Message from Liz Bryson and Lisa Wells
Aloha! Best wishes to all for the Holiday Season! This issue highlights new things coming your way, including: a new laser guidestar system for Keck, a new astronomy museum to be built in Hilo, and many great sites for use at home or in the classroom. And don't forget to watch the Quadrantid Meteor shower in early January. Enjoy!
We are grateful for your feedback and support of our venture. email.
Contents:
- Keck Guidestar Laser Pictures
- Mauna Kea Visitors Center
- 2002 Education Catalog
- Teaching Through Science Fiction
- Life in the Universe
- Classroom Activities
- Spectacular Atmospheric Optics
- Northern Lights
- Suggested References
- Upcoming Astronomical Events
Keck Guidestar Laser Pictures
John McDonald, a former observing assistant for CFHT, has been photographing the laser used to create guidestars at the Keck Observatory. Here are some of his photographs of the Keck tests. The laser guidestars are used for correction of the twinkling of the stars in adaptive optics . (You must have the Microsoft Media Player to view the adaptive optics movie. It is an .avi file.)"We're building a laser guidestar adaptive optics facility. We're projecting a laser beam 90 kilometers into the atmosphere that will excite sodium atoms; and we'll have an artificial star due to the sodium fluorescence. We need laser guidestars to get good sky coverage because you usually can't find a bright enough star where you're looking or where you want to look." From the W.M. Keck Observatory website.
Mauna Kea Visitors Center
Plans are moving steadily ahead for the $28 million Mauna Kea Astronomy Education Center to be located on the University of Hawaii, Hilo campus. This site will keep you updated on the progress of the construction and give useful information about future events such as the Onizuka Day activities and exhibits at the center. Stay tuned to this site for more information in the next few years.
2002 Education Catalog
The 2002 Education Catalog from NASA's Office of Earth Science has been made available, providing "information about agency-wide earth science education programs and resources for elementary through university levels." Chapters are divided into a formal and informal education section, workforce/ professional development, education products, and NASA's resources for educators. The site offers an online version and downloadable Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) files of the entire report.
Teaching Through Science Fiction
A new annotated topical index to science fiction stories and novels that use good astronomy is now available on the education web pages of the nonprofit Astronomical Society of the Pacific.The listing currently has 195 entries organized into 40 categories, ranging from "anti-matter" to "Venus." It includes stories and novels by a number of scientists (some writing under a pseudonym) and by other writers who pay attention to the accuracy of their science. It is not designed as a complete index, but highlights stories that teachers have found particularly useful for making scientific ideas come alive for non-science students.
The stories and novels listed deal with such topics as the dangers of asteroid impacts and exploding stars, the future exploration of Mars, the fate of travelers who venture close to a black hole, the search for intelligent life in the universe (and what forms it might take), and what it would be like to live among the rings and moons of the outer solar system.
NEW RESOURCE GUIDE FOR TEACHING ASTRONOMY THROUGH SCIENCE FICTION
From the NSDL Scout Report for the Physical Science, Vol. 1, Number 8
Life in the Universe
Life in the Universe is an educational pamphlet developed and distributed by the Royal Astronomical Society. The .pdf document provides information on the origin of earth, geologic time, our solar system, the predicted end of life due to an asteroid collision, using radar to detect extraterrestrial intelligence, what evidence has been found on mars and Saturn to prove life, and more. The beautifully designed document provides brilliant photographs and illustrations along with easily read text. These facts along with the almost sci-fi feel to the topics should help draw students in and encourage them to delve deeper.
Classroom Activities
StarDate.org is the public education and outreach department of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory, which offers astronomy resources for teaches on their Classroom Activities site. The various projects are categorized by age and grade level including k-4, 5-8, and 9-12. Each provides a teachers guide, materials needed, a description of the process, any needed links (such as the StarDate Moon Phase Calculator within the Observing the Moon activity), and even printable versions of each lesson. Although not remarkable, the site does give teachers well designed and easy to accomplish activities which students should enjoy.
Spectacular Atmospheric Optics
Here are some great sites which have great pictures of atmospheric phenomena, Common and Rare. You can also run your own Halo simulations if you like.Found in New Scientist's Weblinks an extensive, annotated collection of all kinds of science links from all over the web.
Northern Lights
Sponsored by Andya Rocket Range, the Norwegian Space Centre, and Nordlyssenteret, this intriguing site contains a host of material relating the history, science, and legend behind the Northern Lights, sometimes referred to as "Aurora Borealis." Sections of the site include The Physical Phenomenon, which is devoted to explaining the science behind the lights, and "The Mysterious Light," which offers some of the lore and legend associated with the Northern Lights. A nice feature of the site allows visitors to ask questions of the researchers at the site who will respond in a public forum. The site also has ongoing discussion boards, lists of places one can best view the Northern Lights, and a featured photo of the month submitted by a visitor to the site.
Suggested References
There are some great astronomy reference books out there. In this new section, we hope to find and suggest some good reading materials for varying age groups. We include links to Amazon.com however, you may find it cheaper in their auctions or used books sections. You are always welcome to use other online stores.
- Touch the Universe : A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy by Noreen Grice, Dec 2002, ISBN 0-309-08332-X.
Touch the Universe is an innovative and unique astronomy book. It is a combination of Braille and large-print captions that face 4 pages of brilliant Hubble Space Telescope photos with embossed shapes that represent various astronomical objects such as stars, gas clouds, and jets of matter streaming into space.
- June 8, 2004 - Venus In Transit by Eli Maor, 2000, ISBN 0691048746
This is a book for an advanced HS student who is interested in astronomy and upcoming events. A Venus transit of the sun is more rare than the appearance of Halley's comet every 76 years and thus should be experienced. While the first transit in 2004 may not be visible from Hawaii, the event in 2012 may very well be. A great reference in anticipation of a very rare event!!
- CFHT 2003 Calendars are now available in time for Christmas. We hope that you will enjoy the new pictures taken with the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope.
Upcoming Astronomical Events
- Meteor Showers - Don't forget to watch the Quadrantid meteor shower on the mornings of January 3rd-4th. Best viewing time is Midnight to Sunrise with the peak occuring during daylight hours on the 4th. Predictions are 90 meteors per hour. The centroid for the shower is in the constellation Bootes which looks like a big kite. It is best to bring along a sky chart to identify the constellations. If you live in a city with many nearby lights, then consider taking a drive to a very dark site and watching. The darker site will help your eyes adapt and give you better night vision to see more faint objects. See the August 2001 issue of Hoku in the archive to learn more about watching meteor showers.
- Eclipses - Unfortunately none of the upcoming eclipses in 2003 will be easily visible from Hawaii.
All times listed above are HST. The link below contains many calendars and includes a nice section on astronomical events. Check it out!!
We gratefully acknowledge the following online sources: Yahoo's Search Engine, The Scout Report, New Scientist's Weblinks, and the Librarian's Index to the Internet.This page is compiled by Liz Bryson, CFHT Librarian
This page was designed by Lisa Wells, CFHT Observing Assistant
We appreciate your comments and questions.