The Joseph R. Lynch Observatory at Drexel University

Astronomy for Teachers, 3rd session: 3 December 2007

Notes and links from class.

• Odd Little Stars, an article from ScienceNOW about the strange white dwarfs that were recently discovered.
• ESA's Venus Express arrived in orbit around Venus last year, and public images are just starting to be released.
• Galaxy Zoo from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. Now you can help scientists classify galaxies. The first project goals are finished, but they plan a more ambitious classification system starting early next year.

The Peppercorn solar system

From the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, a quite detailed lab/model called "The Thousand-Yard Model, or The Earth as a Peppercorn". Unfortunately, they use non-metric units (yards, feet and inches), which is rather unfortunate. But otherwise, the basic plan for the lab is quite good. One would need a very long hallway to fit the entire solar system at this scale, but they suggest doing it outside on a playground or park.

The Joseph R. Lynch Observatory has been made possible by the Generosity of Joseph R. Lynch '58 and the GE Foundation.