FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

April 16, 2002

Contact: George Wise
518-382-7583

Dudley Observatory Presents Awards, Unveils New Initiative

Three Capital Region high school students have earned camperships at leading U.S. summer programs for space and astronomy by winning award competitions sponsored by the Dudley Observatory, the nation's oldest independent supporter of astronomical research and education. The awards will be presented in a ceremony at 4:30 P.M. Tuesday April 23 at the Dudley Observatory in Schenectady. That ceremony will also unveil a major new program in astronomy education that will impact students throughout the Capital Region.

Annie Barney, a sophomore at the Academy of the Holy Names, and Caroline Feinberg, a sophomore at Albany Academy, are co-winners of the Albert Hessberg II Campership, which pays tuition and travel expenses to attend the nationwide Advanced Teen Astronomy Camp in Tucson Arizona. Katherine Hartman, a sophomore at Guilderland High School, is the winner of the Rita Spenser Campership which pays tuition and travel expenses to attend the U.S. Space Camp in Huntsville Alabama. The winners were chosen for their outstanding records of school achievement, and for the excellence of essays they submitted in applying for the awards.

Barney and Feinberg will attend the nationwide Advanced Teen Astronomy Camp at the mountaintop observatories of the University of Arizona, near Tucson. They will carry out a wide variety of astronomical activities, including nighttime observation of the stars through the university's giant telescopes. daytime looks at the Sun using a variety of instruments, exchange of ideas with practicing astronomers, and the carrying out of the students' own research projects. Hartman will attend the U.S. Advanced Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. This program, created in cooperation with NASA, brings together outstanding high school students with an interest in the space program for education and adventure. The campers get in-depth experience in many aspects of space exploration, including hands-on training for a simulated mission on the Space Shuttle.

The April 23 award ceremony will also feature the unveiling of a new Capital Region program in astronomy education sponsored by the Dudley Observatory, the Rising Star Internship program. In this program, student interns will learn to locate a variety of celestial objects in the night sky, and to use and care for telescopes. The interns, assisted by mentors from the local amateur astronomy community, will gain the knowledge and experience needed to provide free public astronomy education programs (Star Watches) at schools and other venues throughout the community. 

The Dudley Observatory, founded in 1852 in Albany and now located in Schenectady, supports education and research in astronomy, astrophysics, and the history of astronomy. Albert Hessberg II, for whom the astronomy campership award is named, was a leading Albany attorney and astronomy enthusiast who served for many years as a trustee of the Dudley Observatory. Rita Spencer, for whom the space campership is named, made major contributions to the administration of the observatory in her many years as executive secretary. The award is open to all high school sophomores and juniors in Albany, Fulton, Montgomery, Rensselaer, Saratoga, Schenectady, and Washington Counties.

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Dudley Observatory
107 Nott Terrace, Suite 201
Schenectady, NY 12308
(518) 382-7583
info@dudleyobservatory.org