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Online Remote Telescope Services

Thursday, January 4, 2018

Educational Image Request Form for Classrooms

Insight Observatory's Educational Image Request form for the Astronomical Telescopes for Educational Outreach (ATEO) is now available for use with classroom teachers and students.

The staff at Insight Observatory would like to thank the Plymouth Public School District located in Plymouth, Massachusetts, for allowing a few of their classes to participate in a trial program utilizing the ATEO remote robotic imaging telescope integrated with the Educational Image Request form (EIR) for their astronomy research projects.

Secure login for access to the  Insight Observatory ATEO Educational Image Request Form.
Secure login for access to the  Insight Observatory ATEO Educational Image Request Form.

The process begins with an account created by the teacher for their class. Once the account is created, credentials are created for the EIR form that each student in the class would use to access the form. When the students log into the EIR form, they are then prompted to enter their name followed by requesting a deep-sky astronomical object to image with the requested exposure parameters. 

There is a drop-down set of user instructions for completing the form. When a deep-sky object is chosen, a message will appear confirming that the object is visible that night for imaging. Once the EIR form is submitted by the student, the class instructor receives a receipt of the student's request and the image request is then submitted into the ATEO remote imaging telescopes queue.

Screenshot of the Insight Observatory's Educational Image Request (EIR) Forms for the ATEO telescope network.
Screenshot of the Insight Observatory's Educational Image Request (EIR) Forms for the ATEO telescope network.

A couple of examples of classes using the EIR form with the Astronomical Telescope for Education were 5th-grade students at Plymouth South Elementary School, MA and earth science students at Plymouth North High School, MA, and senior astronomy students at Barnstable High School, MA.

M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy imaged on the Astronomical Telescope for Educational Outreach, ATEO-2A (upper right) by students from Middletown Public Schools, Connecticut.
M31 - The Andromeda Galaxy imaged on the Astronomical Telescope for Educational Outreach, ATEO-2A (upper right) by students from Middletown Public Schools, Connecticut.

If you are an educator interested in using the ATEO Educational Image Request form for your classroom projects, please Contact Us for a FREE consultation and 15-min online training on the EIR application.

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Tuesday, January 2, 2018

High School Earth Science Classes Utilize the ATEO

This past fall, Insight Observatory had the pleasure of collaborating with Karen Merrill and Sawyer Thompson's Earth Science classes at Plymouth North High School located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. This was the first project Insight Observatory had undertaken with high school students utilizing their remote Astronomical Telescope for Educational Outreach (ATEO).

Plymouth North High School Earth Science students researching and presenting their research projects using the Astronomical Telescope for Educational Outreach (ATEO).
Plymouth North High School Earth Science students researching and presenting their research projects using the Astronomical Telescope for Educational Outreach (ATEO).

Ms. Merrill stated "This unique experience gave students the opportunity to gain access to a remote telescope located in New Mexico. Students remotely requested an image of their assigned celestial body (nebula or galaxy). Students then researched their celestial object, mapped it using constellations, and created a presentation to teach the class about their object. Students highlighted their image by giving a detailed description of how their object formed and how long it has existed in the universe."

Both instructors used Insight Observatory's Educational Image Request (EIR) application which allowed each student to submit their image request to the remote telescope's imaging queue. After the student submits their assigned image request, the EIR application then sends a receipt to the class instructor so the instructor can keep track of the class' submissions.

Examples of Deep-Sky Objects imaged on the ATEO by the Plymouth North High School students.

There were roughly 100 image requests submitted between both Ms. Merrill's and Mr. Thompson's classes. The students selected their imaging targets by referring to the DSO Browser website. This online resource lists all of the deep-sky objects that are visible in the current night sky.
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