Galaxies & Cosmology winter
trimester
2010-2011
syllabus
&
course
expectations
safety,
tardy,
classroom computer use, and honesty
Universe/publisher link: register as a student to use the
resources
Astronomy
Picture
of the Day
the
latest
astrophysics discoveries
what's up in the sky
this
week
| Monday, November 29 |
November 30 |
December 1 |
December 2 |
December 3 |
|
|
|
working
on
parts 1 and 2 of the "discover
a
supernova" lab.... bring results to class
today, except we will use SalsaJ instead of HOU bring lab book |
||||
|
(always done before class) |
review
differences (cause of such) between evolutionary
path of low mass stars
and that of high mass stars begin reading about the supernova phenomenon: section 20(5) |
universe
20(5) walker 32(4) |
20(6) |
20(7) |
20(8-10) |
| things
you
should know the answer to before coming to class |
why
are iron reactions (and beyond) endothermic? why a free-fall collapse? so a neutron star might be left behind.... where do the neutrons come from? what are the OTHER 5 "places" where the gravitational energy released resides after the supernova spectacle (beside light and KE)? be prepared to calculate their values (in joules) for friday's homework |
be
able to define "binding energy" in simple ENGLISH
language (no jargon) multiple ways! how (specifically) did Walker inform you that fusion reactions beyond iron were endothermic? that fission reactions involving iron were endothermic? is Binding Energy a new kind of energy? (like kinetic, gravitational, electric, ...) how would stellar evolution be different if the binding energy curve were a) monotonically increasing? b) monotonically decreasing? c) upside down of the actual curve (i.e., concave up) bring specific answers written down on paper to class today! |
what firsts did Supernova 1987A achieve? |
how does the other type of supernova process (the type Ia) work? what are 5 differences between the type I SN's (and what they leave behind) and type II SN's? bring a list? |
|
homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
bring
to class to hand in at the BEGINNING of the block: the energy released in a supernova core collapse reference any numbers used to text pages |
binding
energy
assigment due: 1) go to moodle and enter the name of the nucleus and its baryon number that you will be doing the calculation for (block C students are doing nuclei heavier than iron block D students are doing the nuclei that are iron or lighter do NOT use any nucleus for which a calculation is given in Walker) get the nuclei masses from the same link as before 2) calculating the BE (in Mev) of your nucleus showing appropriate physics 3) calculate the BE per nucleon 4) compare your answer to that given in Walker to make sure you are correct |
calculate and turn in ONE of the energies produced by the gravitational energy of core collapse... make sure that you specifically DOOUCMENT where the numbers you used come from the other TWO or THREE will be due monday |
||
|
|
the
first supernova
models
that exploded (in 2 dimensions) the minimum mass for supernovas is less than 9 solar masses? |
||||
|
|
try
to make some progress on the discover-a-supernova
lab every day |
||||
|
of the week |
Murder!
Intrigue!
Astronomers? future supernovas identified? |
Arsenic-based
(!) life
form
found Arsenic microbe may redefine life Mono Lake microbe thrives on arsenic NASA has scheduled a press conference for 2 pm today to "discuss an astrobiology finding that will impact the search for evidence of extraterrestrial life" video streaming link for 2 pm press conference embargo will also be lifted at 2 pm for a written report from Science |
| Monday, November 22 |
November 23 |
November 24 |
November 25 |
November 26 |
|
|
|
teachers have school; why not students? |
teacher
work
day: are students working? |
teachers
finally
have vacation |
||
|
(always done before class) |
|||||
| things
you
should know the answer to before coming to class |
|||||
homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
of the week |
dark matter in cluster of galaxies mapped confidently surprise snowstorm on Comet Hartley supernova 1979C: Chandra finds youngest black hole? if so, why did the US Astrophysical Journal reject the paper last year? new life in ancient elliptical galaxy? first extrasolar planet in another galaxy found -- except it's now in our galaxy |
| Monday, November 15 |
November 16 |
November 17 |
November 18 |
November 19 |
|
|
|
jit
8 now available in moodle |
read
ahead for
today's lab: the 2 pdf's in the lab slot below |
jit due midnight wednesday | bryce and elizabeth tell their respective classes what the third (or fourth) equation of state is |
|
|
(always done before class) |
19(2, 3) |
20(1-2) |
bring
your questions from the reading |
for JIT: 20(3-4) | red giant --> planetary nebula evolution |
| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
after our 1-solar mass star leaves
the main sequence, the sequence of steps that
happens to the core
(triggered by the disappearance of the energy
source) results in
gravitational contraction of the core..... what big event happens next? block D first suggested electron degeneracy sets in (not quite), and then suggested helium fusion starts (no not quite, but more reasonable) what really happens next? i have no idea what block C thinks, because no one sent me the transcript of their class friday |
the overall evolution of a red giant star is a bit more complicated than that of a main-sequence star.... the important things to understand are: a) what nuclear reactions happen during the red-giant phase b) what the star looks like, composition-wise at the end of the red-giant phase (compared to what it looked like at the beginning) c) what source(s) of pressure hold the star up against gravity d) why 1-solar-mass stars end their lives after helium burning and never burn carbon ---------------------------------- what does the book mean by "thermal pulses"? (what other words might they have used ?) |
how do planetary nebulae evolve as they age? what's the difference between a solid and a gas? what questions would you ask a gas to tell if it was degenerate or ideal? |
||
homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
due
at 5 pm 1) calculate the speed of the jet HH30 assume that "solar system" means the diameter of neptune's orbit 2) suppose that we have a cloud that has been induced to collapse (a passing shock wave.... extreme molecular cooling) it has the following properties: mass: 1 solar mass radius: 0.1 pc equatorial rotation speed: 1 km/s magnetic field: 10-10 T (the interstellar magnetic field) suppose this cloud collapses into a 1 solar-mass main sequence star, identical to the sun (i.e., you know the final radius!) use conservation laws to predict the a) final magnetic field b) the final rotational speed |
||||
|
|
click
me! click me!
|
||||
|
|
download
these 2 image files: NGC957B.fts NGC957V.fts (right click and then save! do not left-click! ALSO remember to select "all files" for "save as type".... do NOT save as text file!) before coming to class.... you will need SalsaJ to do the image processing also download the following documents and read over the first two: photometry with salsaj finding the aperture radius in photometry |
||||
|
of the week |
birth of a black
hole? |
| Monday, November 8 |
November 9 |
November 10 |
November 11 |
November 12 |
|
|
|
interstellar
matter
lab bring the lab book that you have (remember I have the doppler effect one) |
||||
|
(always done before class) |
The
Discovery
of Brown Dwarfs |
"Decade
of Brown Dwarfs" article from Sky and Telescope, March
2005 now
available in Moodle..... please do not distribute |
19(1)
and maybe 20(1) |
||
| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
do you have 2 questions ready to ask in class today (about the brown dwarf article)? what's the energy source (for the luminosity) of brown dwarfs ? how do you tell one from a star or planet? how does a brown dwarf evolve? what happens to it as it ages? |
||||
homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
the dimensional analysis problem from yesterday.... find the powers of G, Ri, and M such that the product gives units of time.... make sure that you write down the three equations (in x, y, z, and numbers, and then solve; equation may not have x AND y AND z, of course, but each equation will have 2 of the three unknowns) then plug in reasonable numbers for a cloud that might proudce a protostar that becomes the sun (reference -- using your text -- the source of your initial radius) |
||||
|
|
exoplanet statistics |
|
|||
|
|
|||||
|
of the week |
Trillion
of
reasons to be excited (but LHC will shut down for 15 months) |
this
just in: "huge bubbles of energy found at the center of the galaxy" (NY Times) APOD 11/10/10 today's Fermi news conference audio ------------------------------ Gleise 581g: is it there or not? and more and more "Hidden Worlds of Dark Matter" is in the November issue of Scientific American in the library coming attractions: Dark Matter Awareness Week: Dec 1 - 8 @ Duke University, 4 - 6 pm, 12/4/10 (will they have samples?) |
Hubble successor over
budget
and behind schedule |
trimester
break
Astrophysics
fall trimester
2010
syllabus
&
course
expectations
| Sunday, October 31 |
Monday, November 1 |
November 2 |
November 3 |
November 4 |
||
|
|
today
somewhere on the physics floor (remember I wont be there) there will LIKELY BE a lab section on the final exam |
|||||
|
|
anything
in YOUR HNADWRITING (notes, old homework, lab books) & official handouts (white book and particle sheet) (you can bring your textbook, but probably wont be able to use it) |
|||||
things you should know the answer to before coming to the final exam |
organize your notes, your formulas, the kinds of problems you should be able to do solutions to binary star lab are posted solutions to YOUR FUSION reaction are posted solutions to the YOUR STARBIRTH OBJECT (GE, KE, TE) are posted |
"tutorial" from noon to 1 pm today: last chance to get questions answered |
||||
grades |
have
you calculated your homework/lab work average so that you know where you stand? i count homework points = 518 maximum; several people noticed a mistak earlier in the day when I had listed the total as 418, because I didn't have the extrasolar planet scores in my gradebook, as i now do lab points = 655 maximum for what i have returned to you so far a number of people have missing scores in their books (which means I have missing grades for them in my gradebook if i were you, i would certainly update the gradebook in the back of your notes and make sure you have grades for all assignments and that they total the amount above (returned work only.... ) have you checked the stray paper folder?? there are a number of assignments that people NEVER picked up! |
|
AMNESTY HOUR 11:30 am - 1pm have some labs or homework assignments that were turned in late or were not in the black box when the books were graded.... and are therefore ungraded?? bring your lab book with the ungraded labs or homework (this includes any work turned into the black box, but still not graded, ungraded re-works of homework, etc., in today during time above and get points!! if it's not been graded, this means you!! |
|||
|
|
||||||
|
|
you should possess one lab book
now.... (the one with the binary star lab graded) see ---> for the other |
I
will return the 2nd lab late today..... i hope to have
the cepheid lab
graded however, what i grade will be done by 4 pm, and you can pick up the 2nd lab book then (in the black box outside the hallway doors of 4th Bryan) i will probably NOT have time to grade the doppler effect lab BEFORE the final exam, so you will have to leave that lab book after the test in the black box, and i will grade it later in the week |
did
you remember to leave the lab book with the doppler
effect lab ? if not, woe unto you |
|||
|
of the week |
pages for october 2010
pages for august 2010
| Monday, November 22 |
November 23 |
November 24 |
November 25 |
November 26 |
|
|
|
teachers have school; why not students? |
teacher
work
day: are students working? |
teachers
finally
have vacation |
||
|
(always done before class) |
|||||
| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
|||||
homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
|
|||||
|
of the week |
dark matter in cluster of galaxies mapped confidently surprise snowstorm on Comet Hartley supernova 1979C: Chandra finds youngest black hole? if so, why did the US Astrophysical Journal reject the paper last year? new life in ancient elliptical galaxy? first extrasolar planet in another galaxy found -- except it's now in our galaxy |
| Monday, November 15 |
November 16 |
November 17 |
November 18 |
November 19 |
|
|
|
jit
8 now available in moodle |
read
ahead for
today's lab: the 2 pdf's in the lab slot below |
jit due midnight wednesday | bryce and elizabeth tell their respective classes what the third (or fourth) equation of state is |
|
|
(always done before class) |
19(2, 3) |
20(1-2) |
bring
your questions from the reading |
for JIT: 20(3-4) | red giant --> planetary nebula evolution |
| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
after our 1-solar mass star leaves
the main sequence, the sequence of steps that happens
to the core
(triggered by the disappearance of the energy source)
results in
gravitational contraction of the core..... what big event happens next? block D first suggested electron degeneracy sets in (not quite), and then suggested helium fusion starts (no not quite, but more reasonable) what really happens next? i have no idea what block C thinks, because no one sent me the transcript of their class friday |
the overall evolution of a red giant star is a bit more complicated than that of a main-sequence star.... the important things to understand are: a) what nuclear reactions happen during the red-giant phase b) what the star looks like, composition-wise at the end of the red-giant phase (compared to what it looked like at the beginning) c) what source(s) of pressure hold the star up against gravity d) why 1-solar-mass stars end their lives after helium burning and never burn carbon ---------------------------------- what does the book mean by "thermal pulses"? (what other words might they have used ?) |
how do planetary nebulae evolve as they age? what's the difference between a solid and a gas? what questions would you ask a gas to tell if it was degenerate or ideal? |
||
homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
due
at 5 pm 1) calculate the speed of the jet HH30 assume that "solar system" means the diameter of neptune's orbit 2) suppose that we have a cloud that has been induced to collapse (a passing shock wave.... extreme molecular cooling) it has the following properties: mass: 1 solar mass radius: 0.1 pc equatorial rotation speed: 1 km/s magnetic field: 10-10 T (the interstellar magnetic field) suppose this cloud collapses into a 1 solar-mass main sequence star, identical to the sun (i.e., you know the final radius!) use conservation laws to predict the a) final magnetic field b) the final rotational speed |
||||
|
|
click
me! click me!
|
||||
|
|
download
these 2 image files: NGC957B.fts NGC957V.fts (right click and then save! do not left-click! ALSO remember to select "all files" for "save as type".... do NOT save as text file!) before coming to class.... you will need SalsaJ to do the image processing also download the following documents and read over the first two: photometry with salsaj finding the aperture radius in photometry |
||||
|
of the week |
birth of a black
hole? |
| Monday, November 8 |
November 9 |
November 10 |
November 11 |
November 12 |
|
|
|
interstellar
matter
lab bring the lab book that you have (remember I have the doppler effect one) |
||||
|
(always done before class) |
The
Discovery
of Brown Dwarfs |
"Decade
of Brown Dwarfs" article from Sky and Telescope, March
2005 now
available in Moodle..... please do not distribute |
19(1)
and maybe 20(1) |
||
| things
you should know the answer to before coming to class |
do you have 2 questions ready to ask in class today (about the brown dwarf article)? what's the energy source (for the luminosity) of brown dwarfs ? how do you tell one from a star or planet? how does a brown dwarf evolve? what happens to it as it ages? |
||||
homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
the dimensional analysis problem from yesterday.... find the powers of G, Ri, and M such that the product gives units of time.... make sure that you write down the three equations (in x, y, z, and numbers, and then solve; equation may not have x AND y AND z, of course, but each equation will have 2 of the three unknowns) then plug in reasonable numbers for a cloud that might proudce a protostar that becomes the sun (reference -- using your text -- the source of your initial radius) |
||||
|
|
exoplanet statistics |
|
|||
|
|
|||||
|
of the week |
Trillion
of
reasons to be excited (but LHC will shut down for 15 months) |
this
just in: "huge bubbles of energy found at the center of the galaxy" (NY Times) APOD 11/10/10 today's Fermi news conference audio ------------------------------ Gleise 581g: is it there or not? and more and more "Hidden Worlds of Dark Matter" is in the November issue of Scientific American in the library coming attractions: Dark Matter Awareness Week: Dec 1 - 8 @ Duke University, 4 - 6 pm, 12/4/10 (will they have samples?) |
Hubble successor over
budget
and behind schedule |
trimester
break
Astrophysics
fall trimester
2010
syllabus
&
course
expectations
| Sunday, October 31 |
Monday, November 1 |
November 2 |
November 3 |
November 4 |
||
|
|
today
somewhere on the physics floor (remember I wont be there) there will LIKELY BE a lab section on the final exam |
|||||
|
|
anything
in YOUR HNADWRITING (notes, old homework, lab books) & official handouts (white book and particle sheet) (you can bring your textbook, but probably wont be able to use it) |
|||||
things you should know the answer to before coming to the final exam |
organize your notes, your formulas, the kinds of problems you should be able to do solutions to binary star lab are posted solutions to YOUR FUSION reaction are posted solutions to the YOUR STARBIRTH OBJECT (GE, KE, TE) are posted |
"tutorial" from noon to 1 pm today: last chance to get questions answered |
||||
grades |
have
you calculated your homework/lab work average so that you know where you stand? i count homework points = 518 maximum; several people noticed a mistak earlier in the day when I had listed the total as 418, because I didn't have the extrasolar planet scores in my gradebook, as i now do lab points = 655 maximum for what i have returned to you so far a number of people have missing scores in their books (which means I have missing grades for them in my gradebook if i were you, i would certainly update the gradebook in the back of your notes and make sure you have grades for all assignments and that they total the amount above (returned work only.... ) have you checked the stray paper folder?? there are a number of assignments that people NEVER picked up! |
|
AMNESTY HOUR 11:30 am - 1pm have some labs or homework assignments that were turned in late or were not in the black box when the books were graded.... and are therefore ungraded?? bring your lab book with the ungraded labs or homework (this includes any work turned into the black box, but still not graded, ungraded re-works of homework, etc., in today during time above and get points!! if it's not been graded, this means you!! |
|||
|
|
||||||
|
|
you should possess one lab book
now.... (the one with the binary star lab graded) see ---> for the other |
I
will return the 2nd lab late today..... i hope to have
the cepheid lab
graded however, what i grade will be done by 4 pm, and you can pick up the 2nd lab book then (in the black box outside the hallway doors of 4th Bryan) i will probably NOT have time to grade the doppler effect lab BEFORE the final exam, so you will have to leave that lab book after the test in the black box, and i will grade it later in the week |
did
you remember to leave the lab book with the doppler
effect lab ? if not, woe unto you |
|||
|
of the week |
pages for october 2010
pages for august 2010