1. Introduction

   The World Wide Web (or Web for short) has become a valuable tool for finding information about all sorts of topics - no matter how obscure. Used properly, the Web provides access to up to date resources and news. In astronomy, this type of current information is especially useful, as you will find out in this lab.

2. Getting Started

   Before starting anything, make this page a bookmark so you can easily refer back to it. Ask someone if you need help with this.

   A convenient place to start is with some links that have already been collected for you. Explore the different sites and make a note of the types of materials available. For example, at the Purdue Weather Satellite page you can find hourly satellite images. Click here to go to the Colgate Astronomy Links page and then come back here to test your web acumen.

3. Astronomy at Yahoo

   Yahoo is one of the most popular databases on the Web. In the Science section, under the heading of Astronomy, there are several categories which one can browse through for useful information. One item to note on the Astronomy at Yahoo page is the Indices. These are a "Pandora's box" of information - they contain even more collections of astronomy web pages.

4. The Scavenger Hunt!

   You are being confined to the resources available at Yahoo and the links provided by the Colgate Astronomy Home Page. Blank spaces have been provided for you if you decide to print this page out. Fill in the name and URL (Location) of each page. The great thing about the Web is that there is more than one right answer. Be patient and have FUN!!

   • Example - Really cool astronomy homepage at Colgate

     Name: Colgate University's Astronomy Home Page

     URL: http://astronomy.colgate.edu

   • Three astronomy magazines and the topic of a major article from each

     1. Topic:

        Name:

        URL:

     2. Topic:

        Name:

        URL:

     3. Topic:

        Name:

        URL:

   • The latest Life on Mars information

     Headline:

     Date of article:

     URL:

   • Searching the Astronomy Picture of the Day

     1. What is the topic of today's picture?:

     2. Find a picture of a man on the Moon.

        Give date and URL:

     3. Using imbedded links, find some background information

        .

        .

     4. Find a picture of Ida and Dactyl.

        Give date and URL:

     5. Find three pictures of Pathfinder on Mars.

        1st date and URL:

        2nd date and URL:

        3rd date and URL:

     6. Find an article on your favorite planet (besides Mars).

        Give date and URL.

     7. Find information on Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler.

        Tycho date and URL:

        Kepler date and URL:

   • Searching Earth and Moon View

     What is the phase of the Moon?

     What is the age (days, hours, minutes) of the Moon?

   • Year that KNAC was founded and number of schools in the consortium

     Hint: You've seen this acronym when you were exploring the Colgate Astronomy Home Page

     Year:

     # of schools:

     Name:

     URL:

   • The name of the last moon the Galileo spacecraft went to and the when and where will be the next closest approach

     Last moon:

     Next moon:

     Time until closest approach:

     Name:

     URL:

   • Find two Galileo spacecraft images of Europa

     1st image URL:

     2nd image URL:

   • Name and discovery date of the bright comet seen over North America in winter-spring 1997

     Name of the comet:

     Date of discovery:

     Name:

     URL:

   • The latest on the Cassini mission to Saturn

     URL:

     Date Cassini was launched from Earth:

     What satellite of Saturn will Cassini drop a probe onto?:

     How many countries are involved in the Cassini mission?:

   • Name and date of the next major meteor shower

     Name of the shower:

     Date:

     Name:

     URL:

   • When and where the next total solar eclipse is

     Hint: A popular astronomy magazine has a lot of information on this

     When:

     Where:

     Name:

     URL:

5. Putting It All Together

   Using one of the topics in Section 4 or a topic from the list of additional topics, use at least three URL's to write a short, one to two page summary. Write your summary using WORD. Include at least one picture, figure, or diagram in your summary (Instructions to import pictures). Also, at the end of your summary, include your references (URL and the name of the page) from which you received your information. Write your paper using a word processor on this machine and hand in a printout at the end of lab. Be sure to save your summary on the floppy drive using your email username as the name of the file.

   Additional Topics

   • Comet Hale-Bopp
   • The surface of Venus
   • Apollo missions to Moon
   • Pathfinder mission to Mars
   • Galileo results of a moon of Jupiter
   • Cassini mission to Saturn
   • Uranus
   • Dangers of Asteroids Striking Earth
   • Comet Shoemaker-Levy (impacted Jupiter)

version 1997 October 28; for Astronomy 101 (Solar System Astronomy)

Lab developed by David Berger ('97) and Prof. Thomas Balonek, Colgate University.

Please contact: tbalonek-AT-mail.colgate.edu for questions, comments, ...

Last modified: August 18, 2006