Imaging the Universe: A New Curriculum for Undergraduate Astronomy Laboratories

该项目扩展并加强了基于CCD相机和机器人望远镜的创新本科天文学课程的开发。新课程的重点是学生自己动手规划和分析自己的图像，而不是使用专业天文学家观察的传统方法。主要读者是非科学专业的大型入门课程的学生。该项目有三个组成部分。首先是对已经编写好的新实验课程进行修订和补充。在目前的资助期内，我们已经建立了14个观察实验室和15个基于计算机的指导练习。根据助教和使用过课程初稿的学生的意见，我们将修改现有的实验室，并增加大约15个额外的实验室。这些修订将尝试使动手的方法更直接，使数学水平更接近统一，并更好地强调学生的想象力和创造性技能。新的观测实验室将涵盖当前手册中尚未涉及的天文学主题，包括小型太阳系天体的轨道，变星的性质，活动星系的可变性，以及星云和明亮恒星的光谱线观测。新的以计算机为基础的实验室将包括广泛使用天文学数据库和使用Mosaic用户界面在互联网上提供的图像。第二个组成部分是开发一个软件系统来调度和控制使用商用硬件的自动望远镜系统。该系统将是完全独立的，并且可以从互联网上的任何站点进行控制。我们已经开发了一个使用低成本PC的定制安装和圆顶的原型系统。该系统将允许感兴趣的学院和大学以最小的努力和费用为大型入门课程建立一个完整的基于ccd的实验室。它还可以用于操作远程暗点远程望远镜，这些望远镜可以在几个学校之间共享。第三个组成部分是在爱荷华大学开发一个HTML因特网站点，以便在线传播有关在天文学教学中使用CCD照相机和机器人望远镜的信息。

The project extends and enhances the development of an innovative undergraduate astronomy curriculum based on CCD cameras and robotic telescopes. The emphasis of the new curriculum is hands-on planning and analysis of the student's own images rather than traditional methods using observations from professional astronomers. The primary audience is the non-science major in large introductory courses. The project has three components. The first is revisions and additions to the new laboratory curriculum already written. We have developed fourteen observing laboratories as well as fifteen computer based tutorial exercises during the current grant period. Based on comments from teaching assistants and students who have used the draft version of the curriculum, we will revise existing labs and add about fifteen additional labs. The revisions will attempt to make the hands-on approach more direct, make the mathematical level more nearly uniform, and better emphasize the imaginative and creative skills of the students. The new observing labs will cover astronomical topics not yet addressed in the current manual,, including orbits of minor solar system objects, properties of variable stars, variability in active galaxies, and spectral line observation of nebulae and bright stars. New computer-based laboratories will include extensive use of the astronomy databases and images available over the Internet using the Mosaic user interface. The second component is the development of a software system to schedule and control a automated telescope system using commercially available hardware. the system would be completely self-contained and controllable from any site on the Internet. We have already developed a prototype system for a custom mount and dome using a low cost PC. The system would allow interested colleges and universities to set up a complete CCD-based laboratory for large introductory classes with minimal effort and expense. It could also be used to operate remote dark-site tel escopes which could be shared among several schools. The third component is the development of an HTML Internet site at the University of Iowa for dissemination of on-line information related to the use of CCD cameras and robotic telescopes in the teaching of astronomy.