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Wiki for the NASA IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP) [used to be the Spitzer Teachers Research Project]

What is the NASA IPAC Teacher Archive Research Program (NITARP)?

The Spitzer Science Center (SSC) and the NASA Infrared Processing and Analysis Center (IPAC) (with help from the National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO)) are providing teachers and students with authentic science experiences using archival data from the Spitzer Space Telescope, the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database (NED), the NASA Exoplanet Archive, the NASA/IPAC Infrared Science Archive (IRSA) and other NASA archive holdings. This program has as its goals the fundamental NASA goals of inspiring and motivating students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics as well as to engage the public in shaping and sharing the experience of exploration and discovery. Our educational plan addresses the NASA objectives of improving student proficiency in science and improving science instruction by providing a unique opportunity for groups of teachers and students (with the help of a mentor astronomer) to work with professional astronomical archival data. The research team completes the data analysis, and presents their findings to others throughout the scientific community. Read more about us on our main public website. Or, keep reading about the goals and other background information we've collected here. This project used to be named the Spitzer Research Program for Teachers & Students; in mid-2009, the source of funding changed, so the project changed a little, and is now known as NITARP. Some parts of this wiki may not have been updated yet to reflect this change.

What and Who is this Wiki for?

This wiki is a dynamic environment for the NITARP participants (teachers, scientists, and students) to interact as their research projects evolve over time. All participants are asked to share, and continue to develop materials based on their experiences with this program. We ask that if you make a contribution to the Wiki (especially on the discussion pages) that you PLEASE cite the source of your information and/or provide your name within the wiki (when editing, click on the button that has signature+timestamp to finish off your comment) in the event others have questions.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since these projects and web pages are designed to evolve and change over time through the contributions of many different learners (including students, teachers, and scientists), you may from time to time find some information that is not 100% accurate. This of course is part of the learning process we hope to foster. We encourage you to think critically about the information that is here, and ask for help or clarification if you need it.

Also see What is this project? for more information.

Anyone can view these pages, but if participants of NITARP would like to edit them or make additional contributions, please email Dr. Luisa Rebull at rebull - at - ipac.caltech.edu to get an account set up. Please see the "help" page (link on the menu bar on the left) for general introductory information as it pertains to editing and interactions on the wiki.)

Guide to NITARP participants for use of the wiki.

Other infrastructure things: Advice for NITARP teachers and students and Jargon and acronym page

What is infrared light?

A very general introduction to infrared astronomy, with links to go to for more information. Note that this wiki is not designed to replace a basic astronomy textbook for general introduction to astronomy information. We're assuming that you've already gotten that information elsewhere.

How does the Spitzer Telescope work?

A very general introduction to the Spitzer Space Telescope, with links to go to for more information.

What other kinds of archival data are part of NITARP?

A general introduction to all of the archives housed at IPAC that are part of NITARP.

Research Tools

How to get started, software, tutorials, overviews, and more.

Current Research Projects

Students, teachers, and scientists throughout the US are working together on a wide variety of Spitzer research projects. Currently they include a variety of projects ranging from the hunt for young stars in IC 2118, to exploring the supermassive black hole in Arp102B.

Future Research Project Ideas

Here is a place to explore future research project ideas.

Misc. Lesson Plans, Activities, and Useful Websites

Please feel free to contribute. We do ask that you include your wiki signature (click on the username/date stamp button in the edit window) when submitting lesson plans and activities. This will help users of the site in the event they have questions. Also, when posting a website, please provide a brief description of the site along with the web link.

Wiki Development Plans

Stuff we're still working on re-organizing or writing ab initio.

Leftover "Getting started on the wiki" stuff (including manuals for how to edit files)

Guide to NITARP participants for use of the wiki.

Consult the User's Guide for tons of information on using (including editing files with) the wiki software. Playground to experiment with formatting. Uploading a file to the wiki tutorial.

• Configuration settings list
• MediaWiki FAQ
• MediaWiki release mailing list