Early (5 points): Do a Google search (images) for M31, or M57, M13 or just pick any "M" number up to 110 .... and you will see some beautiful astronomical images. Your mission is to find out how this classification system came into being. Hint: It is named after a person .... a person on a mission. Once you find the person, report on his mission. Once you do, explain it using your own words (please don't just copy/paste some web page) in one short paragraph.
The "M" stands for Messier objects. They get their name from French astronomer, Charles Messier who was an avid comet hunter. In the 1760's, Messier made a list of objects which resembled comets, but were not. All 110 objects are a potpourri of various astronomical objects- nebulae, supernova remnants, open clusters, globular clusters, galaxies, double stars, etc. The key is that they are all relatively bright and easy to find. These objects can all be seen with 7x50 binoculars or a small telescope on a clear, dark night. The Messier catalog is a great starting point for newbie astronomers.
Newer (5 points): Then do a Google search (images) on NGC and you will see many more pictures. What does NGC stand for? When was it developed and how many objects did it contain? Was it ever updated? If so, when?
Of course there are a lot more than 110 objects to look at. Rather than expand on Messier's list, a newer catalog system was devised called NGC ... which stands for New General Catalog. It was developed in the late 1800's and contains 7,840 deep sky objects.
As telescopes got better and better, fainter deep sky objects were discovered (and many errors were found in the older system). As a result, several upgrades have been made to catalog astronomical objects. The latest is the Revised New General Catalogue and Index Catalogue developed in 2009 (abbreviated as RNGC/IC)
Modern (5 points): Go to the SDSS web site. Try to get past all the technobabble and, in plain English, say what is available for anyone who cares to dig into this site. What instrument is used to collect this information?
Quite simply, a 2.5 meter telescope in New Mexico (at the Apache Point Observatory) has collected and cataloged data and made it available for anyone to study. This is a wide field telescope that is able to survey about 1/3 of the entire sky. This includes images (maps) and data on stars or galaxies. They even have astronomy labs for educators to use in classrooms. This web site gives a very good overview of what Sloan is all about.
Modern (5 points): Go to the WorldWide Telescope web site. Spend at least 20 minutes playing around with this web site. Make sure you "Run the WorldWide Telescope on the Web". Write something you found interesting and supply a screen shot of it.
Surprise me!
In case you were not paying attention, this question is all about astronomical data ... lots and lots of data .... now at your fingertips.