Work Experience/Project ideas?

[lw24]

Hi all,

Not really sure where I should have posted this but here goes.

I'm looking at doing something like Physics and Astronomy at university (I'm in Year 11 at the moment), and so am looking to complete some Work Experience in that field of work. Does anyone have any ideas of possible places to complete work experience in this field?

Also, I want to complete some sort of projects myself, that are to do with astronomy, but I don't really have any good ideas yet.

I'm unsure if anyone on here would be able to help me, but there seems to be a large enough mass of knowledgeable people.

Clear Skies,

Luke

[kharga]

Hi Luke

It would help if we knew where abouts you are!

[lw24]

Oh yeah, sorry

I live near Bristol (South West England)

[John]

Have you contacted Bristol Astronomy Society ?

A number of their senior people have strong links to Bristol University Astrophysics / Astronomy departments and, through those, may well be aware of potential work placements / projects that you might get involved with.

Here is the BAS contact web page:

Bristol Astronomical Society - Contact Us

Another source might be the National Space Museum at Leicester and you have CERN at Swindon:

LHC - Working at CERN

[onesmallstep]

Hi

I found this on the net, might be worth approaching them.

Bristol Spaceplanes

Good luck with the project!

[lw24]

Thanks for the ideas.

Not really sure about spaceplanes though. Not really what I was looking for, but thanks for the suggestion

Anyone got any more?

I also need some ideas for a project I could complete; something to do with observational astronomy maybe?

Thanks all!

Clear Skies

Luke

[onesmallstep]

Hi

You could approach the observing section of the SPA (link below) and see if they could advise you.

Society for Popular Astronomy -Welcome to the Society for Popular Astronomy

[Capricorn]

Problem is that astronomy is less and less related to visual. I strongly suspect that you could study astronomy to higher then degree level and never have to look through a scope.

One of the UCLAN units use the Bradford scope and people book it to get the required data, the data is obtained and sent to them. I know people in London that do this part of their course that way.

Only things I could think of is a comparison of object under visual, IR and UV. The IR is easy, remove the IR filter from a camera and stick a IR pass filter in. Similar If suppose for UV but don't think that the camera sensors we use are that good in the UV.

After that spectroscopy, obtain the spectra of the predominent bright stars: Betelguese, Rigel, Sirius, Arcturus, Vega, Deneb. Do a comparison and see what each spectra shows.indicates.

The spectroscopy will need a scope of narow view, so no "pollution" from surrounding stars, and a driven mount and webcam at least. The stars above tend to be reasonably isolated so minimal light from nearby stars.

[smoggy]

I don't want to put you off a Physics related route but you will have to knuckle down when it comes to university! I did physics with astrophysics and it is a large step up from A-Level but well worth it in the end. Just don't be expecting to have the usual University lifestyle that English students have! I lived with 2 and they were the downfall of my second year at University (well that and my inability to say no) meaning 3rd year was a struggle!

I had no experience of astrophysics before I went to uni, just an interest. So try not to worry too much at the moment. The fact you have a telescope now will show you have a growing interest in astronomy and will be valuable to put down on your UCAS form in a couple or years time.

What you could look into doing is recording magnitudes of variable stars, for a teenager to develop a record of work such as this will look highly impressive to any physics department in the country! Here is an article involving a particular variable star Beta Lyrae - Variable Stars - SkyandTelescope.com

You can start off by recording the magnitude of the stars just with your eyes but with a bit of technology and a smallish expense I'm sure you could use a camera to do this more accurately if you desired. Anyway, this is just an idea.

Another one, if you use baader film to produce a solar filter for your scope could be to record the rotation of sunspots on the surface of the Sun at different latitudes. This was a small part of my BSc Project and isn't tricky to do (though the Maths isn't too easy when you get down to the nitty-gritty and have to account for the Earth's orbit around the Sun) but there is a program out there that can do this for you.

Not exactly the most thrilling of activities but would certainly separate you from the rest!

[onesmallstep]

Hmm, still scratching my head over what to suggest as a project idea. There is a science section on SGL so maybe that would be a better place to look for the info you are after. Also, given your own equipment setup (refractor / altaz mount) possibly a planetary-based project would be more suitable.

HTH!

[lw24]

Problem is that astronomy is less and less related to visual. I strongly suspect that you could study astronomy to higher then degree level and never have to look through a scope.

Just to be involved with the field of Astronomy is fine for me. Visual Astronomy as a hobby will always live on aswell

I don't want to put you off a Physics related route but you will have to knuckle down when it comes to university! I did physics with astrophysics and it is a large step up from A-Level but well worth it in the end. Just don't be expecting to have the usual University lifestyle that English students have! I lived with 2 and they were the downfall of my second year at University (well that and my inability to say no) meaning 3rd year was a struggle!

Don't worry, I fully expect university to be hard, and aren't the sort to have the usual 'Uni lifestyle'.

What you could look into doing is recording magnitudes of variable stars, for a teenager to develop a record of work such as this will look highly impressive to any physics department in the country! Here is an article involving a particular variable star Beta Lyrae - Variable Stars - SkyandTelescope.com

You can start off by recording the magnitude of the stars just with your eyes but with a bit of technology and a smallish expense I'm sure you could use a camera to do this more accurately if you desired. Anyway, this is just an idea.

Sounds like a great idea

How could I obtain accurate results for the magnitude of stars though?

Thanks all!

Clear Skies

Luke

[GeorgeB]

I observed Beta Lyrae over a year when in my teens. It's an excellent first project to record observations and very satisfying to construct your own light curve.

Another good project would be to sketch Jupiter at every opportunity, including several times during an all night session. You can record the evolution of storm systems, or even transits of the Jovian moons. All good stuff to get your observational and data gathering eye in practice for when you start meaty projects at Uni.

[lw24]

I observed Beta Lyrae over a year when in my teens. It's an excellent first project to record observations and very satisfying to construct your own light curve.

Another good project would be to sketch Jupiter at every opportunity, including several times during an all night session. You can record the evolution of storm systems, or even transits of the Jovian moons. All good stuff to get your observational and data gathering eye in practice for when you start meaty projects at Uni.

Thanks for the ideas

I'll definitely observe Beta Lyrae for a period of time, but how would I go about obtaining accurate magnitudes for a light curve? I have a webcam which could be used...?

Clear Skies

Luke

[smoggy]

What is Hera? I got advised to have a look at this as I've just started teaching Physics. Although I haven't had time to look at it properly it sounds intriguing and may be of some interest.

This is a beginners guide to measuring magnitude of variable stars http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hardencroft/varstar.html it mentions using 2 known stars' magnitudes to estimate the variable stars. This does take some practice!

http://www.brevardastro.org/presentations/Aug07.pdf This is using a CCD camera to help estimate the magnitude of the star but as you may or may not be aware, CCD cameras are very expensive. BUT your local astro society may have one that the members use for astrophotography that you could use.

EDIT: This is someone trying to use their webcam, not sure if they persisted or not http://www.cloudynights.com/documents/photometry.pdf

[Tim]

You could design and build a telescope!

Newt for the Web

The best thing to do imho, if you have to arrange your own work experience, is pick out some local companies who work in the right field, and then phone them personally, asking for the Human Resources dept. Explain your situation and ask if there may be opportunity for you to join them for a week.

Speaking from experience, it can be a paperwork nightmare to take on young people, so dont be surprised if a few turn you down. But if you can make personal contact with the right people you will be better off. Ask your careers advisor and parents to help too.

Hope you find something great to do!

[lw24]

This is a beginners guide to measuring magnitude of variable stars http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/hardencroft/varstar.html it mentions using 2 known stars' magnitudes to estimate the variable stars. This does take some practice!

This sounds ok. Not too accurate, but nice and simple

Not really sure that I trust my eye to make accurate measurements though

I'd like to observe/measure a variable star which requires measurements taken monthly (due to the awful weather in this country!). Any recommendations? Beta Lyrae has been mentioned a few times, but what 2 other stars should I use as 'guide magnitude' stars (have a near enough constant magnitude to measure the variable against)?

Thanks all for the input!

Clear Skies

Luke

[lw24]

This website seems to be on the right sort of lines I guess.

[FraserClarke]

Email local astrophysics departments and see if they offer work experience placements (most do). Bristol is probably the easiest for you. Cardiff if you're prepared for a bit of travel.