Shaw-IAU Workshops by the OAE

In the activities of the workshops of the NASE courses for teachers and professors, participants learn to build various instruments using very simple materials in order to analyze light. These activities, referring to the discovery of He in the sun, or to the analysis of the light of the stars or the atmospheres of exoplanets, can be used in high school physics and chemistry classes, With these materials, we can observe the spectrum of Na from a candle flame doped with NaCl, the spectrum of Hg, Na and H from discharge bulbs, and finally, we teach how to see the Fraunhofer lines in high definition, without any slit or spectroscope, just with a DVD, using second-order reflection, and to distinguish the Mg triplet, the Na doublet, and hundreds of lines of Fe, H, etc. of the solar spectrum.

About Ricardo Moreno

Ricardo Moreno is a professor of Physics, Astronomy, Mathematics at the Colegio Retamar in Madrid (Spain). He graduated in civil engineering from the Polytechnic University of Madrid. His interests have focused on practical activities for teaching science, and on the training of Primary and Secondary teachers in the field of Astronomy. He is co-founder of NASE (Network for Astronomy School Education), and member of ApEA (Association for the Teaching of Astronomy).

Watch a recording of this talk (external link)