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astronomy course

ALecras234

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ALecras234

ALecras234

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hi, im thinking of doing the s194 introducing astronomy course with the open university, will this course help me gain understanding? i have read books on astronomy and i know quite abit but i dont feel i know enough and want to gain more knowledge.

I'm disabled and use a wheelchair and i'm unable to go outside with a scope although i do have a scope in the sunlounge that points towards a window that faces south, on a clear night i can see orion and the moon. is this ok to do ? what do astronomers do when its cloudy and you cant use a scope?

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Ad Astra

Ad Astra

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Hello and welcome to SGL!

An 'open University' course (we call them 'extension' courses in the States) is a great idea. There are several wonderful texts, I'm sure your instructor will have one they want you to use. My classes use Astronomy: Journey to the Cosmic Frontier by John Fix (6th ed) - the 4th and 5th editions are available on Amazon very inexpensively.

I also post astronomy lab activities here on the beginner's forum - look here in the Join My Astronomy Class thread to get some ideas and some downloads that will help you learn about the sky.

For when the skys are cloudy, I recommend you download Stellarium from www.stellarium.org. A free planetarium software program that is invaluable - I use it in class a lot.

Have fun!

Dan

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Skylook123

Skylook123

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In addition to Dan's gracious contributions in the past, I've also had good experience with the following free web podcasts. The first is Alexei Filippenko's introductory astronomy course from University of California at Berkeley, the second is the introductory astronomy course from Michigan Tech University. Can't have too many resources.

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/media/common/rss/Astronomy_C10__001__Letters_and_Science_C70U__001_Fall_2009_Video__webcast.rss

http://asterisk.apod.com/viewforum.php?f=24

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The_PSY3NTIST

The_PSY3NTIST

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Ive completed S194 and it was really good. Not very intense but good basics about everything really. angular distance, calculating speeds and distances of galaxies, basics of the suns structure etc. Id recommend it :) nice and cheap too

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Nexus 6

Nexus 6

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Hi ALecras, some good advise already given, I too have done the S194 and really enjoyed it, it certainly helped me get a better grip on things plus as a means of testing yourself it works very well, give it a go.

I am sure this couse is due to be changed soon so better be quick. :)

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mikeknowle

mikeknowle

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Yes indeed. S194 is really good and quite fun, but not too heavy.

If you can see Orion and the moon through your window, you can actually see a fair bit of the interesting part of the sky, so over the course of the year you can see the various constellations, planets etc. But sometimes a scope is quite unnecessary. Last night I set my scope up, but it was such a nice night, I stopped using it after 10 mins and just sat outside for 3 hours and looked up....sometimes using my binoculars...but most just looking.

It's probably only clear 1 nights in 10, so if I'm in the mood to do astro stuff, I do my Astronomy degree (S194 etc.), go on the internet where theres tons of stuff obviously (such as NASA TV this week to see Discovery leaving the ISS) or just whiling away time on this excellent forum!

Cheers

Mike

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ALecras234

ALecras234

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thanks for the advice. i was thinking, i have done many courses and had lots of certificates from doing them thats not got me anywhere. would the s194 course be worth doing just to get a piece of paper at the end of it? is it a practical course?

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Adz

Adz

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I am studying S194 atm and I can honestly say it is fantastic! In terms of what I was looking for to further my knowledge of astronomy in general it is perfect.

Feel free to pm me if you would like any other details :(

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Spikey

Spikey

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Me too, I'm doing S194 also, finding time is difficult between work and family committments. But all the cloud recently certainly helps :(

I would say it's more theory than practical, although there are a few experiments to perform such as calculating the distance between earth and the moon.

As Adz says if you need to know anything more specifc please feel free to ask :)

Best Regards !

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papa

papa

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I was going to study S194 after finishing the two maths courses I was doing. However, with the maths completed Im now at Warwick University studying maths, (and astronomy modules :(), so although I haven't studied that specific course I can highly recommend the Open University courses, the two I studied were fantastic, really well put together.

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dmahon

dmahon

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Professional astronomers rarely look through telescopes.

You could have some help setting up a motorised scope outside and run cables back to a computer indoors, but you would also need something to cover the scope in case of bad weather and a fully motorised dome or roll-off shed would be rather expensive.

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Merlin66

Merlin66

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You mean Fig.6???

It's supposed to represent the various wavelengths of the energy spectrum with short wave at the left and longer wavelengths at the right.

The "visible" part of this broad energy spectrum is what we see with our eye - the UltraViolet ( which causes sunburn) at the left and InfraRed (like a heater) at the right.

Does this help??

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