[Offtopic] GLOBE at night

[Roland Gesthuizen]

Cool, tell us how you go. I have had fun trying this myself with a plain old
happy-snap digital camera. Here is a slideshow of my efforts at
astrophotography, it includes some pictures of the recent comet.
     http://flickr.com/photos/plakboek/tags/astrophotography/show/

Somebody once described to me a home made device for mounting a digital
camera to track stars, from memory two hinged blocks of wood with a wingnut
that you turn at the same rate as the second hand on your watch. Trick was
to get the measurements right. I have never had the patience but seem to do
well enough with shots lasting a few seconds.

Regards Roland

On 10/03/07, Cameron Bell <bell.cameron.p at edumail.vic.gov.au> wrote:
>
> Very cool Roland - ta for the link.
> My Yr 11 Physics class are currently trying star trail photos. We will
> use Gimp as best we can to enhance anything we can get.
> I'll get them to do this activity as an adjunct.
> (Reminds me to go outside and give it a go tonight myself. Looks clear.)
> Cheers
> Cameron
>
>
> Roland Gesthuizen wrote:
> > How many stars can you see? It depends on whether you are living in
> > the bush, the suburbs of the heart of town. Light pollution is so bad
> > in some places, you can only see the brightest stars. Want to be
> > involved in some participatory amateur science? Then get involved in
> > this sky survey that my year 9 Research Science and Technology
> > students are running as part of the GLOBE project this month.
> >
> > Learn, Observe, Report and Map! Globe at Night
> > <http://www.globe.gov/GaN/> has more details including a cool activity
> > pack that can be downloaded.
> >
> > There is a world wide survey of star visibility going at the moment.
> > Between now and March 21, go outside at around an hour and a half
> > after sunset, possibly a bit later. Stand in a spot where street
> > lights or neighbours outdoor lights won't get in your eyes and let
> > your eyes adjust for a few minutes (or more, after looking at the
> > computer screen it can take up to 5 minutes for my eyes to adjust).
> >
> > Compare what you see of the constellation Orion to their starcharts
> > <http://www.globe.gov/GaN/observe_magnitude.html>, (see map at
> > Southern Sky watch
> > <http://home.mira.net/%7Ereynella/skywatch/ssky.htm#Stars>) or print
> > out the maps in the attached Family Activity pack) and submit your
> > observations to this link:
> >      http://www.globe.gov/GaN/report.html
> >
> > If you are using a torch to read the Family Activity Pack maps,
> > remember to put some red cellophane over the end so as to not destroy
> > your night vision. Simple as that, and you are contributing to our
> > understanding of light pollution as well a doing a bit of amateur
> science.
> >
> > (share me your location and finding, I hope to use it with my year 9
> > Research Science class to compare results, data quality and validation
> > etc..)
> >
> > --
> > Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
> > http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au
> >
> > "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can
> > change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has."
> > --Margaret Mead
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-- 
Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College
http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead
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