About Astronomy in Education - and courses

Seanie, if you check www.nightclasses.ie you can see that there are eight different astronomy night classes on around the country,
Ronan Newman

I was going to post a question about this today as well. And this is the answer I was looking for

I'm a total beginner and when I take the scope out it's with some charts from Starry Night or a planisphere and I know what I'm looking for that night. But I struggle to identify some constellations etc so a beginners course is exactly what I want. AI run on too don't they - anyone know the details?

[edit]Is anyone on the forum involved in any of the classes in Dublin or Kildare?

Bumping up an old thread because no point clogging up the forum with duplicate topics.
So, I'm currently a student at the University of St Andrews, checked out one of the astronomy modules back in first year but it was really just normal physics with a tiny bit of astronomy in it. There's "astrophysics" but it involves all the normal undergrad physics modules which I'm not interested in. And the St Andrews astronomy club has got to be the worst organised thing ever. There's a 37 inch reflector complete with CCD and is the largest operational optical telescope in the UK. However, the club is so rubbish that last year they only observed 4 times in the whole year and got basically no results.
So looking maybe to do some decent astronomy thing elsewhere, working at home of course as I'm not going to two places at once. Is the Open University course actually any good at all? Would it teach more than is usually already known by backyard astronomers with a bit of practical experience? Anything new since the 3 years the information in this thread was posted?

So looking maybe to do some decent astronomy thing elsewhere, working at home of course as I'm not going to two places at once. Is the Open University course actually any good at all? Would it teach more than is usually already known by backyard astronomers with a bit of practical experience? Anything new since the 3 years the information in this thread was posted?

Well I finished my MSc with Swinburne last June. Heading over for the conferring next month. The website has all the info, some of the courses have been changed since this thread started! astronomy.swin.edu.au/sao/

Would it teach you more than you know? Definitely. But some of the modules are more interesting than others. Like many here I grew up with Voyager 2 and have followed the missions to the planets with interest. So the module on "Exploring the Solar System" didn't teach me much. I thought "Astrobiology" might be interesting, but I hated it. You can opt to just do single units and not work towards a qualification if you like though. You kind of get out what you put into these this - you can coast your way through it or you can take your time and really dig deep. I really got into the pulsar projects and was thinking of studying this further but it took years to do the MSc. part time; I don't think I prepared to make the time commitment to a PhD in my spare time. Feel free to ask me about more about the course.

Don't know what the OU is like, but the cost put me off it.

Oh and since the thread started the 'Universe' textbook has notched up a couple more editions. Now on its 8th edition. Great introductory textbook for astronomy.

Cheers,
~Al (MSc. FRAS Yippee!)

You could contact Dr Simon Green whom is the course leader for the OU astronomy programme. If you were at the Connaught Star Party, Galway last week he was one of the main speakers. I know Simon well over the years because he has been my supervisor for my part time PhD. His knowledge and experience is impressive in the practical hands on observing.
I know the external students go to Millorca, Spain for the hands on studies.
They carry out projects for example in photometry and spectroscopy. I know they use Andrew Norton's book 'Observing the Universe' whom is a co course leader with Simon. The book is a hands on and relevant to undergraduates in astronomy.


Eamonn A