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theseeker
Joined: 25 Jul 2000
Posts: 3403
Location: Damnit...I'm a doctor jim |
Bringing the Stars Home
 Sat Aug 18, 2001 6:30 pm
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NASA PROGRAM BRINGS THE STARS HOME
Teachers are learning how to take control of a telescope located high above Los Angeles.
They will learn how to operate the telescope using the Internet and how to download bountiful
images of far out galaxies right to their classroom computers.
The Telescopes In Education program, managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif., is sponsoring the two-day workshop on Aug. 17 and 18 for more than 15
teachers. The program aims to give educators and students access to research-quality telescopes
and charge-coupled device cameras created at JPL and located at the Mount Wilson Observatory.
"We realize many people live in remote areas and that visits to observatories by schools
are sometimes not feasible," said Gilbert Clark, program manger. "We wanted to bring science
and astronomy home. That means giving teachers the access and the ability to remotely operate
a telescope from the comforts of their classroom."
Educators and students can reserve observation time lasting from one hour to all night for
any evening of the week. Special observation times or long-term, repetitive observing runs require
special arrangement. More information about the program is available online at http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/ .
In the 1999-2000 school year, the program enabled more than 10,850 students nationwide
from kindergarten through high school, to conduct astronomical observations and meaningful
research. Over the last nine years, the Telescopes In Education program has created a legacy of
students who have learned science through this program of hands-on astronomy.
Telescopes In Education is a NASA education outreach program sponsored by NASA's
High Performance Computing and Communications Learning Technologies Program, the Office
of Space Science and the Office of Human Resources and Education. JPL space exploration
missions, businesses and numerous volunteers also support the program. Managed for NASA by
the California Institute of Technology, JPL is the lead U.S. center for robotic exploration of the
solar system. |
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Lulu
Joined: 22 Dec 2000
Posts: 2501
Location: right here |
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Sat Aug 18, 2001 6:47 pm
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That's what I call hands on learning seeker! An excellent idea and makes me wish I was back in school again...well almost. The link is now in my favourites, thanks. |
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3T3L1
Joined: 08 Mar 2001
Posts: 1344
Location: Lubbock, Texas |
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Sat Aug 18, 2001 7:19 pm
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What a great idea, Seeker! Amateur astronomy is fairly hard to do. You have to contend with weather, light pollution, insufficient aperture, finding the correct right ascension and declination, and the rotation of the earth. This, combined with naked eye stargazing, should be a great experience for kids of ALL ages. |
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theseeker
Joined: 25 Jul 2000
Posts: 3403
Location: Damnit...I'm a doctor jim |
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Sun Aug 19, 2001 6:59 am
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I would imagine that more projects like that one would emerge because of hubble's uncluttered view of space, land based viewing is like driving an old car for scientists I reckon...although I would graciously accept the keys....even for a couple of hours...what a kick !
T/S |
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3T3L1
Joined: 08 Mar 2001
Posts: 1344
Location: Lubbock, Texas |
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Sun Aug 19, 2001 1:52 pm
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land based viewing is like driving an old car for scientists
My personal opinion is that astronomers will still kill for telescope time. Since the location of this telescope is "high above Los Angeles," I'm guessing that that particular instrument has big problems with light pollution and isn't very useful anymore. Sky and Telescope hasn't had much success in getting cities and property owners to use shielded (downward-directed) lighting, so the instruments in the L.A. area are probably being abandoned in favor of those in dark sky sites. |
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theseeker
Joined: 25 Jul 2000
Posts: 3403
Location: Damnit...I'm a doctor jim |
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Sun Aug 19, 2001 10:18 pm
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I'm sure your right 3t3...but eventually light will be a problem almost everywhere, here's some of hubble's recent photos....the mars one is said to be the best shot ever.
love the horsehead nebula....oooo...aaahhhh !
http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/Latest.html
[Edited 1 times, lastly by theseeker on 08-19-2001] |
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3T3L1
Joined: 08 Mar 2001
Posts: 1344
Location: Lubbock, Texas |
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Mon Aug 20, 2001 12:39 am
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Oooooh! Ahhhhhhhh! Those pictures! Even the ones the kids took in black and white were great.
The problem with the Hubble is that there are only so many hours in a day, and there are lots more astronomers on the planet than that, who need viewing time.
What I can't figure out is why they haven't set up a 100 meter telescope on the dark side of the moon by now. Even if they made it out of tin foil, think of the light it could gather!
[Edited 1 times, lastly by 3T3L1 on 08-19-2001] |
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theseeker
Joined: 25 Jul 2000
Posts: 3403
Location: Damnit...I'm a doctor jim |
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Mon Aug 20, 2001 7:05 am
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there has to be a seriously long list for hubble use, but hey it's so good I would figure more will be built to accommodate the need...private sector involvement you would think would motivate contruction of more space telescope's,even on the moon, I still find it odd that NASA does not exploit the moon more...a self sustaining base on the moon is more feaseable than the international space station, the gravitation draw backs of space are alone enough to build a base on the moon instead of a station, of which the gravity of the moon would extend humans abilities to have extend stays in space....(^productivity)
I've been trying to find a new picture of this below...I like this one, and I think it was taken before the "lens" modification..here a while back...
T/S |
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