New Semester of Astronomy Class Begins

[Ad Astra]

Hi Folks!

Monday starts the new semester for both of my astronomy classes, so I'll start posting astronomy labs regularly here again. For those who aren't familiar, I teach observational astronomy at both the high school and college level. I write 15-20 simple astronomy activities each semester that are geared to beginning astronomers who are learning to use the telescope and familiarize themselves with the night sky.

Almost all the activities are "one-page easy" and written so that anyone 12 and up should be able to understand and accomplish them. As all my students start out with a 6-inch (150mm) Dobsonian telescope and 7x50 binoculars, nothing fancy is required in the way of equipment. Anyone may use the labs, and teachers, Scout leaders, and Club Outreach folks are most specifically invited to download and use these materials.

Comments and tales of your successes (or difficulties ) are always welcome.

The first lab is Mr. Orion's Neighborhood. This is designed to be done first on Stellarium, then followed up with a live observation. It teaches you to learn to 'star hop' from one constellation to another, and it will familiarize you with the Southern spring sky.

Cheers!

Dan

Lab 1 - Mr Orion's Neighborhood.doc

[petere001]

As a complete nooby to this astronomy thing i will most probably be following this thread and doing some "homework" :-)

[kbp]

Me too!

[Catweazel]

Wow! This is great, thanks very much Dan, I will certainly have a go at it

[Ad Astra]

Hope you folks enjoy it - it's cloudy here and has been raining on and off all day.

My new class gets this lab Monday afternoon.

Dan

[Steve777]

That is so fab - a good way of getting peeps involved.

[imarcs]

Good candidate for a sticky i think.

[Ad Astra]

Good candidate for a sticky i think.

I appreciate that nod of support very much imarcs! I'm thinking of putting it all in a book to walk the new telescope owner through their first year with 2-3 activities per month. Until I get that little project done, I'll be posting them here on SGL as I offer them to my students in my regular astronomy 101 class.

You don't get to attend the lectures, but you can move along with us though the academic year semester by semester and get the benefit of the labs that we do - and you can hector the Professor with questions, if you like. Each activity should (in theory) teach you something about the sky, about your equipment, or ideally, both at one go.

I hope you continue to enjoy them!

Dan

[Grunthos]

Good straightforward guide. Only one comment - Nothing on M42?

[benjii]

Being new to all this and just waiting on my 8" dob before I can start, I'll definitely follow this post. Thanks!