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& course
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Astronomy
Picture of the Day
the
latest astrophysics discoveries
what's up in the sky
this week
| Monday, December 15 |
December 16 |
December 17 |
December 18 |
December 19 |
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(always done before class) |
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| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
the two sections 22(7,8) make a lot
of quantitative claims..... try to verify a couple for today's class |
what
is the source of pressure (or momentum) that blows off the outer parts
of the supernova? it's in the book! see yesterday <---- bring at least 2 calculations to class for a possible show/tell |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
see above |
show
and tell of calculations related to supernovae |
show/tell
continues: |
to turn in: at least 3 energy calculations |
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the
first supernova
models that exploded |
bring
results of discover-a-supernova lab to class to show results |
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working
on parts 1 and 2 of the "discover
a supernova" lab.... bring results to class tomorrow |
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of the week |
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Monday, December 8 |
December 9 |
December 10 |
December 11 |
December 12 |
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(always done before class) |
22(5,6) |
Walker
32(4) |
review
22(5,6) new: 22(7,8) |
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things you should know the answer to before coming to class |
so how are massive stars different in their old age from the less massive stars? apparently they don't become degenerate each time they run out of one fuel and then contract and heat up to start the next round of fusion (as the low mass stars: less than 9 solar masses?)... why not? |
be able to state a definition of "binding energy" is conversational english is Binding Energy a new kind of energy? (like kinetic, gravitational, electric, ...) what elements are at the peak of the curve in Fig32-9 (walker)? why does this mean about them? |
why is each successive phase of nuclear burning (in table 22-1) shorter-lived than the previous one? why does the iron-nickel fusing core implode? what does this implosion have to do with iron-nickel being at the peak of the figure 32-9 curve in walker? is the reaction e- + p+ --> n + n exothermic or endothermic? if the core implodes, what ejects the outer envelope of a red supergiant into space? (i.e., the supernova remnant) |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
investigate
the Makali'i (aka Subaru) iamge processor and how it deals with the Aperture command in order to measure the total number of counts... does it include the sky background? what do all the numbers mean that show up in the measurement when you click on a star? did you find a Help file? was it useful? |
bring to class a list of 6 ways in which the old age or death of a star is different if it is less than the 5 - 9 solar mass limit than it is if its mass is greater than that amount |
revise calculation of nuclear binding energy and bring to class tomorrow |
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email
me spreadsheet for your star cluster stars work on "discovering a supernova" lab |
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of the week |
New type of pulsating
white dwarf
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| Monday, December 1 |
December 2 |
December 3 |
December 4 |
December 5 |
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bring your
computer if you want to do today's image processing lab on it.... remember to bring your lab book also |
JIT due today
by noon.... JIT is ready in moodle |
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(always done before class) |
21(1):
post-main-sequence evolution |
21(2): red-giant evolution |
22(1,2): more red-giant evolution Walker 17(2) derives the equation P = 2/3 n <KE> which we will apply to confinement today and then connect to the Pauli Exclusion principle and a new type of pressure discussed in today's reading and also to be discussed in class |
21(3) 19(4) on UBV filters and star colors |
22(3,4) |
things you should know the answer to before coming to class |
what happens in a star's interior that causes the changes in its outward observables (L, R, T)? or, why does the star grow in luminosity and become cooler on the surface? what is the star's energy source after it runs out of helium in the core? |
as the star's helium core continually contracts (in an attempt to keep itself hot enough to provide the gas pressure necessary to balance gravity), what are the next two big events that can happen (in the core)? what is degeneracy and why does it happen? |
what is meant by 'thermal pulses?" what are the consequences? why does it happen to electrons and not to protons? (we should already know why it doesnt happen to helium nuclei)? |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
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red giant --> planetary nebula evolution
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HR
diagram lab for NGC6939 star cluster B image G (V) image |
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of the week |
Jupiter and
Venus to nearly touch".... tonight joined by the moon |
A
New View of the Early Earth.... not Hadean?? |
| Monday, November 17 |
November 18 |
November 19 |
November 20 |
November 21 |
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(always done before class) |
20(3) on protostars 20(4-5) on pre-main-sequence stars |
on
brown dwarfs, superplanets, and planets (pp. 31-32, yellow book) A Decade of Brown Dwarfs (this is a challenging article, but make your best attempt.... use the questions below |
brown dwarfs, planets, and superplanets what different kinds of planetary systems exist and how did they get that way? read sky and telescope articles on planet buiding available in moodle |
we'll finish up what types of planetary systems (or Jupiters, since all we can "see" are Jupiters at this point) are out there see link to left <------- + spend time on lab |
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things you should know the answer to before coming to class |
how does a protostar (the
upward-directed part of the evolution track that doesnt appear in
figure 20-9) differ in properties from a pre-main-sequence star (the downward-drected part of the evolution track that does appear in figure 20-9 )? think about such things as appearance (if we could see it), what state(s) of matter it is composed of, etc etc |
what are the main differences between stars, brown dwarfs, and planets? why did it take so long for astronomers to discover brown dwarfs? how did they finally succeed? do brown dwarfs form like stars or like planets? what's the evidence? |
see above |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
find as many examples as you can of chapter-20 figures of each phase listed on page 25 of the yellow book |
bring
to class (to hand in): calculation of 1) typical jet speed (of HH30) from this set of images if you want to do image processing (on the jpeg) for measurements, you will need to use the HOU-like Makali'i, which is on the 2nd lab computers 2) age of your Herbig Haro object (please work independently, but check with others in your HH group) are these minimum ages, maximum ages? |
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stellar
disks form
and evolve (theory in pictures) the first observations of jets and
disks during stellar
birth
stellar Disks and Jets 12-c-yr long jetsStellar
Disks Set Stage for
disks without
jets: planet
building?:
Orion
Nebula
Mosaic and the discovery of brown dwarfs, finally |
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try
to complete the first page, of the lab,
i.e., 1) find the angular size of alpha centauri as seen from earth 2) how "large" the star is if we agree that we have to be at approx 3 x the sky counts for the star to begin and end |
magnitude
lab due |
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of the week |
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November 13 |
November 14 |
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(always done before class) |
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things you should know the answer to before coming to class |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
bring
two calculations (ready to hand in) to class: determination of gravitational lifetime a) using gravitational energy released & mean luminosity b) from dimensional analysis (make sure you solve 3 equations in 3 unknowns to find the exponent) |
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of the week |
FIRST
EVER direct images of extrasolar planets! (to be published in tomorrow's print editions) Washington Post New York Times USA Today Los Angeles Times |
astro pages for october 2008
astro pages for august 2008