Week 15 (Dec. 2 - 6)
Read: The birth of the big bang (Chap. 28) and The primeval atom (Chap. 29)
Quiz: Monday. Covers Hubble's Realm of the Nebulae.
Homework exercises: The size of the universe and big bang cosmology (Ex. 28.3)
Laboratory exercises: Clean up lab, return spectroscopes, and disassemble horizon globes. Here is a photo of Jupiter, and here is a photo of Saturn that we took on the evening of December 2 in front of Generac Hall. You should include these two photos in a short (no more than 1 page) write up that you can submit for the outdoor telescope observation laboratory experiment. Be sure to include information about the telescope (11 - inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain), the viewing conditions, and the location and time.
Final astronomy report submission: By Thursday of Finals week, you must submit your final report on the motion of Jupiter. Your report should be in digital form and should include the following
The birth of the big bang (no videos yet):
The primeval atom (no videos yet):
Interesting recent article from EarthSky: Could a giant void explain the universe’s expansion?
Homework exercises: The size of the universe and big bang cosmology (Ex. 28.3)
Laboratory exercises: Clean up lab, return spectroscopes, and disassemble horizon globes. Here is a photo of Jupiter, and here is a photo of Saturn that we took on the evening of December 2 in front of Generac Hall. You should include these two photos in a short (no more than 1 page) write up that you can submit for the outdoor telescope observation laboratory experiment. Be sure to include information about the telescope (11 - inch Celestron Schmidt-Cassegrain), the viewing conditions, and the location and time.
Final astronomy report submission: By Thursday of Finals week, you must submit your final report on the motion of Jupiter. Your report should be in digital form and should include the following
- A summary of how you carried out your observations. In particular, where did you do your observations? What equipment did you use? What was your procedure? Did you run into any difficulties?
- A star atlas page that clearly indicates the approximate location of Jupiter in the sky during the course of your observations. Here is a pdf file of the star atlas.
- Plots that depict the distance (in degrees) of Jupiter from the fixed stars that you used as a function of time. That is: put the angle on the vertical axis and the day on the horizontal axis. Clearly label your axes and your plot.
- A final paragraph that provides a summary of your results. Did you see Jupiter moving? In which direction? Was it progressing through the zodiac or retrogressing during your time of observation? Or was it just about stationary? Why do you say this? What are the implications of your observations? For example: was the earth perhaps passing Jupiter? Did you see anything particularly interesting?
- An appendix which includes scanned copies of the pages of your astronomy notebook in which you did your observations.
The birth of the big bang (no videos yet):
The primeval atom (no videos yet):
Interesting recent article from EarthSky: Could a giant void explain the universe’s expansion?