Teaching Astrophysics from Observations

[GeoffMc (Geoff)]

Hi All,

next semester I will be putting together a teaching unit for Year 10 - 12 Physics students on astrophysics as part of a course I'm doing through Canberra University. This semester I prepared one on the Sun; the theme for the companion unit is Stars. In both units, I am trying to emphasise that school astronomy does not need to be a "theoretical" subject, and by that I mean downloading yet more images and information from the net. Rather, I feel astronomy can be just as experimental as any other school science subject. In the Sun unit, for example, students start with measurements they take of solar energy output and other measurements, and work out the lifetime of the Sun. I also have activities ranging from surface feature observation and identification, through to spectroscopy using a home made DVD spectroscope (which members of this list helped make a reality). The point is they are making observations that form the substance of their calculations and conceptual learning.

I want to do the same thing for learning about stars and stellar evolution. Obviously, there is a limit to the measurements they can make without resorting to expensive equipment (which the vast majority of public schools simply cannot afford), and so I am limiting the observations to visual, either naked eye or telescopic, and using any inexpensive equipment that the kids (and teachers) can get their hands on. Some ideas are obvious, such as variables, eclipsing binaries, and so on. However, I would like to hear from anyone who has other ideas. An underlying assumption is that schools can enlist the assistance of local amateur astronomers to show students through their telescopes. The amateurs would act as telescope operators, with the students making the observations and working out from there.

Looking forward to reading your ideas.

Geoff Mc
Melrose High School, ACT

[renormalised (Carl)]

If you want to do spectroscopy without resorting to hundreds of dollars, you can do spectroscopy with a webcam and a diffraction grating...

http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=70573

http://www.patonhawksley.co.uk/staranalyser.html

and for analysing the data you capture, you can use programs such as this...

http://www.rspec-astro.com/

Public schools should be able to afford equipment like this without breaking the bank.

The dearest part is if you want to purchase a scope. But even there if you shop wisely, you can get a good scope for a good price.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Also, photometry....you can do simple photometry on reasonably bright stars using a webcam to take the piccies of the target stars and programs like IRIS... http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/us/iris/iris.htm, to analyse the data you capture. IRIS is free, which is a good start. You can also use it to capture and render images as well. You can obtain and measure light curves for the target stars to measure the rotation of starspots and the stars themselves, transits of eclipsing binaries and exoplanets, measure stellar variability etc.

[renormalised (Carl)]

Another good thing is to teach them how to use programs such as Aladin to access astronomical databases and how to use the program to interpret what the images they download mean. If you want to know about other programs like Aladin that the kids can download as well...it's always good to know about all the software available, just give me a buzz

Another idea which may interest you is to get access to remote observatories like Global Rent a Scope. You can trial it out for free yourself and the normal rates are quite good.

Any other areas of astronomy which may be of interest I most probably have access to the websites in question (or the information via textbooks), so feel free to ask and I can give them to you. Especially sites pertaining to astronomical theory and if you do get stuck with any of it, don't hesitate to ask me questions

[Rob_K]

Hi Geoff - there are some good teacher resources here:
http://www.aavso.org/education/vsa

Cheers -

[renormalised (Carl)]

Here is another great resource for teaching astronomy/astrophysics to students.... http://public.gettysburg.edu/~marschal/clea/CLEAbase.html

They have a series of labs/programs which the students can download and learn about various topics in astronomy/astrophysics from solar activity, asteroid astrometry, planetary transits, stellar evolution and a number of other topics. The teacher/instructor can also use the resources at the site to assess the knowledge and progress of the students. The labs are very comprehensive and fun to do and they will earn a lot from doing the labs.

[higginsdj]

Lets not get carried away. Photometry with a web cam, although technically possible is subject to gross errors and will not be suitable for anything where precision photometry is required - ie exoplanets!

If one wants to do spectra well you can take on bright stars with a basic digital camera on a simple mount and a transmission grating. Or do the Moon or Planets or even the Sun with a CD or DVD as a reflection grating!

Vspec is free and is the quadi standard amoung amateurs. RSpec is great if you don't have any expectation that your students need to know much about spectroscopy - but it does cost money where VSpec is free.

Other than rent a scopes, most major scopes offer program time for schools. The Faulkes scopes, for example are primarily there for schools.

Relying on 'local' amateurs may be an issue. Those doing this type of work 'casually' may not have the skills and equipment you need whilst those who are heavily into it may not want to interupt their own programs to afford you and your students observing time. However, you might consider chatting to local societies to have students participate in 'events' like Grazes and Occultations. It might be possible for your students to come up with an observing program and have local amateurs take images and upload them somewhere that the students can get to. Just like the Pro's do it!

I'd be quite happy to supply images on occassions BUT NOT have a whole lot of strangers tramping through my house/home/observatory. There may be other amateurs (or even professionals) willing to do the same. Why not set something up online for people to register interest?

Cheers

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by higginsdj

Lets not get carried away. Photometry with a web cam, although technically possible is subject to gross errors and will not be suitable for anything where precision photometry is required - ie exoplanets!

If one wants to do spectra well you can take on bright stars with a basic digital camera on a simple mount and a transmission grating. Or do the Moon or Planets or even the Sun with a CD or DVD as a reflection grating!

Vspec is free and is the quadi standard amoung amateurs. RSpec is great if you don't have any expectation that your students need to know much about spectroscopy - but it does cost money where VSpec is free.


Cheers

Of course, you're not going to get accurate enough photometric precision from a webcam to be able to detect exoplanets (however, I've seen stranger things happen) but it can give reasonable results on most targets that you could detect, such as eclipsing binaries, variable stars etc. Any imaging device, even the most high spec CCD camera, can be subject to gross errors if not properly calibrated and used accordingly. Or if the conditions aren't conducive to photometry/spectroscopy.

Why not have groups in the class construct a simple spectrograph as part of their semester's work. One like this....

http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rhill/spect/spect.html

That's the reason why I suggested RSpec...makes it easier for the students to get into using spectroscopy without having them having to learn all the theory and maths behind it. Once they became comfortable with using the equipment and understood some of the theory, then you could introduce them to Vspec.

How simple would it be for some amateurs to get some good photometric shots of various stars for the kids to analyse. They could do a run on, say, GL876 over a number nights and have the kids look for planetary transits or starspots. Most amateurs are using their equipment just to take piccies. Nothing wrong with that but it would be enlightening for them to turn their hand to a bit of actual science every now and then. They may even like it

[higginsdj]

If you want the students to mine images for data/information then I have a decades worth available - just a few gigabytes

Cheers

[renormalised (Carl)]

Originally Posted by higginsdj

If you want the students to mine images for data/information then I have a decades worth available - just a few gigabytes

Cheers

Probably a good idea

There's also all the online catalogues as well.

[GeoffMc (Geoff)]

Thanks for all your responses, everyone, and the generous offers of support and images.

Are there any visual observers out there who have ideas to offer to give me a full picture?

Cheers,

Geoff Mc