Office: Dearborn Observatory #3
Phone: 491-5633
Email: m-ulmer2@northwestern.edu
Office Hours: by appointment, usually open most of (but not all) 9-5 M-F
NO Final Exam: (3
Mid terms instead)
Except for the first and second weeks and when we have exams, we'll have 5
minute quizzes on Friday and make up quizzes on Monday. We will drop your lowest quiz grade.
Every course should have a paper or project: ours is to gain a deep
knowledge of some aspect of the solar system and writing about it in the form
of a story (4-5 pages, double spaced 12 pt, 1 inch margins) that can assume any
kind of rockets, space colonies etc, but the environment of the planet or moon
must be authentic, and be taken into account. You cannot write a story that could take place on
Earth. This means also you are not
allowed to use the Earth for the location of your story. In exceptional cases,
e.g. music majors or art majors, a music piece or an art that describes some
aspect of the solar system can be submitted instead of the short story.
The course grade will be on
3 "mid-term exam" (25%) each [75% total] and the paper (15%), quizzes (10%). The exams will consist
of multiple choice, short answer, and essay questions. In the case of missed
exams, make-ups will only be considered under the direst of circumstances and
will consist of an oral test. Quizzes will consist of a short essay question.
Dearborn Observatory has an 18 inch refractor that
allows spectacular viewing of the planets, the moon and other objects.
Observing sessions will probably be held on Tuesday evenings, but check on
Wednesday (here or in class), 30 March for the day of the week for the
observing sessions. There will be two sessions. Each will be one hour long and
will be limited to 10 students. The first session will be held the second week
of class. The times of the sessions will be announced at the end of the
preceding week and the beginning of the week of the sessions. Sign up sheets
will be made available in class and attendance will be taken at the sessions.
You are allowed to attend more than one session. You must attend at least one session. The session will he 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, but not required. You will receive an incomplete in the
class if you do not attend a session. In order to receive permission to obtain
an incomplete, you must see the Office of Studies. Therefore it is easier to
attend a session than to take an incomplete.
Astronomy and the Universe (part 1)
Read Chapters 1, 2 (part)
o
NASA Office of Space
Science - the US space facilities
o
The Naval Observatory Web Page
- "the web site for those who really want to know what time it is"
o
Sky Online - courtesy of Sky and Telescope
magazine
Week 2 (April 5-9)
Astronomy and the Universe (part 2) and begin Our
Planetary System (The Solar System)
Read Chapters 2(part), 5, 7(part) Substitutes on 7th
(lecture on the Earth) and 9th
search for water (overlaps with mars, Jupiter and also extra-solar
planets
Week
3 (April 12-16)
Our Planetary System
The Earth Note, 7 before 6
Read Chapters 7(part), Chapter 6, review on
Wenesday, Exam on Friday covering chapters
1,2,5,6 & 7
o
Another
Web Page on the Solar System - links to other web pages
o
The Entire Solar System at your fingertips -
links to other web pages
o
The Moon phases great for
avoiding were-wolves, planning grunion run expeditions, or even looking that
the sky
o
Geology of
the Moon web course
Week 4 (April 19-23)
Details Comparative Planetology, Moon, Mercury Venus
Read Chapters 8 9
The
Face of Venus - pictures and more
o
Mars-facts and
photos
o
Visit all the Terrestrial Planet Pages
-facts and photos
Week 5 (April 26-April 30 )
Venus, Mars
Read Chapters 10,11
o
The Nine Planets Page again - Click on
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
Week 6 (May 3- May
7)
Mars,
Jupiter
Read Chapters 12, Review on Wednesday, Exam on Friday covering chapters 8, 9,
10, 11 & 12
o
Jupiter -
click on Io, Europa, Ganemede, and Calisto
Week 7 (May 10-14)
Saturn Uranus Neptune
Read Chapters 13, 14
o
Titan - a moon with ice
floes?
o
Triton - a
captured moon?
o
Pluto - a runaway moon? and Charon
- a runaway moon?
o
Icy Moons and Life? - click on selected moons
Week 8 (May 17-21)
Comets, Asteriods, etc.
Read Chapters 15, 16
o
NASA Comet Page -
current info on Hale-Bopp and other comets
o
Disaster You tube –JPL
office not to worry J
o
The
Asteroid and Comet Fact Sheet - brought to you by NASA
o
A Model of EROS -
o
More on Eros EROS the
movie-
o
View of 3 asteroids Meteorites for sale! - I
can't promise this is "legit"
o
Yet more meteorites for sale! -
I can't promise this is "legit"
o
Antarctic Search for meteorites -
why look there?"
o
Where
Comets Come From - The Oort Cloud, the Kuiper Belt and more
o
The Barringer Crater Company -
Pictures and Quizzes
Week 9 (May 24-28)
Paper Due: 2:00
P.M. Tech L211 26 May
The Sun and Life in the Universe (in
the Solar System, Search for other planets that could hold life)
Read Chapters 28, Review, Third Exam covering chapters 13,14,15, 16 & 28
o
Solar links from
Lockheed MartinTrip Through the Sun
o
Searching for Extra-solar Planets - the very latest from
the planet-finders
o
The SETI Institute - the scientific
approach to the ET issue
o
Mars
Science Lab U tube animation
Week 10 No class One last set of observing sessions June 1. Sign up the week
before
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 on and to learn more even 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, perhaps, the
esoteric interests of the peer group of astronomers and astrophysicists who
know enough to ask detailed questions. 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 an 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 he 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.
(5) Some hints from a
business guru: (a) Keep your e-mails short, which means 5 sentences or
fewer. (b) Keep your presentations
short, which means 10 slides or fewer.
How about asteriod-Earth
collisions? First a mini-review of Armageddon (I didn't see Deep Impact). I've
never seen a picture of an asteroid that is covered with stalagmites and
canyons, etc, and the asteroid is not likely to have 10's of 100 meter class
rocks in "formation." (A comet, which is mostly ice, is another
story. It could have such an entourage). Then there was the splitting of the
asteroid into two neat pieces (I think not) and the implication that the space
shuttle can orbit the Moon (NOT). Never
mind, let's listen to the following description of an impact that took place in
the desert several years ago, and look at the probabilities to consider how
much effort we should put into an asteroid "watch' (and destroy) program.
Then we will move on to the basics of the course and then some other course
material.
"The Day the Sands
Caught Fire" by Jeffrey C. Wynn and
Eugene M. Shoemaker Scientific American, November 1998
Imagine, for a moment,
that you are standing in the deep desert, looking northwest in the evening
twilight. The landscape is absolutely desolate: vast, shifting dunes of
grayish sand stretch uninterrupted in all directions. Not a rock is to be seen,
and the nearest other human being is 250 kilometers away. Although the sun has
set, the air is still rather warm-50 degrees Celsius-and the remnant of the
afternoon sandstorm is still stinging your back. The prevailing wind is blowing
from the south, as it always does in the early spring. Suddenly, your
attention is caught by a bright light above the darkening horizon. First a
spark, it quickly brightens and splits into at least four individual streaks.
Within a few seconds it has become a searing flash. Your clothes burst into
flames. The bright objects flit silently over your head, followed a moment
later by a deafening crack. The ground heaves, and a blast wave flings you
forward half the length of a football field. Behind you, sheets of incandescent
fire erupt into the evening sky and white boulders come flying through the air.
Some crash into the surrounding sand; others are engulfed by fire.
Glowing fluid has coated the white boulders with a splatter that first looks
like white paint but then turns progressively yellow, orange, red and finally
black as it solidifies-all within the few seconds it takes the rocks to hit the
ground. Some pieces of the white rock are fully coated by this black stuff;
they metamorphose into a frothy, glassy material so light that it could float
on water, if there were any water around. A fiery mushroom cloud drifts over
you now, carried by the southerly breeze, blazing rainbow colors magnificently.
As solid rocks become froth and reddish-black molten glass rains down, you too
become part of the spectacle-and not in a happy way.