In this tutorial you will learn about asteroids, a very interesting
and current topic in our exploration of the Solar System and of
planetary formation. You will learn about their orbital
characteristics by querying a database.
Intermediate computer skills are recommended, as the tutorial requires
the (guided) query of online electronic databases and use of
histograms.
Within this intermediate use case you learn about supernovae (see
also the tutorial “Distance to the Crab Nebula“,
ivo://edu.euro-vo.org/tutorials/08_m1_distance) and determine the
celestial coordinates of a just discovered candidate supernova on an
provided image without astrometric calibration. This use case provides
a glimpse of an activity that is representative of the practical tasks
that astronomers have to perform when they analyze data.
Within this use case for high school students and adanced amateurs
you measure the linear distance of the Andromeda Galaxy following the
steps of the astronomers who first measured it, climbing an important
step of the so-called cosmic distance ladder. The use case requires
the identification of variable stars of the Cepheid class and the
determination of the relation between their period and their intrinsic
luminosity.
Within this use case you learn about supernovae, exploding or
exploded stars. In particular you will use information on the Crab
Nebula (the 1054 aD supernova registered by Chinese astronomers) to
derive its distance: an example of how some very important information
may be gained from very simple arguments and geometry.
Within this use case you learn about motion of the planets both
around the Sun and in the sky, planetary conjunctions and what might
have been the Star of Bethlehem.
Within this use case you learn about Kepler's laws, a cornerstone of
astronomy and a fundamental brick of both Newton's and Einstein's
theories of gravitation. This use case is complemented by use cases 10
and 16 (at different levels of difficulty.
Within this case you learn that stars that seem "fixed" on the sky
may actually move, even if their motion is so slow for the naked eye
to be undetectable. You compare two photographs of the Barnard's Star
taken several years apart and will be able to estimate its
displacement on the sky. Your estimate will be very close to actual
measurements.
Within this use case you learn about the difference between intrinsic
linear size and apparent angular size, a difference that is frequently
at the center of astronomical problems. Star clusters are the objects
used to illustrate this difference. You also learn some basic facts
about star clusters, whose distribution in space has helped us to
understand the structure of our Milky Way. Thanks to Aladin, you will
be able to explore their distribution on the sky on your own.
