Computing and Software Requirements
To complete the Teaching Modules, students will require access to computers in the classroom or teaching lab. They will also want to save their work, so will need some share space on the computer or server, or the ability to save to a disk or USB memory stick. Some modules may require access to the internet.
Specific software, network and storage requirements are described in each project module. All the software required for the data processing are free- or trial-ware (no cost and no copyright issues) and require Windows 2000, XP, or Vista. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to users of other operating systems.
Some image files are contained in zip archives. Most computers would already have software to unzip the files, such as the built in Compressed Folders in Windows XP and Vista, or WinZip or Powerzip (which can be obtained via the internet) on older machines. Alternatively, files may be downloaded individually, identified and used according to the instructions here.
Software Required for the Teaching Modules
| IRIS | Editing and analysis of image data. Recommended for creating colour images. |
| Makali`i | Editing and analysis of image data. Recommended for aperture photometry (measuring star magnitudes). |
| Astrometrica | Astrometry (measuring the positions of objects). Recommended for determining asteroid positions. |
| Adobe Reader | Allows you to read the pdf manuals and files contained on this website. Please install the appropriate version for your operating system. |
Other Useful Astronomy Software
| Stellarium | This virtual planetarium shows you what is in the sky at a certain time. Recommended if you want to plan your own observations with Faulkes Telescopes. |
| Project CLEA | A set of astronomical experiments for high school students using virtual telescopes. These are extremely well structured and highly recommended. |
| Celestia | Space travel simulator allowing you to explore space in 3D. |
| FITS Liberator | A plugin allowing you to load and manipulate FITS files in Photoshop. |
| VSPEC | Analysis of spectroscopic data. |
Alternative Software
| ds9 | Image viewing (alternative to IRIS, Makali'i and Astrometrica). |
| Cartes du Ciel | Observation planner (alternative to Stellarium). |
| FITSview | Image viewing, capable of some simple measurements, plots and basic image processing (alternative to IRIS, Makali'i and Astrometrica). |