Globe at Night – get out and look up! February 27, 2008
Posted by astroed in Astronomy, Education.trackback
One of the easiest things people can do to get an experience of astronomy is to simply go outside and look up at the night sky. Easy, but seldom actually done by many people.
A great scheme developed by Connie Walker and her team at the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO) in the US is GLOBE at Night. Now in the third year of operation, GLOBE runs from 25 February to 8 March. To take part all you have to do is go outside one hour after sunset and look up at the easily found constellation of Orion. You then match what you see with tone of the online magnitude charts then enter your results and your location online. EASY.
Your observations are added to a database of observations from around the world. Last year they had 8,491 observations from 60 countries. This year they are hoping for many more. The team have developed downloadable family packs in several languages to encourage families to do it together. The supporting website has a range of preparatory activities and background materials the emphasis is on ease of involvement without a steep learning curve.
GLOBE at Night is an excellent educational tool and something that can be easily implemented in a class as a simple night time observing activity. So, no excuses, get outside and look up! Oh, and enjoy yourself too.
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