Observing Exercises
ACTIVITIES
comments/
questions
Kendall-Hunt
For a new astronomical photograph each day you should visit http://www.sai.msu.su/apod/astropix.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a nice set of planetary pictures with good accompanying descriptions visit the following Jet Propoulsion Laboratory Site To see images of the outer planets taken with small telescopes and CCD camera visit http://astronomy.luther.edu/planets.htm The above site provide images of Pluto, Uranus and Neptune on closely spaced nights. Both the motion of the planets against the stars and the motion of moons around Uranus and Neptune are clearly measurable. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the latter half of the eighteenth century Charles Messier devoted much effort to scanning the skies in search of comets. He began cataloging fixed objects that appeared fuzzy and might be mistaken for comets. His list contains more than one hundred star clusters, galaxies and nebulae that represent some of the best deep sky objects for binocular and small telescope viewing. One of the best sites for learning about the Messier objects and seeing many fine images of them is here. When the page loads, a chart of the Messier objects appears on the right-hand side. You can view larger images and learn about individual objects by clicking on an image in that chart. You can also click on a numerical list of the Messier objects or you can sort them by constellation. They also discuss something called the Messier Marathon in which observers attempt to view all of the Messier objects in one night of observing! As you work your way through learning about astronomy you should return to this site often both to see specific images of objects you are studying and to remind yourself of the visual splendor of the heavens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a good example of lunar photography that can be accomplished with small equipment visit this site. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lunar occultations occur when our moon passes in front of a more distant objects which might be a planet or star. Recently, video cameras have been used to capture such events which offer a "now you see it, now you don't" drama in a sky that usually changes very subtlely. Along with many other interesting images you can see a brief video of the moon occulting a star in the Pleiades at this site. The video was made by students at the University of Alabama. These occultations are also useful for helping to determine the precise positions ond strengths of X-ray sources. Since the moon emits X-rays only weakly, one can watch the count rate in an X-ray telescope drop as the moon passes in fron of an X-ray source. See an image of an X-ray occultation as seen by the ROSAT X-ray satellite. Copyright © 2006