Derive the Hubble Constant yourself: Cepheid Variable Lab
Extra Credit Project 2Also for your benefit and extra credit, hand in the answers to the discussion questions in Lecture on Wednesay. Up to 5%.
Extra Credit Project 3Bake a very special cake. This cake takes about 6 hours to prepare after
you have acquired the ingredients and the utensils and have found a place to
bake it. The idea is that first you must assemble a team with a Principal
Investigator = the person who provides overall direction and decision making
and could actually do most of the baking in this case. Second, is the project
manager whose job it is to facilitate the project and to make sure it is
carried out on schedule and within budget. The project manager would find the
kitchen, identify a source of the utensils, arrange for the acquisition of the
utensils and the materials (at the right time) and would schedule
organizational meetings; team members who might be experts in cooking and
peeling chestnuts or experts in making butter cream sauce or who are over 21 so
they can buy the necessary rum. So the first task it to put together at team,
which the PI does, and then the team must write a proposal that describes the
facilities available, the skills of the personnel, the responsibilities of the
personnel, and a detailed budget and a plan that describes how and when you
will purchase the necessary ingredients. One ingredient that you might have
difficutly acquiring is chestnuts. Canned chestnuts can be a bad choice. The
ones I used, which were in crumpled form, were no good. Maybe whole canned
ones would be ok. Fresh is best. You may have to find fresh chestnuts via the
web as they usually carried in stores around here near Thanksgiving and running
into January. After you submit the proposal I will judge the proposals, and if
there is more than one that is good I'll accept them and fund them. If your
proposal is no good, you get no credit at all. If you do a poor job on the
cake, i.e. it doesn't look and or doesn't taste okay, then you get minimal
credit (TBD). You must also provide a detailed written report, and picture or
a video record of the entire process. If your cake passes, then you get the 10%
of the total points allowable in the class added to your total. Each team can
consist of no more than 4 people, and I'll at most accept two teams. So, first
you have to judge: Can you put together a good team? And is this worth the
trouble just to propose? Your proposal can be no more than 4 pages long, single
spaced, 12pt, and 1 inch margins all the way around. It is due in class Oct 9.
The recipe is given here (or ask me for hard copy): Chestnut Chocolate Torte
As a way of introduction, I would like to begin by making some general
comments.
First, Astronomy is probably the oldest science. Anybody who has looked up
at the sky has gazed in wonderment. Driven both by curiosity and religion, man
continued to study the sky. There were some pretty important religious-based
questions that were addressed, such as: exactly where did man and the earth
stand compared to the universe? On the curiosity side, we are simply driven
to explore new mysteries as we learn more. For, as we delve in to the limitless
universe it seems we often uncover new questions as we answer old ones. The
growth in our knowledge of physics in the past 100 years has allowed us to
understand a great deal about the stars, planets, galaxies and the universe at
large. In the distant past when this knowledge wasn't available, astronomers
had more use as astrologers. They told people the location of the planets
etc. The concept of a supernatural being and how the being's existence
explains the existence and characteristics of Earth has affected people's
connection with organized religion and vice versa. The knowledge of astronomy
was useful for debates in this area. The Copernican Revolution was a classic
example. Now we enter a new era of astronomy and astrophysics where billions
of dollars are spent every year on astrophysics research, and society as a
whole is starting to ask tough questions such as why is this research
necessary? What's in it for me? Or, why do I find it interesting? And is it
worth that much money? This has placed a requirement on the professional astrophysicist
to emphasize research that connects directly to the interests of the layman, rather than
the esoteric interests of the peer group of astronomers and astrophysicists. You, as future leaders and taxpayers will have to answer the
question of how much funding to give to astronomy and astrophysics and
why. Two of my goals in this course are to motivate you to want to learn this
material and to teach you enough so that you will be able to make educated
choices about future funding, as well as to appreciate future press releases and
discoveries.
There is another reason for you to take this course, however, and that is to
learn how to think like a scientist. So stop to think a minute now, what does
it mean to you when the TV reporter says "today scientists have announced the
discovery of..." The use of the word scientist had a certain implied
reliability, right? Why is that? And why do most universities require
that you take a science class? This is because you are supposed to
receive some training to behave like a scientist, right? Yet mostly the
astronomy, biology and geology courses that are offered are descriptive courses
where the main goal is to teach jargon and facts. The facts will be useful as
noted above, but beyond that this new knowledge will make you more conversant,
and if your child asks you something about the sky someday you'll be able to
give a concrete answer. But is this motivation enough to require that you take
a science class? Probably not. It is better for you to get some training at
acting scientifically. We won't be able to do this rigorously, but I hope you
will actually benefit from this class.
Here are some of the things that I hope will stick with you:
(1) Be methodical and take careful notes: since this is the is the art of
making reproducible results, e.g., if you tell somebody exactly how you did
something, they should be able to repeat it and get the same result. As an
aside here, there is implied a certain level of competency in being able to
reproduce the results. I could get a very precise ski lesson and still not be
able to make it down a snow covered slope in one piece. Nevertheless, detailed
recording of how the measurements were done, the material was made, etc is what
is needed. One of the things that makes most of us disbelieve in UFOs,
leprechauns, Big Foot etc, is that the supposed observations are not
reproducible in any controlled fashion. (Sure people continue to report
UFOs, Big Foot etc, but there is no concrete, reproducible evidence of these
things.)
2) Think deductively and critically. For example, if a marketing person
calls you and tells you that if you follow their advice, you will become
rich... Think about it...Why doesn't the person on the end of the line just
follow their own advice? OR thinking critically: a football player a few years
ago had a sore back and the team had him take 40 Advils a day.
What was he thinking? Didn't the read the bottle for directions? Also when
somebody provides you with a fact that is important to you, how do they know?
What is their reference, or how did they make the measurement? This will even
allow you to pick out exaggerated claims such as "Scientists discover Black
Hole....''. How did they know?
(3) Avoid as often as you can qualitative thinking and descriptions versus
quantitative descriptions, e.g. it's a long way to Tipperary..what does
"long way" mean?
(4) Always have an idea of where you are going, why are you going there and
a schedule for achieving those goals. No scientific project that takes
more than a few hours or days can be done on time and within budget without
systematic planing, project justification, budgets etc.
End first lecture comments
Power Point of Slides of First lecture
Power Point of Slides of Second lecture
Power Point of Slides of Third lecture
Power Point of Slides of lecture 4
Saul Perlmutter's cool SN quick time show,
from http://supernova.lbl.gov/
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Power Cepheid Annimation for lecture 19
Power Standard Candle for lecture 19
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Power Point of Slides I never Got to
PDF of discussion questions # 1
PDF of discussion questions # 2
PDF of discussion questions # 3
PDF of discussion questions # 4
PDF of discussion questions # 5
PDF of discussion questions # 6
PDF of discussion questions # 7
Required Project
Since this is about team work, teams are
required for this class. During the week of Dec 2-6, each team will give
a 5 minute presentation on their version of the "creation myth" i.e the Big
Bang and Inflation. The "skit" will act out some or all parts of the "myth" from
inflation to the formation of galaxies and clusters of galaxies. Puns and
jokes are encouraged but not required. Teams can be either formed on your own,
or you will be assigned to team.
Grading Policy
The course grade will be based 3 "term exams" (80%) and project (20%). The exams will consist of multiple choice, short answer, and
essay questions. In case of missed exams, "makeups" will be oral exams.
Your team must hand in your list and/or you must
hand in your name with a request to be assigned
to a
team by Nov 11 (after drop date). Teams can consist of no fewer than 4 and
no more than 6.
Observing sessions: For your eyes only; enjoy or not as
you wish
Dearborn Observatory has an 18 inch refractor that allows spectacular viewing
of the planets, the moon and other objects. Observing sessions will
be held on Monday evenings, starting Sep 30. There will be just one
session that will start at 8:00 p.m. After the time change, sessions will begin
at 7:00 p.m. The session will be one hour long and will be
limited to 10 students. You may attend as many sessions as you like. The
sessions will be held regardless of whether it is cloudy or not. A tour will be
given in any event. Repeat attendance to achieve actual viewing is encouraged.
Course Outline
Weeks 1-3 (Sep 25-Oct 16) "Who Done It": CMB,
Clusters
Supernovae tell us the "answer"
Weeks 4-6 Oct 16-Nov 6 The story of "who done it":
Standard Fare Geometery, Inflation, Alchemy
Read Chapter 1
Mid-Term Exam on Wednesday October 16
Weeks 7-9 Nov 6-28 Gathering the basic
clues: how large in distance, how old, and how
large in mass
Mid-Term Exam: Wednesday Nov 6
Week 10 (Reading week: 3-7 )
Skits
Last Exam, Dec 9 first day of Finals
The First Lecture