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Session 39 - Astronomy Education.
Display session, Tuesday, June 09
Atlas Ballroom,
The ``Ultraviolet/Visible Sky Gallery" CD-ROM we published in April 1997 contains hundreds of images of astronomical objects such as galaxies, cluster of galaxies, globular clusters, associations of stars, supernova remnants, planetary nebulae, and selected fields of the Large and Small Magellanic clouds. This CD is a unique dataset that combines science data from space and ground-based missions. All the ultraviolet (UV) images on the CD were observed by the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope during the ASTRO-1 Space Shuttle mission, and the matching visible images were obtained by us from Kitt Peak, Cerro Tololo, and Mount Laguna Observatories. The view of the ``invisible" UV sky has lead to many important discoveries, such as previously undetected hot stars in globular clusters, starburst nuclei in barred spirals, and faint external dust arms in spiral galaxies. Our UV and visible comparisons have provided new insights on these cosmic phenomena. We have developed some educational exercises that make use of this CD. These curriculum-related activities are designed to be used interactively by students for understanding astronomical concepts. Each of these exercises has two versions, one for college and another for high school students. They will be fully tested then donated to the Astronomical Society of the Pacific along with our CD.
