PART 1: Upcoming live interactions
PART 2: Collaborative weather activity
PART 3: Taking pictures of galaxies
This coming week will feature two opportunities for your students to interact with experts of the Hubble team. Please consider joining us in these activities.
On Wednesday, April 10, Alex Storrs and Tony Roman from the Space Telescope Science Institute will be available on WebChat. Their topic will be "How we prepared the HST to make your Pluto and Neptune observations". They will cover this topic in two separate sessions, from 9-10am Pacific (noon-1pm Eastern) and 11am-noon Pacific (2-3pm Eastern).
On Thursday, April 11, Chris Wilkinson and his colleagues from the team that operates the HST will be available on CU-SeeMe. They will discuss the Hubble as a spacecraft and will get into details about what it takes to keep the system operating safely. They will cover this topic in two separate sessions, from 9-10am Pacific (noon-1pm Eastern) and 11am-noon Pacific (2-3pm Eastern). The hour in between is reserved for classroom-classroom interactions. To join the fun, use the following CU-SeeMe reflector sites: 128.42.249.172 (first choice) and 198.64.198.250 (alternate if the primary experiences problems)
Dear Educators,
One of the strengths of being a participant in online projects is
the opportunity for your students to collaborate with other students
around the nation through interactive data collection activities. As we
have said in Activity 3B "Watching the Weather Move," the Hubble Space
Telescope can be thought of as "an interplanetary weather satellite,"
capturing images of weather on other worlds. Heidi Hammel and Mark Buie,
our Planetary Advocates for Neptune and Pluto, are looking for "seasonal"
and shorter term changes in their planet's weather as they analyze their
HST images. Here on earth, we can also be "weather watchers" and predict
changes, only we must do this from our own view--the ground up!
Your students are invited to participate in our online Weather Watcher Activity by collecting data daily for a period of one week, April 15-19th and reporting that data DAILY using the template included in the activity description. The more DATA POINTS (Schools/Homeschoolers) involved, the more reliable our results. This data will then in turn be transformed into a series of weather maps which students will be able to analyze and from which they can make predictions. The weather maps created from the student data will be found on our web site under "Featured Activities," and the cloud cover maps will be featured during the April 23 program, "Announcing Your Results."
The activity is fully outlined below, using basic and fairly simple techniques and weather instruments. This is purposefully planned to encourage a wider number of participants. Your school's name will be recorded online and may be mentioned on air! In order for us to plan ahead, we would like you to register in advance for participation in this project.
REGISTRATION FOR PARTICIPATION ---
WEATHER WATCHER ACTIVITY for week of April 15-19)
Name of School:
Teacher's Name:
Grade:
City/Town:
State:
Latitude (given in degrees N):
Longitude (given in degrees W):
PLEASE NOTE THE TIME CRITICAL NATURE OF THIS ACTIVITY, EXTENDING FROM APRIL 15-19. IF YOUR SCHOOL HAS A VACATION COMING UP, PLEASE PLAN ACCORDINGLY IN TERMS OF ASSEMBLING EQUIPMENT. WE CHOSE THESE DATES TO AVOID AS MANY VACATIONS AS POSSIBLE, WHILE STILL PRECEDING THE 4/23 PROGRAM. THIS SHOULD STILL ALLOW SOME ANIMATION OF THE CLOUD COVER DATA. YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS SHOULD EXPECT MORE RESULTS TO BE POSTED, ON-LINE, AFTER THE LIVE PROGRAM.
WE ALSO APOLOGIZE TO OUR INTERNATIONAL COLLABORATORS. WE DO NOT ANTICIPATE THAT THERE WILL BE SUFFICIENT SITES BEYOND NORTH AMERICA FOR ANY MEANINGFUL DATA TO BE COLLECTED. MAYBE "NEXT TIME... !"
Post your Weather on the Web
Get your School on the Map
Objective
Students will collaborate with other students across North America,
via the Internet, to collect cloud and other weather data to compare
and contrast the scale and structure of storms on Earth to those on
Neptune.
Students will collaborate with other students across North America, via the Internet, to collect temperature and other data, to compare and contrast weather on Earth to that on Pluto and Neptune.
Through this exercise, students will better understand the role of weather stations and spacecraft imagery in assembling the "Big Picture" of weather across North America, as seen in newspapers and tv weathercasts.
Engage
Ask students to describe how the weather images they see in the
newspaper, or on tv, are created. (Activities 3B, 3C and 3D in the
Teacher's Guide provide related hands-on projects and other
background.) Explain that weather satellites operated by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sit in
geosynchronous orbit above certain regions of the Earth, and take
pictures, at different wavelengths, which provide snapshots of
different aspects of the weather. The moving pictures of cloud
systems which can be seen on television are the result of animating
multiple still pictures put together in timelapse sequences to show
how clouds and fronts travel across the country over time.
Tell students they now will have the chance to function as "weather stations", looking UP at clouds from the surface of the Earth, not DOWN from above as do satellites. They'll report their results for observations made during the week of April 15-19 via the Internet. During the April 23 LHST program, "Announcing YOUR Results", they'll have the chance to see their data incorporated with that of other students across America and set in motion through video animation.
Their data will allow LIVE FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE to track a week of storms moving across North America, and to compare and contrast the size and structure of the cloud patterns with those observed on Neptune during the PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE observations first glimpsed during the March 14 program.
On-line, each data point will be related to the school (or home- schooled student) which or who reported it, putting their names, literally, on the map. Students will realize the comparative advantages of weather satellites in recording weather "top-down", and see the virtues and limitations of "ground truth" observations.
A second on-line activity will allow schools to collect and report temperature, one of the factors which drives cloud systems.
Explore/Explain The LIVE FROM THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE Teacher's Guide points out that the Earth and many of the other planets of our solar system are actually great "weather machines". This means that the Hubble functions as a kind of "interplanetary weather satellite" when observing our neighboring worlds.
Weather is created when heat from the sun or the deep interior of a planet wells up through the planet's atmosphere. These rising currents combine with a planet's spin (rotation) to drive winds and create storm systems that swirl in complex patterns across the planet. A few of the Activities in the Teacher's Guide give your students the opportunity to compare satellite images of the weather on Earth with spacecraft images of the weather on other worlds.
In this on-line Activity, your students will be called upon to observe the Earth's weather from the surface of our planet every day for a week. In the process, they will come to better understand:
Depending on the weather instruments your school has, or may be able to borrow (middle schools could check with their local high schools, for example, or take a real field trip to a local airport, or might even be able to adapt data broadcast by a local tv station), have your students make as many of the following observations each day as possible. (If you only have the equipment to make some of the observations, still do these and report your data. All data will be recorded and will make a real contribution to the whole. Even if only some is reported on-air, all will be displayed on-line.)
It's important to have students make their weather observations carefully, using the >same< procedures and at approximately the same time each day. This will be 13:00 hours Eastern, 12 noon Central, 11:00 hours Mountain and 10:00 hours Pacific, in other words, all data will be collected at the same exact time, as defined by Universal Time..
Have them make as many of the following observations as possible:
In making these observations, we recommend the following procedures and advice.
One PTK teacher recommends checking books to be found in school or local libraries to see how a simple anemometer can be made from ping-pong balls. You or your colleagues may already have similar ingenious ideas. If so, please share them, via discuss-hst, so we may all benefit!
It's important to measure wind speed in an open area, as nearby buildings and narrow alleys can significantly change the speed of the wind -- Bernoulli's Principle at work. If winds are gusty, an average of several readings taken over the course of a few minutes should be made. (If taking such data is beyond your technical capacity, adapt local media reports, averaging as necessary.)
TEACHERS: PLEASE NOTE, THE ABOVE ARE THE KEY ELEMENTS FOR THE LIVE FROM HUBBLE CLOUD WATCH. EVEN IF YOU CANNOT UNDERTAKE THE ADDITIONAL OBSERVATION BELOW, PLEASE TRY AND ATTEMPT ITEMS 1-4. THE MORE SCHOOLS REPORTING, THE BETTER THE DATA, AND THE MORE FULFILLING EACH INDIVIDUAL SCHOOL AND STUDENT'S EXPERIENCE!
Note: For schools are a very tight budget, "Wind & Weather" also sells a device called a "Five Way Weather Watch" (catalog #IN-5WW) which contains simple devices to monitor wind speed, wind direction, rainfall and temperature. This sells for $7.50 + $1.00 s & h.
Each day have students make as many of these observations as possible at the assigned time. Then send us your results daily. If you have Web access, go to the "Input Data" section of this web page. (this page is not currently operating but it will become available closer to the April 15 date).
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School name:
Grade level:
Longitude:
Latitude:
Date:
Cloud cover % (in increments of 10%):
Type of clouds (Cirrus=CI, Stratus=ST, Cumulus=CU)
Wind speed (in MPH):
Wind Direction (0=North, 90=East, 180=South, 270=West):
Temperature (Fahrenheit):
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During the April 23 LHST program, you will see some of the results of your collaborative endeavors. All the results will be posted on- line, together with school names. With enough schools reporting, the maps should be able to chart the motion, speed and size of cloud masses. This should enable Heidi Hammel to compare and contrast at least their sizes with those on Neptune, though since she only had two orbits, imaging opposite sides of Neptune, she will not have motion data from the PTK observations.
Temperatures across North America will be contrasted by Marc Buie with the current weather on Pluto!
In addition to such interplanetary comparisons, students will have new insights on "highs", "lows", and fronts -- as evidenced by cloud cover and motion -- graphing, plotting, geography, computer networking and collaboration!
Expand
Students will also be able to compare these maps and charts with
weather maps and satellite images seen in local newspapers or on tv
weather reports. As suggested in the Teacher's Guide, invite a local
weathercaster to visit to speak about his or her career, and maybe
even do a news report on YOUR junior weathercasters, sharing the
results of your hands-on activities with your local community. (Be
sure to send PASSPORT TO KNOWLEDGE copies of any coverage that
results!)
Other guests might be amateur weather enthusiasts who have been collecting and reporting data to the National Weather Service for many years, as an informal but very useful network of amateur reporters. Explain to students that there was, of course, a time before weather satellites and computers, when all weather data came from ground stations, or ships at sea. Perhaps have students research the difference in warning time, preceding a hurricane, possible today in comparison to 50 years ago.
Discuss with your students the differences between their collaborative Weather Maps and those in newspapers or on tv, and especially the corresponding day's satellite images seen in newspapers or on tv. Ask them why they think satellites do a better job of recording overall cloud cover than observations from the ground.
After the 4/23 program, and when the results have been posted on- line, ask students to describe how weather moves across North America, and point out instances where the weather in one part of the country became the weather in another part of the country on the succeeding day. (Again, for background, see Activity 3B) Once they see patterns begin to emerge, challenge them to predict, retroactively, the next day's weather in various parts of the country. Then have them apply these insights to "tomorrow's weather" using that day's data. Explain to them that they are actually doing basic weather forecasting rather as professional meteorologists do. Have them keep a record of the accuracy of their forecasts.
Explain that actual weather forecasting employs round-the-clock observations like the ones they made, but derived from thousands of locations across the country and around the world, and adding radar and satellite images and data from instrumented weather balloons launched into the upper atmosphere twice a day. Ask them to think about how many "data points" all those observations represent (in comparison to the numbers of schools which report) and ask them to explain why high-speed supercomputers must be used for modern weather analysis and forecasting.
Students should also check out the wealth of excellent weather resources to be found on-line, such as: GLOBE: http://rsd.gsfc.nasa.gov/globe WeatherNET 4: http://wxnet4.nbc4.com/
Trisha Borgman
March 27, 1996
Hmmm...we've got a problem! When we take pictures through the
telescope, it's very important for the telescope to keep up with
the rotation of the earth, otherwise the stars would streak across
our images. Here in the console room, there is a small TV which
is attached to a camera inside the telescope itself. This camera
lets us see what the telescope sees. We then use something akin to
video game buttons to move a targeting square on the TV screen
to a bright star in the field. This enables the telescope to lock on
to the bright star and keep up with its motion across the sky.
That's where our problem is. I used the targeting square to lock on
to a bright star (called a guide star) and I turned on the telescope
tracking...but the guide star just drifts right out of the target
square. And as a result, our first set of images are nothing but
streaks! We called the observing technicians, and they just came
to help us. After about 20 minutes, they determined that the
mechanical components of the guiding circuitry had become loose.
Apparently the tracking and guidance equipment is pretty old (older
than me!), and it periodically becomes loose. Thankfully, the
technicians were able to fix our problem very quickly!
So, we're guiding now...but unfortunately it's too cloudy for our observations! The sky is relatively clear, but the bright moonlight makes it clear that there are high cirrus clouds all around the sky. For many astronomers, cirrus clouds are OK-- obviously not ideal conditions, but still manageable. But since we're working on a photometric star catalog, the ice crystals in the cirrus clouds cause too much interference in the starlight. For us, cirrus clouds are just as bad as thunderstorms! We'll wait for half and hour or so, then check the sky again...
It's now 12:45am, and it's still too cloudy for our observations... however, I have some exciting news! I've spent the last 2 hours or so just taking pretty pictures of galaxies! As I said earlier, it's too cloudy for photometry, but not at all bad for just taking pictures! So, I loaded the Messier catalog into the telescope's guidance computer. The Messier catalog is a huge compilation of galaxies--it was created in the early part of this century by an astronomer named Charles Messier. In all honesty, I've just been exploring tonight! I searched the catalog for objects which are visible from this latitude and longitude at this time, and I just practiced pointing the telescope and taking exposures. I had no idea how to choose the correct exposure times, so I literally started with a 60-second exposure and just went by trial-and-error from then on! This has been tremendously fun for me! These galaxies are absolutely spectacular... I know it's bad news that the weather has been uncooperative for our photometry, but on the other hand this has given me an opportunity to do some searching on my own. I've learned so much about the practical aspects of observational astronomy tonight!! These images are GORGEOUS!!! I've done a little bit of data reduction on them, and they just look spectacular. It's been exciting to direct my own learning tonight--after all, I had no idea what most of these galaxies even looked like when I began... I think I'll take a few minutes to walk outside and just stargaze...
Let's hope for better weather tomorrow night--that's our last
night up here!!!
:) a very happy Trisha
