know about this, must say it looks like an excellent ressource, I see they have lots of concrete suggestions about activities you might set your club to - activities that should be of interest to the school.

Yeah, it is great. Wish in my country existed such club. But even now there is no big interest in astronomy here. =_=

 

[tmishra]

Not sure if you are still interested, but this might help.

https://sprockethome.com/2017/02/25/astronomy-competitions-global/