Cuesta College :: Astronomy 10 :: Spring 2008

Calendar	Policies	Goals	Grades
		Quiz 1
		Quiz 2
		Quiz 3
		Midterm 1
		Quiz 4
		Quiz 5
		Quiz 6
		Midterm 2
		Quiz 7
		Quiz 8
		Quiz 9
		Midterm 3
		Quiz 10
		Quiz 11
		Quiz 12
		Final Exam

Supplemental materials for these learning goals will be added frequently.

Midterm 2 Learning Goals and Supplemental Resources [Fix, Astronomy: Journey to the Cosmic Frontier, 4/e, Chapters 13, 15] [Reading guide (*.pdf)] [CPS inquiry questions (*.pdf)] [CPS review questions (*.pdf)] (Study all learning goals from Quiz 4, Quiz 5, and Quiz 6, in addition to those listed below.) Be able to distinguish between the causes and compositions of meteoroids, meteor showers, meteors, and meteorites. NASA Astronomy Pictures of the Day: Leonids [Meteor Shower] over Clouds (from Comet Tempel-Tuttle) Note the diverging paths of the meteor shower particles from the radiant. Leonids [Meteoroid Swarm] over Earth (from Comet Tempel-Tuttle) Note the parallel paths of the meteor shower particles. A Chicago Meteorite Fall A printer smashed by a rock?   And what's with that hole in the ceiling? The Car, the Hole, and the Peekskill Meteorite How much is the deductible on that car?   More information on the Peekskill meteorite here (courtesy David Darling), along with a movie of its descent (courtesy NASA Public Outreach, Education, Teaching and Reaching Youth). A Strange Streak Imaged in Australia May happen more often than you would like to think... Searching for Meteorites in Antarctica What makes glaciers and sand dunes so special for finding meteorites? Meteor/meteorite as plot device, The Simpsons, "Treehouse of Horror XVII: Married to the Blob" (*.jpeg) The Simpsons family has a close encounter with a meteor, and the resulting meteorite. Websites: Leonid meteor shower movie (1.9 MB *.mov) Relationship between the dust particles in a comet orbit, and a meteor shower observed from the night side of the Earth (Sky & Telescope magazine). Mars Meteorites for Sale and Trade $500 a gram! Mars meteorite on display at the Boston Museum of Science What evidence is required to prove that a sample is actually a piece of Mars? Rover finds a meteorite on Mars Meteorite hunting on Mars (BBC News). Massive Meteorite Found A million-dollar meteorite (Sky & Telescope magazine). Cuesta College Astronomy 10L Photos: Do-it-yourself micrometeorite hunting in San Luis Obispo, CA. Cuesta students collecting campus soil samples Cuesta students extracting micrometeorites from soil The showerhead effect: shower scene from Psycho (*.jpg) (Paramount/Universal Pictures, 1960). Provide and understand the evidence that meteorites provides for the history of the early solar system. In-class activity 13, Meteorite Types and Origins (*.pdf) Understand the different types of meteoritess, and their origins from different parts of asteroids or planets. Asteroid's Revenge (*.swf) Switch-up in roles from the original Asteroids videogame, in this case you are the asteroid, trying to crash into as many spaceships as possible without being shot apart into fragments (flashninjaclan.com). Provide and understand the relationship between the properties of meteorites and of the asteroid belt. NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day: Note the irregular shapes and surface impact features. Asteroids (Mathilde, Gaspra, and Ida) Websites: Note the distinguishing rounded shape of the largest of the "minor planets." Plot of the Inner Solar System (For reference; Havard-Smithsonian Center for Astronomy.) Vesta Raw Hubble Space Telescope image, and corresponding computer-generated model. Asteroid or Mini-Planet?   Hubble Maps the Ancient Surface of Vesta Official news release (hubblesite.org). Key Stages in the Evolution of the Asteroid Vesta Schematic timeline of its differentiation and fragmentation (hubblesite.org). Rocketboom video blog entry on meteorites Videoblogger Joanne Colan waxes eloquent on everything meteor-related (rocketboom.com). Provide and describe the evidence for the characteristics, composition, behaviors, and origins of comets, the Kuiper belt, and Oort cloud. In-class activity 14, Icy Body Types and Comets (*.pdf) Understand the origins of the Kuiper belt and Oort clouds, and how they may produce short-period and long-period comets. Starry Night files: Simulation of the tails produced by a comet in the vicinity of the Sun.   Also note how the orbit obeys Kepler's second law. Halley's Comet, 2061-2062 (*.snf) Following Halley's Comet, 2061-2062 (*.snf) NASA Astronomy Pictures of the Day: The transient nature of comet nuclei. Exploring Comet Tails Two Tails of Comet West An Orbiting Iceberg Comet LINEAR Disperses Fragments of Comet LINEAR NASA Deep Impact Mission: Note the "lumpy potato" nucleus of comet Tempel 1. Encounter Animation Simulation of impactor and flyby spacecraft trajectories. One-Way Trip to Tempel 1 Approach of comet nucleus, seen by impactor probe. Capturing the Flash The moment of impact, seen by flyby spacecraft! How to Make Comet Soup Back-engineering the recipe for Comet Tempel 1. Websites: Distinguish between the orbital characteristics of Kuiper belt objects (source of short-period comets) and Oort cloud objects (source of long-period comets). Plan View of the Kuiper Belt (Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii) Location of the Kuiper Belt of Comets Schematic diagram (hubblesite.org). Oort Cloud Schematic cut-away diagram (wikipedia.org). Understand the new International Astronomical Union criteria distinguishing between planets, dwarf planets, and small solar system bodies, and how it affects the categorization of Pluto, 2005 UB313 (Eris), Ceres, and other similar objects. NASA Astronomy Pictures of the Day: Mysterious Pluto and Charon Four worlds: a size comparison with the United States Pluto, Charon, Nix, and Hydra (Astronomy.com). Websites: What should be considered a "planet?" Teaching What a Planet Is: A Roundtable on the Educational Implications of the New Definition of a Planet (61 KB, *.pdf) Andrew Fraknoi (Foothill College and the Astronomical Society of the Pacific) compiles a roundtable discussion of issues regarding the new International Astronomical Union classification scheme for planets, dwarf planets, small Solar system bodies, and satellites (Astronomy Education Review). Tenth [Dwarf] Planet Has a Moon Eris (2003 UB313, or "Xena") and its satellite Dysnomia ("Gabrielle").   Also mentions "Santa" (2003 EL61) and the "Easterbunny" (2005 FY9) (universetoday.com). Comparison of the largest TNOs (123 KB, *.jpg) TNOs = "Trans-Neptunian Objects" (i.e., Kuiper belt and Oort cloud bodies, compared to the Earth, Moon, Mercury, Triton (Neptune's moon) and Ceres (asteroid).   Carefully note how these fall into the new IAU categories: planet, dwarf planet, small solar system body, satellite (W. R. Johnston, johnstonsarchive.net). [Fictitious] backlash against Pluto demotion (75 KB, *.jpg) Entry from the Worth1000.com Save Pluto contest. Archived Quizzes and Exams Midterm 2, Summer 2007 (*.pdf) Midterm 2, Fall 2007 (*.pdf) Midterm 2, Spring 2008 (*.pdf) Please read the disclaimer regarding archived quizzes and exams before downloading. To view the interactive Starry Night (*.snf) files used in lecture, first download them to your hard drive using Internet Explorer ("download link to disk"), and then open them using the Starry Night Pro program (available from the CD-ROM enclosed with Astronomy: Journey to the Cosmic Frontier, 4/e, or a demo Starry Night Backyard version (available for a free two-week trial period for either Windows or Mac OS systems).