The LAST ASSIGNMENT--30 Points

You are almost there! Congratulations! By the end of this month, your efforts in astronomy will be locked up and away in the old gradebook vault.

But, today, you still have this blog activity and one other to do. This project deals with the Expanding Universe and the work of Hubble, which leads to the current picture provided by WMAP.

YOU DO NOT NEED TO POST THIS ACTIVITY ON YOUR BLOG. You DO need to hand in a worksheet.

Download the software from here.

Print the worksheet from here. You will need one worksheet for every two to three people (Group work will not be accepted if more than three people are on a sheet. If the substitute notices a lack of effort, you may receive a zero even IF your name is attached to a sheet). The lab has been reserved for you to work.

This lab is similar to the stellar spectra lab we did earlier in the term, and the telescope operates the same way, but you are using galaxies, not stars. Your signal/noise ratio must be 15 in order to be valid.

Two sides to every story

Is there life out there? What do you think? Go to Origins and take the interactive quiz. It presents both sides to every story.

When you get done, manipulate the Drake equation to allow less than 10, more than 1000, and more than 10000 civilizations in a galaxy.

Summarize your ideas and rationale behind them on a post on your blog.

What is a habitable planet?

Stellar Evolution--a better picture

This picture shows a larger version of the handout you have, and is part of an interactive map of stellar evolution found HERE

Black Holes--a type of Dark matter 15 pt

Go through the basics of the Black Hole tutorial to find out the answers to the following:

a)  what are the parts of a black hole?
b)  how is gravity related to a black hole?
c)  how can we see the holes if they are black?
d)  what's a Swarzschild radius?
e)  how do Einstein's theories relate to this?

You need to post the answers to these questions on your own blog.

Galaxy Zoo LAB (20 points)

Go to Galaxy Zoo and create a login.  You will need to complete the tutorial and print the Congratulations sheet for me.  Hand in.

This lab must be done by all people in the class.

Stellar Evolution video

Add your observations to your stellar evolution map....

Thursday, 10/2

Happy noontime!  Today, you will be working on a variety of projects, including studying for the test, doing the SDSS lab, and starting the stellar explorer project.  You should be in the computer lab, or in the room if the substitute gives you permission.

Expect 25 questions on the test tomorrow, 15 directly from the review sheet.  Text me if you have any problems.


:-)

In case you wondered about the Van Allen belts...

Thank God we have those belts!  They protect us from the brunt of cosmic electromagnetic radiation that could harm us because the energy

Stellar Evolution map 25 points

Your will need to create a concept map of Stellar Evolution by Friday. To do this, you will need a sheet of 18" x 24" paper, and the following links. While you are able to work with friends, what you hand in is your own. The grading rubric is found here

If you wish, you may use an online mapping tool or PowerPoint instead of the poster.


http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/astro101/java/evolve/evolve.htm

http://www.astro.keele.ac.uk/workx/starlife/StarpageS_26M.html

http://zebu.uoregon.edu/~soper/Stars/hrdiagram.html

http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/labs/star_life/starlife_main.html