syllabus
&
course
expectations
safety,
tardy,
classroom computer use, and honesty
Astronomy
Picture
of the Day
what's up in the sky
this
week
| Monday, August 29 |
Tuesday, August 30 |
August 31 |
September 1 |
September 2 |
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JIT due in moodle by 9:30 am |
JIT unlikely for friday, since it
looks like we will be able to do the sun lab possible jit due in moodle by 8 am tomorrow if the sky is not going to be clear tomorrow |
if clear, we do the solar luminosity lab: we measure the luminosity and temperature and radius of the sun with a meter stick, a light bulb, and two pieces of wax, and aluminum foil we do this in the first lab book (the one with image processing in it); maek sure you have it (I will be returning it probably on thursday) don't wear your best clothes today, because you may end up sitting on the dirty observing platform.... but it is a lab, remember |
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(always done before class) |
17(2) 17(6) & Box 17-4 |
7(1,4) |
7(2, 3) note the big reading assignment for tomorrow, too....perhaps start today? |
for class today and
possible friday JIT: 8(1,2,4,5) particulalry section 8(4) + as you read this, be looking for possible energy sources that might explain the discrepancy between the calculated blackbody temperatures you presented in class on wednesday and the actually measured temperatures of the planets in class yesterday, we heard one explanation for why the surface temperatures of planets might be hotter than predicted by the blackbody laws: the greenhouse effect! which is well explained on pages 212-213, so please read that so that you are culturally literate |
read the solar luminosity lab carefully -- up through data collection -- in advance; your data collection will be graded immediately after the collection phase ends.... so make sure that you know the lab guide expectations well read about the pinhole camera, so that you know how one works a useful pinhole camera diagram, which shows how you will get an image of the sun for after we come back for labor-day break: pick and choose chapters 7 - 14 sections relevant to planetary heating (i.e., sources of energy that raise the temperature of planetary surfaces beyond that predicted by the blackbody laws) |
questions you should know the answer to before coming to class |
what are the main differences between the terrestrial and jovian planets? |
what stellar properties do we now know exactly how to determine from observations? what observations do we need to make and what laws do we use in combination with the observations to get these properties? (i think the number of properties in this list is presently 3..... suppose someone gave you the distance to the star also.... how many additional star properties would you be able to determine? which? |
our best (to-date) theory of the origin of the planets is called the condensation-accretion theory what does condensation mean? what does accretion mean? which must happen first? why? bring (to class) concrete examples! remember Tuesday's assignment (differences between jovians and terrestrials)?.... be prepared to name some today in class (from the notes that you undoubtedly took!) |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
do you have (several) show-and-tell problems to present at the beginning of class today? |
BRING your
planet's temperature (calculated -- with all
numbers used and all work shown -- AND actual) to
class today, on paper to hand in to me at the beginning of
class: distance to your planet is given in Appendix 1 and is called "semimajor axis".... note the units, and convert to proper SI units!! albedo is in Appendix 2 solve for T (using the formula we derived in class today) and check units first! if your units aren't correct, don't bother with the number... it wont be correct either the sun's luminosity and sigma constant can be looked up in the later appendices.... check with your table partner BEFORE class (as in tonight)! ALSO, on your homework paper, write down your planet's actual temperature (you will have to go to the chapter on your planet.... at the beginning of the planet chapters is a table with that planet's table -- for example, the earth's table is on page 210 -- containing important info, e.g., temperature, etc. about that planet.... if your planet has more than 1 temp listed, write them ALL down including where on the planet they were measured) if your planet is Moon or Pluto: Moon chapter has its own table as described above in the Moon chapter Pluto information |
coming
attractions (after labor day): your star homework due next Friday after labor day |
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red sky on Mars red sky on Earth (due to volcanic eruptions).... and also responsible for the red sky in Edvard Munch's "The Scream" Rayleigh scattering and blue sky, blue water, and ... relfection nebulas are blue but not due to rayleigh scattering and the blue of blue jays was thought to be due to Rayleigh scattering until 4 years ago when someone checked.... full details from Journal of Experimental Biology |
you can find % of your star's
luminosity in the uv, visible, and ir using the 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 WARNING!! this applet may not work for every version of windows or mac.... and it may also depend on whether you have the correct version of JAVA but if it doesnt work, you can also use your calculator to find the %s (as described in class on tuesday) .... this assignment will be part of homework to be turned in sometime after labor day.... it appears in friday's slot as coming attractions |
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as part of
section 2 of the spectra lab, ADD the following: look at the fluorescent light source in the SW corner of lab 1, and deduce the state(s) of matter of a fluorescent light bulb |
as part of section 2C of the spectra
lab, ADD the following: the MINI fluorescent light is now near the 4 gas discharge tubes in lab 1 also, as part of section 2, part C, you are supposed to identify the physical state(s) of matter producing the light (THIS IS NOT ON THE HANDOUT< SO MAKE SURE YOU ADD IT TO YOUR ANALYSIS !!!) remember that i'm expecting you to show me your tentative identifications of the 4 discharge tube gases BEFORE TURNING THE LAB IN.... this way you are unlikely to lose point for getting this wrong |
spectra lab due solar luminosity lab wear appropriate shoe, appropriate clothes for sitting on a dirty floor and for stretching, etc without revealing unnecessary body parts or undergarments |
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of the week |
| Monday, August 22 |
Tuesday, August 23 |
August 24 |
August 25 |
August 26 |
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continuation of students teaching classmates about light butchered class schedule |
last chance to teach the class something (a property, a behavior) of light from Walker chapters (this is the first big homework assignment and worth a bit more than the 10-properties assignment due yesterday have you done YOUR contribution? (otherwise you do have a zero on this first assignment) |
I have tutorial tonight... a great chance to get lab questions answered |
we do the spectra lab..... see lab slot dress appropriately and bring your second lab book to class for this lab |
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(always done before class) |
Universe
6(1 - 3) + Walker chapters on light |
Walker 28(1-3) plus other Walker sections |
5(6 and 3, 4) |
5(3,4) again, particularly numerical examples in box 5-2 |
also see reading from yesterday that we didnt get to |
questions you should know the answer to before coming to class |
we covered some properties (wavelength, speed, frequency) and some behaviors (reflection, refraction, dispersion, what? what is dispersion) last friday, but we have a few more properties and a lot more behaviors & laws to go.... BE PREPARED to "teach" the rest of the class, as your peers did friday, a few today! |
last day on light be ready to talk about behaviors/laws of light discovered after 1805 there are still about 5 - 10 behaviors left (including some really simple ones) and few properties still left know the laws of two-source interference (at least) one person has explained how the polarizers did what they did in class today... have you? |
know the different kinds of spectra (there aren't that many) AND the physical states of matter that produce each type of spectrum |
and what
is a blackbody anyway in what ways (maybe at least 3) does a hotter blackbody's spectral curve differ from a cooler blackbody's? what two mathematical laws can be used to describe how the curves (hotter and cooler) are different? know the laws! study the associated examples! how does flux differ from luminosity? you should be able to tell the class at least 3 different ways |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
list of 10 intrisnsic properties of stars we would like to know about (can't use temperature or power/luminosity) no jargon; no redundancies; give intrinsic properties of stars (i.e., ones that are ONLY star-dependent and not star- AND observer-dependent; e.g., none of the 3 above are observer-dependent; they are entirely intrinsic to the star) |
here's what we have done so far: properties (wavelength, frequency, energy, momentum, speed, oscillation of E/B fields, amplitude of oscillation) behaviors [reflection, refraction, dispersion, polarization, interference, why light can interact with matter (light carries E fields which accelerates charges, which matter is composed of) ] make sure that you "know" all these (i.e., you could explain them quite well to your grandmother) |
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the largest optical telescopes in the world |
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parts a & b of image processing
lab due in black box by 5 pm what we saw in observatory last night: the open cluster M6 which I said was 600 c-yrs, but I meant to say 600 parsecs, which is 2000 c-yrs away M31 the Andromeda galaxy, 2 million light years away (1000x farther than the open cluster) what can we conclude about their relative linear diameters (in, say, kilometers) |
make sure you have a second lab book for today's spectra lab | |||
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of the week |
| Tuesday, August 16 |
August 17 |
August 18 |
August 19 |
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astronomical light detectors and image processing |
& then lab make sure that you have a lab book for today's class, with the lab guide taped into the interior front and back covers bring your laptop to class today if you have installed the software (see yesterday's email or yesterday's lab slot) |
image
processing lab continues bring your laptop to class today if you have installed the software you'll need your calculator in class/lab today |
bring safety, tardy, classroom computer use, and honesty to class today SIGNED (and you also have actually read it carefully, right?) |
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(always done before class) |
text, 6(4) 2) at least the first couple pages of the CCD handout that you got in class yesterday, enough so that you know how a CCD work, if you can.... I know we have convocation, etc tonight.... an electronic copy of the CCD reading |
finish the CCD handout that you got in class Tuesday an electronic copy of the CCD reading optional reading, but encouraged: the invention of the CCD on October 17, 1969 wins the Nobel Prize in Physics on October 6 , 2009 (the Nobel Lecture by Smith and the Scientific Background are the best) |
Universe 5(1-2): what is light? and
6(1-2); how does it behave? you should know/learn some properties of light (e.g. wavelength, frequency) also, Walker has 5 (!) chapters on light and some behaviors of light (e.g., reflection, refraction) see the Walker references on the syllabus START WITH THE SIMPLE ONES!! perhaps you will learn some laws that go
with the behaviors as you read?
maybe two sides of a page of notes while you're reading? |
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questions you should know the answer to before coming to class |
how does a CCD work? what is the output? (and what's the output of photographic film?) what are the two BIG advantages of CCDs over retina/film? how is a CCD image stored (on a computer)? (the reading tells you everything!) |
what is "pixel" a unit of? or, phrased differently, what other units can pixels be converted to? what quantity does a CCD (or retina, or film) respond to? phrased differently, the greater the _______ of the incoming light, the greater the output of the detector (it's actually dependent on both the star and the observer) |
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homework (written assignments to be turned in) |
make sure that you have a lab book (with the lab guide on the inside front/back covers) for lab tomorrow |
number the odd pages of your lab book.... |
finish the browser5 part of the lab (i.e., just the one we started in class yesterday) today or tomorrow, download a NEW image processor for part 2 of the lab before coming to class (if possible.... depends on how soon the electrical problems are solved).... see lab slot below |
for monday, list of 10 INTRINSIC (i.e., NOT observer-dependent) properties of stars we would like to know about (can't use temperature or power/luminosity because these came up in class).... and I wouldn't limit myself to 10, just in case some of yours are redundant or not intrinsic no jargon; no redundancies; must be INTRISIC to the star, and not observer-dependent, such as distance |
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(to be used in lab); not necessary to read beforehand |
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for tomorrow's lab, download & install SalsaJ software version 2.2 (for windows) or version 2.1 (for max/unix) ... however, since I dont have access to a mac i actually dont know if the non-windows versions work.... the way to test SalsaJ is to download one of the browser images in the slot to the right (--->) and see if the image opens in your version |
materials for today's lab: image processing lab, part a (I will have hard copies of this in class today... no need to read this lab in advance, because it's mostly software instructions) images for the image processing lab: to open an image DO NOT left click on the link; instead, right click and then save it to your hard drive, then use the open command in the software images for today's lab: fireball new browser 7 browser 2 browser 3 browser 4 browser 5 browser 6 lab guide (that gets taped on your inner sides of your lab book covers) |
image processing lab continues in blocks C/D today directions for installing ds9 on your computer however, both HOU and ds9 are installed on all physics-floor public computers image processing lab, part b |
I'm
thinking that the blue lab (ip part a, with HOU) is
going to be due Tuesday and the orchid lab (ip
part b, with ds9) is going to be due Friday on
next week |
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of the week |
Moon not necessary for Life on Earth? supernovae parents found meteorites: tool kits for creating life on Earth |
US math proficiency at 32%... rank in the world? 32 cost? $1,000,000,000,000 per year the unexpurgated results here Treason on Schools |
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