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The Faulkes telescope ASISTM project is an Australian federally funded project to pilot the use of the Faulkes telescopes by Australian high school students. The resources page is http://www.astronomy.mq.edu.au/deepspace/ and my contributions can be found below in word document form.
SGHS Faulkes ASISTM projects
SGHS
Faulkes ASISTM Star Cluster Photometry v1.doc
SGHS Faulkes star
cluster photometry.xls
SGHS
Faulkes star cluster photometry JS Solutions.xls
M80-B.fits and M80-V.fits
NGC2420-B.fits and
NGC2420-V.fits
Aim:
To plot a HR diagram for an open cluster and a globular cluster and identify the
relative ages of these clusters from their location on the HR diagram.
Application:
This activity applies directly to the HSC Astrophysics option in NSW. The whole
activity may be too tedious or time consuming but it can be used to introduce
students to the process and the data available can be used to construct a HR
diagram of the two cluster types. This activity could also be used as an
enrichment task in stage 5 science.
Resources: The software used for this project can be downloaded from http://makalii.mtk.nao.ac.jp/
Project 2 – Age of a Planetary Nebula
Documents:
SGHS Faulkes
ASISTM Calculating PN Age v1.doc
Aim: To determine the age of a planetary nebula.
Application: This activity applies to the stage 6 physics syllabus and
the stage 5 science syllabus in NSW. This task involves an awareness of what a
planetary nebula is and a full appreciation of this would come from a students
knowledge of basic stellar evolution. The skills involved include physical
measurement and mathematical calculations. An extension of mathematical skills
involved into a derivation is encouraged wihtin the activity. An assessment of
the accuracy of the result compared to reference values is also included.
Resources: This activity is self contained but could be extended.
Project 3 – Mosaicing several images
Documents:
Mosaicing several images v1.doc
Aim:
To construct a single image of an object from several images.Application: This activity is the first part of several stages in a larger activity. Further sections will include making a colour image from B, V and R images and then using photometry to determine the mass of a galaxy.
Resources: The software used for mosaicing images was IRIS (available free for download from http://www.astrosurf.com/buil/us/iris/iris.htm). There were problems with using this program installed on a network and having the files stored on a network drive. To overcome these problems I installed the software locally and put the files on a local drive.
To be continued ...
Faulkes Telescope Project | Home | Astronomy | Astrophotography | Science | Space Science | Astrobiology | Science Teaching | Related Links | Contact Me