USA Hands-On Universe Home

Hands-On Universe (HOU) is an educational program that enables students to investigate the Universe while applying tools and concepts from science, math, and technology. Using the Internet, HOU participants around the world request observations from an automated telescope, download images from a large image archive, and analyze them with the aid of user-friendly image processing software.

Hands-On Universe USA (HOU-USA) was originally a collaboration that included The Lawrence Hall of Science (LHS) at University of California, Berkeley (UCB), Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and TERC.

The most recent HOU conference to take place in the USA was at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green, Kentucky, 15-21 August 2017, in the path of totality of the 21 August 2017 American Solar Eclipse! See the conference website and list of participants.

Latest HOU Images:

from Carl Pennypacker during GHOU 2016 conference in Norway, using the Faulkes telescope—M16, The Eagle Nebula:

Carl Pennypacker during GHOU 2016 conference in Norway, using the Faulkes telescope

from Rich Lohman, Over the Hill Observatory, August 2014:

M11, Wild Duck Star Cluster

  • M11-Wild Duck Cluster
  • Get FITS image (right or control click)
M13-Great Globular Cluster in Hercules

  • M13-Globular Cluster in Hercules
  • Get FITS image (right or control click)
M16-Eagle Nebula

  • M16-Eagle Nebula
  • Get FITS image (right or control click)
M17-Swan Nebula

  • M17-Swan Nebula
  • Get FITS image (right or control click)
M20-Trifid Nebula

  • M20-Trifid Nebula
  • Get FITS image (right or control click)
M27-Dumbbell Nebula

  • M27-Dumbbell Nebula
  • Get FITS image (right or control click)
M51-Whirlpool Galaxy

  • M51-Whirlpool Galaxy
  • Get FITS image (right or control click)
   

Supernova 2014J

supernova 2014J
Photo of supernova 2014J in M82 by Rich Lohman at the Over The Hill (OTH) observatory Saturday 2014 January 25. SBIG ST-7 camera on an LX-200 Meade 12″; f/3.3 focal reducer on the normal f/10 telescope. CCDsoft Imaging software.
galaxy M82 photo taken June 2012
For comparison: M82 photo by Rich taken in April 2012. You can also download .fts image. Rich says “I used a log scaling in SalsaJ before converting to jpg.”
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