Space and Cyberspace Case Rijsdijk Astronomical Society of

Space and Cyberspace Case Rijsdijk Astronomical Society of Southern African particles@mweb. co. za case@saao. ac. za

. . . this is about. . . the underpinning philosophy is to use astronomy as a vehicle for science education. . . my experiences in communicating astronomy in the developing world. . . creating special ‘tools’ and ‘models’ on a needs basis. . . there is only time to discus a few. . . but I hope it convinces you that this approach – that of using tactile models. . . works. . . ! 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 2

. . . celestial dome. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 3

. . . planetaria. . . small. . . and large planetaria do much the same. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 4

. . . different. . . ? . . . but are these conceptually very different from some ancient models. . . ? 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 5

. . . still thinking 2 -D. . . no amount of computer graphics can produce a really effective representation of the real world. . . even something as simple as the Sun’s apparent motion across the sky, solstices and equinoxes. . . or the phases of the Moon. . . are best done with some simple modelling. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 6

. . . north/south problem. . . is one that we in the southern hemisphere are very aware of. . . most astronomical material is produced in the northern hemisphere. . . this affects Moon phases, sunrise/set, and constellations. . . again simple models explain this. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 7

. . . the Sun. . . where does the Sun rise. . . ? . . . on your left. . . ? . . . or right. . . ? 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 8

. . sunrise. . . East . . . does the Sun always rise in the east. . . ? . . . does it always rise at the same angle. . . ? 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 9

. . . sunometer. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 10

. . . luxometer. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 11

. . . seasons. . . these, and other simple devices, help to explain the seasons in a simple and effective way. . . see ref #8. . . standard use of solstices and equinoxes does not work. . . in many parts of southern Africa there anything from 2 – 6 seasons. . . ! 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 12

. . . crescent Moon. . . does the first crescent Moon look like this. . . or like this. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 13

. . . showing phases. . . ? 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 14

. . . showing phases. . . ? 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 15

. . . this does. . . doing it yourself. . . Courtesy Hart. RAO 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 16

. . . shadow sticks. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 17

. . . mini shadow sticks. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 18

. . . time zones. . . one can see how these time differences can occur. . . the magic is when the globe is turned round. . . the shadows move, showing that the Sun’s apparent movement across the sky is because the Earth is turning. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 19

. . . simple sundials. . . a simple one made from a single sheet of paper. . . source – Prof. V. Icke, Leyden. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 20

. . . simple sundials. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 21

. . . proper sundials. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 22

. . . effects of gravity. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 23

. . . effects of gravity. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 24

. . . effects of gravity. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 25

. . . effects of gravity. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 26

. . . gravity simulation. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 27

. . . eclipses. . .

. . . but a model. . . two discs. . . ecliptic plane with a Sun. . . Earth-Moon orbital plane that can slide into the ecliptic. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 29

. . . but a model. . . no eclipse possible. . . Moon in line with Sun but above ecliptic. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 30

. . . but a model. . . no eclipse possible. . . Moon in ecliptic plane, but not in line with Sun. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 31

. . . but a model. . . eclipse is possible. . . Moon in ecliptic plane and in line with Sun. . . solar. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 32

. . . but a model. . . eclipse is possible. . . Moon in ecliptic plane and in line with Earth. . . lunar. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 33

. . . doing and making. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 34

. . . making things. . . knock-on effect. . . do you know what I did today. . . ? . . . the best way to learn is to tell/teach/show others what you have learnt. . . and this is reinforced by having a model to show others what you did. . . enthusiasm is infectious. . . ! 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 35

. . . but why. . . is it in spite of some of the most stunning images from Hubble, VLT and others. . , . . . amazing software and planetarium programmes. . . and the internet and really great animations. . . it is still making something that will generate the pedagogic “ah-ha”. . . and looking through a telescope that produces the biggest “wows”. . . we can combine the two. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 36

. . . connecting Space to Cyberspace. . . using a laptop, data projector and screen outside. . . some appropriate software. . . a lot can be achieved. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 37

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. . . accessability. . . easy. . . mmm. . . hard. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 43

. . . further afield. . . using the same coding as before. . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 44

. . . in Africa. . . again using the same coding as before. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 45

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. . . south is up. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 47

. . . Starbus. . . taking astronomy to the people. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 48

. . . during YEAST. . . the Starbus was stocked with a range of resources developed at SAAO. . . along with laptop, projector, screen and 250 mm telescope. . . with a staff of two. . . and taken into the rural areas of 3 focus provinces. . . and into peri-urban townships. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 49

. . . delivery. . . it worked. . . until the funding ran out. . . 3/12/2021 . . . but it CAP can be. Town done again. . . !! 2010 Cape 50

. . . conclusions. . . my experience shows that for a proper understanding one must. . . MAKE things to model astronomy. . . DO astronomy by taking astronomy TO the people. . . best to communicate astronomy using cyberspace AND tactile models. . . ! 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 51

. . . acknowledgements. . . I would like to thank the LOC, SOC, the IAU and SAASTA for support to attend CAP 2010. . . and colleagues at the SAAO for their continued support. . . thank you. . . 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 52

. . . references. . . 1 2 3 4 5 http: //www. atnf. csiro. au/pasa/17_2/rijsdijk/paper/node 4. html http: //www. saao. ac. za/~wgssa/as 3/rijsdijk. html http: //adsabs. harvard. edu/full/2000 PASA. . . 17. . 156 R http: //adsabs. harvard. edu/full/1999 Afr. Sk. . . 3. . . 29 R Astronomy for Developing Countries. Ed. A H Batten. IAU publication. Astronomical Society of the Pacific, 2001 6 Astronomy Communication. Ed. A Heck and C Madsen. Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2003. 7 Teaching and Learning Astronomy. Ed. J Pasachoff and J R Percy. Cambridge, 2005 8 Explore Beyond the Earth. C Rijsdijk and L Dilley. Maskew-Miller Longman, Cape Town. 3/12/2021 CAP 2010 Cape Town 53