Portal:Radiation astronomy/Lesson/7

First blue source in Boötes

Main resources: Radiation astronomy/First blue source in Boötes and First blue source in Boötes

This is a visual image of lambda Boötis. Credit: Aladin at SIMBAD.

The first blue source in Boötes is unknown.

This is a lesson in map reading, coordinate matching, and searching.

It is also a project in the history of blue astronomy looking for the first astronomical blue source discovered in the constellation of Boötes.

Nearly all the background you need to participate and learn by doing you've probably already been introduced to at a secondary level.

Some of the material and information is at the college or university level, and as you progress in finding blue sources, you'll run into concepts and experimental tests that are an actual search.

To succeed in finding a blue source in Boötes is the first step. Next, you'll need to determine the time stamp of its discovery and compare it with any that have already been found. Over the history of blue astronomy a number of sources have been found, many as point sources in the night sky. These points are located on the celestial sphere using coordinate systems. Familiarity with these coordinate systems is not a prerequisite. Here the challenge is geometrical, astrophysical, and historical.