Astronomy 1010Fall_2015

Day-5Planetary Astronomy

Course Announcements• Smartworks Chapter 1: Due Fri. (Sep. 4)• Grades will be downloaded on Saturday.• Read Chapter 2.2, 2.3, 2.4 • How is the lunar observing going?• Next week:

• Dark Night Observing on Tues. 9/8 & Thur. 9/10

• Thurs. 9-3: Meeting; watch for signs.• Thurs. 9-3: “1st Thursday Art Walk” downtown,

5pm• Sat. 9-5: Football vs Mercer, 4pm; Tailgate at

1pm

Scientist I’d Like to Meet:• Einstein – 27.5• Hawking – 9• DeGrasse Tyson – 9• Bill Nye – 7• Newton – 3• Tesla – 4.5• Edison – 4• Freud – 3• M. Curie – 3• =====================• “Dr. Smith”• “Newton Einstein”• “Jimmy Neutron” (Mr. West)

SaganDarwinGalileoSchrödingerBohrDa VinciKonrad ZuseCharles Sanders PeirceRobert HookeRosalind FranklinBen FranklinAnnie Jump Cannon

i_Clicker Question

The Observations Requirement for this class requires you to:

A. go out on your own and observe the night sky once a week for the entire semester.

B. attend at least one 1st Quarter Observing Night and one Dark Sky Night and write an Observations Report.

C. buy a telescope and observe specific stars and constellations with it.

D. learn the names and locations of 30 stars and 25 constellations in the night sky.

Definitions & Terms -1• Math: A useful tool for investigating science and

torturing students.

• Asterism: A pattern of stars that appears to form a familiar object. It may contain stars from more than one constellation, or be a small piece of a single constellation (example – the Big Dipper) .

Science discovers patterns in nature. Mathematics is the language of patterns. Most phenomena work regularly and

predictably.

Constellations – the 88 semi-rectangular regions that make up the sky

Northern constellations have Latinized Greek-mythology names: Orion, Cygnus, Leo, Ursa Major, Canis Major, Canis Minor

Southern constellations have Latin names:Telescopium, Sextans, Pyxsis

An Important AssumptionThe cosmological principle: “There is

nothing special about our place in the universe.”

On one level:Our view from the Earth is not special or

unique.Distant objects should be like nearby ones

which we can study in detail.On another level:

Matter and energy obey the same physical laws everywhere.

Colored Card Question:Principles

Which of these is a restatement of the cosmological principle?

A. The universe is the same everywhere. B. The same rules work everywhere in the

universe.C. There are no phenomena remaining to be

discovered.

Another i_ClickerQuestion

During the semester there will be:

A. 5 exams plus a final examB. 4 exams plus a final examC. 3 exams but no final examD. 2 exams: a midterm and a final exam

Mathematics works when used to describe nature and its patterns.

Basic Tools:• Scientific Notation: handling large or small

numbers• Ratios: comparing• Geometry• Algebra: representation• Proportionality: understanding the relationships

between quantities.

MATH TOOLS 1.1

Graphs are used to represent relationships between quantities.

Can be linear or nonlinear.

For linear, the slope is the change of the vertical axis divided by the change of the horizontal axis.

MATH TOOLS 1.2

Scientific Notation4,500,000,000,000,000 = 4.5x1015

0.000000000000000028 = 2.8x10-17

On calculators…look for the “EXP” keyor the “EE” key

centi = 0.01 = 10-2 (c)

milli = 0.001 = 10-3 (m)

micro = 0.000001 = 10-6 ()

nano = 0.000000001 = 10-9 (n)

kilo = 1,000 = 103 (k)

mega = 1,000,000 = 106 (M)

giga = 1,000,000,000 = 109 (G)

tera = 1,000,000,000,000 = 1012 (T)