Observation preparations

In this section, you will select an object to observe, and find out some basic information about it which would enable you to plan an observing run.

The first step to observing an object is knowing its coordinates. It is also useful to see what is already known about an object to avoid duplication of effort. The following are two databases which catalog most known objects. NED (NASA Extragalactic Database) is only concerned with objects outside our own galaxy (other galaxies and quasars). SIMBAD catalogs all objects but galactic objects in particular (stars, star clusters, nebulae etc.) Both sites can be found at the Canadian Astronomical Data Centre (CADC)
http://cadcwww.hia.nrc.ca/

Pick one object from the following list:

• Galaxies:
  • M51 Whirlpool galaxy
  • M87 cD galaxy (in the Virgo cluster)
  • M104 Sombrero galaxy
• Open Clusters:
  • NGC 7790
  • NGC 7789
• Globular Clusters:
  • M13
  • M15
• Nebulae:
  • M42 The Orion Nebula
  • M57 The Ring Nebula
  • M1 The Crab Nebula

You can't observe an object if it is underground. In order to be able to observe an object, it must be above the horizon. This fairly self-evident statement has a few subtleties. In particular not only do you want your object to be above the horizon, but you want it well above the horizon by, say, 45 degrees. If you want to observe the same object over a significant fraction of the night, you have to pick the right time of the year. The latitude of the observatory also comes into play. For example, the Magellanic Clouds are never visible from Victoria. Use one of the programs at the following site to find out when your object is up. Also see if the moon will be up at the same time, possibly interfering with your observations.
http://imagiware.com/astro/

It is often useful to make a finding chart of the area you plan to observe. This allows you to determine quickly whether the telescope is pointing at the right part of sky. It usually is but it is nice to know before spending too much time. The following site will produce a finding chart based on the Digital Sky Survey. These are scanned photographs of the entire sky. Find a picture of your object. If possible, produce a negative image and print it.
http://archive.stsci.edu/dss/dss_form.html

Telescopes

Most major telescopes allow the astronomer to select one of a variety of instruments. The majority of these instruments can be divided into two categories : direct imagers and spectrographs. Due to advances in technology, these instruments generally change from year to year. A continuously updated list of the instruments and their user manuals are often kept on-line. The following URL's lead to the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) homepages (the original and the Canadian mirror site in Victoria). Find the descriptions of the instruments. Pick one instrument and briefly describe what it does and what one might use it for.
http://www.cfht.hawaii.edu/
http://cfht.hia.nrc.ca/index.html

If you prefer, you could instead do this exercise for one of the following observatories:

• The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory (Victoria) http://www.dao.nrc.ca/
• Kitt Peak (Arizona) http://www.noao.edu/kpno/kpno.html
• Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory (Chile) http://www.ctio.noao.edu/ctio.html
  
• Hubble Space Telescope: (Space) http://www.stsci.edu/
  

Or any other telescope you like. Here's a list:
http://www.cv.nrao.edu/fits/www/yp_telescope.html

Applications

(This section is optional, for interested parties only) Telescope time (especially on large telescopes) is highly sought after. As a general rule, telescopes would have to run a thousand nights a year to keep up with demand. Since there are only 365 nights in a year, there is an oversubscription rate of 3 to 1. Writing telescope time applications is usually a rather tense affair. The application form can be found on-line. Find one for CFHT (or another telescope), and print out the first page. Also see if you can find the instruction for on-line proposal submissions.

Dissemination

Astronomers think of themselves as striving to push back the veils of ignorance surrounding humanity. Some would also like to be famous. To satisfy both goals they publish their findings. Publishing is one of the most important parts of their work. After all, what is the point of making an important discovery if only one person is aware of it? The internet has been extremely useful in accelerating the rate at which results are disseminated. Submissions to the journals are now done electronically as often as not. Preprints (articles which have been written but not yet published in the journals) are distributed over the net. When the articles are published, an on-line version is generally produced and indexed at the same time. The following site lists preprints:
http://xxx.lanl.gov/archive/astro-ph
This sites lists published articles:
http://adswww.harvard.edu/abstract_service.html

Find and list the title and reference for a preprint and article written by an astronomer you know (such as your professor or lab instructor).

Section 2

The internet is also useful for transmitting information to astronomers and the general public in real time. This section deals with several such sites.

Lunar Prospector

NASA's Lunar Prospector is currently in orbit around the Moon. One of its objectives was to determine if there is ice on the surface of the moon. On March 3, 1998, scientists at NASA announced that their search had been successful! Where was this ice found? Why wasn't any ice found by the Apollo astronauts? Suppose future explorers were able to extract this ice and melt it. Would there be enough water to

• (a) fill an astronaut's water bottle or
• (b) fill a lunar swimming pool or
• (c) fill a crater deep enough and wide enough for water skiing or
• (d) create an ocean as large as the Pacific?