Astronomy students at the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo are taking spectacular photos this semester of comet Catalina, Jupiter, Orion Nebula and more. The students trek up Maunakea to work with the telescopes under a gorgeous starry sky.
The astronomy majors are taking the observational astronomy lab with R. Pierre Martin, assistant professor of astronomy and UH Hilo’s observatory director. This semester Martin has 12 students in the lab (ASTR250L), which is a companion lab to the course Observational Astronomy (ASTR250).
In the lab, students use and characterize astronomical instruments (telescopes, detectors and spectrographs) and do astronomical observations such as imaging and acquiring spectroscopic data. The students learn all of these different techniques in the context of planetary, stellar and extragalactic astrophysics.
“The main goal for the course is to introduce students to modern astronomy techniques using small-aperture telescopes,” says Martin. “Although very modest in comparison to large telescopes used for most of astronomical research programs today, techniques like photometry and spectroscopy can be taught on smaller telescopes.”
The lab
The first experiment of the lab helps students become familiar with the equipment. “This semester the group took some very nice pictures of the sky, some quite spectacular in fact,” says Martin.
The second observing session saw one team studying a comet, another one measuring different aspects of Jupiter by obtaining very nice images with a specialized camera, and the third team studied some properties of galaxies.
“We also aim at teaching the typical steps to conduct observational programs,” Martin says. “We do one experiment per month and, with some coaching by myself, each team of four is responsible for deciding which experiment they want to conduct, which object or objects they want to observe, and how.”
The class deploys a suite of telescopes near the Maunakea Visitor Information Center and conducts observing for roughly six or seven hours in a row. Each month, each team conducts a different experiment with a different setup so at the end of the semester, all basic techniques have been covered.
“I believe that providing these different steps in observational astronomy from small-aperture telescopes to medium size ones to much larger telescopes, is a unique training program, not really offered anywhere else,” says Martin. “Learning these techniques from the ground-up is very valuable for our students pursuing a career in astronomy at the graduate school level, or as support staff for astronomical facilities.”
For the full article and more photos of the observation run, go to the UH Hilo Stories website.
—By Susan Enright
