Benjamin J. Senson, Observatory Director,Madison Metropolitan School District Planetarium & Observatory
201 South Gammon Road; Madison, Wisconsin 53717
bsenson@madison.k12.wi.us
gholt@madison.k12.wi.us
Abstract: In the early 1600's Galileo Galilei changed the face of astronomy forever by applying a carnival curiosity to the study of the heavens. This curiosity, the telescope, allowed astronomers to witness celestial phenomena in exquisite detail. Today's students (K-12 in particular) are yet to catch up with his ancient methods. The purpose of the MMSD Observatory is to provide a solution to this dilemma.
The crux of the problem lies in two areas: one eyepiece = one eye, data is not collected or analyzed. A significant part of the solution to these problems lies in technology that expands the opportunity to observe by eliminating the barriers inherent to, while maintaining the best aspects of traditional observational methods. In this paper we discuss the Madison Metropolitan School District (MMSD) Observatory which provides such a technological solution by providing access to equipment and delivering data into the hands of students.
The MMSD Observatory Solution:
| This basic collection of equipment does not, however, create the
infrastructure essential for allowing classroom use of the facility.
Fundamentally, the acquisition of images will remain as an activity that can not
be required for a course and thus continues to function as enrichment
rather than as core content for astronomy education.
In large part this is due to the fact that, under such a model, the project will continue to be faced with fairly restrictive access issues: live observing sessions require the observer to be awake and logged on during the session. This does however eliminate the issues of cold weather, dark observing sites and transportation to and from the event, and provides images from which data can be extracted. In summary, the establishment of remote control can significantly increase the number of students accessing astronomical instruments while improving the quality of what can be accomplished due to their experience. However, remote access alone does not allow for the central transformation of observational astronomy from a nighttime to a classroom activity to take place. The additional ingredients that allow for this transformation include: scriptable automated image acquisition, posting of images to web/ftp sites, image viewing and processing software, and long term training support for both teachers and their students. With these ingredients in place a student can request an image during a regular class period, wait for a clear night to pass, log on to a web/ftp site during regular class time, then view and process the image to support their homework or project. Every step can take place in the confines of the regular classroom, thus creating the potential for the transformation of astronomy from an activity of enrichment for the few into a core content activity in which the entire class participates. Project Additions:In addition to the aspects described above, the project has now expanded to include providing access and control of the MMSD Observatory at locations that are not restricted to the school setting. Even in a community like Madison, which is technologically well equipped, it is unreasonable to assume that every student will have access to a computer at home if a teacher decides to assign astronomical imaging homework to their class. To remedy this situation, we have obtained the funding required to place copies of the control and image processing software at every branch of the Madison Public Library system. This software, in tandem with the Internet access already provided by the library, will allow a student to complete any assignments using a terminal in the nearest public library.Additional support is being sought to place the same software into the major neighborhood centers so as to make it even easier for students to complete their assignments and projects out side of the confines of the classroom and home settings. |
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| Paramount GT-1100 Robotic Telescope Mount | Software Bisque |
| ST-7 CC) Camera | Santa Barbara Instrument Group |
| CFW-8 filter wheel | Santa Barbara Instrument Group |
| CM-1400 14" Schmidt-Cassegrain Telescope | Celestron |
| Fastar Lens Assembly | Celestron |
| Meade 2" CCD Flip-Mirror | Meade |
| Pentium Computer | Compaq |
| Serial Port Expansion Board | |
| 10 foot diameter ProDome | Technical Innovations |
| Digital Dome Works | Technical Innovations |
| Professional Astronomy Software Suite | Software Bisque |
Live Observing Sessions Live observing sessions require a reservation for either a half or full hour time slot. These reservations can be made via email or a web page form. Reservations are summarized and programmed into a scheduling piece of software that uses the system clock of the computer in the observatory to determine who is the currently authorized user. At any time during the reserved time period, the client can initiate an Internet connection, start up their Remote Astronomy Software client package and connect to the Observatory.
While connected to the Observatory, the client can control the telescope mount, the digital camera, and the filter wheel to acquire images. The system administrator can allow or restrict access to any of these pieces of equipment. In our facility the dome is opened by the system administrator at the beginning of the evening and then remains "slaved" (programmed to keep the dome's slot aligned with where the telescope is pointing) for the duration of the evening at which time the administrator closes the dome. When the time period expires, the observatory's computer disconnects the client.
All images acquired during the session are transferred directly to the client's computer screen for review, saving and archiving. Images can be taken in one of three resolutions based on the "binning" or combining of numerous cells in the detector into a single pixel on the screen. This allows for lower resolution, and associated small file sizes and faster image transfer, during processes such as focusing while using full resolution to acquire the final image.
Images acquired during an automated run are transferred to an ftp site in the camera's native, GIF, and Bitmap formats. The native format includes information in a header section regarding the nature and duration of the exposure, which is of use if the image is processed for the extraction of scientific data. The GIF format allows clients to view their images with nothing other than a standard web browser such as Netscape or Explorer. The Bitmap format is an icon like image of very small size, which is useful to preview the image to decide whether or not to download the full resolution image.
Images acquired by automated request are archived to CD-ROM after a two-week period of time in order to free up hard drive space for additional images.
Training for Access:At present the training program for receiving a username and password for accessing the MMSD Observatory is being converted from a standard classroom experience to that of a web based distance learning course. Our intent is to the have the certification course online by spring of 2000 (target of February). Completion of this course will lead to a client being assigned a username and password.Once the course has been completed and the client has been assigned a username and password, the client is eligible to use the Observatory for two hours or to acquire 4 images via the automated image acquisition method without any fees being assessed. After basic certification, clients can attend face-to-face workshops to learn how to use the facility in support of specific projects such as variable star studies. If sufficient interest is expressed, a basic certification course could be offered at a future convention. Fees for Use:As a school district resource, the MMSD Observatory must recover the costs of operation when utilized by a non-MMSD client. As such, the school board of the Madison Metropolitan School District has established the following fees for accessing the MMSD Observatory.
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