Astrophysics trimester 3 2005 class assignments

 syllabus   &   important stuff &   course links

 Astronomy Picture of the Day        the latest astrophysics discoveries
  what's up in the 
sky this week       Skywatcher's Diary for this month

     
 
Monday,
Mar 21
Tuesday,
Mar 22
Wednesday,
Mar 23
Thursday,
Mar 24
Friday,
Mar 25
class
 
 which is greater:
the flux of light reflected to us by planets -- which we calculated in class today -- or the combined flux of stars other than the sun?

and what was the temperature of the pesky light bulbs in lab D5?

in calculating the effect of moonlight heating the earth, we made a mistake; we left out one factor that should have been included... what was it?
 
 
spring break begins 
reading
(always done before class)
fortunately, since its prom weekend, you have already read the green sheets
pp 1010 - 1016 ?

however, make sure to annotate your sheets with questions, comments, algebra connecting steps, etc.

some other things you could read:

the bombardment era
[9(4) esp.  pp. 217-218]

the greenhouse effect
[pp. 182-183]

Venus vs. Earth
[11(5)]

global warming on Earth
[8(6)]

tidal forces & the regression of the moon
[box 9-1 and 9(5)]
 pp 1016-1019,
the meaty part of the green sheet handout on explaining the origin of line spectra

you should find some formulas/topics that we never dealt with in your intro physics course; make a note of them

you should also note that in several places they omitted some physics effects in their formulas, because those effects are negligible

you should also note that at times Walker did not do a very good job in "procedure"
 Walker 11(1) on torque

first 3 pages of Walker 11(6) on angular momentum

also,
the text, section 5(8),
which should be a review
 
 
homework





web stuff
 
 
 
 
 
lab
 
 
 
asteroid parallax lab due 
 
news & discoveries
 
 first images of extrasolar planets!

NY Times

 
 


 
 
Monday,
March 14
Tuesday,
March 15
Wednesday,
March 16
Thursday,
March 17
Friday,
March 18
class
 

 jit due by 1:30  pm

have you looked up the temperature that you calculated for light bulbs in lab D5?
we do the asteroid parallax;
prepare your  ORANGE  lab book
 
reading
(always done before class)
 box 19-4

also 19(3), although you can leave the associated box 19(3) till tuesday; know the 2 rules of magnitudes
 box 19-3:

study the examples

box 19-4

on to another example of blackbodies: the planets!

begin reading chapter 7:  7(1,7,8)

finish chapter 7 
review parallax notes so that you are ready for
today's lab
 Walker, chapter 31
(class handout on green),
pp. 1010-1016
homework
bring to class (on paper that i could collect)

a) your star's name & the spectral/luminosity class listed in the Appendix

b) determine your star's temperature (in K) and its luminosity relative to the sun (from the absolute magnitude)

show work!

c) the radius of your star (relative to sun)
[see box 19-4 and follow the procedure exactly]

d) if we define the sun as fist-sized, what real life object (either bring one or have a classroom object identified) that approximately matches your star's size

e) determine what fraction of your star's luminosity is emitted in the uv, in the visible, and in the ir

to yesterday's stuff, add

f) determine the wavelength of max intensity for your star AND what color your star would look to humans

g)  the distance to your star (based on its listed apparent  and absolute magnitude);
you should get close to the distance listed

h) the flux (in W/m2) for your star using the distance  derived in (g)



web stuff
 spectrum explorer
(launch the explorer; it requires java, so that must be enabled; 2 new windows should open in a minute or 2-- a useless one and one containing axes; on the latter, click on the "blackbody" button to add a blackbody, type in the temperature below the thermometer, and you'll find the %s in another new, tiny window that opens
(at least that's what happened in Mozilla)
 
 
 
 
lab
 
 
 
spectrum lab due by 7 pm

we start the asteroid parallax lab ... prepare your GREEN lab book

asteroid 1

asteroid 2
 
discoveries/news
of the week
 
 
yellowstone in the infrared 
 


 
 
Monday,
March 7
Tuesday,
March 8
Wednesday,
March 9
Thursday,
March 10
Friday,
March 11
class
JIT due by 10 am today

jit1 answers
 
  stellar properties summary
 did you pick up your lab notebook to look over the image processing activity and make sure you have followed all the important guidelines?
 
reading
(always done before class)
5(3-4)

know the blackbody laws and study the examples in box 5-2
 on flux vs luminosity:

review 5(4) and box 5-2 flux example;
new: 19(2) and box 19-2
28(1,2,6 up to "reflection gratings")
on interference & diffraction
(and in particular on where the equations 28-1 or 28-16 come from; you will need those equations for the lab today)

 
19(1)

on parallax and distance:

know what parallax, how we measure it, and where the formula d = 1/p comes from?
homework





web stuff

 learn about liquid crystals

learn about glow sticks
 
the Hipparcos satellite vastly increased our knowledge and understanding  of nearby stars
 
lab
image processing lab help available after school (but apparently not  at tutorial) 
image processing lab due by 7 pm 
we start the spectra lab

bring your 2nd lab book; number thge pages, make a table of contents, etc
spectra lab continues

(spectra lab due next thursday)
 
news of the week
high-voltage auroras on Jupiter

the impending destruction of NGC 1427A
 father of nuclear astrophysics dead at 98:
ny times
la times

Bethe's 1967 nobel prize lecture
 first detection of a galaxy's proper motion
 Hubble weighs in on the heaviest stars in the galaxy



Monday,
February 28
Tuesday, 
March 1
Wednesday, 
March 2
Thursday,
March 3
Friday, 
March 4
class

number the odd pages in your lab books

 meet in E-lab

bring a lab book with numbered pages
meet in E-lab

bring $4 for lab books

help/checks on the image processing lab during tutorial tonight, 5:30 - 7:30 pm,
4th bryan
 bring $4 for lab books
reading
(from Universe, unless otherwise expressed)
(always done
before class)

read the lab guide


6(4) on CCDs;
article from Sky and Telescope:
Sky on a Chip: the Fabulous CCD
 5(1-2) on basic stuff about light

5(5-6):

know the  three basic types of spectra and what physical states of matter produce them

coming attractions:

monday: 5(3-4); know the blackbody laws, and know the 3 ways that a hotter blackbody curve differs from a cooler blackbody curve
web stuff


CCDs
and how they work
 

 

written assignments




10 properties (of stars) to find from spectra due today

image processing lab due next tuesday
lab



image processing lab

stellar evolution summary

new browser 7 image

image processing
lab continues 

you should be able to
download the ds9 image
processing software and
install it on your computer:

go to the T drive
T:\Software\Physics\ds9

double-click on the  .exe file
and follow directions...


or go directly to the chandra-ed page

 


what's up in the sky
this week's Sky at a Glance from Sky & Telescope magazine
Skywatcher's Diary for this month
news of the week
frozen Martian sea boosts hope of finding life on Mars

Cassini @ Saturn

unexpectedly large crater on Titan
an entire galaxy of dark matter?

formaldehyde on mars?