The Establishment of a Robotic Telescope Facility for Undergraduate Astronomy Laboratory Instruction

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

A remotely-operated robotic observatory creates an exemplary laboratory science curriculum in undergraduate astronomy education by implementing a student observatory that actively collects data in the form of digital (CCD) images. We intend to model this observatory after the successful Iowa Automated Telescope Facility (funded in part through the NSF-ILI Program, http://denali.physics.uiowa.edu/). Laboratory exercises described in the University of Iowa Laboratory Manual, "Imaging the Universe" (Mutel and Palen 1997) are adapted for the our program. These exercises, combined and implemented with locally developed laboratories, are an integral component to the astronomy laboratory experience. The observatory is located approximately thirty-five miles north of the our campus, at the nearest dark-sky site to the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. Remotely-operated telescopes linked to the Internet are highly valuable for astronomy education since they permit students to conduct individualized experiments and retrieve data via a personal computer. With the assistance of an attached weather station to monitor observing conditions throughout the night, a fully autonomous telescope provides flexibility to the laboratory program by allowing queue-scheduled observing making the most use of good weather without the need for an on-site operator. The technology for robotic telescopes has matured rapidly and is at present in use in programs involving students from K-12 through graduate school. The proposed observatory is used for astronomy laboratories that accompany introductory courses, populated largely by non-science students. Our goal is to provide students with a solid understanding of the scientific research process by implementing an experimental format into the laboratory. Using digital images from the robotic telescope, students conduct experiments in a manner similar to those employed in astronomical research. Students are motivated by having a sense of ownership of their data. A secondary focus is to enhance upper-level research opportunities for physics students through directed projects using the observatory. We are adapting instrumentation, software, instructional practices and procedures, and applicable exercises from the University of Iowa facility (Downey and Mutel 1996, ASP Conference Series, Vol. 101, pg. 380). These exercises are the centerpiece of the laboratory curriculum. Our final product is an automated student observatory and a set of published introductory astronomy laboratories suitable for any program with acce