In Spring 2015 continued our exploratory program of AstroConnect with classrooms in the Upper Valley region:

• Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, NH (faculty: Tom Pasquini)
• Lebanon Middle School, Lebanon, NH (faculty: Debbie Groveman)

We focused this program on X-ray astronomy and black holes. Our guest astronomers were:

• Francesca Civano (Yale University): A runaway supermassive black hole
• Joey Neilsen (MIT): Flares from the supermassive black hole in the Milky Way
• Raf Margutti (Harvard-Smithsonian CfA): A very nearby exploding star
• Michael McDonald (MIT): A galaxy cluster reborn: The Phoenix Cluster
• Roy Kilgard (Wesleyan): A galaxy collision in X-rays
• Ryan Hickox (Dartmouth): A black hole where it shouldn’t be (in a small galaxy!)

Each classroom participated in multiple with guest astronomers, with questions prepared by the students in advance based on the articles. Our high school class at KUA was a repeat from last year; the Lebanon discussions reached multiple classes and will be our first discussions at the middle school level.