Carter Observatory Research Articles

A Benevolent Astronomer: Further notes on L. J. Comrie

Britain, and particularly London, was neither a pleasant nor a safe place to be in 1940. Nor were the prospects of the city all that welcoming. In May Winston Churchill became Prime Minister – he offered ‘blood, toil, tears, and sweat.’ By early June the ‘miracle’ of Dunkirk was offering some encouragement, but this was offset by the evacuation of British troops from Norway with several thousand casualties. July to August saw the Battle of Britain with the Blitz on London, and throughout this period the loss of Allied shipping caused continuing apprehension. By the end of the year Britain stood alone against Germany and Italy, with Russia uncommitted in the wings. It was against this background that Leslie John Comrie made the decision to ship a large quantity of books and serial and periodical publications to the Carter Observatory in Wellington. Comrie was an expatriate New Zealander who had been Superintendent of the British Nautical Almanac Office, had established Scientific Computing Services Ltd in London and was an acknowledged leader in numerical computation before the advent of electronic computers. He was also regarded as the leading table maker and table editor of his day. 1

The close binary system SU Ind

AbstractPhotometric data on the southern mid‐F type close eclipsing binary system SU Ind from the Carter Observatory (NZ) were examined, together with a light curve obtained from the Hipparcos Epoch Photometry (HEP) database. The system appears detached, although appreciably evolved from the Zero Age Main Sequence. The HEP period must be accurate for its own epoch, but it is significantly different from the reference (Hoffmeister 1956) value. This is difficult to explain, given the uncomplicated nature of the light curve. The apparent discrepancy can be reconciled with a period that has remained almost constant over the 40 year interval between the epochs by assuming some confusion between the almost equal depth minima. The near‐equality of components raises issues of determinacy in light curve analysis, which are reviewed against the presentation of relevant numerical curve‐fitting details. The system is of physical interest, in that it is close to the start of the ‘active’ range of spectral types. Its stars have relatively rapid rotation speeds and probably shallow convective subphotospheric layers. (© 2004 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

STaRS: Space Science Teaching and Resource Site

AbstractA World Wide Web site has been developed by astronomers and educators at Carter Observatory. STaRS is the Space science Teaching and Resource Site (www.vuw.ac.nz/~mackie/STaRS.html) and its objectives are to (1) present astronomy investigations for 8 to 12 year olds and (2) promote topical astronomy and space science studies for a general audience. The educational investigations drawn from local and international sources and the resources provided to teachers are described. The structure and content of the general audience pages are summarised. Details of site promotion and usage and critical comment from users and educators are given.

Coping with a New Curriculum: The Evolving Schools Program at the Carter Observatory, New Zealand

Carter Observatory is the National Observatory of New Zealand and was opened in 1941. For more than ten years the Observatory has maintained an active education program for visiting school groups (see Andrews, 1991), and education now forms one of its four functions. The others relate to astronomical research; public astronomy; and the preservation of New Zealands astronomical heritage (see Orchiston and Dodd, 1995).Since the acquisition of a small Zeiss planetarium and associated visitor centre in 1992, the public astronomy and education programs at the Carter Observatory have witnessed a major expansion (see Orchiston, 1995; Orchiston and Dodd, 1996). A significant contributing factor was the introduction by the government of a new science curriculum into New Zealand schools in 1995 (Science in the New Zealand Curriculum, 1995). “Making Sense of Planet Earth and Beyond” comprises one quarter of this curriculum, and the “Beyond” component is astronomy.

Selling Our Southern Skies: recent public astronomy developments at the Carter Observatory, New Zealand

Carter Observatory is the gazetted National Observatory of New Zealand, and opened in 1941 December. From the start, the main function of the Observatory was to provide for the astronomical needs of the citizens of, and visitors to, the Wellington region, and today this remains one of its four recognised functions (Orchiston and Dodd, 1995). The other three are to conduct astronomical research of international significance; provide a national astronomy education service for school students, teachers, and trainee teachers; and assist in the preservation of New Zealand's astronomical heritage.

Special School Holiday Programs at the Carter Observatory

AbstractAs an experiment, special holiday programs for primary school children were offered by the Carter Observatory during two different school holidays in 1995. One program focussed on Mars and the other on the Sun. This paper describes the two programs, expands on their strengths and weaknesses from different viewpoints, and (despite their overwhelming popularity) outlines the reasons why the Observatory has decided not to offer further holiday programs of this type in the foreseeable future.

Education and Public Astronomy Programs at the Carter Observatory: An Overview

AbstractThis paper outlines the extensive range of public programs offered by the Carter Observatory, including ‘public nights’, new planetarium and audio-visual shows, displays, the Carter Memorial Lectures, the annual Astronomical Handbook and other publications, a monthly newspaper column and three monthly radio programs. It also deals with the Observatory’s involvement in undergraduate and postgraduate astronomy at Victoria University of Wellington, various adult education training programs, ‘Overnight Extravaganzas’, holiday programs, and the recent development of the Education Service in response to the introduction of an astronomy curriculum into schools throughout New Zealand. Some possible future developments in the public astronomy and education areas are also discussed.

Research Programs at the Carter Observatory: An Overview

AbstractAn outline is given of the main research programs currently in progress at the Carter Observatory. These include: the establishment of a set of standard star magnitudes and colours in the Vilnius seven-colour photometric system; the study of galactic and extragalactic star clusters using Vilnius and broadband photometries; binary stars and the development of APTs; and the history of Australasian astronomy. The role of Carter Observatory Honorary Research Associates is described and mention is made of the joint New Zealand/Japan program to observe gravitational microlensing effects, discover variable stars and patrol selected clusters of galaxies for supernovae.

The Kotipu Place Observatory APT

Carter Observatory's Celestron-14 APT has been redeveloped and reinstalled at the Kotipu Place Observatory. Information on this operation is presented, together with an example of data acquired by the instrument.

The Carter Observatory Education Program

AbstractOver the past ten years a comprehensive educational program has been developed at Carter Observatory which covers every level from pre-school to PhD. A great deal of time also is expended in a varied adult education program. Every effort has been made to co-ordinate the various parts of the program in such a way that people will be encouraged to take a productive interest in astronomy.

New Zealand Astronomy in the 1990s

AbstractThere has been a dramatic increase in astronomical research output in New Zealand over the last decade. This is set to increase with the advent of a number of new pieces of astronomical hardware over the last five years. These include the 1m telescope and associated instrumentation at Mount John and the JANZOS collaboration, with its instrumentation on Black Birch. Black Birch is also the site of the US Naval Observatory’s southern hemisphere astrometric station, where, using a transit circle instrument, they are collecting data which will form part of the International Reference Star Catalogue. As well as these ‘professional’ programs there is also a large network of amateur astronomers, who can provide extremely useful input into certain astronomical programs at the various observatories around the country and the world.A brief overview of the existing New Zealand astronomical scene will be followed by discussion of a number of new initiatives being proposed, which includes an automatic patrol telescope being developed by Carter Observatory, an expansion of the JANZOS collaboration and initial discussion about the possibility of an eastern arm for the Australia Telescope some where in New Zealand. In addition, for programs which require a long timebase of observations, extreme southerly latitudes or longitudinal coverage, New Zealand could provide a unique opportunity.

Some Notes on Astronomy in New Zealand

AbstractA brief description of astronomy in New Zealand both amateur and professional, past and present is given, with particular emphasis on the work carried out by the two professional establishments; the Carter Observatory, Wellington and the Mt John University Observatory of the University of Canterbury.