About the CSU Remote Telescope

Overview:

This project is an initiative of Dr. David McKinnon, Associate Professor, Faculty of Education, Charles Sturt University Bathurst.

Access to the telescope is part of learning packages developed for school curricula on Earth and Space. Each package is entitled A Journey through Space and Time. Both Phase 1 for Years (Grades) 5 and 6 and Phase 2 for Years (Grades) 7 to 10 have been available since August 2001. Many schools around the world have used them. If you wish to have teachers’ comments sent to you, please follow the Information Request link on the sign-up page.

Each package contains materials to support teachers and students in their learning about Space and the Universe. A CD-ROM is part of each package. It contains the following: image-processing software; images to study and practice on; PowerPoint™ slide presentations that show the observatory, the telescope and its CCD cameras and also walk the user through the software needed to set up their local computer for telescope access; and, image-processing exercises to enhance photographs received from the telescope.

Classes that sign up to study A Journey through Space and Time are allocated blocks of time to use the online telescope, find objects in the sky, and position the telescope and cameras to capture digital images.

The People:

The telescope project is the brainchild of Dr David McKinnon, Associate Professor, School of Teacher Education, Charles University, Bathurst. David lectures in Online Teaching and Learning and has a strong personal interest in astronomy. He had an idea that giving school students the mechanisms whereby they could access and control a telescope via the internet would foster in them an ongoing interest in science, technology and astronomy. As the project grew David devoted more and more time to it.

David has designed curriculum supplements in the form of a Teachers’ Guide which takes teachers and students on a journey through space and time, as they learn about space, time and distance relative to the Moon, planets, galaxies and other night sky objects. The project is backed by a professional team of people consisting of:

Lena Danaia - PhD Student and Administration
Desmond Wilsmore and Helen Geissinger - Educational Designers.
Anthony Oliver - Windows Server 2003 Technician
Matthew Howes - Web Designer & Technical Support.

The Location:

The telescope is located in Australia's oldest inland city, Bathurst, NSW. Bathurst is roughly 200km west of Sydney over the Great Dividing Range were the darker night sky allows great viewing of planets, stars and galaxies.If you would like more information about Bathurst, searching Google is a great place to start.

The Hardware:

The backbone of the network is our brand new Intel Xeon based IBM eServer. The server runs Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Terminal Server(RDP).

The server runs a variety of software to control a 12inch Meade LX200 telescope and 2 CCD cameras. When you connect to the server via RPD, it's just like using your own computer. The diagram below breaks the network down into segments. Click to enlarge.

For more information, please follow the Information Request link on the sign-up page.