So there is no spring astronomy class running, and as for observing or photographing anything in the sky, well, 30 inches of snow in our front yard have more or less defeated that idea for the next month or so. But that hasn't stopped me from working on astronomy.
I've been slowly working on an automated magnetometer to monitor solar activity by tracking the sun's effect on Earth's magnetic field. The basic principle of the magnetometer is really simple, and really trivial to build. It's the automation that is pushing my limits.
Here's the basic concept, which I have described to at least some of you in class. A cosmetic mirror glued to a magnet hangs from a thread in a plastic soda bottle (to keep out air currents). The magnet aligns itself with magnetic north. As the level of solar activty varies, the sun sends differing amounts of solar wind our way. The fluctuation interacts with Earth's magnetic field and causes the exact location of magnetic north to shift slightly with time. By bouncing a laser off the mirror and sending it across a room to a screen, we can see the small motions of the mirror greatly magnified, and these motions track the sun's activity.
I made such a thing about 5 years ago in our library at home, operated by pushing a button on a laser pointer and marking positions on a piece of paper taped to the wall. It worked, but there were major problems with vibration. No matter how carefully I'd enter the room and press the laser button, the mirror was always moving, and the best I could do was guess an average position when making a measurement.
So this time I'm setting up in the basement. The mirror assembly is done, and the mirror is not swinging - cement doesn't vibrate as badly as a wood floor. But I don't want to make measurements by hand either. With my new hobby of electronics, I figured I could avoid being there to take measurements. The idea is to have a simple circuit that fires the laser once every few minutes, and also sends a signal to a camera to snap a picture of the screen with the laser dot location.
Well, the phrase "simple circuit" might be a contradiction. There's two transistors, a 555 timer chip, a couple capacitors and several resistors jammed into my little breadboard so far, along with the shutter release cable and the laser (which just arrived today), something like 12 jumper wires and a good deal of confusion. The laser works fine, but so far I can't get both it and the camera working at the same time. But I know I'll get the mess working soon, then put the circuit onto a real board, and start collecting data. Of course I'll keep all of you updated along the way!
Hoping you've kept you astronomical interests alive,
-Aaron