Teaching Optics With Small Telescopes During the International Year of Astronomy
Abstract
The International Year of Astronomy (IYA) will celebrate the 400th anniversary of Galileo's first use of a telescope for astronomy. Telescopes will play a prominent role in the IYA celebrations.
We will outline our plans for bringing telescopes to the pubic during the IYA. We have developed educational outreach materials for use in science centers, planetariums, schools and other educational organizations that illustrate how a telescope works. We will disseminate the materials to sites around the country. Each site will receive a kit with a variety of lenses, small telescopes, eyepieces and other optical devices to use in public outreach. We will also train staff members at each site how to effectively use the equipment with the public. Another major component of the IYA efforts is a the development of a small telescope similar in size to the one Galieo used. This "Galileoscope” will be manufactured in large quantities for distribution to our sites around the country and used in public outreach events. We will also include information and training on how to use telescopes. Another goal is to help people who may have purchased telescopes in the past learn to use them effectively. We will train staff how to help beginners overcome many of the challenges they face when using a new telescope.- Publication:
-
American Astronomical Society Meeting Abstracts #212
- Pub Date:
- May 2008
- Bibcode:
- 2008AAS...212.2701P