To experiment with images that have been digitized and understand the size of the images used by KAO observers. Distribute newspaper photographs to the class. Ask students to look carefully at the photographs with a magnifying lens and then describe what they see. Explain that modern astronomical images are much like newspaper photos.
Pixels seen in close-up are tiny squares of different brightnesses or colors.
Materials Activity 3A bound into a Mission Logbook one piece of graph paper for each student Procedure Distribute the activity sheet and read the material along with the students. Discuss the different images and how they look from different distances. Remind students that KAO images generated by the detector flown during the LFS missions are only 8 pixels by 8 pixels, generated by an array of 8 x 8 detectors with the 4 corners open, leaving 64 - 4, or 60, pixels in each image. Ask students to describe what kind of picture can be drawn with this few pixels. Challenge students to create an 8 pixel by 8 pixel drawing that someone else can interpret.