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Faculty Mini-Grant 10: Tim Hamilton
Application of live telescope imaging
to astronomy classes and planetarium shows
Dr. Timothy S. Hamilton
Assistant Professor of Physics & Director, Clark Planetarium
Shawnee State University
Department of Natural Sciences
Shawnee State University
940 2nd St.
Portsmouth, Ohio 45662
(740) 351-3145
thamilton@shawnee.edu
PURPOSE AND RATIONALE:
Astronomy is an inherently visually-based science, almost all of its
research depending on the remote sensing of light. Furthermore,
at the introductory level, the course avoids much of the more abstract,
mathematically-based aspects and spends more time on (1) the
description and classification of astronomical objects (e.g.,
galaxies can be divided into elliptical, lenticular, spiral, barred
spiral, and irregular types) and (2) a description of the physical
processes behind what we see.
This approach drives a need for the proper visual presentation.
Shawnee State University has an 8 inch telescope, which is capable
of seeing all of the planets (including Pluto, under good skies) and
several star clusters, nebulae, and galaxies. The current
observing labs for the astronomy class involve taking the students and
telescope onto the Ohio River levee next to campus. Although this
affords the best viewing within walking distance, the top of the levee
is narrow and rather small for a class of 20 students. Once
the professor has trained the telescope on a target, the students must
take turns looking through the eyepiece. Given the number of
students, this gives each student only a short time to look. The
students spend most of their time not looking, and they become bored
and restless with little to do.
When viewing nebulae and galaxies, which appear faint and diffuse,
several students report not being able to see the object at all.
Generally the target won’t fill the field of view, and students have
trouble picking it out from the collection of other objects in the
field. Obviously, the professor can’t help by pointing.
Furthermore, the human eye is limited in how faint an object it can
see; there is no way to give it a long “exposure time,” as in a
camera. And color is not visible in such low light (the eye will
see faint objects only in black and white), so the brilliant colors of
nebulae are invisible to the students. These colors are physically
important, because they identify the chemicals present in a nebula.
The proposed project would install a color video camera (specially
designed for astronomical use) on the telescope. This would send a
live image to be projected onto the dome of the school’s
planetarium, where the entire class can see it at once. The
primary advantage of this approach is that it involves all of the
students simultaneously, cutting out their idle time. It also
lets them see much fainter features, so that, for instance, the wide
spiral arms and dust patterns of galaxies are visible, instead of just
the small, featureless blobs that appear when looking through the
eyepiece. It is important in teaching astronomy to point out the
various features of the target you’re seeing. That is very
difficult when only one person can see the view at a time, but this
approach will let the professor do it easily with a laser
pointer. In addition to simple viewing, the camera system will
allow us to save the images on the computer and analyze them.
This makes possible a wide range of projects for student research and
for the advanced astronomy class.
Further Educational Value
The system has application beyond astronomy labs—it will be used for
public shows at the planetarium, as well. Our current approach to
public telescope viewing is the same as for the astronomy class:
after the planetarium show, the visitors are taken outside and must
take turns looking through the eyepiece. The drawbacks are the
same as for the astronomy students, with the added problem that the
many small children have a harder time seeing anything.
Most of the planetarium’s visitors are school field trips, so the
new method will be an example to the teachers leading the trips, as
well. We already provide lesson plans for teachers
(planetarium.shawnee.edu/teachers.html), to accompany their visits to
the planetarium, and we will add material on the use of the camera
system. Some of our planetarium operators (all SSU students) have
been education majors, and we they will be able to apply their
experience with this approach when they become teachers.
INVESTIGATIVE PROCESS:
Application of technology:
The
central piece of equipment for this proposal is the MallinCam video
camera (mallincam.tripod.com), which will capture the view from the
telescope. This will be streamed live to the planetarium
projector using a tablet computer (the ASUS eeePC Tablet) and a pair of
wireless routers, so that the telescope can be set up away from the
planetarium building without stringing any wires.
The
MallinCam Hyper Video camera is a CCD video camera designed for
astronomical use. Since telescopes are viewing faint objects,
the main problem is to have an exposure time long enough to capture
sufficient light. Most video cameras have a fixed exposure time
(about 1/30 sec) that is too short to see anything but brighter
stars. The MallinCam is made to allow a range of exposure times,
anywhere from normal video speeds up to 56 seconds long. Another
problem in astronomy is the presence of “noise” in the image, which
obscures the faint features of a target. Unlike non-astronomical
cameras, the MallinCam is cooled to reduce this noise.
Assessment of results:
Questionnaires will be used to assess (1) students’ preferences for one
method or the other (direct observation through the telescope vs. the
use of camera and planetarium) and (2) the influence of the new method
on students’ interest in astronomy.
The effect of the method on students’ understanding of the course
material will be assessed as follows: For two lab sessions, I will
split the class into two groups, approximately evenly matched in
ability. One group will observe through the telescope directly,
and the other group will view the same targets from the planetarium,
using the camera system. Identical quizzes over the lab material
will be administered to both groups at the end of the lab time
(pretests will be taken before the lab begins). In the second lab
(covering different targets), the groups will switch instruction
methods, and pre- and post-tests will be administered again. A
comparison of quiz grades will be used to assess the new method.
Dissemination of Results:
The
results will be disseminated through a combination of teacher lesson
plans we develop for using this system, a report to SEOCEMS, and a
conference presentation. If the system is found to be sufficiently
valuable, the results will also be published in a journal.
TIMELINE OF ACTIVITIES:
Summer, 2009— Order camera and support equipment
Install equipment on telescope
Perform preliminary tests using cable link
Create student questionnaires and pre- and post-tests
Fall, 2009— Install wireless link between planetarium and telescope
Use new system for astronomy labs
Administer student tests
Winter, 2009-10 to Spring, 2010—
Revise methods based on results
Develop lesson plans for visiting teachers
Spring-Summer, 2010—
Submit summary of results to SEOCEMS
Publish results
BUDGET:
Salary for PI (including
benefits)
$1,250
Funds for travel to conference to present
results 1,000
MallinCam Hyper
camera
1,200
Accessories for camera:
Extra
battery
200
Carrying
case
40
Heat
dissipator
40
90º video
adaptor
20
Accessories for telescope:
Counterweights
50
Dew heater and light
shield
90
Battery and
inverter
50
For video streaming:
ASUS eeePC tablet
computer
700
V-10A USB-2
adaptor
140
Wireless repeaters
(2)
120
Streaming video
software
100
Total:
$5,000
