Foundation News

Galileo Event Planned at LSUS (7/16/2009)

            As part of the International Year of Astronomy celebration and in honor of the 400th anniversary of Galileo turning his telescope to the sky, LSU Shreveport will host an event on Saturday, November 14 based on the Galileoscope. The event will be held from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Science Lecture Auditorium on campus.

The Galileoscope is one of the international cornerstone projects for IYA2009.  Its mission is to provide today's school children the opportunity to build a simple telescope and view the same objects as Galileo.  Using today's technology, however, students can have a much more satisfying view.

Roughly 1,000,000 of these inexpensive but high-quality telescopes will be made available worldwide.  The university will award 100 free telescopes to area students from grades three through eight courtesy of a grant by Dr. Ravish Patwardhan of The Comprehensive NeuroSurgery Center and the Shreveport-Bossier Astronomical Society.  Winners of the telescopes will be selected from an essay contest that will take place this fall.

At the event in November, students will hear lectures by LSUS faculty members Dr. Cheryl White, Dr. Laura Whitlock, and Dr. Cran Lucas.  Students will also assemble the microscopes, decorate them and learn how the lenses are used to focus light and form an image.

In honor of IYA2009, the LSUS College of Sciences and the Shreveport-Bossier Astronomical Society has already hosted five events on campus with five more planned.