Starview at PSU

Web View: Seeing the Night Sky Online

Erik Bodegom, Chair and Professor, Department of Physics, Portland State University David W. McClure, Chair and Professor, Department of Chemistry, Portland State University Richard A. Young, Professor, Department of Physics, University of Portland Paul Davis, Chair and Professor, Department of Physics, Linfield College

PROJECT OVERVIEW
The Departments of Physics at Portland State University, University of Portland and Linfield College together with the Department of Chemistry at Portland State University, have formed a partnership with the goal of revamping their undergraduate astronomy courses in order to reach a larger segment of the academic and non-academic communities. In particular, we want our students to experience the thrill of discovery for themselves, and to that end, the aim of this proposal is to create an environment where this can be accomplished conveniently. The Chemistry Department is especially interested in using the proposed facility for involving undergraduates in spectroscopic measurements at several levels.

BACKGROUND
The use of a CCD (Charge-Coupled Device) camera has revolutionized the field of astronomy. Typically, the professional astronomer weds a CCD camera to a remotely operated telescope to obtain images for research purposes. Armed with a modest telescope, a relatively inexpensive computer and a CCD camera, the non-professional astronomer can replicate this. We propose to develop a fully remotely operated telescope facility that permits students this same experience.

A Capstone project at Portland State University (PSU) and the University of Portland (UP) has proven the concept of controlling a telescope with a Web interface over the Internet. An eight-inch Meade Schmidt-Cassegrain and a CCD camera were connected to a computer with a Web browser interface and a connection to the Internet. All connections were made on a low cost base with standard software to keep maintenance to a minimum. The telescope could be remotely moved and directed to a particular object from a database, or sent to specific coordinates of an astronomical object. Pictures were taken with the CCD camera and sent to the user through the Web.

What makes this setup different from the typical 'automated telescope facility' is that the user interacts directly with the telescope through commands given through the Web browser and not through an intermediary such as a technician, who, once he/she receives and approves the users' request, manually aims the telescope.

PLAN
Our proposal involves the installation of a remotely operated telescope housed in a small observatory located on the roof of one of the PSU buildings. The telescope will be a 12" Meade LX200 Schmidt-Cassegrain fitted with an existing Axiom AX-2 CCD camera for image acquisition. The Axiom camera uses a KAF-1600 Kodak chip with an array of 1536x1024 pixels for excellent image resolution.

The observatory will have a motorized dome. Web software will be designed to allow the telescope to be fully operational through a browser and the Internet. Time on the telescope will be divided among students at the participating universities initially, and later, after the bandwidth has been confirmed, the community. The web site will be designed to take full advantage of the high data rate available with Internet 2 by having several video streams going at once. These data streams will help the user in focusing and pointing the telescope, much as one would do by eye. The software would also make sure that clear skies obtain and will not release control to the user until weather conditions permit. The images taken with the CCD camera will be available in real time as well as stored for later processing and downloading by the user.

IMPACT ON STUDENT LEARNING
For many students, the introductory astronomy course is their only exposure to science and scientific inquiry during their undergraduate education. The majority of students in this course are residents of the metropolitan Portland area, where light pollution and buildings degrade and obstruct the view of the sky. The bright sky overwhelms all but the brightest nebulae as well as preventing the students from becoming sufficiently dark-adapted to find astronomical objects. Larger and better telescopes alone will not improve this situation. The advantage of CCD imaging systems is that they are very much more light sensitive than the eye or film, and when coupled with image processing software the effects of light pollution can be reduced to an acceptable level.

Other common problems inherent in teaching astronomy include rescheduling 'viewing nights' for a class of students due to inclement weather. This invariably presents numerous problems for students due to family constraints, jobs and other commitments. Though the use of a remote, web-accessed telescope will not change the weather, it will solve the scheduling problem since viewing will now be available on any clear night, any day of the week, from the student's home computer. In addition, it would solve the current problem of students who are wheelchair bound and unable to access telescopes located typically on a roof somewhere. Implementation of this program will allow disabled students to enjoy the same access as non-disabled students.

PORTABILITY
The project will make the software developed and the expertise gleaned, available, free of charge to any institution interested in duplicating our efforts.

SUSTAINABILITY
Since the operation of the observatory will be based on commercially available software, we see no problem in maintaining the observatory. The software, LabView, is very common and there are numerous people familiar with its functions. The major incentive to keep the observatory in peak condition is that it will be used year around by our own students in our courses here at PSU.

EVALUATION
Student feedback will be available through the course evaluations and specialized questionnaires directed to the goals and objectives of this proposal. A major indication of the success of this proposal will be the number of students enrolled in astronomy, and especially the use that the observatory will experience from the community.

PROJECT SCHEDULE
Event: Expected Completion Date
Establish project website and links: 9/00
Design phase and facilities review (9 months): 1/01
   Vibration, access, security, Internet connectivity, power issues addressed
Hardware implementation phase (12 months): 9/01
   Prepare site for dome: 5/01
   Install dome on roof of Cramer Hall: 7/01
   Install telescope: 9/01
Software implementation phase (18 months): 10/01
   Develop software for remote telescope (12 months): 9/01
   Remote telescope site up and running: 10/01
Curricular materials development (18 months): 4/02