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"Wisdom is not a product of schooling but of the life-long attempt to acquire it." — Albert Einstein


Astronomy (6°)

Most recent update October 18, 2004 2:56 PM

Schedule

  • Friday, August 27th: First day of class (Activity Schedule)
      • Introductions, Slide Show (this and all Power Point documents will be presented on the web as Macromedia Flash Paper (.swf) files. For more information about Flash, visit OpenSWF.
      • Homework (HW): Read Universe Ch. 1-1 (pp. 2-3) and review Box 1-3 (pp. 12-13)

  • Week of Monday, August 30th: Units; Size Scales; the Sky
    • Day 1
      • Warmup: visit the Powers of Ten website and navigate from the smallest to the largest scales in our universe. Answer the following questions and save your answer as a text file or as a Microsoft Word document: What is the size scale of the Local Group of galaxies (in meters)? How many times bigger is the Milky Way galaxy than a grain of pollen?
      • Earth/Moon game
      • Rules of thumb (Lecture notes 1, 2, 3, 4 -- yeah I'll have this thing figured out in no time ;)
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 1-2 to 1-4 (pp. 3-7); read Box 1-1 on pp. 8-9; do Ch 1 #11
    • Day 2
      • Warmup: visit the Astronomy Picture of the Day and navigate to the picture & explanation for your last birthday. Be prepared to describe what you found to the class. Bookmark the website and label it with a name that will allow you to find it later.
      • In-class worksheet: Size and motion scales; let's conserve paper & only print this out if we really need to
      • Lecture notes 1
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 1-5 (pp. 7-8); do Ch 1 #s 6 & 7; finish size and motion scales handout
    • Day 3
      • Warmup: visit the Astronomy Picture of the Day and navigate to the search tool. Search on a term describing a common, every day object or animal, such as 'cat', 'dog', 'tree', 'swan' etc., and see what kinds of images appear. Be prepared to describe what you found to the class. Right click on any images you like and save them to your My Documents or My Pictures directory. Try to give them good names that will help you remember (or be able to look up) what they are.
      • Outdoors: estimates of distance and size; definitions of altitude, azimuth, horizon and zenith
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 1-6 & 1-7 (pp. 8-14); do Ch 1 #s 12, 13 & 14
    • Day 4
      • Warmup: visit the Astronomy Picture of the Day and navigate to the archive. Estimate the fraction (as a percentage) of images that are related to (1) planets; (2) stars; (3) galaxies; (4) nebulae; or (5) history of astronomy. Create an Astronomy directory in your My Documents folder and save your estimates as a Microsoft Word or Notebook file there.
      • HW & Reading Quiz on above material; closed-note and closed-book; equations will be given (as in physics)
      • Finish the quiz early? Please read these articles: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
      • Here's a nice unit converter that Ted & Charles found
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 1-8 & 1-9 (pp. 14-15) & Sandy Faber's article on pp. 18 & 19; do Ch 1 #s 21, 27

  • Week of Tuesday, September 7th: Motion of the Night Sky

    • Day 1 (Activity Schedule)

      • Warmup: visit and read the Observing the Sky lesson created by the Office of Naval Research. Hey! If it starts going 'boing boing boing' really loud, turn the sound on your computer down or off by going to the picture of the speaker in the lower-right toolbar on your desktop. If you finish early, read this article about Project Genesis (no, not the one from Star Trek II).

      • BRING YOUR STAR WHEEL TOMORROW
      • Lecture/presentation: Using Cartes du Ciel to demonstrate the motion of the night sky.
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 2-1 through 2-3; do Ch 1 #s 32 & 33 (you will need to read Box 1-1 to complete these)
    • Day 2 (Activity Schedule)
      • Warmup: visit and read the Celestial Sphere website, paying closest attention to the labels, numbers, and other information on the figures. Use this to answer the following question: if you were standing on the South Pole, would the stars appear to rotate about you from left to right, or from right to left?
      • Lecture/presentation: How to use a Star Wheel  BRING YOUR STAR WHEEL TODAY
      • In-class worksheet: Using a Star Wheel
      • Read about Daylight Saving Time and the crash of Genesis
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 2-4; finish worksheet

    • Day 3 (Activity Schedule)

      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel from the desktop shortcut; go to Preferences --> Observatory and change the location of the observatory to San Francisco by selecting from the list under World Cities; click on the box that is diagonally half blue and half black to turn off the daylight; go to Preferences --> Save Options to make sure it always goes to San Francisco; practice moving around the field of stars by right-clicking and centering on new regions of the sky.

      • Lecture/presentation: diurnal and annual motion of the sky; working problems

      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 2-5; do Ch 2 #s 25, 28, 29, 30 and 44a


  • Week of Monday, September 13th: Motion of the Night Sky

    • Day 1

      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; check that the observatory is still San Francisco by going to Preferences --> Observatory; practice zooming in and out on the field of view by using the magnifying glass icons; click on the 'N' 'S' 'E' 'W' and 'Z' (zenith) buttons to look around at the sky; (Note: if your screen gets hopelessly messed up or confusing due to clicking on all sorts of buttons, just quit (don't save!) and restart.)

      • Lecture/presentation: seasons; altitude angle of the sun; ecliptic, solstices & equinoxes
      • Today's Lecture Notes
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 2-6; do Ch 2 #s 12, 13, 31, 32
    • Day 2 (Kairos)
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; go to Preferences --> Date & Time, uncheck the box marked 'Use System Time'. Be sure that we are in daylight saving time by seeing that the thing says "Time = UTC + (-7)". Then, enter in a date and time of interest to you (perhaps the moment you were born) and see that the sky changes. Then, use the Animation feature to watch the gradual motion of the sky; click on the stopwatch with the red hands on the left side of your screen; set the animation time to 0 days, 0 hours, 4 minutes, and 0 seconds, then click on the right-arrow to start the motion. You can hit the square button to stop it. Look to the west and figure out exactly when sunset tonight should occur.
      • Lecture/presentation: R.A. and Declination; coordinate systems for the astronomical sky
      • Today's Lecture Notes
      • HW: do Ch 2 #s 14, 37, 52

    • Day 3 (Kairos)

      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; use the EQ and AZ buttons at the top-right to turn off and on the azimuthal and equatorial coordinate systems. Find the AZ coordinates (altitude & azimuth) and the EQ coordinates (RA & Dec) of the star Vega in Lyra tonight at 8 PM and at 12 midnight. You can use the 'search' tool by going to Search --> Find, clicking on 'Constellations' then clicking on 'Star Name' and selecting Vega.

      • Lecture/presentation: review questions for quiz

      • HW: study for quiz on Day 4
    • Day 4 (Kairos)
      • HW & Reading Quiz on above material; closed-note and closed-book; equations will be given (as in physics)
      • HW: read Universe Ch. 3-1 and 3-2; do Ch 3 #s 1, 4, 7

  • Week of Monday, September 20th: Motion of the Moon & Planets (Spirit Week)
    • Day 1
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; use the search/solar system tool to find the moon; you may have to fast-forward the sky using the animation tool until the moon rises; zoom in on the moon until it fills your screen; identify the terminator on the moon, the daylight side and the nighttime side of the moon.
      • Lecture/presentation: phases of the moon I
      • Today's Lecture Notes
      • HW: finish moon worksheet; read Universe Ch. 3-3
    • Day 2 (8th grade visitors today)
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; use the search/solar system tool to find the moon; do not zoom in on it. then, step forward the time by exactly one day; verify that the moon moved in the direction you expected, and by roughly the angle you expected. Step forward one day at a time, readjusting your view as needed, to watch a complete cycle of the moon.
      • Lecture/presentation: phases of the moon II / questions on the worksheet
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 3-4 and 3-5; do Ch. 3 #s 2 & 6
    • Day 3
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; watch the famous solar eclipse that happened between 5 and 6 PM on May 28th, 585 BC, visible from Istanbul, Turkey. Check out the track of the eclipse.
      • Lecture/presentation: eclipses of the moon
      • Today's Lecture Notes
      • HW: do Ch. 3 #s 8, 9, 10, 16
      • Important note: Sebouh d.K. will be holding office hours as our Astronomy TA on Thursdays at lunch, in the physics room (313) where the physics homework parties take place. Keep him busy!
    • Day 4
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; turn on the ecliptic plane by going to the Lines menu and clicking on Ecliptic. Verify that the moon is withing 5 degrees of the ecliptic. Afterwards, right-click on the moon and hit 'track moon', then animate forward in steps of one day. Note that the moon never deviates from within 5 degrees of the ecliptic.
      • HW & Reading Quiz on above material; closed-note and closed-book
      • HW: Read Universe Ch. 3-6; do Ch. 3 #s 5, 19, 34, 36
  • Week of Monday, September 27th: Motion and Phases of the Planets (Full Moon Tuesday, September 28)
    • Day 1
      • Warmup: visit this page; then visit the Solar System Live site and view the current arrangement of planets. Try looking at just the Inner Solar system by clicking on the appropriate button. Also, view the arrangement of the planets on the date of your birth. (Don't worry about adjusting the Observing Site data unless you want the altitude and azimuth numbers to be right in the table at the bottom.) Also, check your grade online at my front page.
      • Lecture/presentation: phases and motions of the planets I
      • HW: read Universe Ch. 4-1 and 4-2; do Ch. 4 #s 5 and 6
    • Day 2 (8th grade visitors today)
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; find and track Venus; use the animate feature (stepping one day at a time) to watch Venus move through its phases
      • Project: Kepler's Method Worksheet
      • Today's Lecture Notes
      • Note to self: post sign-up sheet for Monday night observing and Wednesday lunch observing (see below)
      • HW: read Universe Ch. 4-3 and 4-4; do Ch 4 #s 3, 7, and 8
    • Day 3
      • Warmup: visit this news site; then, run Cartes du Ciel; find and track Saturn; use the animate feature (stepping one day at a time) to watch Saturn switch between direct and retrograde motion as it passes in front of the stars in the constellation
      • Project: continue with Kepler's Method Worksheet (print out a new one if you got hopelessly messed up)
      • HW: finish worksheet; read Universe Ch. 4-5 and Box 4-2
      • Important note: Sebouh d.K. will be holding office hours as our Astronomy TA on Thursdays at lunch, in the physics room (313) where the physics homework parties take place. Keep him busy!
    • Day 4
      • Warmup: check this out; then, run Cartes du Ciel; turn on the ecliptic plane by going to the Lines menu and clicking on on Ecliptic. Verify that the visible planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn) stay within the limits defined by the inclinations given in this table.
      • HW & Reading Quiz on above material; closed-note and closed-book. In future, makeup exams will only be available Monday or Thursday at 5th period in Room 313.
      • Kepler's Method Worksheet DUE at start of class
      • Finish the quiz early? Please check this and this out. Then begin reading this.
      • HW: read Universe Ch. 4-7 and 4-8; Box 4-3; do Ch 4 #s 9, 12, and 45; read Appendix 1 in your textbook and copy this material (you can photocopy it if you want) so you have a copy of it that you can bring to class regularly.
  • Week of Monday, October 4th: Kepler's Laws of Motion of the Planets (Third/Last Quarter Moon Wednesday, October 6)
    • Day 1
      • Warmup: visit the Kepler's Laws site and read about Kepler's 1st and 2nd laws of motion; check out this timeline I made (in .swf format)
      • Outside: Kepler's Laws out on the track  (bring the material from Day 4's HW of last week)
      • HW: Begin Kepler's 3rd Law worksheet (due at start of exam on Day 4)
      • Monday night observing: CANCELLED DUE TO POOR WEATHER, SORRY! (p.s. get used to it! :)
    • Day 2 (Dr. Philhour out for conference on Wed; please see instructions below) (8th grade visitors today)
      • Charles, Erica, Kat, Ginger, Om, and Matt: would you please be so kind as to volunteer (again) to help our 8th grade visitors have a fun experience today? I thought your work with them last week was very nice, and we need it even more this week with my absence. Try to involve them as you can. Thanks so much.
      • Warmup: visit the Kepler's Laws site and read about Kepler's 3rd law of motion
      • In-class work 1: Work on Kepler's 3rd Law worksheet with partners (print this out if you like, but I will accept a separate write-up if you want to save printer paper)
      • In-class work 2: Begin East vs. West reteaching worksheet (I'm noticing that many are still confusing directions -- this quick review should help; due at start of exam on Day 4); work on this with partners as well -- you must print this out to turn it in (sorry it doesn't print out well / can you just sketch people in by hand?)
      • HW: do Ch 4 #s 34 & 35 (this last one is a challenge); continue working on worksheets
    • Day 3
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; find Jupiter; zoom into a 10' field; track Jupiter with 1 hour steps and watch Jupiter's four major moons orbit about the planet
      • Review for exam
      • Work on East vs. West reteaching worksheet with partners (due at start of exam on Day 4)
      • Work on Kepler's 3rd Law worksheet with partners (due at start of exam on Day 4)
      • HW: review for exam; you can study for this by using our quizzes as a guide. This exam will be very similar to the quizzes in format. This is your second chance to prove to me that you understand and can work comfortably with this material. Your last chance will be at the midterm exam on October 21st.
      • Important note: Sebouh d.K. will be holding office hours as our Astronomy TA on Thursdays at lunch, in the physics room (313) where the physics homework parties take place. Keep him busy!
    • Day 4
      • Exam: phases of the moon, eclipses, motion of the planets, Kepler's Laws, gravity THIS IS YOUR SECOND CHANCE TO SHOWN ME YOU HAVE LEARNED THE MATERIAL THAT YOU HAVE BEEN QUIZZED ON IN THE LAST WEEKS. The exam will be heavily based on previous quizzes as well as the hand-outs and homeworks you have been assigned.
      • Turn in Kepler's 3rd Law worksheet from Day 1; turn in East vs. West reteaching worksheet from Day 2 (sorry it doesn't print out well / can you just sketch people in by hand?)
      • Note to self : hand out Astronomy / Sky & Telescope magazines to 1st half of the class
      • HW: those with magazines: read your magazine and do the following: (1) use Chapter 6 in the textbook to 'decode' one of the advertisements for a telescope. Choose any ad, then attempt to figure out what all the weird numbers, figures, and terms in the ad mean. Read any article from the magazine. Bring magazine back Day 2 (Thu) of next week to give to the next person.
  • Week of Monday, October 11th: Telescopes & Observatories (short week -- weird Wednesday) (New Moon Wednesday, October 13)
    • Day 1
      • Warmup: Read How to Buy a Telescope from Space.com; note that the article continues for several pages, with a link at the bottom of each within the text. Then read How a Telescope Works from Howstuffworks.com (also several pages ... I will give you plenty of time for this warmup.)
      • Lecture/presentation: Telescope Q&A and demonstration
      • HW: Read all of the Figures and Tables of Chapter 6 up to Figure 6-17, as well as their captions; also, those with magazines should read two more articles from the magazine.
      • Monday night observing: Register on sign-up sheet in class, maximum of five students. Meet at flagpole at 8:00 PM. Arrange to be picked up at 9:30 PM. Parents and friends are welcome if you are willing to explain to them what's going on. I will post a cancellation notice to this location by 7:00 PM this evening if the weather looks poor.
    • Day 2 (8th grade visitors today)
      • Warmup: Read about How the Arecibo Telescope works, then visit and explore the Hubble Space Telescope site. Also, look here to see why we didn't see any sunspots on Monday: go to the 'list of previous daily images', scroll to the bottom, and find Monday, Oct 11, 2004; then go back and find a day when we actually did sunspots. (You will see that we just got a bit unlucky.)
      • In-class work: begin telescope design project (I will hand out hard copies - do not print); due Day 1 of next week
      • Swap magazines with the 2nd half of the class.
      • HW: Read the rest of the Figures and Tables of Chapter 6, and their captions; also, those with magazines: read your magazine and do the following: (1) use Chapter 6 in the textbook to 'decode' one of the advertisements for a telescope. Choose any ad, then attempt to figure out what all the weird numbers, figures, and terms in the ad mean. Read any article from the magazine. Bring magazine back Day 1 (Mon) of next week.
      • Final reminder: Sebouh d.K. is holding office hours as our Astronomy TA on Thursdays at lunch, in the physics room (313) where the physics homework parties take place. Keep him busy!
    • Day 3
  • Week of Monday, October 18th: Midterm Week (First Quarter Moon Wednesday, October 20)
    • Day 1 (Mon)
      • Warmup: run Cartes du Ciel; go to the Lines menu and turn on Show eyepiece; go to Preferences and click on Eyepiece; change eyepiece #1 to a 60 minute (1°) field of view; then click on CCD Field, turn on CCD Field #1, and change the field of view to 10 minutes by 5 minutes (note we are using 'minute' to mean 'arcminute'); then change the rotation to 25 degrees and the description to "Test CCD Field". Now get back to Cartes du Ciel and zoom in to a 5° field of view. You should see your larger eyepiece and smaller CCD field (rotated). Now, find Saturn (you may have to change the time of day) and zoom in to progressively smaller and smaller fields. You should eventually see Saturn framed within your CCD Field. This is what your CCD image would look like with the parameters given.
      • Work on telescope design project (note additional page of lenses) from Day 2 of last week: DUE DATE CHANGED TO MIDTERM DAY
      • Or work on Practice Midterm and solution key
      • HW: Prepare for Midterm Exam
      • Monday night observing: CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER: FORECAST OF RAIN
    • Day 2 (Tue)
      • Warmup: repeat the warmup from Day 1; this time, use the CCD field of view specified for the Wide Field Camera on the Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys (you'll need to convert from arcseconds to arcminutes to plug this into Cartes du Ciel.)
      • Lecture/presentation: Q&A / reteaching (or special topics if there are no problems!)
      • HW: Prepare for Midterm Exam
    • Day 3 (Wed) No class -- midterm exam period
    • Day 4 (Thu)
      • Midterm exam: Bring your star wheel and your calculator. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO SHOWN ME YOU HAVE LEARNED THE MATERIAL FROM THIS QUARTER. The exam will be heavily based on previous exams and quizzes.

    END OF FIRST QUARTER



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