All Kepler Education Projects
The SETI Institute (SI) works with the Astronomical Society of the Pacific (ASP) to develop amateur astronomers resource kits, and with the Kepler Science Operation Center to provide observational data for amateurs.
The Amateur Astronomer support is provided in two ways:
- Amateur Astronomy Kits: outreach materials for amateurs to conduct astronomy presentations, activities, and demonstrations at local community venues such as astronomy clubs, community organizations, youth groups, or school classes. The ASP has conducted research on the needs of the amateur community, and is developing amateur kits for the Navigator Mission and other NASA missions for the Night Sky Network (NSN). The Kepler project with ASP will create a kit for amateur astronomers called Shadows and Silhouettes, which will complement the materials developed by the ASP for the NASA Navigator program at JPL.
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See space.com article, Shadows and Silhouettes: Looking for Transits, by Edna DeVore (5 Oct 2006):
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On 30 Nov 2005, Janice Voss, NASA Astronaut and Science Director for the Kepler mission, gave a teleconference for Night Sky Network members. There are a number of such events and resources available to Night Sky Network astronomy clubs. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming part of the Night Sky Network, see the NSN home page. We are posting links on this page to
Transcript of Dr. Voss's telecon
Powerpoint images for the telecon (2Mb)
Audio recording of the telecon (7.3Mb)
- Online Information & Training: Many well-equipped amateur astronomers are interested in observing transits of giant planets discovered by Kepler. Extrasolar planets, such as HD 209548 have been observed in transit by amateurs using CCD-cameras with off-the-shelf telescopes. The Kepler team generates ephemerides and finding charts for amateur astronomers to support ground observations of transits by giant planets. Amateur astronomers can observe transits by giant planets with suitably sophisticated equipment. The necessary precision is available with amateur cameras and telescopes. Ephemerides information for amateur observers is provided via the Kepler website in cooperation with the Kepler Science Operations Center. Amateur observation support will be informed by other Kepler EPO projects such as the Hands-On Universe Measuring Brightness module (for high school) and KeplerNet training materials for colleges and universities developed with input from the Western Kentucky University
In conjunction with development of the Amateur Astronomer Kits, Kepler cultivates partnerships with projects and organizations with interests related to the art of planet finding: The Astronomical League, the American Association of Variable Star Observers (AAVSO), TransitSearch.org, and Navigator program’s NSN. Each of these organizations is a high leverage partner. NSN has over 230 amateur astronomy clubs in 50 states and Puerto Rico. ASP and Astronomical League are already partners with the NSN. The kits may support and benefit from transit planet finding activities developed for the GEMS Space Science Core Sequence (grades 6-8) and the Alien Earths exhibit.
Impact: Amateur Astronomy kits, disseminated though the partner organizations mentioned, should reach several thousand amateur astronomers as well as tens of thousands of people through the public outreach activities of many of those amateur astronomers.
Evaluation: Formative evaluation is conducted to determine the content of the kit, and summative evaluation is conducted once the product is in the hands of the amateur community. NSN has an established evaluation system. Evaluation is also coordinated by the Kepler LHS Research, Evaluation, and Assessment (REA) team.
All Kepler Education Projects
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