ASTRONOMY OVER THE INTERNET

BSS 2011 Vidojevica

20. August 2011

Dr Milan Bogosavljević,

Astronomical Observatory, Belgrade, Serbia

Overview

Observational astronomy – where are we now?

Robotic observatories

What can observatories do for EDUCATION?

Astronomical Station Vidojevica – present and future

Project MONECOM

Forefront of Science today – very big, very expensive… but accessible?

Thirty meter telescope

CERN

What is a robotic observatory?

LCOGT – Las Cumbres Observatory Global Telescope

THE CURRENT TREND IN THE WORLD Click to edit Master text styles Second level Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

8 Jun 2010

More “BIG” Examples…

Mt. Palomar, California

Telescope: 1.5m

MONET: 2 telescopes McDonald Observatory, Texas and SAAO South Africa

Telescopes: 1.2m.

Geology (planets)

ASTRONOMY

Aerospace

Biology (life on other planets)

Chemistry (interstellar

matter)

Informatics, databases, numerics

Mechanics

Electronic and optics

Nuclear and particle physics

LESSON: AN OBSERVATORY AS A MULTI PURPOSE LABORATORY

IAU – strategy for developing countries: get researchers into

classrooms

1.Еncourage developed astronomy institutes to provide long-term guidance and advice to university departments in developing countries interested in building up an astronomy research capability.

2.Include aspects of astronomy as aids to the primary and secondary education of as many children as possible.

Why (keep on) building observatories?

“Astronomy serves the Nation”

MONET 1.2m TELESCOPE: A CHANCE FOR HIGH-SCHOOL STUDENT EDUCATION

THIS FALL: A GROUP OF STUDENTS FROM SERBIA, CROATIA AND GREECE WILL JOINTLY WORK ON SCIENCE!

Astronomical Observatory, Belgrade

The “Big Refractor” 65cm, 10 meters focal length

The only professional astronomy institute in former Yugoslavia

Staff: around 30 full-time researchers, 7 new grad students this year

Downside: built in 1930's in Belgrade, now pop. 2.5 million

Observations ceased to a halt in the '90s

Observational Astronomy in Serbia: “Our potentials, potentially ours”

Astrophysics degree offered at two Universities in Serbia (Belgrade and Novi Sad), 4-10 graduates per year

Astrophysics students from Belgrade moved to the West: Cornell, Caltech, UMass, Penn State, Toronto, Leiden, Max-Planck...

Post-docs: Hubble fellow, Einstein fellow...

2010 Project “Belissima” : European Comission FP7 program to revive the Observatory, build new facilities and return experienced researchers

Phase 1 at Astronomical Station Vidojevica

The first step: commissioning of the “small”60cm telescope

OUR FIRST TESTS…

NEAR FUTURE (2011-2013) –ROBOTIC TELESCOPE 1 .5m

How to get students interested?

A change in values… should/can we do something about it?

Education in the era of Web 2.0 and Facebook/Twitter

“If it’s in a book its already old”

How to make lectures about science relevantfor the world of the kids of today?

The facts !?

“Our children are living in the most intensely stimulating period in the history of the Earth” Saturation with instantaneous stimuli – 160/140

characters?

Kids are online all the time, and are used to “superficial multitasking”

Focusing on details is considered a waste of time

Virtual reality is not so virtual anymore

Kids are “faster” than you… and we actually DO NOT KNOW which world they will be living in!

A suggestion for a solution

“Feed” the children information in a modern tempo

Involve them, or they will involve themselves elsewhere

WHAT IS NEEDED FOR ROBOTIC OBSERVATIONS...

AUTOMATED METEOROLOGICAL STATION AND ALL-SKY CAMERA

“LUCK COMES TO THE PREPAIRED”

MORE FROM VIDOJEVICA... (elev. 1155m)