written by Wolfgang Christian, Mario Belloni, and Todd Timberlake

One of the most popular courses in physics is astronomy. However, the topics taught require visualizations that are not familiar to the typical students in these courses. To address this issue, we have created a set of flexible resources for the teaching of introductory astronomy based on two- and three-dimensional simulations. These simulations are created with Easy Java Simulations (EJS) which is a free and open source tool for creating Java simulations. Because EJS allows teachers to easily change simulations, existing simulations can be customized to the type of astronomy course one is teaching. In this workshop, we will describe how to use and modify astronomy simulations such as the celestial sphere, Ptolemaic and Copernican models, Keplerian orbits including eclipses, galactic collisions, and orbits about black holes.

Material for this workshop is available in a ComPADRE shared file folder: http://www.compadre.org/osp/filingcabinet/bookmarks.cfm?FID=30679

• Download AAPT_2012S_W31_Schedule.pdf - 352kb Adobe PDF Document

Published July 18, 2012
Last Modified July 28, 2012

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A complete package of materials for the Ptolemy and Copernicus Activity, including EJS simulations and the activity handout.

• Download ejs_PtolemyCopernicusActivity.jar - 2746kb Java Archive File

Published July 18, 2012
Last Modified July 18, 2012

PDF of the worksheet for the Ptolemy and Copernicus Activity.

• Download PtolemyCopernicus.pdf - 89kb Adobe PDF Document

Published July 18, 2012
Last Modified July 19, 2012

This file is included in the full-text index.
This file has previous versions.