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C. A. Pilachowski (Indiana University), T. Rector (University of Alaska at Anchorage), F. Morris, H. Tebbe (Indiana University)
A new website at the University of Indiana Bloomington allows undergraduate, introductory astronomy students to participate in original research, discovering novae in the Andromeda Galaxy. Sequences of CCD images obtained with the WIYN 0.9-m telescope at Kitt Peak of the central region of Andromeda are displayed on the Web as Flash movies, allowing students to identify novae as new, blinking stars. Tools are provided to estimate the magnitude of the novae and to determine the Julian date of observations, so that students can plot light curves.
The goal of NovaSearch is to engage students in the process of discovery, applying the content they learn from textbooks and lectures to real observations and the creation of new knowledge. NovaSearch is supplemented with live video interactions with on-site observers and remote observing at the 0.9-m telescope. For many students, NovaSearch is their first experience with science as a creative, human activity.
NovaSearch is available for examination and use at www.astro.indiana.edu/novasearch/
Support from the SBC Fellows program at Indiana University, as well as from the National Science Foundation through grant ESI 0101982 to the National Optical Astronomy Observatory, is gratefully acknowledged.
If you would like more information about this abstract, please follow the link to www.astro.indiana.edu/novasearch/. This link was provided by the author. When you follow it, you will leave the Web site for this meeting; to return, you should use the Back comand on your browser.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 35#5
© 2003. The American Astronomical Soceity.