Hunting for Asteroids

Summary

This workshop introduces students to the world of asteroids and encourages them to analyse several real images, taken by a professional telescope, in an attempt to detect asteroids. The activity can then be extended by using the LTImage software functionality to calculate the speed of the asteroids, or simply lead on to a discussion on what asteroids are, where they live, how we track them, what danger they might pose and how we can deal with any dangerous asteroids heading our way.

Age Range

7 – 14

Duration

45 minutes

Module Composition

• Introductory Talk about Asteroids – Presentation
• Overview of the LTImage image processing software – Hands-on laptop activity
• Search for asteroids in real data – Hands-on laptop activity
• Calculate velocity of asteroid – Maths calculation
• Discussion on dangers of asteroids – Group discussion

Extension Activities

• Down to Earth – Asteroid Impact Simulator.
• Asteroid Watch – help to track asteroids.