The DSPIRA Astronomy Lessons Module helps teachers and students make sky observations with the DSPIRA Radio Horn Telescope. Beginners need some basic tools first. These include finding targets in their local sky, understanding electromagnetic radiation, and learning what it reveals.
Click here for a complete document of Teacher’s Notes (view PDF) for this whole activity sequence
Activity List
- Introduction to the ElectroMagnetic Spectrum
- The Doppler Effect
- Understanding Celestial Coordinate Systems
- Observing Celestial Coordinate Systems using Stellarium
- Introduction to Radio Astronomy
The first two activities center around the Nature of Light…
1. Introduction to the ElectroMagnetic Spectrum
This introductory activity asks students to research the full electromagnetic spectrum online.
Click for link to Intro to the EM Spectrum (view PDF) Student Activity Document
Intro Video to the Importance of Spectroscopy
To get to main point, go to time 7:13 on the video
2. The Doppler Effect
Many lessons introduce the Doppler effect. This DSPIRA lesson uses actual radio telescope data collected by DSPIRA teachers.
Click for link to The Doppler Effect (view PDF) Student Activity Document
3. Understanding Celestial Coordinate Systems
The next activities introduce sky coordinate systems. Students learn to combine those coordinates with their location to plan observations.
Understanding Celestial Coordinate Systems student activity (view PDF)
The following are videos from Dr. Loren Anderson at West Virginia University’s Astronomy department.
They are short clips from the his 2nd lecture given to the DSPIRA Teachers during July 2019.
4. Observing Celestial Coordinates using Stellarium
This activity is a nice introduction to using the Stellarium Web Online planetarium program
Click here for Observing Celestial Coordinates using Stellarium student activity (view PDF)
Click here for Teacher Notes Document (view PDF)
A tutorial video Using Stellarium Online
5. Introduction to Radio Astronomy
MIT students created this Introduction video to Radio Astronomy. It provides useful background for further DSPIRA activities.
Visit this website to learn about neutral hydrogen and the 21 cm radio waves it emits. Essentials of Radio Astronomy
The site begins with basic explanations. Continue reading for a more detailed discussion.