...Science of Stars This paper is about the science of the stars. In this paper I will address how astronomers determine the composition, temperature, speed, and rotation rate of distant objects. I will briefly explain the properties of stars in the H-R diagram from Chapter 15 of the course textbook “The Cosmic Perspective”. I will also summarize the lifecycle of the Sun and identify where the Sun is in its lifecycle. Studying Distant Objects Astronomers study light which comes from distant objects to determine its composition, temperature, speed, and rotation of distant objects. This process is called spectroscopy. Spectroscopy was first used to study celestial objects in 1863 by William Higgins. By using this process he discovered the Sun and most stars are primarily composed of hydrogen gases. By using the spectroscopy technique it was discovered that different objects give off and absorb different spectrums of light. Where the object falls in the spectrum of light can be determined by examining its peak intensity at each wave length of light. The light helps us to determine an objects composition, temperature, and rotation. There are three types of spectra used to evaluate light. Objects which absorb light at different wavelengths are referred to as absorption spectrum. The intensity of light drops in objects which absorb light and therefore appear as dark lines on a rainbow of colors. Objects such are stars, planets with atmospheres, and galaxies absorb light...
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...The Science of Stars Rochell Clark August 13, 2012 SCI 151 Robert Austin Stars are the majority and most widely acknowledged astronomical components that symbolize the most essential development of blocks of galaxies. The age, disbursement, and framework of the night sky in a galaxy maintain a record of the heritage, characteristics, and evolvement of the galaxy. More important, stars are integral to the fabrication and allocation of heavy elements. Notably corresponding to carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, their functionality is intimately associated with the capabilities of the planetary models, which in turn associate about them. Subsequently, the analysis of the conception, longevity, and perishing of stars is dominant to the subject of astronomy. Astronomers depend on electromagnetic emissions observed by unique variations of telescopes to calculate the position, structure, conditions, activity, and magnetism of celestial objects. The conduct of the majority of stars indicates they generate a certain measure of energy at each wavelength however additionally carry a pinnacle wavelength and range in which they discharge a significant amount of their remaining stamina. Electromagnetic radiation is transmitted by means of waves at the speed of light (299 792 km/sec) through space. Electromagnetic waves consist of marginal frequency radio waves with the aid of infrared energy and observable luminosity to ultraviolet radiation x-rays as well as high frequency gamma radiation...
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...In Heather MacDonald’s article “Distorting the Truth About Crime and Race: The New York Times Is at It Again” she alludes that the New York Times is not keeping the public informed of crime rates. Instead, the Times is more interested with “giving specific racial breakdowns of every aspect of police behavior”(MacDonald). She feels that the New York City Police Department is unable to do their job without having to face allegations of racial disparity. Ms. MacDonald indicates that the reason crime rates are higher amongst minorities than whites is not because of racial prejudices. She says it’s because the vast majority of crimes occur in minority neighborhoods by minority criminals against minority victims. Therefore, this drives police officers to those areas to arrest the individuals committing crimes. In 1994, under the New York Police Department Commissioner William Bratton and Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the proactive policing revolution began. The idea was to remain visible in so called hot spot areas to help prevent crime from occurring. This gave police officers the authority to question anyone that appeared suspicious. According to MacDonald, due to the implementation of this policy “over 10,000 black and Hispanic males are alive today who would have been dead,” but this type of information does not make front page news. It appears that information concerning the positives associated with proactive policing is another issue Ms. MacDonald feels is not being reported...
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...Science of Sunlight and Stars SCI/151 May 16, 2011 Troy Mazely Science of Sunlight and Stars Light is used in many ways, and is a form of energy that can be created, travel through space, and be absorbed. Light can react as a particle, because it sends all its energy to one place. A particle of light is called a photon. Photons can be absorbed into objects, bounce off objects, or fly through space. Over the course of a million years, clumps of particles will grow into what is called a “protostar” and draw in more gases and grow even hotter. This is how stars are formed and is a point in a star’s life. Astronomers determine composition, temperature, speed, and rotation rate of distant objects with a tool called a spectroscopy. When a star gives off light and the light splits by prism, the spectral pattern reflects a star’s composition. All stars are 95% hydrogen, so the variations in composition expose its age, luminosity, and origin. Composition of ages can be determined by observing the light of a star. The temperature of a star can be determined from its color and its spectrum. All stars have different colors because of its light radiation. Another way to determine the temperature of a star is to examine the spectral lines in the starlight. “Because we sometimes describe light as an electromagnetic wave, the complete spectrum of light is usually called the electromagnetic spectrum” (Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, and Voit, 2009). This is used to explain all types...
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...a fairly ordinary but large star. b. The Sun is the focal point of our solar system, because all of the planets orbit the Sun. 2) What is our Milky Way galaxy and the sun’s position in it? a. The Milky Way galaxy is where our solar system is located in the universe. b. The Milky Way galaxy is home to over 100 billion stars and the Sun is one of those stars. 3) What is the Big Bang and what does it say about the age of the universe? a. The Big Bang is when the universe began. b. The Big Bang is thought to have happened about 14 billion years ago. 4) What is meant by the phase “looking out in the universe is looking back in time?” a. When viewing the universe we see a vast amount of stars. b. The light from stars must travel great distances to reach us, and these distances take years. c. So when we see a star we are seeing the star as it was when the light first started traveling. b. Where are we in the universe? 1) What is Earth’s place in the solar system? a. The Earth is our home. b. The Earth is the only planet known to sustain human life. 2) How close are the nearest stars to the Sun as compared to the distance between the Sun and the Earth? 3) How large is our Milky Way galaxy? a. The Milky Way galaxy is home to our solar system. b. The Milky Way galaxy has a 100,000 light-year diameter. 4) How many stars are estimated to exist in our galaxy? a. There are roughly 100 billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. b. So many stars that it would take someone’s...
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...Asimov felt that the technical side of science was hindering the fun of science. He used his word to create a passage to explain his feelings and express them to others. Asimov used polar opposite examples to compare his feelings about current science. He used rhetorical questions to get the reader's attention and make them think about the passage, and he explained his point well with analogies, facts, and using the imagination of the reader. I agree that the science of today is taking the fun out of science and both sides want to do more for science. Asimov used analogies to explain his observations and to explain his questions. He also wrote cause and effect and had topics go on with cause and effect. For example, when Asimov was...
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...Pointed Sand Star The Pointed Sand Star is in the Phylum Echinodermata, the class Asteroidea, the order Platyasterida, the family Luidiidae, the genus Astropecten, and the species Astropecten Articulatusthis. The basic characteristics of an echinoderm is that they have a central body with several arms, usually five or more, radiating out. They generally have mouths on their undersides. On their radiating segments they have tube feet with suction pads that help them to move along the ocean floor. Most have a slow motion, but the Pointed Sand star happens to be the fastest, and can move thirty inches in one minute. The class Asteroidea is characterized by a size of under two centimeters to twenty- four centimeters, with segements that extend from a central body. They have a water vascular system, which means that water runs through the canals on the radiating segments. When the canals of the segments are filled with water, they expand and help the sea star to move. Sea Stars have have a mesodermal, or inner skeleton made up of ossicles, or calcareous plates. The Pointed Sea Star has its own habitat, eating habits, and reproductive system. Like all marine life, it has an ecological importance and status. The habitat of the Pointed Sand Star is in salt water oceans, from tidal pools to depths of seven hundred feet on the east and southeast coastal areas. They can also be found along Central American and...
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...Lab Research Report 1: Procedures in the Physical Sciences Robert Hugee Professor Brian McCann SCI110024VA016-1134-001: Introduction To Physical Science April 25, 2013 One of the underlying challenges in astronomy measurement is the determination of precise distances. Without a knowledge of its distance, the size of an observed object in space would remain nothing more than an angular diameter, and the brightness of a star could not be converted into its true radiated power, or luminosity .astronomy. (2013). Direct measurement of the wavefunction had also long been deemed impossible because of the key tenet of the uncertainty principle. University of Rochester (2013, March 3). Getting around the uncertainty principle: Physicists make first direct measurements of polarization states of light. ScienceDaily. Large-scale surveying & mapping problems are also key challenges in making direct Measurements in astronomy. Pogge R.(2006) One of the indirect forms that the scientists have used is to resort to GEOMETRY to find the Distance. Parallax is one of the indirect methods where astronomers can measure the position of a nearby star very carefully with respect to more distant stars behind it, then measuring those distances again six months later when the Earth is on the opposite side of its orbit. Allen J.,Boyd P. (1997,April 15) The limitation of parallax is that it just gives distances to stars tp up to a few thousand light Years and beyond those...
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...imagination where we can contemplate their amazing properties. The mysteries of the black hole exemplify the beginning and the end of everything science has discovered out in our vast universe. Beginning with Newton's law of gravitation, Einstein's law of relativity and expanding to supermassive black holes with infinite density and infinite gravity. A supermassive black hole has the mass of 1,000,000 to 1,000,000,000 of our Suns. There are smaller black holes but the smallest has to have a mass of at least 10 of our Suns. It is this mass that creates the immense gravitational tides that compress a giant star into an incredibly small entity that has such a tremendous gravity that not even light can escape. How is this possible? How are they created? How do we know they are there if no light escapes from them? Is there more than one universe? Is there such things as wormholes that can connect vast distance of space and time? These just a few of the provocative questions black holes inspire. What are Black Holes and what do they mean? Science has made many fascinating discoveries in their quest to understand the phenomenon known as the Black Hole. Many questions have been answered but there are many more yet to be unraveled. The first most obvious question is...what is a Black Hole? A Black Hole is created when a star at least 10 times as large as our sun runs out of the fuel. Nuclear fusion sustains the life of the Sun and creates the heat and light...
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...Science and Beauty by Asaac Asimov is a very good and well thought out essay. Its theses can be argued at many different levels and aspects, such as agreeing or disagreeing with the following quote: "The world is a better place because of science and technology . This particular essay can be very convincing towards agreeing with Science. The stars of space are very beautiful to stare and gaze upon. They can be even more intriguing to look at by understanding the scientific nature of these bright shinning pieces of light. Staring endlessly into the night sky can be very entertaining, but it can be even more interesting by knowing why, how or what is up there. By knowing all these scientific details it wont just be looking up at glimmers of light, rather it will be looking up at stars, galaxies, asteroids and planets, and that is a lot more interesting. The essay "Science and Beauty goes into great depth about what is in the sky. This is shown when Isaac says, "Those other bright spots, which are stars rather than planets, are actually suns. (P.312) Isaac also says, "Beyond our cluster, other galaxies and other clusters exist; some clusters made up of thousands of galaxies. (P.313) By going into this amount of depth throughout the essay, it shows and proves the thesis by knowing and seeing is a lot more interesting than just seeing. It also shows that science is not all math and formulas and that it can be very interesting and beautiful. Gazing at the stars in the...
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...Science of Stars Science of Stars This paper is about the science of the stars. In this paper I will address how astronomers determine the composition, temperature, speed, and rotation rate of distant objects. I will briefly explain the properties of stars in the H-R diagram from Chapter 15 of the course textbook “The Cosmic Perspective”. I will also summarize the lifecycle of the Sun and identify where the Sun is in its lifecycle. Studying Distant Objects Astronomers study light which comes from distant objects to determine its composition, temperature, speed, and rotation of distant objects. This process is called spectroscopy. Spectroscopy was first used to study celestial objects in 1863 by William Higgins. By using this process he discovered the Sun and most stars are primarily composed of hydrogen gases. By using the spectroscopy technique it was discovered that different objects give off and absorb different spectrums of light. Where the object falls in the spectrum of light can be determined by examining its peak intensity at each wave length of light. The light helps us to determine an objects composition, temperature, and rotation. There are three types of spectra used to evaluate light. Objects which absorb light at different wavelengths are referred to as absorption spectrum. The intensity of light drops in objects which absorb light and therefore appear as dark lines on a rainbow of colors. Objects such are stars, planets with atmospheres...
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...------------------------------------------------- Constellation From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia This article is about the star grouping. For other uses, see Constellation (disambiguation). | | | | * Top: Baroque drawing of the constellation Orionfrom Johannes Hevelius' celestial catalogue * Bottom: Contemporary map of Orion from the IAUand photography of the night sky | In everyday usage, a constellation is a traditional or recognizable group of stars in the night sky, or the region of the sky containing them. In technical usage these meanings have been separated, with groupings of stars being called asterisms, and the word constellation being reserved for a specific area of the celestial sphere with boundaries laid down by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). These areas mostly had their origins in Western-traditional asterisms from which the constellations take their names. When astronomers say something is “in” a given constellation they mean it is within those official boundaries. There are 88 officially recognized constellations, covering the entire sky[1] which have grown from the 48 classical Greek constellations laid down by Ptolemy in the Almagest. Out of these 88 constellations, 12 compose the zodiac signs. Thus, any given point in a celestial coordinate system can unambiguously be assigned to a constellation. It is usual in astronomy to give the constellation in which a given object is found along with its coordinates in order to convey...
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...Released Test Questions Earth Science Introduction - Earth Science The following released test questions are taken from the Earth Science Standards Test. This test is one of the California Standards Tests administered as part of the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) Program under policies set by the State Board of Education. All questions on the California Standards Tests are evaluated by committees of content experts, including teachers and administrators, to ensure their appropriateness for measuring the California academic content standards in Earth Science. In addition to content, all items are reviewed and approved to ensure their adherence to the principles of fairness and to ensure no bias exists with respect to characteristics such as gender, ethnicity, and language. This document contains released test questions from the California Standards Test forms in 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2008. First on the pages that follow are lists of the standards assessed on the Earth Science Test. Next are released test questions. Following the questions is a table that gives the correct answer for each question, the content standard that each question is measuring, and the year each question last appeared on the test. It should be noted that asterisked (*) standards found in the Science Content Standards for California Public Schools, Kindergarten through Grade 12, are not assessed on the California Standards Tests in Science and, therefore, are not represented...
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...Year 10 Science Semester Two Examination - 2012 TIME ALLOWED 15 MINUTES READING 1 HOUR AND 15 MINUTES WRITING Instructions to candidates: 1) Do not write or mark the examination booklet in any way during reading time. 2) Please check that, aside from this test booklet, you also have a multiple choice answer sheet and data sheet. 3) There are 14 pages in this booklet including this one. Please check to ensure that this is so. 4) Note that the time allocated for the examination is 75 minutes and that 70 marks have been allocated: this should give you a guide as to how much time you should spend on each section. The survey at the end of the exam should take you approximately five minutes. 5) There are 4 sections in this booklet: multiple choice, true/false, definitions and extended questions. 6) Graphic calculators must not be used. Dictionaries must not be used. An approved scientific calculator may be used. 7) If you finish early please do not waste your time: you only get examination time once so it should not be wasted. Check your work thoroughly: calculations, grammar and spelling. Re-read the questions and check your answers to ensure that you have actually answered the questions asked. 8) When the signal to write is given fill in your name, form and teacher details on this booklet (below) and on the multiple choice answer sheet before you begin answering any questions. 9) All answers in this booklet must be completed in pen. 10) All numerical answers to questions must...
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...different | C) | will be identical to life on Earth | D) | will be completely different than life on Earth | 3. | Extraterrestrial life is defined to be | A) | life found beyond the Earth which is based on the same biology and chemistry as life on Earth | B) | advanced life forms that have visited the Earth | C) | any kind of life found beyond the Earth | D) | advanced life found on Earth-like planets around other stars | 4. | If life is eventually found in the solar system, it will most likely be in the form of | A) | microbes | B) | plants | C) | animals | D) | little green men and women | 5. | Recently astronomers have gained concrete evidence that, in addition to being full of stars, the universe is also full of | A) | dark matter | B) | galaxies | C) | life | D) | planets | 6. | The search for life in the universe | A) | is related most closely to astronomy | B) | is related most closely to biology | C) | is influenced by almost every other branch of science | D) | is a unique branch of science, unrelated to any other branch | 7. | Which three...
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