High school/college level astronomy project with not a big budget.
Any ideas besides building a telescope?
2006-10-26 16:01:36 · 9 answers · asked by ssj4gokugirl 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
Mercury is going to transit (pass in front of) the Sun on November 8th. You can use the opportunity to calculate how fast Mercury is moving, how big it is, etc. Get someone with a telescope and a solar filter (never look at the Sun through an unprotected telescope!) to help out. There's a good chance the transit will be webcast by some university astronomy departments if you can't track down a telescope.
2006-10-27 03:27:11 · answer #1 · answered by Faeldaz M 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
If you want a cheap one but one that will take a long time, record the phases of the moon and how many degrees the moon is from the sun every day. 1 hour is 15 degrees so if the sun sets at 6 and the moon rises at 7 on the other side of the sky, that would be 180 degrees plus 15. Do this for a whole month and you can see the pattern that the phases of the moon has depending on its position in its orbit around earth.
2006-10-26 16:08:22 · answer #2 · answered by Roman Soldier 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Watch Jupiter's second red spot through a telescope and see if it changes over a period of days or weeks.
Observe Iridium flares and take some time exposures of them (can find details about these satellite flares on the Internet).
Convince astronomers (in particular, the IAU) that Pluto should be given asteroid number 0, not 134340. Launch a Pluto Zero campaign. Pluto deserves a better number than 134340; after all, it is the second largest asteroid, and it has 3 moons, one of which is huge.
These are a few ideas which came to my mind right now.
2006-10-26 16:15:51 · answer #3 · answered by alnitaka 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Pop ups, schmop ups. How about a brief book on our solar system and planets, with a modelling project outlined in the book that all the kids can participate in? When I was in grade 6, we modelled the solar system where the sun was a basketball (I think). One kid got to hold the sun, the next kid got Mercury, and so on. We could only get as far as Saturn before we ran out of school property. This is really an eye opener to kids in regards to the distances between objects, since nearly every printed model of the solar system in a book is not scaled properly.
2016-03-28 08:50:47 · answer #4 · answered by Donna 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Perhaps a comparison of the moons of our solar system would be a good project. Which moons would be the most hazardous for even a well-protected astronaut to explore?
You could do a project on extrasolar planets (such as the "hot Jupiters".)
Yet another astonomy/space exploration project could be along the lines of what kind of spacecraft and spacesuits would be required for the manned exploration of Venus.
2006-10-26 16:13:26 · answer #5 · answered by Chuck 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
How about building a model galaxy with spheres where you can do revolutions of the planets! Even include detail like all the moons!
2006-10-26 16:07:00 · answer #6 · answered by ron 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. Look up the Messier objects on the web. Try and find as many as possible with binoculars.
2006-10-26 16:04:31 · answer #7 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Count the number of stars visible from your location on Earth and then determine whether they are stars, planets or galaxies.
2006-10-30 13:55:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
go star gazing and do a big report or model on it.
2006-10-26 16:10:18 · answer #9 · answered by chococat 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋