Astronomy Camp is a science

summer camp A summer camp, also known as a sleepaway camp or residential camp, is a supervised overnight program for children conducted during the summer vacation from school in many countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer residential camps ...

hosted by the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

's Alumni Association, and run by astronomer Don McCarthy. Many of the early camps took place at the Mount Lemmon Station Observatory atop Mount Lemmon, near

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. On Mount Lemmon, the campers have access to a , 20-inch, 40-inch and 60-inch telescope, and on the nearby Mount Bigelow site, a telescope. In recent years, the camp has also taken place at the

Kitt Peak National Observatory The Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO) is a United States astronomy, astronomical observatory located on Kitt Peak of the Quinlan Mountains in the Arizona-Sonoran Desert on the Tohono Oʼodham Nation, west-southwest of Tucson, Arizona. With ...

, where the students have access to a wide variety of telescopes, including the Bok Telescope, the ARO 12m Radio Telescope, and a variety of smaller instruments. At both locations, the telescopes and other equipment are used for hands-on learning and research on a variety of astronomical topics. Campers are encouraged to propose their own projects and collect the data necessary to answer their research questions. Don McCarthy won the

American Astronomical Society The American Astronomical Society (AAS, sometimes spoken as "double-A-S") is an American society of professional astronomers and other interested individuals, headquartered in Washington, DC. The primary objective of the AAS is to promote the adv ...

Education Prize in 2012 in part for his work running Astronomy Camp.

Location

*Mount Lemmon observatory: *Kitt Peak observatory:

References

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External links

Astronomy Camp Homepage
University of Arizona Summer schools