Modern Astronomy
For Homeschool Teens, Fall 2025
RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium

The RMSC Strasenburgh Planetarium offers an in-person astronomy course for homeschool families with students around 11 to 15 years old looking for scientific challenge and substance.

This is a seven-session course, each session building on the previous ones. 

Dates and time: Wednesdays from 11:00am to 1:00pm: October 22, 28; November 5, 12, 19; December 3, 10.

Signup deadline: Sunday October 19 by 11:59pm

A parent or guardian's functioning email address is required for enrollment. Our primary way of communicating about Planetarium homeschool courses is by email messages to parents and guardians. We do not need the email addresses of children.

Parents and guardians are welcome at all sessions, either to sit at the side of the room or work with their children.

Parents or guardians are responsible for all of their children’s health needs throughout their time on the RMSC campus, including administering medications or monitoring the child’s condition.

Your instructors:

• Jim Bader, director of the Strasenburgh Planetarium
• Paul Krupinski (Mr. K.), planetarium director at Maryvale High School (near Buffalo), proprietor of Mr.K.’s Mobile Dome Planetarium, and Strasenburgh Planetarium show presenter
  
• Kain McCall, Planetarium Coordinator

Our learning environment: We divide our time between the Planetarium’s multi-purpose room or lobby, the Star Theater, and some time outdoors. There will probably be between 15 and 25 students in the class. Some students are quiet; others are more talkative. Any learning style is welcome, as long as your learning style does not interfere with anyone else’s. We may conduct occasional quizzes so we and the students can get an idea how we’re doing, but we do not grade students. 

General culture: By digitally signing below, you, the parent or guardian, assure us that you believe your child can function and learn in the environment of our courses. We expect respectful behavior that supports an environment in which everyone has an opportunity to learn. (Since we started in 2012 we have never had a problem.) Do not bring toys, cards, games, or any valuables not related to the course. We are not responsible for personal items.

What to bring: Two or three sharp pencils with erasers and a notebook with blank pages. Throughout the course, we will provide additional paper handouts and an envelope to keep them in.

Your laptop or tablet: We will sometimes use the internet to access astronomical data, as professional astronomers do. (Web surfing and social media scrolling are not part of the course!) We will make the announcement during class if a laptop/tablet is needed for the following course. If your family does not have a suitable device, please email Planetarium Director Jim Bader at jbader@rmsc.org to arrange to borrow a tablet from the Planetarium during class time.

Photography: We occasionally take pictures of homeschool sessions. We use the pictures either to inform the RMSC administration and Board about the program, or to show future participants what to expect if they sign up. We exclude identifying information such as children's names from photographs. Please let us know if you do not want your child or yourself to be photographed.

Our fall 2025 topics:

• The fundamental inner-workings of a star.
• The ever changing nature of a star through its lifetime.
• The end of the line for small-mass stars
• Black Holes and beyond!
• The other energy superpowers in the universe.
• Vera C. Rubin Observatory and the future of Time Domain Observations!
  
  

Fee: $250 per student; $225 per student for multiple children living in the same household enrolling together. A scholarship discount is available to families who tell us that it will make a real difference at this time.

$25 off Sibling Discount will calculate in shopping cart.