http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/astrolab/index.html
Resources for the Astronomy 110 Laboratory course.
| Fall 2010 (current) | |
| Fall 2008 | |
| Fall 2005 | |
| Fall 2003 | |
| Spring 2003 |
Honolulu ordinances basically allow laser pointers to be used by people 18 or older. Do not point a laser at a person, building, or vehicle, and please use common sense at all times! Class IIIb lasers (power output > 5 mw) are not street-legal; use with discretion.
| Some Pointers on the Use of Laser Pointers | |
| Green Lasers: A Hidden Danger | |
| A Green Laser Pointer Hazard |
The weather in Hawaii can change rapidly; conditions earlier in the day are not always a good guide. The links below are helpful in planning observing sessions:
| Kapiolani Park Forecast | Current conditions and 7 day prediction | ||
| Honolulu Area Discussion | General discussion of unfolding weather patterns | ||
| Satellite Interpretation | Discussion of satellite images, emphasizing cloud cover | ||
| Oahu to N. Hawaii | Close-up visible-light animation | ||
| Main Hawaiian Islands | Wide-field IR-light animation | ||
| Weather Service Radar | Radar images show ongoing showers | ||
| Satellite Image Browser | Full-disk images and animations for the big picture | ||
| IfA Weather Links | Other weather-related resources |
These external websites are useful resources for current and upcoming astronomical events.
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Your Sky from Honolulu [www.fourmilab.to/yoursky] |
An interactive planetarium, set up to show the sky now above Honolulu. You can chose other dates and times, select other viewing sites, and zoom in on selected areas. Created by John Walker. | ||
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Solar System Simulator [space.jpl.nasa.gov] |
NASA web page which generates accurate, high-quality images of planets and satellites as seen from elsewhere in the Solar System. | ||
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Heavens Above [www.heavens-above.com] |
Astronomy website for satellite predictions and other resources — useful if you want to see the International Space Station [ISS]. This link is keyed to Honolulu. | ||
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Sky and Telescope [SkyandTelescope.com] |
The gold standard for astronomy magazines, read by amateur stargazers and professionals alike. On-line pages have many useful links and features. | ||
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Association of Lunar and Planetary Observers [www.alpo-astronomy.org] |
A resource for observers of planets. Slightly frustrating if your link or computer are slow, but contains some great images. | ||
| International Occultation Timing Association [www.lunar-occultations.com/iota] | Provides information on upcoming occultations by the Moon, planets, and asteroids. | ||
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American Association of Variable Star Observers [www.aavso.org] | Resources for variable stars observers. Has information on specific stars, including recent observations. |
These pages describe results of some observing activities in earlier Astronomy 110L classes.
| An Eclipse in the Trapezium | On the night of February 26th, 2003, one of the stars in the Trapezium cluster had an eclipse. I observed this event and took some images. | ||
| Summary: Shape of Lunar Orbit | In March and April 2003 we measured the Moon's apparent diameter and used the results to study the shape of the Moon's orbit. | ||
| Report: Shape of the Moon's Orbit | In October and November 2003 we measured the Moon's apparent diameter and used the results to study the shape of the Moon's orbit. | ||
| Viewing Stellar Spectra | Examples of stars with spectral features easily seen using the Rainbow Optics stellar spectrascope. | ||
| An Occultation by the Moon | On 06-Oct-2008 at 19:05 HST we saw the Moon occult, or come in front of, the bright star σ Sgr. |
Code for generating still images and animations which may be useful in Astronomy 110L. Software packages run under unix or linux.
| One Year Animation (code) | Makefiles to generate animation showing change in sky over course of one year. | ||
| Finding Charts (data) | Finding charts for deep sky objects. Printed at 100dpi, these charts have a scale of 1° = 2cm. | ||
| Finding Charts (code) | Makefile used to generate finding charts. Easily extended to produce charts of other objects. | ||
| Moon Animation (data) | Animations showing appearance of the Moon over one semester. | ||
| Moon Animation (code) | Makefile used to produce above animation. |
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Stellarium [www.stellarium.org] |
Free software to simulate the appearance of the sky. Very powerful yet easy to use. Available for Windows, Mac OSX, and Linux. | ||
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Cartes du Ciel (Sky Charts) [www.stargazing.net/astropc/] |
Free software package useful in creating charts of the sky. Very high quality graphics. Primarily for Windows, but Mac/Linux versions are available. Developed by Patrick Chevalley. | ||
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Virtual Moon Atlas [www.ap-i.net/avl/en/start] |
Free software which simulates the appearance of the Moon at any time. You can zoom in, scan across the surface for interesting formations, and click on specific features to display names and other information. Developed by Patrick Chevalley and Christian Legrand. |
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Joshua E. Barnes
(barnes at ifa.hawaii.edu)
Updated:
29 August 2016
http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/astrolab/index.html |
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