Online Data Archives for Use In the Classroom Robert Sparks (FNAL/The Prairie School) GLAST/SEU Educator Ambassador Workshop.

Online Data Archives for UseIn the Classroom

Robert Sparks(FNAL/The Prairie School)

GLAST/SEU Educator Ambassador Workshop

Problems Teaching Traditional Astronomy Courses

• Most classes are taught during the day

• Textbooks provide a very limited sample of data for problems

• Light pollution in cities hampers observing of all but the brightest objects

• Astronomical Equipment is prohibitively expensive for many schools

A Possible Solution : Online Data Archives

• Open 24/7• The Sky is always dark• The seeing is excellent• Most of the data access is free• Can find data at all wavelengths• Terabytes of data are available• Students can work with data from large,

professional observatories

Challenges Using Online Data

• There is no standard format for searching databases

• Data is scattered at multiple sites• Software for analyzing the data can be

difficult to use or does not run on Windows/Macs common at schools

• Students are not familiar with FITS files• Most of the data access sites are designed

“For astrophysicists by astrophysicists.”

Overcoming the Challenges : Software

• Image Processing Software : Iris– Freeware used to process images from the

Audine Camera (similar to the Cookbook CCD Camera)

– Displays and manipulates FITS images– A surprisingly good feature set for freeware– Can drive LX200 telescope or acquire images

from a web cam!– Can download IRIS at www.astrosurf.com/buil

Other (Free!) Software Options

• Fits View (PC and Mac) from the NRAO : http://www.nrao.edu/software/fitsview/

• NIH Image (Mac) : http://rsb.info.nih.gov/nih-image/• Scion Image (PC) : http://www.scioncorp.com/• ImageJ (Java based) : http://rsb.info.nih.gov/ij/• fv (PC and Mac) :

http://legacy.gsfc.nasa.gov/ftools/fv/fv_download.html• Sky Image Processor (Java based):

http://www.phys.vt.edu/~jhs/SIP/

Where to Get Data and Images

A. Hands On Universe Archive

B. Space Telescope Science Institute Archive

C. SkyServer (Sloan Digital Sky Survey)

D. SkyView

E. HEASARC

F. Remotely operated and robotic telescopes

Hands On Universe (HOU)

• HOU teaches astronomy through image processing

• Images are acquired primarily through Yerkes 24 inch telescope with SBIG CCD Camera (other observatories also contribute)

• Thousands of images in the database, many of widely recognized objects

• Easy to use search tool to find images by name, telescope, observation date, etc.

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Hands On Universe (HOU)• http://www.handsonuniverse.org

• Click on Images, then HOU Image Archive

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Hands On Universe (HOU)

• Example : An HOU Image of M1, the Crab Nebula from the Yerkes 24 inch telescope

• Apogee AP7 CCD Camera with 60 s exposure

Space Telescope Science Institute (StSci)

• Multimission Archive at Space Telescope (MAST) contains data from 18 different missions/surveys

• Some of the most useful are DSS, SDSS and VLA First

Digitized Sky Survey (DSS)

• Digitizted Palomar Sky Survey

• Simple Search Form at http://archive.stsci.edu/cgi-bin/dss_form

• Can search by object name or ra and dec

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DSS Search Form

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DSS Image of M81

VLA FIRST• Very Large Array Faint Images of the

Radio Sky at Twenty one centimeters

• Radio survey of ~10,000 square degrees

• Cut out server allows easy data retrieval by ra and dec

• Cutout server at http://third.ucllnl.org/cgi-bin/firstcutout

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VLA FIRST

• Cutout image of M87

SkyServer

• SkyServer archives public data of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS)

• http://skyserver.sdss.org

• A variety of tools to access spectra and images from the SDSS

• Capable of radial searches, rectangular searches, and SQL searches

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SkyServer

SDSS image of NGC 1087

SDSS spectra of a z = 3.02 quasar.

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SkyServer : Navigation Tool• Click on

zoom or mosaic window to select

• Click on zoom buttons to change scale

• Use arrows to navigate to different stripe and mosaic

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Object Explorer

• Click on Explore to launch the Object Explorer

• Gives summary of photo and spectral data

• Access to all data and fits files from menu on the left

• Shows correlation to USNO and other catalogs

• Provides an easy to use interface to retrieve multi-wavelength observations of a single object

• Non-astronomer interface is very easy to use

• Advanced interface lets user search specific missions

• http://skyview.gsfc.nasa.gov

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• Example : The Cygnus Loop

HEASARC

• High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center

• Archives for ultraviolet to gamma ray missions

• Missions include ROSAT, CGRO, EUVE, Chandra, and several others

• Not user friendly for the general public• EPO page for most missions have a

limited number of images

HEASARC Sample Images

Chandra image of Perseus A

CGRO image of 3C279 and 3C 273.

XMM Newton image of 30 Doradus in the LMC.

The ROSAT X-Ray All Sky Survey Search Page

• http://www.xray.mpe.mpg.de/cgi-bin/rosat/rosat-survey

• Can retrieve map of X-ray source by searching around ra and dec

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The ROSAT X-Ray All Sky Survey

Getting Your Own Data

• Several robotic and remotely operated telescopes accept observation requests from amateur astronomers and students

• Remotely operated telescopes typically require a software package to operate such as The Sky or PC Anywhere

The ISS-AT

• The International Space Station Amateur Telescope – proposed telescope to be mounted on the ISS

• Currently testing technology with a 14 inch Celestron

• Observation requests can be made at http://www.issat.org/

• No charge for observations

Telescopes in Education

• Allows remote control of 24” telescope on Mount Wilson

• Requires the Sky software

• Reservations required for telescope use

• No charge for telescope time

• Other telescopes will be available soon

• http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/tie/

Others to check out on your own!

Automated Telescope Facility @U of Iowa

http://denali.physics.uiowa.edu/

Bradford Robotic Telsecope http://www.telescope.org/

Case Western Reserve University Robotic Telescope

http://astrwww.astr.cwru.edu/nassau/useroptions.html

Remote Access Astronomy Project @UC Santa Barbara

http://www.deepspace.ucsb.edu/rot.htm

I have not used any of the following sites. However, they all supposedly accept observing requests with a registration.