HLA Educational Materials

Close × 2022 March 19: The HLA footprint viewer no longer works because it relies on Flash. If you need footprints, we recommend using the MAST Portal. Note that the Portal also gives access to the new Hubble Advanced Products (HAP), which include more recent observations. The HLA contains no observations acquired after 2017 October 1.

The HLA educational materials are a collection of resources provided by individuals both internal and external to Space Telescope Science Institute. These materials are not formalized or standardized, however we do provide a level or grade for the intended audience. If you have created your own labs or excercises using the HLA and would like to share them, please contact Lee Quick

COLLECTION 1

These exercises are designed for the undergraduate level Physics or Astronomy major taking introductory astronomy I or II by Katie Hamren. They require some quantitative work and some knowledge of physics, astronomical concepts, and making simple plots and graphs. To request the answers to these exercises please contact Lee Quick

Color Magnitude Diagram In this exercise students use real Hubble data to create a color magnitude diagram of M80, and then use theoretical isochrones to estimate its age and distance. The student should have some familiarity with stellar magnitudes and Hertzsprung-Russell diagrams, though details are given in the assignment. The full exercise requires knowledge of some form of coding (preferably IDL, to take advantage of the IDL Astronomy Library), but the simplified exercise only requires Microsoft Excel (or something similar).

V838 Monocerotis In this exercise students use images of V838 Monocerotis taken several months apart to calculate the light echo's apparent rate of expansion. Students require access to software that allows them to view fits files (ex. DS9)

M87 vs the Antennae In this exercise students use color-color diagrams and single stellar population models (SSPs) to compare and contrast M87 and the Antennae galaxies. The full exercise is designed to be done using IDL, but it can be altered for lower-level students to only require excel.

Antennae Galaxies In this exercise students use Hubble data to construct a color-color diagram of the clusters in the Antennae galaxies. This diagram is used in conjunction with a single stellar population model (SSP) and reddening vectors to identify a method of qualitatively age-dating some of the clusters. This exercise requires an understanding of astronomical magnitude systems (particularly Vegamag vs AB mag) and a basic understanding of extinction. In addition, it requires a good deal of coding (preferably IDL, to take advantage of the IDL Astronomy Library).

COLLECTION 2

This lab is designed for the undergraduate level Physics or Astronomy major taking introductory astronomy I or II by Jason Kendall, William Patterson University.

HR diagram of M80

The purpose of this lab is to understand stellar evolution by means of obtaining information from various resources and creating an HR diagram.