SI Prep -- Astronomy Schedule 2005-06 -- 2nd Quarter

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

Astronomy (4°) 2nd Quarter 2005-06

Most recent update December 12, 2005 7:52 AM

Schedule

NOTICE: It is incredibly important that you keep up on the reading this quarter. There is simply too much material for me to lecture on everything we need. If you do well by the reading you will be prepared to do the activities in class. This material is less conceptually difficult that the stuff we did in the first quarter. However, it isn't easy and involves a small amount of mathematical sophistication.

Week of Tuesday, October 25th: Electromagnetic Radiation aka LIGHT
- Day 1
  - In-class activity: using parallax to determine distance
  - Lecture/presentation: the Inverse-Square Law (useful websites: 1, 2)
  - HW: Read Universe Ch 19-1 & 19-2 & Figures 5-7, 5-8 & 5-10; do Ch 19 #s 33, 40, 41 and 42
  - Test corrections: if you need it, here's a fresh copy of the midterm exam
- Day 2
  - HW Questions
  - Lecture/presentation: apparent and absolute magnitudes
  - HW: Read Universe Ch 19-3; do Ch 19 #s 46, 47, 48 and 49
- Day 3
  - HW Questions
  - Lab: verification of inverse-square law using light detectors and lab-pro
  - HW: Read Universe 19-4; do Ch 19 #s 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 and observing problem #71 (you'll need your starwheel)
  - HW: I am going to experiment with not collecting HW this quarter. HW questions will factor more heavily into quizzes and exams. If it appears that HW problems are not being done outside of class, I will reinstate HW collection 3rd quarter.

Week of Monday, October 31st: Observable Properties of Main Sequence Stars
- Day 1
  - HW Questions
  - Lecture/presentation: Using Wien's and Stefan's Laws to determine the properties of stars
  - Here's the Power Point on Light I showed today (I turned the equations in to the proper units we'll be using)
  - HW: Read Universe 19-5; do Ch 19 #s 13, 14, 55, and Web problem # 68
  - HW: I am going to experiment with not collecting HW this quarter. HW questions will factor more heavily into quizzes and exams. If it appears that HW problems are not being done outside of class, I will reinstate HW collection 3rd quarter.
- Day 2
- Day 3
  - Short Spectra Demonstration (in classroom, in preparation)
  - Lecture/presentation: color magnitudes
  - Lecture/presentation: introduction to the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
  - HW: read Universe Ch 19-7 & 19-8; do Ch 19 #s 23, 25, 60
- Day 4
  - Video: The Lives of Stars (Cosmos: Carl Sagan)
  - HW: read Universe Ch 19-9; do Ch 19 #s 22, 24, 26
  - Make plans to join Mr. Philhour and Mr. Cannady next Wednesday in attending the Silicon Valley Lecture Series talk on Titan, Saturn's moon. The talk is at Foothill College.

Week of Monday, November 7th: Observable Properties of Main Sequence Stars Continued
- Day 1

We'll meet in the normal classroom this week but we'll be using a laptop cart.
Check out the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD)
Continue Sloan Digital Sky Survey activity (do all the questions and exercises up to Exercise 10, but not the follow-up projects)
HW: Continue work on SDSS activity; do Ch 19 #s 17, 19, 20
HW: I am going to experiment with not collecting HW this quarter. HW questions will factor more heavily into quizzes and exams. If it appears that HW problems are not being done outside of class, I will reinstate HW collection 3rd quarter.

Day 2
- We'll meet in the normal classroom this week but we'll be using a laptop cart.
- Check out this set of models based on the skull of Nicolaus Copernicus.
- Continue Sloan Digital Sky Survey activity (do all the questions and exercises up to Exercise 10, but not the follow-up projects)
- HW: Continue work on SDSS activity ; do Ch 19 #s 21, 52
- Movie & Star Party tonight! Meet at flagpole at 7 PM ... we'll watch "Einstein's Big Idea" in room 310, followed by observing.
Day 3
- We'll meet in the normal classroom this week but we'll be using a laptop cart.
- Continue Sloan Digital Sky Survey activity (do all the questions and exercises up to Exercise 10, but not the follow-up projects)
- HW: Continue work on SDSS activity ; do Ch 19 #s 56, 57
- Consider attending tonight's Silicon Valley Lecture Series talk on Titan, Saturn's moon. The talk is at Foothill College and is free of charge.
Day 4
- We'll meet in the normal classroom this week but we'll be using a laptop cart.
- Continue Sloan Digital Sky Survey activity (do all the questions and exercises up to Exercise 10, but not the follow-up projects)
- HW: Continue work on SDSS activity ; do Ch 19 #s 55, 58
- If you want to study for the quiz on Day 1 of next week, check out last year's quiz; if you need more help with how stellar spectra are created, check out this site

Week of Monday, November 14th: Observable Properties of Main Sequence Stars Continued
- Day 1
  - HW Q&A (20 minutes max)
  - Quiz: all material this quarter (30 minutes)
  - HW: Yay! I found my textbook! Please carefully examine Figure 19-14 on p. 428. This is the famous (infamous?) Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. As you consider this figure, answer the following questions:
    - Why are the stars colored blue on the left and red on the right?
    - Are O- and B-type stars blue or red? What about K- and M-type stars?
    - If a star is closer to the top of the diagram, what does that say about it?
    - Which star has a hotter surface, Sirius B or Antares?
    - Which star is more luminous, Rigel or Barnard's Star?
    - Use part (b) of the figure to answer this question: which is larger, Antares or the Sun?
    - Name examples of each of these: (a) a small, hot star; (b) a small, cool star; (c) a big, hot star; (d) a big, cool star
    - Why do you think the Sun is considered to be an 'average' star?
    - How many times bigger in radius is the Sun than a White Dwarf?
- Day 2
  - The OBAFGKM Spectral Sequence
  - The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram & how to interpret it when it is Luminosity vs. Spectral Type
  - Begin HR diagram worksheet (to complete as HW)
  - HW: Finish HR diagram worksheet (remember to check out Ch 19-7 if you're having trouble) ; also, carefully examine Figure 19-16 and answer this question: How do we determine the luminosity class of a star? (Hint: the answer has something to do with Figure 19-15)
- Day 3
  - More Hertzsprung-Russell diagram work: color magnitude vs. apparent magnitude / interpreting real HR diagrams
  - HW: Read the first half of Ch 18; also, carefully examine Figure 19-17; do Ch 18 #s 3 & 4
- Day 4
  - Doppler Shifts & Binary Stars: the key to finding mass
  - The mass-luminosity relation as an observational fact
  - Time permitting: Why mass and luminosity should relate to each other: the internal properties of stars
  - Time permitting: Hydrogen fusion into helium -- how rate relates to Luminosity and Mass
  - HW: Finish reading Ch 18; also, carefully examine Figure 19-21; do Ch 18 #s 6 & 9

Week of Monday, November 21st: Our Sun as a Star
- Day 1 (Activity Schedule)
  - Q&A from HW of last week (10 min)
  - Begin BBC The Planets: Star video
  - HW: Review material from Chapters 18 and 19: this stuff forms the foundation of what we need to know to move on after Thanksgiving.
- Day 2
  - Q&A from HW of last week (10 min)
  - Finish BBC The Planets: Star video
  - HW over break: read Chapter 21 on the death cycle of stars (remember to read the charts and figures first, then go back and read the text); do Ch 21 #s 1, 2, 5, 8 (these just verify that you've read the material)
- Thanksgiving Break!

Week of Monday, November 28th: Stellar Life and Death
- Day 1
  - Q&A from HW (15 min)
  - Here's my SI Star Death powerpoint presentation
  - Life on the Main Sequence: proton-proton fusion
  - Begin Low-Mass Star Death handout
  - HW: Read Ch 22-1 & 22-2
  - HW: Take last year's HR quiz for practice
- Day 2
  - Quiz on HR diagrams and nuclear fusion in stars
  - Red Giants, Planetary Nebulae & Recycling in the Galaxy / White Dwarfs
  - HW: Read Ch 22-3 & 22-4; continue work on handout
- Day 3
  - Cepheid variable stars
  - HW: Read Ch 22-5; finish handout from Day 1
- Day 4
  - Here's the Cepheid Variable stars site that Will, Natalie, and Michael found
  - Type II supernovae and neutron stars
  - HW: Read Ch 22-6 & 22-7; take practice quiz for Monday

Week of Monday, December 5th: Stellar Corpses and Catastrophic Rebirth?
- Day 1
  - Quiz on stellar evolution
  - Pulsars introduced
  - HW: Read Ch 23-2 & 23-3; begin High-Mass Star Death handout and
- Day 2
  - Pulsars continued
  - X-ray binaries systems and Type I supernovae
  - HW: Read Ch 23-7 & 23-8 ; continue work on handout
- Day 3
  - Black holes
  - Event Horizons & Singularities
  - VIdeo: Stephen Hawking's Universe: Black Holes and Beyond
  - HW: Read Ch 24-2; continue work on handout
- Day 4
  - Video: Carl Sagan's Cosmos: The Shores of the Cosmic Ocean
  - HW: Read Ch 24-3, 24-4, and 24-5; finish handout

Week of Monday, December 12th : Stellar Birth
- Day 1 (Activity Schedule)
  - Stellar Birth: Emission, Absorption, and Reflection Nebulae
  - HW: Read Ch 20-1 & 20-2
- Day 2 (Activity Schedule)
  - Q&A
  - Review for semester final exam: practice final from last year
  - HW: continue work on practice final
- Day 3 (Activity Schedule)
  - Q&A
  - Review for semester final exam: practice final from last year
  - HW: continue work on practice final
- Final Exam Friday, Dec 16th, 8:30 AM in Room 310 (regular classroom)
- Your final exam in this class will be comprehensive, counting material from the first quarter. You should bring a calculator ... I will provide an (updated) equation sheet. The exam will be a second chance at the material from all tests and quizzes this semester. Pay extra attention to the Midterm Exam and the quizzes that followed. Remember that I'm available on the Public Folder.

Coming up: More on Black Holes, then an introduction Galaxies & Cosmology -- if you're curious, check out last year's 3rd quarter schedule

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