2/25

Come up with a 1- 3 page creative story that creates an real-life analogy to our Sun's life cycle.  This can be a detective mystery, or a an 8-12  page illustrated story book for a 4th grader.  Your goal is to tell me about fusion, the stellar life cycle, the elements found in the stars, and the energy and neutrinos produced based on our work of the last week.

Stellar Life Cycle

Questions to Consider
*what is the life cycle of our star?
*what is the HR diagram?
*what are characteristics of each of the stellar stages?
*how do gravity and pressure affect one another through the life cycle of a star? How does the balance change through each stage?
* What is the main sequence?
* How does the brightness of our star change over its lifetime?
* How does the temperature of our star change over its lifetime?


How is the work of Annie Cannon connected to this system?

Stellar Evolution by mass

The pieces

Stellar Chemistry

=====================
Tuesday:

Galaxy Intro

How accurate is Eric Idle's song?  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galaxy_Song


Seeing Galaxies takes some practice, so going to here will be a good start.   It should take about 20 minutes to read through and see the galaxy types.

Next, go to the SDSS database, which took pictures for the first web site.   You will be learning about galaxies, and going through the first 2 exercises and the first 4 questions.  Take the time to collect the data on paper, and hand in what you have completed at the end of the hour.

==================Wednesday

SDSS

Read the activity found here    (this should take 20 min)


Read the opening paragraph of the Wikipedia article on the Sloan Digital Survey.   (this should take 5 min)

Today, you will be doing a digital scavenger hunt with a partner.  The activity is found here. (this should take 50-60 min, so take your time with the reading)


Note:   the magnitudes are listed using 5 different filters-- u, g, r, i ,z    Each of the filters is tracking different wavelengths.  At this point, just write them down.

Get at least 10 of the questions answered.   

=======================Thursday

4 Questions to Answer

Black holes:
http://www.seasky.org/celestial-objects/black-holes.html
http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/sciencetech/understanding-black-holes-universe/6800




Please answer 4 of the following questions.  Each answer should be at least 1/2 page long.  Illustrations, as appropriate, may be included.  Consider this a take-home test.

1.  Will there ever reach a point in astronomy where we can stop spending money on telescopes and NASA?  Consider the issues of space travel, human civilization, and distance and  life cycles of stars.  Provide at least 5 pieces of evidence, not just opinion, for your point of view.

2.  Why is Annie Cannon a revolutionary person in the study of stellar spectra, and is luminosity more closely related to magnitude or absolute magnitude?  What does the catalogue tell us about stars and the universe?

3.  How is the HR diagram related to the formation and life cycle of stars?  What does a HR diagram of a stellar cluster tell us about that area of space?

4.  Compare three end points of a star  (supernova, black hole, white dwarf, or neutron star) and tell me
how to recognize them, and why their original mass doomed them to their fate.

5.  What role does the balance between gravity and pressure play in the formation and life cycles of stars, and how does this affect the formation of elements in the periodic table?

How Should/Could We Classify Stars?

• magnitude
• absolute magnitude
• color
• surface temperature
• spectra
• if it fuses hydrogen?
• how massive
• how far away?

Courtesy of http://chandra.harvard.edu

Understanding Neutrinos

These are your materials for study for the first 45 minutes. Take notes as you proceed, using an outline, mind map, or poster/whiteboard. You will hand these in.

E=mc2 explains the stars





What's a Neutrino?
Neutrino detectors
How Long Would We Have if the sun went out?
After 45 minutes, we'll begin our synthesis of the big ideas in group discussion.

Should we build the James Webb telescope??

This is due on 2/23/2012.   The paper (or digital artifact) must be shared individually.   Because of the number of people gone to, well....everything, I have made Friday a workday.


The James Webb Telescope is slated to be deployed in 2018, but......budget cuts may get in the way.

Your ASSESSMENT for this unit is to find out this telescope, compare it to one specific telescope located in space, a specific reflecting or refracting telescope and a specific radio telescope. Your goal is to decide if we need this telescope or not, based on what we already have.

This chart will be worth 20 points.

You will develop an opinion paper that is 5-7 paragraphs and supported with details, including whether or not the James Webb telescope should be built, how this will affect Sun research, how this affect our knowledge of neutrinos, and what we can potentially discover. This essay will be worth 20 points and will be graded as follows:

Thesis statement: 3 points
Supporting details: up to 10 points
Defined conclusion: 4 points
Grammar and Mechanics: 3 points

What is a CCD and WHY does it Matter?

Pictures of CCD(interactive on buildiing a CCD)

CCD Lab

Using the CCD Lab, answer the following.

1.  You want to put together a space telescope.  To start with, you decide you need to check out the metal surface of your CCD.   What surface(s) could you use to detect the following  types of light at 100% intensity (make a table as shown below)?

Surface Metal      x-rays      purple        blue     green   yellow     orange      red
sodium
zinc
platinum
copper
calcium

2.  Now, decide which metal you will use for the primary CCD telescope.   Now, check the wavelength range at various intensities  (10%, 20%, 40%, 80%, 100%) using the table below?    How effective will this telescope be for bright objects?   Dim objects?

Intensity                     10%                20%                  40%                  80%                100%

Wavelength range


3.  Take a look at the values of current for a 75% intensity light on a platinum surfaceand write the current into the table below..

Wavelength vs. Current

100nm       200nm       300nm       400nm        500nm         600nm           700nm



What does the data in #3 tell you about the effectiveness of a CCD for ALL wavelengths of lights?   How would an alloy try to deal with this value?



4.  If you were to construct a space telescope, would you have more than one telescope available on a platform?   Explain your reasoning.


Turn in this sheet INDIVIDUALLY at the end of the hour.9

Tuesday is for Telescopes

In simplest terms, a telescope is a light bucket. That means it collects some sort of electromagnetic data to share.

Today, we are going to look at some of the important telescopes that have been used in astronomy.   We'll also watch some videos.

In each, describe the wave range of the telescope, where it is located, and famous people and discoveries spawned by the telescope. After you are done, try to rank the value from 1 (low) TO 12 (highest).  Be prepared to hand in this data tomorrow.

• Mount Wilson
• Very Large Array
• SOHO
• Hubble
• Spitzer
• Chandra   
• COBE
• Galileo's telescope
• Newton's telescope
• GOES-West
• Horn Antenna (Bell Labs)
• __________  your choice

======================
HELIOPHYSICS


SPITZER


HUBBLE


CHANDRA

Teachers' Domain: Spectrometry Explained

Teachers' Domain: Spectrometry Explained

Teachers' Domain: Cosmic Origin Spectrograph

Teachers' Domain: Cosmic Origin Spectrograph

Teachers' Domain: The Origin of the Elements

Teachers' Domain: The Origin of the Elements

Sun, Stars, and Telescopes

1. Scan through the first 12 slides.   Then, discuss the statement  "Why is sunlight responsible for life on earth?"   List what evidence you have that supports the statement.
2. Focus on the radius and mass of the Sun and compare it to our Earth and Jupiter.   
3. Finally, look at the differences in temperature between the core and the convection zone, and try to explain it to me using a meaningful analogy.  (Example:  the difference between a tornado and a breeze is like a semi of rice grains compared to a dozen).

==== 
We watched excerpts from:

Citation (MLA)

  The Sun. National Geographic. 2004
  Learn360. 19 September 2012
  http://www.learn360.com/ShowVideo.aspx?ID=128186 

Citation (MLA)

  Secrets Of The Sun. A&E Television Networks. 2007
  Learn360. 19 September 2012
  http://www.learn360.com/ShowVideo.aspx?ID=227115 


We took notes regarding:
The Sunspot Cycle 
Maunder Diagram 
Space Weather 



Day 2 
Go to the link below. Try looking at a spectra that is 350 degrees, 1000 degrees, and 6000 degrees. What amount of visible radiation is shown in each of those? Why do we have blackbody spectra for stars?

Link:   Black Body Radiation 






Complete the sun lab using the sheets provided, and the link shown below

Link:  Sun Lab 



======Line Spectra=======


Line Spectra Lab

Click to Run

 Investigate screen and experiment with the situations.  Predict what will happen under the following situations:

What will happen when the voltage is increased?
 With the voltage at a given amount, what will happen when the heater percentage is reduced?
If conditions are set so that light is being produced in multiple molecule mode, what will happen in single atom mode? Check your predictions.

 Questions: 1. What condition(s) must be met in order for light to be produced by a discharge lamp?

 2. What event(s) occurs to actually produce the light we see?

 3. Does the spectrophotometer indicate unique spectrums for each gas?

 4. What types of electromagnetic radiation are produced?

 5. How could this phenomenon be used by astronomers?

=========

Take Home Test (due tomorrow)

You may hand-write this and turn it in.



Question 1:  You are required to go to a meeting for government class, so you choose one of the the following two options.  (6)

Option A:  A school board meeting is focused on the approval of the new science standards.   There is a group of people who are protesting because the standards choose the 'false religion of the big bang and evolution' over 'Biblical Truth and creationism.'   What's the problem, and how do you solve it?

Option B:  Your cousin calls you in a panic, asking for advice.   S/he has had a reading done at a local fortune telling shop, and it said that, according to the stars and the planets, s/he is in a 'critical time of decision-making that must carefully be navigated to resolve the future.'   What type of postive/negative feedback should you give?

Question 2:  Pick one of the following constellations and use Stellarium to find the distances in light years, and the absolute magnitudes of the brightest 5 stars. Make certain that your table is not all picking the same constellation by working two people to one computer.(5)

• Draco
• Cassiopeia
• Cepheus
• Ursa Minor

Question 3:  Is it difficult to travel to another planet or moon?   Give at least four pieces of evidence to support your viewpoint.(5)

Question 4:  Would you rather settle on a distance planet or moon with plate tectonics/no atmosphere or with an atmosphere/no plate tectonics?  Explain your reasoning.(3)

Question 5:  You are on a camping trip with a friend.   Designate a phase of the moon that is not full, and tell me how you could use it to see how close it is to 7  (you can choose am or pm, just tell me which one). (5)

Question 6:  Why has understanding moons of the solar system been so critical to understanding Kepler's laws, day length, and the possibility of life? (5)

Question 7:  If you could design a mission to study ONE planet, which one would you choose and why?  Consider distance, composition, and benefits to humanity. (3)

Question 8:  Based on your reading, comment on one of the following:(5)

Option A:  Why Pluto should not be considered a planet if Neptune is considered a planet.  This is not just opinion, but must be based on evidence.

Option B:  The funding for a Near Earth Asteroid/Comet detection program as part of the US National Budget.

Last Bits and Pieces on the Solar System

How Far Have We Gone?

The Magnetosphere

Building a Moon 

Asteroid Encounters

Space Junk

================Jovian Moons===============


Read pp. 162-162, 167-168, 185-186, p. 206, 210-12, 230


Galileo became a heliocentrist largely due to his observations about Jupiter's 4 biggest moons:  Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto.  Using his telescope, he observed these moons and their patterns around the planet.  He marked the motion of the moons in terms of Jupiter Diameters as viewed through his telescope.

Set up a Open Office Calc table with the names of the 4 moons at the top and the dates on the left side.

Gather data for at least 30 days using the Jupiter moon position applet a

Create a x-y scatter graph for each moon.  PRINT OFF AND HAND IN.

Watch the movie.


http://www.teachersdomain.org/asset/ess05_vid_galileomoon/

==========

Diameter of the Moon (at home lab for extra 10 points)




============Pluto as Planet Discussion at 2

Pluto isn't a planet

Pluto IS a planet

How was Pluto discovered?

Getting to another planet

Look at the following and select a mission for a Rocky (Terrestrial) planet and a mission for a Gassy planet   
  NINE PLANETS 

  Nasa Missions Page 

  Wikipedia Space Exploration