Topic outline
General
Syllabus for the hybrid/on-campus Elementary Astronomy Lab
Use Blackboard to submit your work each week.
An online version and a pdf of OpenStax Astronomy is recommended if you need to review or learn about the topics that are covered in the lab. It is available here. The electronic versions of the book and the pdf are free.
Click here to see your list of weekly tasks in this class.
Topic 1
What is visible in the sky this week to the unaided eye, and with a small telescope?
Learn about the appearance of the sky as seen from a moving Earth. When you have finished this acitivity, answer the questions using the link in this section.
Topic 2
Identify ConstellationsExplore the sky as seen from any place on Earth.
Follow links to a YouTube video that will guide you through the features of Stellarium's online web version that we recommend for this lab.
Tutorial:
Stellarium: https://stellarium-web.org/
This is a quick link to the online version of Stellarium used in this lab.
This online resource will show the sky from your location at a chosen time.
Topic 3
The Earth Rotates- As Leon Foucault demonstrated in 1851, a long pendulum can reveal the rotation of the Earth. In this experiment you will see this for yourself.
Topic 4
Our Dynamic SunIn this experiment you will explore sunspots and solar activity to find the sunspot cycle, the current state of the Sun, and its effects on the Earth.
Topic 5
Use data from ground based telescopes and spacecraft to explore Earth's nearest planetary neighbor.
Discover Mars in 3D with an interactive view from space.
The New York Times produced this short program about NASA's expedition to Mauna Loa in Hawaii where a crew will experience the isolation of a long duration mission on Mars' surface.
Topic 6
Light and TelescopesExplore the basic properties of light, and how your eyes and telescopes work.
This instructional video from the American Association of Physics Teachers will show you how to see your own retina. The method they describe may also show your fovea (high resolution part) and the the blind spot too.
Topic 7
Astronomical ImagesAn image is not just a pretty picture!
This link will take you to a short instructional video on how to use JS9, the display software for viewing astronomical images.
Topic 8
Use an Astronomer's CCD CameraIn this activity you will operate a CCD camera that is in one of our teaching laboratories on the University of Louisville's Belknap Campus. It is similar to those used on our telescopes, and this will give you first hand experience similar to that of astronomers acquiring and analyzing their data.
We begin with an explanation of the camera and its software that leads to taking some images yourself.
When you have taken a few images with the camera you can view them, measure the size and location of objects on them, and determine how much light those objects deliver to the sensor. With the help of online software you will construct color images in which each color distinctively conveys the response of the camera to light selected by a filter.
Topic 9
Explore the Sky with Astronomical TelescopesOur archive of data from our observatories are available to you this semester to find out more about something you are interested in. We will also guide you to explore other available data from observatories and satellites depending on your own self-directed interests.
This is a quick link to the online version of Stellarium used in this lab.
The web resource
will show you what is currently visible in the sky. You may chose from among different types of objects, and it is a helpful tool for selecting a request that is observable now.
The online software at this link will display the sky overhead at any location and time. You'll need to know your longitude and latitude, and to select the date and time from the calendar on the application. For example, the longitude of Louisville, Kentucky, is -85.5 degrees. The minus sign is the convention for this software if the location is west of the prime meridian. Louisville's latitude is about 38.3 degrees north.
An alternative to using this is to run Stellarium on the web or on your own computer. It provides more information and a realistic view.
Some of your image data are in "FITS" image format. To look at those you need to use a special viewer which you have already used in other activities this semester. It is linked from within the description of your work for this week, but here it is all by itself if you need it.
Download a file you want to view by right clicking on the file name and "Save as ..." a file that is in a location you can find later.
Open the link in your browser, select "File", and then select a local file on your own computer that has the "FITS" extension to see it in you browser. You do not have to install software.
JS9 may work best in Firefox, but this depends on your choice of operating system. Google Chrome works fine with it using a Chromebook, and probably will be fine with Windows or Mac systems too.
Topic 10
Earth's MoonThis page provides on-line resources for the study of the Moon this week.
Study Earth's Moon with images from our telescopes and some simple experiments of your own.
Topic 11
Proxima Centauri: Our Nearest Neighbor with Planets
The red dwarf star Proxima Centauri is the nearest known star to the Sun. Its motion through space causes it to appear to move across the sky. You will measure that apparent proper motion in this experiment.
Topic 12
Virgo's GalaxiesStudy the Virgo Cluster of Galaxies, the nearest large cluster of galaxies to our Milky Way. This version uses Aladin-Lite on-line software to explore the sky.
Topic 13
A Nearby SupernovaWe find the absolute magnitude of a supernova in a nearby galaxy, and use that to measure the distance to another one farther away.
This short video takes you through the first part of the experiment and shows how to use the JS9 webpage to measure the brightness of a supernova compared to stars of known brightness.
Topic 14
Under the Southern Sky in NamibiaLearn about the night sky as seen in the southern hemisphere.
Topic 17
Topic 18
Topic 19