Using Robotic Telescopes in College Undergraduate and Secondary School Education Environments

1. Using Robotic Telescopes in College Undergraduate and Secondary School Education Environments R. L. Mutel Professor of Astronomy University of Iowa

2. Outline of Talk • Web-based Robotic Telescope Systems available for Middle and High School Students • Summary of operating robotic telescopes for education • Examples of High School Student Astronomy Projects for Robotic Telescopes • Robotic Telescopes for Undergraduate Education • Astronomy Laboratory Projects • Student Research Projects • Advanced research example: Small Comet Search • Curriculum Issues • Virtual Astronomy: Is it really astronomy? • Organizations and Web Resources U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

3. Robotic Telescopes in Education • Primarily Middle and High School Level • Hands-on Universe (U.C. Berkeley Hall of Science) • Telescopes in Education (Mt. Wilson) • Micro-Observatory (Harvard CfA) • Examples of Student Projects • Primarily College and University Level • Nassau Station (CWRU) • Iowa Robotic Observatory (Univ. Iowa) • Student Projects • Advanced Research Projects: Small Comets Example • Project Rigel: A Complete Turn-key Robotic Observatory • Is Virtual/Robotic Astronomy really Astronomy? U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

4. Hands-on Universe • Started in 1994 • 100+ High Schools Enrolled • Uses existing manual and automated telescopes • Complete curriculum available • Teacher training summer courses http://hou.lbl.gov/ U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

5. HOU: Kuiper Belt Object Discovered by High School Students U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

6. Telescopes in Education (Mt. Wilson) • Started in 1995 • 380 High Schools Enrolled • Uses existing 6 in and 24 in telescopes on Mt. Wilson (S. California) • Complete users guide available on-line • Image acquisition and analysis uses ‘The Sky’ software (PC) http://tie.jpl.nasa.gov/tie/ U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

7. Started in 1996 at Harvard’s Center for Astrophysics • 380 High Schools Enrolled • Uses weatherproof 6 inch telescopes in Massachusetts, Arizona, Hawaii, Australia) • Complete users guide available on-line • Image acquisition and analysis uses ‘The Sky’ software (PC) http://mo-www.harvard.edu/MicroObservatory U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

8. Micro-Observatory Sample Project: Orbit of the Moon from Angular Size U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

9. Micro-Observatory Weather & Observing Queue U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

10. Micro-Observatory: Web-based Observing request U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

11. HOU Middle School Sample Curriculum: The Moon Our Closest Neighbor: the Moon A. The Image Processor (COMPUTER LAB) -- Students learn how to use the HOU Image Processing software while exploring characteristics of craters on the Moon. Image Processor functions: Open, Zoom, Pixels, Coordinates, Brightness (TERC/LHS) B. Crater Game (CLASSROOM) -- In this game, student get practice using their Image Processing software to determine diameters of craters. C. Moon Measure (COMPUTER LAB) -- Students measure the diameter of a crater and its circumference using Image Processing tools. D. Model Craters (CLASSROOM) To really see more of how craters appear, students make model Moon craters and see how the pattern of shadows associated with craters is affected by the angle of sunlight shining on them. Optional: Cratering Experiments. Students toss meteoroids (pebbles) into basins of flour to simulate crater formation. E. Moon Phases (CLASSROOM) With the Moon being a white polystyrene ball and the Sun being a bright light at the center of the room . Each students¹ head is the Earth. Students can also observe and record the real phases of the Moon over a period of a couple of weeks. U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

12. Telescopes in Education High School Curriculum Sample Project: Near-Earth Objects Based on published information in various magazines, journals, and other publications, students and interested amateurs will observe and image selected Near-Earth Objects (NEOs). • A catalog of the selected NEOs will be created and updated. Catalog information will include object history, classification, orbital elements, photometric data, estimated size and mass, and other available data. • Any changes in NEO magnitude, expected position, orbital characteristics, coma size, shape, etc. will become clear as catalog data are accumulated over repeated observations. • The NEOs will be observed and imaged as frequently as possible. As the catalog is compiled, recorded data will be of interest to various professionals and organizations involved in NEO research, such as the Minor Planet Center (MPC). Proper data submission formats are provided by the various organizations. • Observers will be informed how to alert the MPC to substantive or scientifically interesting short-term changes, such as "disconnection events," in a given NEO's characteristics. U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

13. Undergraduate Robotic Facilities: Nassau Station (CWRU) • Located near Cleveland, Ohio • Not fully operational (expected late 2001) • Will support imaging, spectroscopy • Web-based queue submission http://www.astr.cwru.edu/nassau.html U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

14. http://denali.physics.uiowa.edu/iro Iowa Robotic Observatory (Arizona) • 0.5 m Reflector, fully robotic • Located near Sonoita, Arizona • Operational in late 1998 • Generates 10,000+ images per year • Web-based queue submission • Used by 600+ undergraduates, more than 200 web-registered users • Occasionally use for MS thesis, other research U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

15. Critical List Asteroid 1978 SB8 V=17.8 U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

16. “Collision” of Two Asteroids! 1147 Stratovos arrives from left, 2099 Opik moves in from North Note: There is a very faint third asteroid in these frames: can you find it? U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

17. Asteroid Rotation Curves • Although there are 150,000+ catalogued asteroids, only ~1,500 have known rotational periods • Observations of rotational period are important for determination of distribution of angular momentum in the solar system U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

18. Asteroid Rotation Curves: Observations Period 5.5 hrs U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

19. Monitoring Variable Stars (Dwarf Nova Cataclysmic Variable WZ Sge) V = 8.4 AAVSO Observers (40 days) U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

20. Monitoring Variable Star and Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) AGN OJ287: Light curve obtained by Poyner (British amateur astronomer Image of OJ287 with 10 in LX200 U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

21. Light Curves of Short-Period Eclipsing Binaries: AB Andromeda AB And (V =11.0) P = 8.33 hrs IRO Observations U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

22. Optical Counterparts to Gamma Ray Bursts V=10 ! GRB 990123 detected by ROTSE (Jan 23, 1999) U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

23. ROTSE: Optical Detection of GRB990123 Telescope: 4” telephoto lens Camera: AP10 (2Kx2K) Jemez Mountains, New Mexico. U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

24. Amateur Astronomers detect a GRB afterglow! Gamma-ray detectors on the NEAR and Ulysses spacecraft first recorded the burst, labeled GRB000301C, on March 1, 2000 Frank Chalupka, Dennis Hohman and Tom Bakowski, Aquino (Buffalo NY Astronomy Club) -- pointed the club's 12-inch reflecting telescope at the nominal coordinates of the burst and accumulated data for two hours. Later when the images were calibrated and summed, there it was, a 20th-magnitude fireball just 7 arc seconds from a much brighter 17th-magnitude foreground star. V = 20 U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

25. Detection of New Supernovae (M88) U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

26. Detection of Extra-Solar Planets: Doppler Effect HD89744 (F7V) P 256 days Mass 7MJ U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

27. Detection of Extra-Solar Planets: Occultations U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

28. Detection of Extra-Solar Planets: Occultation of HD 209458 (V = 7.6) First detection by Henry et al. 2001 (0.8 m, Fairborn Observatory, Tennessee State Univ.) Occultation is 0.017 mag = 1. 58% STARE Light Curve) U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

29. Detection of Extra-Solar Planets: STARE Telescope (currently in Canary Islands) The current STARE telescope, as of July, 1999, is a field-flattened Schmidt working aperture of4 in, (f/2.9). The telescope is coupled to a Pixelvision 2K x 2K CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) camera to obtain images with a scale of 10.8 arcseconds per pixel over a field of view 6.1 degrees square. Broad-band color filters (B, V, and R) that approximate the Johnson bands are slid between the telescope and camera. By taking exposures with different colored filters, the colors of stars in the field can be determined. This is necessary for accurate photometry. U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

30. Software for Astronomical Research • Maxim DL (v. 3.0) Excellent for astrometry, photometry, image calibration, manipulation. Highly Recomended • MIRA 6.1. Very good, not as user-friendly. Recommended • CCDSoft. Newest version not tested. • Pinpoint 2.1 Outstanding for astrometry. U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

31. Recommended Image Processing Software: Maxim DL (Beta version 3.0) Tools for Astrometry, Photometry U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

32. Sample faculty-student research project: “A Search for Small Comets using the IRO” U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

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34. Small Comet Parameters (from Frank and Sigwarth 1993, Small comet Web site) Mass: ~20,000 kg (steep mass spectrum -see next slide) Density: ~0.1 x H20 (F&S 93) Size: 8 -10 m (assuming density 0.1) Number density: (3 ± 1) · 10-11 km-3 (M > 12,000 kg) Sigwarth 1989; FSC 90 Flux at Earth: 1 every 3 seconds (107 per yr. = > 200 Tg-yr-1) Composition: Water ice with very dark carbonaceous mantle Albedo low (~0.02, F&S 93) Orbit: “Prograde, nearly parallel to ecliptic”, most q 0.9 AU (F&S 93) Speed: V ~10 km-sec-1 at 1 AU, 20 km -sec-1 before impact Origin: Hypothesized comet belt beyond Neptune U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

35. IRO Small Comet Search: Observational Summary • The observations were made using the 0.5 m f/8 reflector of the Iowa Robotic Observatory between 24 September 1998 and 11 June 1999. • Observations were scheduled every month within one week of new moon. A total of 6,148 images were obtained, of which 2,718 were classified as category A (visual detection magnitude 16.5 or brighter in a 100 pixel trail). • Seeing conditions varied from 2 - 5 arcsec (see histogram). For quality A images, seeing was < 3.5 arcsec. • All images were has thermal and bias corrections applied. • Images were recorded on CDROM and sent to the University of Iowa for analysis. • All images are available for independent analysis via anonymous ftp at node atf.physics.uiowa.edu. U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

36. Search Geometry U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

37. Using synthetic trails to calibrate visual inspection • Synthetic comet trails were added to 520 search images with randomly chosen magnitudes and trail lengths. • Three observers independently inspected all images • Result: Visual detection threshold is ~0.9  per pixel, with a suggestion that longer trails can be detected slightly fainter, perhaps 0.7 - 0.8 . U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

38. No detections: Mass-albedo constraints U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

40. 18cm refractor, HPC-1 CCD camera, located on campus in Iowa City. ($50K) 50cm reflector, AP-8 camera, located in Sonoita, AZ. ($160K) 37cm reflector, AP-8 camera, spectrometer, located in Sonoita, AZ. ( appx. $100K) History of automated and robotic telescopes at the University of Iowa Project Goal: To provide a complete turn-key robotic Observatory for use in undergraduate astronomy teaching and research. U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

41. Subsystem Specification Value Mount Pointing error 30 arcsec RMS full sky Tracking error < 0.01 arcsec per second Optics Surface Error < 0.2 wave peak to valley < 0.06 RMS M101 (16’ x 16’) Point Spread Function > 88% of stellar photons within one pixel (24) at sensor edge Imaging Field of View 16.4 x 16.4 arcmin Pixel Resolution 0.96 arcsec Sensitivity > 10:1 SNR 19th magnitude star with clear filter in 60 seconds Spectroscopy Spectral Resolution 0.6 nm (0.3 nm pixels) Total Spectrum Coverage 300 – 1000 nm continuous Sensitivity >10:1 SNR on 6th magnitude star in 10 sec (1nm resolution) Rigel Performance Specifications U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

42. Shared Rigel Observatories Network Architecture Schedulesimages TCS data weather U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

43. Data Rates U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

44. Local Site Astronomy Lab Room Image storage Web server Application server LAN Internet Image, schedule, monitor database transfer OCAAS-compatible Remote Sites U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

45. Telescope Control Panel (on-site, real time observing) Axis calibration tool Automatic focus tool Weather information and alerts Audio messages U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

46. Automated WCS astrometric solution Differential photometry tool Gaussian fits with FWHM U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

47. Multiple filter with separate exposure times Multiple image request with 1hr spacing Automatic asteroid ephemeris calculation Manual position entry with specified user epoch Web-based schedule entry U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

48. Astrophysics laboratory observing projects Introductory Astronomy lab projects Internet guest observers Faculty, graduate student research projects Web-based schedule status reports U.N.L. Robotic Telescopes

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