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Project Summary
| Difficulty | 6 |
| Time required | Very Long (several weeks to months) |
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| * Note: This is an abbreviated project idea, without notes to start your background research or a procedure for how to do the experiment. You can identify abbreviated project ideas by the asterisk at the end of the title. If you want a project idea with full instructions, please pick one without an asterisk. |
Abstract
Here's an astronomy project idea from Dr. James Pierce, a professor in the Astronomy Program at Minnesota State University, Mankato: "Determine the length of twilight at different times of the year by observing the time at which certain bright stars first appear and comparing with the sunset time. Beware of variations due to stars appearing at different altitudes. Try using Polaris as a standard. Also note the time at which automatic streetlights turn on. Determine how soon after sunset stars of different magnitude (brightness) appear." (Pierce, 2004) A good book for learning to locate stars of different brightness for this project is The Stars: A New Way to See Them, by H. A. Rey (Rey, 1966).Bibliography
- Pierce, J., 2004. "Ideas for Astronomy Science Fair Projects," Astronomy Program, Minnesota State University, Mankato [accessed July 31, 2006] http://www.mnsu.edu/astro/JP/JPScifair.html.
- A great book for learning the constellations is (and yes, this is the same H. A. Rey who wrote Curious George):
Rey, H. A., 1966. The Stars: A New Way to See Them, Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Variations
- For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Astronomy Project Ideas.
Last edit date: 2006-12-14 13:42:09
Career Focus
If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring careers in Astronomy.
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Astronomer Astronomers think big! They want to understand the entire universe—the nature of the Sun, Moon, planets, stars, galaxies, and everything in between. An astronomer's work can be pure science—gathering and analyzing data from instruments and creating theories about the nature of cosmic objects—or the work can be applied to practical problems in space flight and navigation, or satellite communications. |
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