The power of robotic telescopes to transform science education has been voiced by multiple sources, since the 1980s. Since then, much technical progress has been made in robotic telescope provision to end users via a variety of different... more
The power of robotic telescopes to transform science education has been voiced by multiple sources, since the 1980s. Since then, much technical progress has been made in robotic telescope provision to end users via a variety of different approaches. The educational transformation hoped for by the provision of this technology has, so far, yet to be achieved on a scale matching the technical advancements. In this paper, the history, definition, role and rationale of optical robotic telescopes with a focus on their use in education is provided. The current telescope access providers and educational projects and their broad uses in traditional schooling, undergraduate and outreach are then outlined. From this background, the current challenges to the field, which are numerous, are then presented. This review is concluded with a series of recommendations for current and future projects that are apparent and have emerged from the literature.
This white paper responds to the Voyage 2050 Call for White Papers from the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) and argues that education, communication and public engagement (hereafter EPE) should have priority in the... more
This white paper responds to the Voyage 2050 Call for White Papers from the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) and argues that education, communication and public engagement (hereafter EPE) should have priority in the Voyage 2050 planning cycle. The ESA Science's Voyage 2050 missions promise insights into the big existential questions of our era: the prevalence of life in the Universe; the nature of space and time; and the intertwined nature of matter, energy and gravity. It is likely that innovations in the acquisition, handling and processing of vast data sets will drive these themes to scientific maturity in the next decades. They offer us a timely opportunity to underline the relevance of space sciences to everyday life and thinking. More generally, space science is maturing to the point where it contributes to every major aspect of our cultural discourse. Citizens need information, resources and opportunities to actively participate in that discourse, and ...
We report results from new and archival observations of the newly discovered active asteroid (248370) 2005 QN173 (also now designated Comet 433P), which has been determined to be a likely main-belt comet based on a subsequent discovery... more
We report results from new and archival observations of the newly discovered active asteroid (248370) 2005 QN173 (also now designated Comet 433P), which has been determined to be a likely main-belt comet based on a subsequent discovery that it is recurrently active near perihelion. From archival data analysis, we estimate g ′ -, r ′ -, i ′ -, and z ′ -band absolute magnitudes for the nucleus of H g = 16.62 ± 0.13, H r = 16.12 ± 0.10, H i = 16.05 ± 0.11, and H z = 15.93 ± 0.08, corresponding to nucleus colors of g ′ − r ′ = 0.50 ± 0.16 , r ′ − i ′ = 0.07 ± 0.15 , and i ′ − z ′ = 0.12 ± 0.14 ; an equivalent V-band absolute magnitude of H V = 16.32 ± 0.08; and a nucleus radius of r n = 1.6 ± 0.2 km (using a V-band albedo of p V = 0.054 ± 0.012). Meanwhile, we find mean near-nucleus coma colors when 248370 is active of g ′ − r ′ = 0.47 ± 0.03 , r ′ − i ′ = 0.10 ± 0.04 , and i ′ − z ′ = 0.05 ± 0.05 and similar mean dust tail colors, suggesting that no significant gas coma is present. We ...
This white paper responds to the Voyage 2050 Call for White Papers from the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) and argues that education, communication and public engagement (hereafter EPE) should have priority in the... more
This white paper responds to the Voyage 2050 Call for White Papers from the Science Programme of the European Space Agency (ESA) and argues that education, communication and public engagement (hereafter EPE) should have priority in the Voyage 2050 planning cycle. The ESA Science's Voyage 2050 missions promise insights into the big existential questions of our era: the prevalence of life in the Universe; the nature of space and time; and the intertwined nature of matter, energy and gravity. It is likely that innovations in the acquisition, handling and processing of vast data sets will drive these themes to scientific maturity in the next decades. They offer us a timely opportunity to underline the relevance of space sciences to everyday life and thinking. More generally, space science is maturing to the point where it contributes to every major aspect of our cultural discourse. Citizens need information, resources and opportunities to actively participate in that discourse, and ...
The goal of the .Astronomy conference series is to bring together astronomers, educators, developers and others interested in using the Internet as a medium for astronomy. Attendance at the event is limited to approximately 50... more
The goal of the .Astronomy conference series is to bring together astronomers, educators, developers and others interested in using the Internet as a medium for astronomy. Attendance at the event is limited to approximately 50 participants, and days are split into mornings of scheduled talks, followed by 'unconference' afternoons, where sessions are defined by participants during the course of the event. Participants in unconference sessions are discouraged from formal presentations, with discussion, workshop-style formats or informal practical tutorials encouraged. The conference also designates one day as a 'hack day', in which attendees collaborate in groups on day-long projects for presentation the following morning. These hacks are often a way of concentrating effort, learning new skills, and exploring ideas in a practical fashion. The emphasis on informal, focused interaction makes recording proceedings more difficult than for a normal meeting. While the first ...
Hundreds of thousands of astronomy education activities exist, but their discoverability and quality is highly variable. The web platform for astronomy education activities, astroEDU, presented in this paper tries to solve these issues.... more
Hundreds of thousands of astronomy education activities exist, but their discoverability and quality is highly variable. The web platform for astronomy education activities, astroEDU, presented in this paper tries to solve these issues. Using the familiar peer-review workflow of scientific publications, astroEDU is improving standards of quality, visibility and accessibility, while providing credibility to these astronomy education activities. astroEDU targets activity guides, tutorials and other educational activities in the area of astronomy education, prepared by teachers, educators and other education specialists. Each of the astroEDU activities is peer-reviewed by an educator as well as an astronomer to ensure a high standard in terms of scientific content and educational value. All reviewed materials are then stored in a free open online database, enabling broad distribution in a range of different formats. In this way astroEDU is not another web repository for educational res...
Within the efforts to bring frontline interactive astrophysics and astronomy to the classroom, the Hands on Universe (HOU) developed a set of exercises and platform using real data obtained by some of the most advanced ground and space... more
Within the efforts to bring frontline interactive astrophysics and astronomy to the classroom, the Hands on Universe (HOU) developed a set of exercises and platform using real data obtained by some of the most advanced ground and space observatories. The backbone of this endeavour is a new free software Web tool - Such a Lovely Software for Astronomy based on Image J (Salsa J). It is student-friendly and developed specifically for the HOU project and targets middle and high schools. It allows students to display, analyze, and explore professionally obtained astronomical images, while learning concepts on gravitational dynamics, kinematics, nuclear fusion, electromagnetism. The continuous evolving set of exercises and tutorials is being completed with real (professionally obtained) data to download and detailed tutorials. The flexibility of the Salsa J platform tool enables students and teachers to extend the exercises with their own observations. The software developed for the HOU p...
Spectroscopic characterization of asteroids is one of the only ways to determine an object’s compositional properties short of in situ measurements [1]. This information is especially important for Near Earth Objects (NEOs), as... more
Spectroscopic characterization of asteroids is one of the only ways to determine an object’s compositional properties short of in situ measurements [1]. This information is especially important for Near Earth Objects (NEOs), as spectroscopy can help determine the source region of the object as well as suggest possible mitigation strategies for potentially hazardous asteroids. However, such observations can be difficult for NEOs as many of them are quite small and therefore tend to only be visible for short windows of time during a close approach. In some cases rapid spectroscopic follow up of a target is desired to determine a taxonomy which may be difficult to accomplish with classical observing methods. Las Cumbres Observatory (LCO) maintains a network of robotic telescopes that are operated through an agile scheduling program that allows for flexible and last minute scheduling of targets. We have extended the capabilities of LCO to include spectroscopy of moving targets and prese...
Abstract: We present a brief introduction to the phenomenon of" social networking" and its potentially powerful use as an astronomy outreach and educational tool. We briefly discuss the development of applications for websites... more
Abstract: We present a brief introduction to the phenomenon of" social networking" and its potentially powerful use as an astronomy outreach and educational tool. We briefly discuss the development of applications for websites and facebook and the use of web trackers eg Google Analytics to analyze your audience. Finally we discuss how social bookmarking can be used to promote your work to unexpected audiences.
