Astronomy News

On to the Sun!

2012-01-06T08:53:00.000-08:00

We only have 9 school days left before the final exam, so we're probably going to skip over Ch 7 (the Jovian planets) and move right on to Ch. 9 (The Sun). It's way more interesting and if you got the major themes of the chapter on terrestrial planets, then you could probably teach yourself the major facets about the gas giants if you are so inclined.

I know a lot of you will be staying on with me for the 2nd Astronomy class next semester in which we study larger scale astronomy like stars & galaxies. The content is different, but the way the class is taught really isn't, so if you're struggling right now, you'll need to change something if you hope to be successful in the next class.

I haven't forgot about hosting stargazing parties either, but the weather has been awful these past few weeks. I hope to get something organized soon because there are a lot of planets to view right now. The only problem is that you have to stay up pretty late to catch them all.

The end is nigh

2011-12-13T07:02:00.001-08:00

Less than 4 academic weeks left to go in the course and still a lot left to cover. We're going to blaze right through our discussion of the planets this week and next and start fresh with a study of the Sun after break.

There will be an opportunity for extra credit using the APOD website that I will talk more about before break.

Make sure to read Chapters 6 & 7 in preparation for a (brief) test next week.

6 weeks left

2011-11-27T13:20:00.000-08:00

We wrapped up Ch. 4 with our work on Extrasolar Planets before the Thanksgiving break, so now we're moving on into Ch. 5 and our study of the Earth & Moon. It might seem weird to talk about the Earth in an Astronomy class, but if we're going to study other planets, it's best to have a firm grasp about the one we live on first. The gas planets might not share a lot in common with us, but they have moons that are a lot more like the Earth than you might think.

Also starting this week will be a presentation based assignment using the Astronomy Picture of the Day website. You'll get more info in the next few days, but essentially, each student will need to give a brief presentation explaining the daily picture at some point between now and the end of the semester.

Tying it all together

2011-10-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

So we talked about waves and different types of electromagnetic radiation. Then we talked about how telescopes worked and this week we tied it all together with an activity aimed at underscoring WHY we use telescopes designed to "see" the different ranges of the EM spectrum.

For those keeping score at home, the test covering chapters 2 (waves) and 3 (telescopes) will probably be on Wednesday next week (11/2). If you still haven't read the chapter, be sure to do so this weekend.

Week 7 update

2011-10-21T05:06:00.000-07:00

Somebody needs to remind me to go over the Waves HW Q with the class, because there were some dramatic shortcomings that became clear as I graded that. Please be sure to read through the portions of Ch. 2 that we covered (ignore the parts about models of the atom and spectra).

We've started Ch. 3, and I hope the optics lab gave you some hands one experience with how the guts of a telescope work. The notes that we went through on Thursday on are the website (Schedule --> October) as is everything else we've done. Again, read Ch. 3 over the weekend if you haven't done so already and be ready for another HW Q next week.

For anyone who asks about extra credit: I offered a chance to earn back HALF of the points lost on the Ch. 1 Test and only 5 people took advantage of that offer. You have to be doing your best to earn CREDIT before we concern ourselves with *extra* credit.

Stargazing Recap

2011-10-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

So only 1 of you showed up to the stargazing session. I can't stress enough how rare of an opportunity this is - before I started teaching I had only looked through a decent telescope once while I was on vacation in Hawaii. It's an amazing experience to see things like the moons of Jupiter and the Orion Nebula and if you pass it up now, you'll be kicking yourself later.

Please read through the first half of Ch. 2 about the basics of waves. It's short, so read it twice. If you get bored, go read Ch. 3 about telescopes.

You've seen a full unit in the class, so you should have a better understanding of what you need to do to meet my expectations. An important point: turning in your homework is not the same as doing it.

Massive Solar Storm

2011-09-27T04:15:00.000-07:00

We'll talk more about the specifics toward the end of the semester, but long story short - there was a massive eruption of material from the surface of the Sun a few days ago and it traversed the 93 million miles to Earth and slammed into our atmosphere yesterday. The result? The Norther Lights. For more info, check out this link:
http://spaceweather.com/submissions/large_image_popup.php?image_name=Gordon-McLellan-aurora-borealis1_1317092998.jpg

In other news, we're nearly complete with our intro unit which is made up of the prologue chapter and ch. 1 in the book. The next will most likely be in the middle of next week. If you haven't read either chapter yet, you still have time. Anything in the book is fair game, but the test will focus on the concepts we've discussed in class.

For those keeping score at home...

2011-09-18T17:14:00.000-07:00

The activities from last week (seasonal stars, phases of the moon, and eclipses) make up the bulk of the prologue chapter in your book. We'll have one more activity on parallax this week and we'll also be starting Ch. 1 on Monday.

This might not be the best news, but we're nearing the point when a lecture will be necessary. I promise to keep it brief and only talk about things you can really get from the in-class activities we've been doing.

There will be a HW Q on moon phases on Monday.

Look up!

2011-09-12T16:48:00.001-07:00

Excellent work on the 3D Constellations - I know it's a confusing project, but I thought everyone handled the assignment with aplomb (look it up).

If you look high in the sky on your way to school this week, you'll see Jupiter shining brightly in the pre-dawn sky. It will remain visible long after the rest of the stars are washed about by the rising Sun.

This week we'll start the content of the class. Please read the Prologue chapter in the book to help guide you through the major topics of the week (seasonal stars, phases of the moon, and eclipses).

I'll be updating the website, so check back for a link to the textbook website to help you reinforce the stuff we cover in class.

Look up!

2011-09-07T06:00:00.000-07:00

The first week of the school year and some big events to tell you about. First, this week is something called the greatest elongation of Mercury's orbit. This happens twice a year and makes the usually hard to spot innermost planet findable. You need to catch Mercury just before the Sun rises above the horizon (the Sun's bright light washes out any possible view once it rises).

A bigger surprise is the supernova that was recently detected in a galaxy only 25 million light years away. This is a white dwarf star that exploded 25 million years ago, but it's light is just reaching us. Most supernovae that are detected nowadays are so far away, only the biggest telescopes can spot them, but this one is close enough that even a small 'scope can see it. It's in the Big Dipper and you can Google it if you want more detailed info on where to look. It will be getting brighter until Sept 9th which means you have some time to see it.

Welcome back!

2011-09-06T06:00:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of points about what we will and what we won't be studying this semester.

For starters, this is not Anatomy, nor is it Astrology. For the former, see Ms. Rozema. For the latter, look up "pseudoscience" in a dictionary.

What we will be covering is a general overview of major topics in Astronomy. Our focus will be on the solar system in which we live - the planets, Sun, asteroids and comets, etc. If you have an interest in more exotic topics like black holes and galaxies, I suggest you take the other Astronomy course that will be offered during 2nd semester.

I'll tell you guys the same thing I tell every Astro class I've had: if you pay attention and read the simple textbook with lots of pretty pictures, you can earn a C or better rather easily. Having said that, about half of my Astronomy students fail every semester. Why? Because they don't do either of the things I just mentioned.

From time to time I'll try to host stargazing sessions at school to give you a chance to look through a telescope at things we're talking about in class. Redford isn't the best place in the world for stargazing, but it's better than nothing.

Please ask if you have any questions and I look forward to a new semester!