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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

Mag.Phys. Aivars Krons

University of Latvia,E-mail: ak14@inbox.lv

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school1609 – 2009

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IYA commemorative coin_Euro

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

... Visualization helps you to represent pictures not wasting time for finding them in books

Some Galileo’s discoveries

Earth

Io

Europe

Ganymede

Kallisto

Venus

Milky Way

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

The process of creating (computer-generated) images in order to gain new understanding or insight into data. A Practical Example.

Science

Visualization System

Knowledge &

discovery

What is Visualization?

Data

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

“Those not properly initiated into the mysteries of visualization research often seek to understand the

images rather than appreciate their beauty...” Al Globus & Eric Raible (1994)

Telescope is the main astronomer’s instrument that

helps to observe, whatch, demonstrate and visualize the

cellestial objects .

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

With naked eye binoculars and telescope

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

Figure 1. Principle of refraction and the refracting telescope

Figure 2. Principle of reflection and the reflecting telescope

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

Some difficulties in astronomy teaching

● - large amount of facts and details

● - some of the concepts seem abstract

● - there must be the capability of visualizing events and objects

● - modern telescopes, sky charts,necessary books and other equipment is rather expensive

● - not all teachers are specialized in astronomy

● - visualization of cellestial objects could be done durig clear night time

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

Some advantages in astronomy visualization

● - visual models allows students for a powerful

learning experience

● - representations may help students and teachers understand complex abstract astronomical phenomenon

● - interactive sites offer a new virtual environment

● - provides a way of observing natural phenomena that are difficult or impossible to observe directly

● - user can navigate in space, approach any object and view it from many angles

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

Some pedagogical benefits

● - students can use a variety of computerized tools to view, navigate, and analyze a realistic three-dimensional representation of space

● - such learning activities provide students with more intuitive understanding of astronomy

● - images may be presented in the classroom on the screen or reproduced by output devices

● - CD-ROM can be copied several times by students for personal education

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

Revised with a new CD-ROM, this entry of informative and visually compelling atlases explains how to see and read the night sky at all latitudes for a worldwide audience. ● Stunning photographs, colorful charts and maps ● Features six special acetate pages, and a new CD-ROM with animations

Some example images from Night Sky CD-ROM:

The Leo constellation The Hubble Space Telescope Planet Saturn

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary school

Summary

● - 3D-virtual reality models of astronomical phenomena holds a substantial didactical advantages that can be used as an effective aide in astronomy teaching. This allows for a powerful learning experience.● - the popularity of astronomy depends on the creation of attractive images intended for scientific illustration/visualization. The goal of many of these images is to show what the human eye cannot see.

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Visualization in astronomy at secondary schoolReferences

1. Astronomy 162: Stars, Galaxies, and Cosmology – Mozilla Firefox [available online 28. march 2009] http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/index.html2. SpringerLink – Journal Article - Mozilla Firefox http://www.springerlink.com/content/u5g473567u66x122/3. YOAV YAIR 3D-Virtual Reality in Science Education: An Implication for Astronomy Teaching – Jl. of Computers in Mathematics and Science Teaching (2001) 20(3), 293-305.4. Baxter, J. (1989). Children’s understanding of familiar astronomical events. International Journal of Science Education, 11, pp. 502-513.5. Bennet, J.O. (1999). Strategies for teaching astronomy. Mercury, 28(6), 24-31.6. Dr. Jayanne English Visualization at ATNF 2009 [available online 28. march 2009] http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/s2plot7. Travis A. Rector Image-Processing Techniques for the Creation of Presentation-Quality Astronomical Images [available online 28. march 2009] http://www.physics.umanitoba.ca/~english/vizATNF/travispaper.pdf8. Robin Scagell “Night Sky Atlas”, London, 2007 (96).

Thank you for your attention!

Any questions, please!