1. Astronomy 1010-H Planetary Astronomy Fall_2015 Day-2

3. A Bit About Moi

4. Why we will be doing stuff other than lecture in class From How People Learn: “Students enter your lecture hall with preconceptions about how the world works. If their initial understanding is not engaged, they may fail to grasp the new concepts and information that are taught, or they may learn them for the purposes of a test but revert to their preconceptions outside the classroom” How People Learn, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 2000

5. Active Learning Active learning is when students take active responsibility for participating in and monitoring of their own learning by engaging in critical reasoning about the ideas presented in the class. In other words: you must do it, you won’t learn it if I just tell it to you

6. Colored Card 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.

7. Another Colored Card Question During the semester there will be: A.5 exams plus a final exam B.4 exams plus a final exam C.3 exams but no final exam D.2 exams: a midterm and a final exam

8. Yet Another Colored Card Question Texting/social networking is acceptable behavior in class. A. Strongly disagree. B. Disagree. C. Neutral. D. Agree. E. Strongly agree.

9. One more Colored Card Question The homework for this class will be: A.assignments handed out in class and due the following week. B.assignments posted on the class D2L website and due in class the following day. C.assignments in the online SmartWork system plus (possibly) some. assignment handed out in class. D.None of the above, there is no homework in this class.

10. Introduction To understand the origins of our planet, we need to understand how our solar system & galaxy formed. To understand how life formed, we need to understand the chemical evolution of the galaxy and the universe.

11. This course in a Nutshell, We Have to Explain How to go from a gaseous nebula …

12. Through a series of steps … Form a Universe, Form galaxies and stars, Form Planets, Evolve Life, And end up with …

13. … This

14. We Live in a Strange Universe

15. So, Let’s Get Started

16. What Is A Planet? 1) It orbits the central star of the system. 2) It has to have sufficient mass to self- gravitate to a sphere. 3) It has to have cleared its orbit of “debris”

17. Classes of Planets 1) Terrestrial – Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars 2) Gas Giants – Jupiter, Saturn 3) Ice Giants – Uranus, Neptune 4) Ice Dwarfs (Plutoids) – Pluto, Eris, Sedna, Makemake, …

19. Two-Minute Essay  My name is…  What is the largest thing that exists?  Numerical answer, include units!  What is the smallest thing that exists?  Numerical answer, include units!

20. How Big is Everything? Powers of 10 Zoomable

22. The Universe is Vast! Scale: The Earth is small, Orbits a medium star, In a small group On the edge of the Virgo Supercluster (a smallish cluster)

24. Useful Information for Next Lab Basic Coordinates and Seasons Lab ClassAction Web Site (Link from apsu.edu/astronomy) Print the instructions BEFORE you come to class!

25. Sexagesimal Notation What is sexagesimal notation? Expressing a coordinate as DD:MM:SS or HH:MM:SS As opposed to decimal degrees: DD.ddddd Used for coordinates on Earth and in space. Useful for map reading (after your GPS dies).

26. Sexagesimal Notation Convert from sexigesimal to decimal degrees: 87:20:30.426 W longitude The proper way: 87° + (20 m /60 m/° ) + (30.426 s /3600 s/° ) = 87 + 0.3333 + 0.00845 = 87°.34175 W

27. Sexagesimal Notation Convert from decimal degrees to sexigesimal : 36°.56174 N latitude 36° + (0.56174 ° x 60 m/° ) = 33 m.7041 33 m + (0.7041 m x 60 s/m ) = 42 s.2460 = 36:33:42.2460 N latitude

31. Two-Minute Essay  My name is…  What is the largest thing that exists?  Numerical answer, include units!  What is the smallest thing that exists?  Numerical answer, include units!

32. … which is one of billions of galaxies … NASA/ESA/S. Beckwith (STScI) and the HUDF Team in a universe that is 13.7 billion years old.

33. Light travels at a finite speed: Solar System

34. Longer Distances The Closest Star Our Galaxy The Closest Big Galaxy The Universe

35. Measuring Distances The universe is vast. We need to handle great distances and long times. We can do this through the travel time of light. Light travels 300,000 km every second. We often use times to denote distances. For example, we may say a friend’s house is two hours away. Astronomy is a time machine!

36. Measuring Distances Close to home (Solar System) we will use: Kilometers (for distance to Moon, sizes) Astronomical Units (AU) or light-minutes – distance to most planets light-hours for distances to the farther planets

37. The Inner Solar System

38. Lecture-Tutorial: Sun Size – p. 113 Work with a partner Read the instructions and questions carefully Talk to each other and discuss your answers with each another Come to a consensus answer you both agree on If you get stuck or are not sure of your answer ask another group If you get really stuck or don’t understand what the Lecture Tutorial is asking as one of us for help

39. Colored Card Question: Where Are We? The Sun is part of: A.The Solar System. B.The Milky Way Galaxy. C.The universe. D.All the above.

40. Cute and Science

41. Science vs. Authority Science is subversive. Old ideas can be falsified and rejected. New ideas must be supported by evidence. Authority often works by suppressing inquiry. Scientific authority can be overthrown by new or better evidence. Nature is the arbiter of science. It decides what ideas are good or bad.

42. Science Is Creative Science is one of many creative human activities. It has its own rules for deciding what is right and wrong. It is an important way for achieving knowledge and insight. There are also other valuable ways to achieve understanding.

43. Science Is an Exploration Ideas can be tested by observation. Telescopes, satellites, etc. extend our observations to the very large or very distant. Space exploration has expanded our view of planets and the Solar System. Astronomy is the science of the exploration of the Universe and the matter and energy it contains.

44. Science Is a Process Science is a method for learning about nature. The scientific method works like this: Ideas are tested against nature. Tests come from observation or calculation. The tests falsify some ideas and support others. All scientific knowledge is provisional.

45. A Scientific Result: We Are Stardust Our bodies contain many types of atoms. Except for the hydrogen in water (H 2 O), all the atoms were made in stars. Stars generate energy by making heavier elements out of light ones. They eject the material into space. New stars and planets (and humans) form out of the ejected material.

46. Hallmarks of Modern Science 1. Modern science seeks explanations for observed phenomena that rely solely on natural causes. 2. Science progresses through the creation and testing of models of nature that explain the observations as simply as possible. 3. A scientific model must make testable predictions about natural phenomena that would force us to revise or abandon the model if the predictions do not agree with observations.

47. Modern Science The Scientific Method. Observations Question Hypothesis Prediction Test Revise/More Predictions