Document Type
Article
Publication Date
12-2000
Department 1
Physics
Abstract
What is a well-intentioned astronomy instructor to do? There is no argument that experience with the real world is desirable in any astronomy course, especially the introductory classes that fulfill the science distribution requirements at many colleges and universities. Though it is a simple matter to take students out of doors, show them the motions of the Sun, Moon, and stars, and have them squint for a few seconds at Saturn's rings through a telescope, these activities represent only a small portion of the subject matter of modern astronomy. It is simply not possible, given the constraints of time, weather, and equipment at most schools, to have students determine the photometric distance of a star cluster, measure the dispersion distance of a pulsar, or confirm Hubble's redshift-distance relation for themselves. [excerpt]
Copyright Note
This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution.
DOI
10.1119/1.1341943
Recommended Citation
Marschall, L.A., G.A. Snyder, and P.R. Cooper. A Desktop Universe for the Introductory Astronomy Laboratory. The Physics Teacher (2000) 38(9):536-537.
Required Publisher's Statement
The original published version is available from The Physics Teacher at http://tpt.aapt.org/