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Astronomy Data Online
NVO Outreach MeetingJuly 11, 2002
Jordan RaddickJohns Hopkins University
Problems of Teaching Astronomy
• Most classes are taught during the day
• Light pollution hampers observing
• Textbooks provide limited data– Often invented or out of date
• Equipment is prohibitively expensive
• Content quickly becomes outdated
• Open 24/7/365
• The virtual sky is always dark
• The seeing is excellent
• Terabytes of data are available– Data at all wavelengths
• Most data access is free
• Students use high-quality data from large professional observatories
Partial Solution: Online Data Archives
• One of the largest sky surveys in history– 25% of night sky– 100 million objects; 9th
to 23rd magnitude– 1 million spectra
• All data will be available online
• Goal: create a 3-D map of the universe
Image courtesy Adrian Pope, JHU
The Sloan Digital Sky Survey
SkyServer
• Education and outreach site for the SDSS– http://skyserver.sdss.org
• Will make all SDSS data available to general public
• Tools for accessing data– Images (JPEG, with links to FITS)– Spectra (GIF, with links to FITS)– Full photometric & spectroscopic data
• Projects for students and teachers
• Navigation tool– Point-and-click
access to sky
• Object Explorer– all data for a
single object
• Query tool– SQL query
language allows students to search data
– Data can be exported to spreadsheets
SkyServer Tools
SkyServer Projects
• Projects for upper elementary through college students
• Research Challenges– Independent,
open-ended follow-up projects
Teacher Resources
• Full lesson plans available for all projects• Goals, background knowledge, structure• Advice on leading classes through project• Sample solutions and rubrics• Correlations to
education standards– AAAS Project 2061– NCTM Principles
and Standards for School Mathematics
Example – Scavenger Hunt
• Designed for 4th-8th grade
• Look for different types of stars andgalaxies
• Introduction to quantitative astronomical data
• 1929 – Edwin Hubble discovers expansion of universe
• Foundation of modern astronomy
• Students repeat discovery with SDSS data– Honors/AP high
school– Intro college
Example – Hubble Diagram
continued
Example: Hubble Diagram
• Students calculaterelative distancesto galaxies
• Identify galaxiesfrom images
• Use severalmethods to finddistance
continued
Example: Hubble Diagram
• Find redshifts(velocities) from observed spectra
• Use sametemplates asSDSS scientists
continued
Example: Hubble Diagram
• Graph redshift vs. distance
• Straight line suggests universe is expanding
• Students asked about logic of argument
• Over 5,000 galaxies to choose from
The Power of SkyServer
Richards, et al., Astronomical Journal, 2001
Lauren Saks, freshman creative writing major, JHU
Lessons Learned
• Creating tools is long and arduous– Browser compatibility
• Involve professionals from the beginning– Writers/curriculum designers– Teachers
• Different levels of education are very different audiences– K-3, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12, introductory college,
college majorscontinued
Lessons Learned
• Strike a balance between taking students seriously and confusing them– Challenging, but not too challenging– Reading level important– We’re not quite there
• …and still learning…
Other Online Data Archives
• Many available, but scattered
• Educational support varies
• See SpaceLink, teachspacescience.org•Hands-On Astrophysics (AAVSO)•Telescopes in Education•ISS-AT
•Lewis and Clark Education Project (EOS)
•Fire Information System (EOS)
•NASA Life Sciences Data Archive
•Landsat 7 Gateway
•The Planetary Rings Node
•SETI@Home
•Earth from Space
•Heavens Above
•Human Spaceflight Real-Time Data
•Multi-wavelength Milky Way
•Hands-On Universe•StSci Archive (MAST, DSS, VLA FIRST, SDSS)•Amazing Space activities (Galaxy Hunter, Hubble Deep Field Academy•SkyView•Distant Suns Home Planetarium•virtualsky.org•HEASARC•ROSAT•Hipparcos SkyPlot•spaceweather.com•Advanced Composition Explorer•Mars Student Imaging Project•The Daily Martian Weather Report•PDS Mars Explorer
NVO Data in Education
• NVO’s goal is to collect all data in one place
• All wavelengths– Need to teach multi-wavelength astronomy
• Can help unify disparate educational efforts under one rubric
• We’re here to design that rubric– Here is my “outreach fantasy” of what that
rubric might look like…
A model: The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• Started in 1990 as searchable index of lists compiled by users of rec.arts.movies newsgroup
• Centralized into web site in 1993-94
• Incorporated in 1995, bought by amazon.com in 1998
• Redesigned in 1999 for ease of navigation
continued
A model: The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• “The IMDb didn't start as a dream to build a business or a web site. It started as a dream to make a tool that we, as movie fans, would find really useful and fun.”
continued
A model: The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• “The NVO outreach web site didn't start as a dream to build a business or a web site. It started as a dream to make a tool that we, as astronomy fans, would find really useful and fun.”
continued
A model: The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• Data on almost 300,000 movies– Full cast & crew
(cross-referenced)– Reviews, trivia, links
• Data submitted by registered users and checked by staff
• All data are free
continued
A model: The Internet Movie Database (IMDb)
• Acknowledged source of accurate information– “The Bible” of movie information, even to
professionals
• Education potential in film classes– Not sure how much educational use
• Over 12 million visitors per month
The Internet Sky Database?
• The NVO’s goal for astronomers – make all astronomy data available through
one framework
• Goal for “the Public”?– Make all astronomy data available from one
web site
• NASA popularity proves demand is there– Pathfinder web site got 100 million hits from
July 4-7, 1997
continued
The Internet Sky Database?
• Need to develop powerful tools– Many questions will begin: “where do I look in
the sky to find…”– Mark’s vision from this morning– Consult with planetarium software developers
The Internet Sky Database?
• Educational uses will grow out of tools
• Need to market to general public
• We could become “The Bible” of astronomy information
