Thanks, Tom (and Joe- and everyone who expressed congrats- I really lucked-out with that kid!). From your post I see that the lack of astronomy projects at the Granite District fair seems to be paralleled in other fairs- and I think Rich is on to something here- some of the teachers I have met with at my daughter's schools are obviously only going through the motions, lack any kind of passion (or ability, really) for their work- and we do get what we pay for. Those graduating near the top of their classes get siphoned-off into more lucrative careers. There are exceptions- a few teachers with genuine enthusiasm and talent, who would teach even if it were a volunteer position. But they are far too few, and rarely teaching science. By any chance, Tom, was your spectrograph a tube, with a diffraction grating and a slit? Anybody remember those gray and black ones that Edmund used to make? They sold them in the gift shop at the old Hansen planetarium. They worked great on bright stars, through the telescope. I have some diffraction grating material- maybe I'll put one together soon- thanks for the idea!

From: "Thomas Sevcik" <sfv1ts@hotmail.com>

Chuck, give your daughter my congratulations for her outstanding achievement in the Science Fair!

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