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photo curtesy of TIE web
site
The Telescopes in Education
(TIE) program brings the opportunity to use a remotely controlled
telescope and charge-coupled device (CCD) camera in a real-time,
hands-on, interactive environment to students around the world.
TIE enables students to increase their knowledge of astronomy,
astrophysics, and mathematics; improve their computer literacy;
and strengthen their critical thinking skills. Telescopes
In Education is a program sponsored by the National Aeronautics
and Space Administration (NASA) and developed through the
efforts of numerous volunteers, businesses, and supporting
organizations including the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The TIE program currently utilizes
a science-grade 24-inch reflecting telescope located at the
Mount Wilson Observatory, high above the Los Angeles basin
in the San Gabriel Mountains of Southern California. The telescope
has been used by students in grades K-12 to observe galaxies,
nebulae, variable stars, eclipsing binaries, and other ambitious
projects and experiments. Hundreds of schools in the US and
around the world (including Australia, Canada, England, and
Japan) have successfully used the prototype telescope on Mount
Wilson. Through TIE, students have rediscovered and cataloged
a variable star and assisted the Pluto Express project at
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to revise the ephemeris (orbital
location) for the planet Pluto.
Left Gil Clark is pictured next to
one of the TIE telescopes (a 14" Celestron) mounted on
top of a paramount mount from Software Bisque.
TIE director, Gilbert A. Clark, received
the Clifford W. Holmes Award for Innovative Telescope Design
on behalf of TIE.
- The TIE project receives
support from NASA, and California Institute of Technology
(Caltech). · TIE has been invited to demonstrate remote
telescope operation and conduct workshops at the National
Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and the California Science
Teachers Association (CSTA). · The TIE project has
been extensively covered by the print and broadcast media,
including the following publications (in alphabetical order):
Astronomy (twice), Atlantic Monthly, Audubon, Boys Life, Microelectronics,
National Geographic, Natural History, Nature, Popular Science,
Science Education (British Council), Scientific American,
Sky & Telescope (9 times), Smithsonian, and hundreds of
European magazines and journals. TIE aired as a feature story
on the premiere of Microsoft NBC News, the Sci-Fi Channel
Inside Space science program, and has been widely covered
by other televised news programs. TIE has been referenced
in over 8,000 publications, websites, and broadcast media.
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