Astronomy Group - WELCOME!
1. Topic: Astronomy Skills for 9th Grade Which of these do you laready know? Where are you in general "astronomical literacy" ? Go to this Astronomy Tutorial to preview some of the advanced topics we will cover in this group. Which ones are of most interest to you? We will discuss our classroom telescopes and compare them with "real" telescopes in this tutorial. (Click here).
2. Topic: Visit Astronomy magazine website. Find star Charts and study basic observing rules of the night sky.
3. Topic: Visit Popular Science website and see 5 year guide to Space Exploration
Then discuss the Nov. 2004 Cassini Mission to Saturn "Amazing Saturn". Then return to the official CASSINI MISSION website to find details on the confirmation of Einstein's theories. Check the PBS website to find out about Einsteins wife.
4. Topic: Great Observatories of the World
Discover the newest methods of observing the universe: telescope technology and research programs at
1. The Kitt Peak National Observatory telescopes
2. The National Radio Observatory group
3. The Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory
4. The Keck Interferometer (used in NASA's Origins Program)
5. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array of the ESO in Chile. What
are the technologies of this new telescope? What science is planned?
Telescope Basics II
Review the Main Rules of LIGHT PATHS in both mirrors and lenses (preliminary to use of telescopes) Thank our guest Liam for his description of his refracting telescope!
5. A. Practice your setting circles and basic use of the Celestron Telescope by pointing to the famous Quasar 3C 273. Then try some other of the quasars above 15th magnitude. Then view Mr. Ertl's Powerpoint presentation on quasars.
Find your handout on "Purchasing a Telescope". See Mr. Ertl's PowerPoint presentation on tips in buying a telescope.
B. Topic: The 2001 Mars ODYSSEY mission. How to use the JPL/Caltech Solar System Simulator
The Mars Odyssey Probe arrived at Mars on Oct. 24, 2001. What is the current mission status? View the scientific objectives at the site, click here. View the trajectory aminations.
The Mars Spirit Mission landed successfully in December 2003. View the powerpoint presentation on Mars Geology, and then click here to see an overview of Mars Geology and Climate, as well as a review of the missions. Then go to the NASA/JPL Spirit mission site for latest details.
Run the Solar System Simulator at JPL/Caltech. Generate field of view of Mars from Earth and compare to classroom telescope (dobsonian and catadioptric)
Study carefully the web site of the WMAP SATELLITE for background for the new cosmology theories.
6. Topic: Go to the Celestron Telescope site. Go through the OPTICS section of the site and calculate the parameters of the Celestron telescope. Use this converter site to assist you in metric conversions.
Lenses, Properties of Glass, Aberration, and focal length. Visit the Hyperphysics Lab Resource Site, and investigate the properties of lenses in the Celestron Telescope eyepieces.
Then try the MIRRORS section of this resource.
7. Topic: Highlights of 200_ in Astronomy. Go to the Science News Online site and review the major discoveries listed for 2001. Which are discoveries about planets? stars? astrophysics? galaxies? Make a list of the most productive satellite/probe missions for this year.
Then check out the Nasa site for the Next Generation Space Telescope. What are its science goals? What functions will it have that will go beyond the discoveries in 2001?
To fully understand the purposes of the "Origins" program of the NGST, review this tutorial on star formation. Refer to the BASIC FACTS ABOUT THE SUN as you do this tutorial. Pay close attention to the section on protostars.
Go to the American Astronomical Society 2003 meeting abstracts. What is being done this year (2003-04)? From the 2002 abstracts, find the section on the resolution of extrasolar planets. (Michael Liu of U of Hawaii, Keck II and Gemini North 8.1 m telescope). See Mr. Ertl's handout.
To prepare you for the next topic, go to the nucleosynthesis of elements page.
Topic: Eta Carinae - The Monster Star
Data on Eta Carinae: click here
Now find more on Eta Carinae as seen by the Chandra X-ray observatory at http://chandra.harvard.edu . Find photo index
Then find more Eta Carinae photos as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope at http://oposite.stsci.edu/pubinfo/pr/96/23.html
Topic: Who Are Hertzsprung and Russell, and Why Did They Make That Diagram?
Go to this site and see if Eta Carinae is a Type I or II supernova (or neither?)
Then go to Topic: "Eta Carinae" and see if it fits the standard model!
Note how "life story of star" is determined by it mass!
Topic: Looking IN to the center of the Galaxy
I. View PowerPoint presentation on Milky Way Galaxy
II. Topic: The Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Search for Monster Black Holes
A. What is the latest announced press release of the Chandra X-ray observatory?
Has Chandra found the first "Strange Matter Star"?
B. What is the DARK MATTER mystery that surrounds galaxies?
Can Chandra help to solve this mystery?
C. Can Chandra view the violent activity in the center of the Milky Way, or other galaxies? Find out what sources of X-rays exist. What do they have in common?
III. Finding the Black Holes in the Galaxy. Seeing the Invisible!
A. Black Holes and Relativity: Why do we believe that monster black holes were more common in earlier stages of the evolution of the universe? (the Cambridge University Relativity home page)
B. What would happen if you FELL INTO A BLACK HOLE? Learn about singularities, emissions of x-rays, and space-time curvature.
IV. Very Long Baseline Interferometry: How can radio images seek the presence of monster black holes in our galactic nucleus?
A. Visit the Max Planck Institute for Radioastronomy in Bonn, Germany.
See the home page of researcher Arno Witzel, and find publications on the galactic nucleus. Scan publications for 2000 - 2001.
Note other links to VLBI programs around the world
B. Go to SKYView (Nasa's internet virtual telescope), and find RADIO images of the sky near the galactic nucleus. Find images of nuclei of distant galaxies.
IV. The Runaway Universe: The Evidence for Dark Energy
A. We will view the video "Runaway Universe" to discover how astrophysicists believe that a "negative" force opposes the force of gravity at great size scales, and makes galaxies rush ever faster from each other.
B. Visit the Space Science Institute web site to see how evidence from a 10 billion year old supernova "nails the existence of the dark energy"
v. Grand Unified Theory and the Origin of the Universe
The ultimate explanation of the origin hinges on the behavior of fundamental forces and particles. Learn about the "Standard Model" of particle physics, the experimental evidence for fundamental particles, and the behavior of forces and matter in the earliest moments of the universe by trying this tutorial.
Go to this site at Arizona State University for a discussion of the earliest stages of the Universe.