5th-Grade Students Research Nebulae with ATEO-1

Insight Observatory had the pleasure of providing its remote telescope services once again this school year with Ms. Christine DeSantis' 5th-grade students at Plymouth South Elementary School, Plymouth, MA. The students specifically accessed the 16" f/3.75 Dream Aerospace Systems astrograph reflector (ATEO-1) remotely from their classroom using the Educational Image Request (EIR) from their Chromebooks.

A 5th-grade student in Ms. DeSantis' class at Plymouth South Elementary School studies her image taken with ATEO-1 of the NGC 2073, The Iris Nebula on her classroom-assigned Chromebook.

Here is what Ms. DeSantis said regarding her class utilizing ATEO-1 for their classroom project...

"Learning about deep space objects and how they are photographed was an exciting and motivating experience for my fifth graders! This project related well to two science units: matter and energy and the solar system. Students were able to extend their knowledge of the elements and discovered why dust and gasses are able to glow when energized by a nearby energy source and how this results in spectacular nebulae. Before the image requests were put in, the students researched three types of nebulae.

As they proceeded to put in the requests they discovered that certain nebulae may or may not be visible at various times of the year. They reviewed phases of the moon and became aware that deep space photography works best during the new moon and also learned why the location of the telescope is important.

After their images were processed, the students compared the images from Insight Observatory to Hubble photographs. Next, they created a slideshow to demonstrate comprehension of all the concepts including adding details about their chosen image: the type of nebula, its age, distance from Earth, and distance across (size). This is a wonderfully thought-provoking and exciting way to learn about some complicated and abstract concepts. We are so grateful to have been able to participate in this project!"

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NGC 2244 - The Rosette Nebula (left), NGC 7293 - The Helix Nebula (upper right), and M42 - The Orion Nebula (bottom right) all imaged by 5th-grade students in Ms. Desantis' class using remote telescope ATEO-1.

Insight Observatory would like to thank Ms. DeSantis for once again collaborating with us. If you are an educator and interested in participating in a classroom project utilizing Insight Observatory's remote telescope services via our online Educational Image Request (EIR), please contact us.

We would also like to thank all of Insight Observatory's loyal remote imagers and Patreon patrons for their ongoing support that allows Insight Observatory to provide remote telescope services for educational purposes.

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5th-Grade Students Image and Study Nebulae

Insight Observatory had the pleasure, for the third straight school year, of collaborating with Ms. Christine DeSantis' 5th-grade class at Plymouth South Elementary School located in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Ms. DeSantis' students were given the assignment of imaging and studying the different types of nebulae that exist in our universe. Here is her summary of the assignment for her students...

A 5th-grade student in Ms. DeSantis's class reviews Insight Observatory's Educational Image Request (EIR) online application before submitting an image request for his nebulae research assignment.

"We are very excited to have been able to benefit from Insight Observatory’s educational outreach program, especially during this challenging process of hybrid learning! As an at-home assignment, students first visited Insight Observatory's website to learn more about the remote telescope and its location. They discussed why New Mexico was an ideal location for deep space photography and learned about other Insight Observatory remote telescope locations around the world. After this research, students choose a nebula to have photographed.

Insight Observatory's 16" f/3.7 Dream Aerospace Systems astrograph reflector (ATEO-1) remote telescope that was used by Ms. DeSantis' 5th-grade students to image supernova remnant known as M1, the Crab Nebula, IC 2118, the Witch Head Nebula, and IC 1805, the Heart Nebula.

They then did a research project on their assigned nebula that included information about the three main types of nebulae, how nebulae are formed and how far away and large the nebula they chose was. This project was completed from home and then presented in class using Google Slides. The students were thrilled when their images arrived as they already knew so much about their subject.

5th-grade student researching her nebula image assignment virtually from home along with images of Westerhout 5, an emission nebula, and NGC 7635, the Bubble Nebula in Cassiopeia.

After seeing their images, students discussed the immensity of distances in space and reviewed the variety and beauty of these deep-space objects. Students said that the things that they loved most about this project were the discovery of how different their own nebula could appear depending on the telescope used and the time of year it was photographed. They also were impressed that energy, gas, and dust could create such astounding beauty.

5th-grade students selected a nebula to image on ATEO-1 with NGC 7662, a planetary nebula located in the constellation Andromeda, and NGC 7023, the Iris Nebula, a bright reflection nebula in the constellation Cepheus.

Many thanks to Michael Petrasko and Insight Observatory for providing us with the astrophotography and information for this motivating and inspiring project!"

If you are an educator and would like to participate in a classroom and/or virtual project similar to this one utilizing Insight Observatory's Astronomical Telescopes for Educational Outreach (ATEO) remote telescope network, please contact us.

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ATEO-1 Zooms In On NGC 7094

Planetary nebulae are interesting deep-sky objects because they are very similar yet very different. ATEO-1 recently imaged NGC 7094. This relatively bright planetary nebula in the constellation Pegasus is embedded in this faint integrated flux nebula visible in this image cataloged as LBN152.

The primary exercise of imaging the nebula was to demonstrate how the Proline 16803 CCD camera that is attached to the 16" f/3.75 Dream Aerospace Systems astrograph remote online imaging telescope can not only capture a nice wide field but also have the capability of zooming into a deep-sky object without losing very much resolution. 

Planetary Nebula NGC 7094 in Pegasus cropped image on the 16" f/3/7 astrograph (ATEO-1) - Image by Insight Observatory.

The image above is displayed at 100% and cropped for the purpose of concentrating on the planetary nebula itself. Below is the original sized field of view image of NGC 7094. 

Planetary Nebula NGC 7094 in Pegasus with original field of view on the 16" f/3/7 astrograph (ATEO-1) - Image by Insight Observatory.

The central star of this nebula belongs to the class of PG 1159 stars - hydrogen-deficient post-AGB stars on their way to the white dwarf cooling sequence. However, a fraction of them show small amounts of atmospheric hydrogen and are referred to as hybrid PG 1159 stars, which is the case for this object.

We look forward to all of our ATEO Portal users capturing planetary nebulae and displaying their unique characteristics.

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