Week 15
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.
Astronomy notebook submission: By Thursday of Finals week you must submit your astronomy notebook to Dr. Kuehn. You may drop it off at my office (S133). Be sure to include a table in the front of your notebook so I can find the pages for each of your exercises.
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.
Astronomy notebook submission: By Thursday of Finals week you must submit your astronomy notebook to Dr. Kuehn. You may drop it off at my office (S133). Be sure to include a table in the front of your notebook so I can find the pages for each of your exercises.
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? What 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?