course evaluation
syllabus & course expectations
Astronomy
Picture of the Day
the
latest astrophysics discoveries
what's up in the sky
this week
Skywatcher's
Diary for this month
| Monday, May 28 |
May 29 |
May 30 |
May 31 |
June 1 |
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the last class |
observing
tomorrow morning asteroid page |
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(always done before class) |
20(1,2,3,6,7) |
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| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
where
are the places star formation is occurring? why there? how can interstellar clouds become star formers? what properties of the cloud must change (and how) so that the outward gas pressure becomes less that the inward gravitational force? |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
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shockwaves
star formation: star formation propagation(grav collapse induced by shock wave from O/B stellar winds) M16 before
hubble shock-wave
triggered starbirth star
death/supernova: Cygnus
loop shock wave spiral shock waves in galaxies: M51
as seen by
Hubble 2005 M83's emission nebulae
and its spiral arms a bow shock near LL Orionis the Antennae, a galaxy-galaxy collision molecular clouds & cooling molecules in space interstellar and circumstellar molecules the GMC at the heart Of Orion Dark Bok
Globules in IC 2944 Stellar
Disks Set Stage for
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first
image of
an extrasolar planet weather on an extrasolar planet statistics of exoplanets summary of extrasolar planets properties brown dwarfs, planets, and superplanets |
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of the week |
28 new extrasolar
planets discovered |
| onday, May 21 |
May 22 |
May 23 |
May 24 |
May 25 |
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(always done before class) |
18(2) |
18(2) |
conduction,
convection, and radiation Walker section 16(6) in the astro textbook: section 18(3,5) pages 187-188, 202, 250 pages 194-195 |
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| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
how did the temperature
get to be so high at the center of the sun so that fusion could start? why doesn't the sun collapse under its own gravity? why does the gas pessure increase with depth in the sun? why does the gas temperature increase with depth in the sun? how does the energy released in fusion get to the surface? by what processes? |
same questions <------- still await answers + how do we KNOW (i.e., can verify observationally) that more massive stars live less long than less massive stars, as our theory predicts? |
know 3 or 4 examples of EACH energy transfer method (conduction, convection, and radiation), either found on earth or in your everyday life be able to describe how the energy is transfered in each case! |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
bring to class the calculation of the (main sequence) lifetime of the sun that we started in class yesterday (in years!) |
for
your planet: 1) attach a printed copy of your planet's star's radial velocity curve 2) find the lower limit to your planet's mass 3) % difference between your value and the accepted value (it should be less than 2% unless your orbit is noticeably elliptical) d) the planet's orbit size e) % diff f) a range for the planet's surface temperature (using a reasonable range for albedo) g) the likely composition of your planet based on its formation temperature (with justification!) |
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ncssm
asteroid project |
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of the week |
| Monday, May 14 |
May 15 |
May 16 |
May 17 |
May 18 |
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jit due by
noon |
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(always done before class) |
other ways to detect dark matter: 26(8) page 567: know about MACHOs and WIMPs |
8(6) on finding planets around
other stars 24(3) on findng black holes in binary systems |
18(1) be ready to ask questions about fusion, even though we have some stuff to do on extra solar planets |
18(2) |
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| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
spend
30 minutes finding out about the dark side of the universe: mass/energy inventory of the universe especially recommended:The Search for Dark Matter Universe Reveals its Dark Side |
bring a printed copy of your planet's radial velocity curve to class today see planet catalogs under thursday is your planet's star has more than 1 planet, bring only the radial velocity curve for that planet, not the combined radial velocity for that planet you will also need to bring the period and spectral and luminosity class of your planet's star (e.g., G2V for the sun) |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
finish the calculation of the radius of the small and large stars (in your lab book) and bring them to class |
bring to class: from the physics equations that describe binary stars (N's version of K's 3rd law, with special units; the center of mass condition, the formula for speed in a circular orbit), show that mB3/(mA+mB)2 = PvA3/(2p)3 hint: start with N's version of K3 and then eliminate aB using the seesaw condition; then eliminate aA in favor of vA |
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the spectroscopic
binary applet the eclipsing binary applet mass/energy inventory of the universe |
are periodic
extinctions
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Princeton
catalog of extrasolar
planets France catalog of extrasolar planets |
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binary
star lab due.... |
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of the week |
Hubble finds Ring
of Dark Matter |
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May 7 |
May 8 |
May 9 |
May 10 |
May 11 |
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bring your lab book (the one you got back yesterday) to class, because we will start lab today |
bring calculator, lab book, salmon book, large version of p. 18 we're doing lab |
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(always done before class) |
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things you should know the answer to before coming to class |
in what ways could the binary system we talked about in class today be detected as a binary from earth? look at the radial velocity curve on page 18 for RW Mon.... which star is being eclipsed at time = 0, A or B? be able to explain |
how to use Kepler's 3rd law to figure out the galaxy mass how do we explain the resulting interior-mass-as-a-function-of- distance-from-the galactic-center graph |
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| homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
age of the universe from hubble's constant due |
find the mass of the galaxy inside the radius you were assigned in class; bring this on a piece of paper you will hand it (during class); do the calculation on your own following the example in the section and box above... but you are welcome to check your answer with the other person doing your calculation |
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ever Chandra sees brightest supernova ever biggest stellar explosion ever |
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Astronomers Find Super-massive Planet |
| Monday, April 30 |
May 1 |
May 2 |
May 3 |
May 4 |
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jit due by 9
am |
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(always done before class) |
19(6-7): what is the message of the H-R diagram? |
19(8) |
5(9) on the Doppler effect & 26(5) on the expanding universe (do NOT read the box associated with this section as it is absolutely bogus) |
4(4,
5 [6], 7) |
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| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
why do more stars lie in the "main-sequence" region than in any other? | why spectral lines are broad and cover a range in wavelength |
see JIT |
all of Kepler's laws and be a master of Kepler's 3rd law |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
bring to class: a calculation of the temperature of the corona of the sun in order to explain the existence of a FeXIV bright line (on a piece of paper to hand in) |
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doppler
effect applet a bow shock in the Orion nebula |
what
we saw at the observatory last night: 1) M44, the Beehive cluster 2) the constellation of Orion, the belt of Orion and M41, the Orion Nebula, in the sword 3) Saturn with rings and its moon Titan with liquid lakes |
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of the week |
astro pages for March 2007