Physics 2151: The Observing Project

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Astronomy Links

Physics Links

Observatory

Grenfell home

As a significant portion of your class grade (20 %), you will be asigned to a group of three or four students. Together you will choose an object from a list to observe with the new Grenfell telescope, analyse the images using image processing software to highlight a particular scientific aspect of the object. Your results will be presented in a poster that you and your group will design and display towards the end of the term.

Our First Poster Session!

Our first poster session, held April 3rd, was a big success! The eight observing groups each produced a poster and students got to see and ask questions about everyone else's poster.  The Head of Science, Dr. Campbell, and Dr. Peddle, Grenfell AVP, came to admire the students' work, as well.

Interactive Chart of the Messier Objects In the later part of the 18th century, French astronomer and comet-hunter, Charles Messier complied a list of about 100 objects which were not comets - but whose fuzzy image might be mistaken for a comet. The objects are now used as a compliation of different kinds of interesting objects - galaxies, star clusters, supernova remnants, bright nebulae - which are visible in a small telescope. They also serve as a challenge for some astronomers who want to "observe the list"! For more information, click on any object at right, or see The Messier Catalog.

Useful links:

• The article on how colour images are created, from the Sky and Telescope website, an amateur astronomy magazine.  A very informative site; it has interactive observing apps and much helpful information.

• The HubbleSite, a gallery of Hubble images and info on how they are created. And from the Hubble Heritage site, detailed information about how colour filters are used to make the images.

• SalsaJ, the image processing software for your images (Download version 2.2)

  • Practice images of M74: m74_red.jpg, m74_green.jpg, m74_blue.jpg, m74.jpg

• Stargazing: Astronomy through the Seasons, a series of popular-level articles posted by an NRC astronomer to promote public understanding of astronomy

• Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors.

• Weather information for Corner Brook, from the Canadian Meteorological Centre