Astronomical Imaging by Undergraduate Students Using a CCD Camera

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Astronomical imaging can provide excellent opportunities for undergraduate students to explore the science of astronomy, the process of scientific investigation, and the technology of imaging and image processing. Students are using a CCD camera attached to Grinnell's 0.61 m telescope to carry out a wide variety of observational programs and processing the resulting images on the observatory's Sun workstation using IRAF and other image processing software. Projects involve the study of relatively faint objects (galaxies, nebulae, and star clusters) and emphasize the extraction of physical information from the images through, for example, the use of filters during the exposures, and computer analysis of the resulting images. This instrumentation is used most heavily by physics majors who are doing one or two-semester independent study projects, but is also used in the general astronomy and advanced laboratory courses. The acquisition of a CCD camera system completes the process of development of image acquisition and analysis capability at Grinnell's observatory that has taken place over the past several years.