ASTR100 SPRING 2003 BULLETIN BOARD

MESSAGE #199. Tue May 20 12:11:01 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

Whew! That exam was pretty hard. I hope everyone did well. Have a great summer. I am out of here in 2 days. Yay graduation :) I went to the Space and Science Museum and it was loads of fun. Everyone should definitely check it out. There is a piece of the moon there that you can touch. Unfortunately, I was unable to find it, but hopefully you will. Smiles

MESSAGE #198. Mon May 19 22:17:19 2003 . George Lam wrote:

Good luck on the exam tomorrow! :)

MESSAGE #197. Mon May 19 11:44:49 2003 . Randall Coleman wrote:

Are there any other opportunities for extra credit?

MESSAGE #196. Sun May 18 17:54:27 2003 . Anh Nguyen wrote:

The answers to the exams for this semester are in the assignments page on the bottom of the page where the review for the final is.

MESSAGE #195. Sun May 18 17:52:03 2003 . Stephen Yaeger wrote:

Does anyone out there know the answers to the scantron section of the first Exam. I have been looking at the exam in preparation for the final and would prefer not to have to wait till mon to get the answers from my TA. Thanks.

MESSAGE #194. Mon May 12 17:00:10 2003 . Nicole Heston wrote:

The review is posted on the assignments page under exams.

MESSAGE #193. Mon May 12 16:36:09 2003 . Chiang-Ban Loh wrote:

Hi there, does anyone know where's the review for the final exam posted on????

MESSAGE #192. Mon May 12 10:54:20 2003 . Mary Graves wrote:

That hubblesite is awesome. Are the huge light sources on a few spots of the page centers of active galaxies or stars?

MESSAGE #191. Sun May 11 23:57:42 2003 . Nicole Heston wrote:

If you turned in your open house paper on the last day, has it been posted yet?

MESSAGE #190. Sun May 11 23:03:01 2003 . James Ragusa wrote:

I am way off on my problem answer to question 2 on hw 18 does anyone have a tip to get the right answer??!?!

MESSAGE #189. Sun May 11 14:34:36 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

If you have a fast internet connection (or a whole lot of time ...) check out this spectacular HST image:

http://imgsrc.hubblesite.org/hu/db/2003/15/images/a/formats/full_jpg.jpg

Randall - you're on the right track!

MESSAGE #188. Sat May 10 18:33:47 2003 . Randall Coleman wrote:

I want to know if my thinking behind Thought Question #2 from ch. 16 is correct. Because a light year is the distance light travels in a year to see yourself as a baby you would need to be 18 light years away if you are 18. And hopefully you have a ginormous telescope to see yourself.

MESSAGE #187. Fri May 9 17:19:51 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

The homework question is a bit bizarre! Think about this as a way to get you started. Imagine that the Sun instantaneously turned into a Black Hole right now - how long would it be before we would know? Since it takes light 8 minutes to travel to the Earth, we would have 8 minutes before we would see the Sun suddenly wink out. Because light takes time to travel through space, what we see as the Sun is actually light that left the Sun 8 minutes earlier.So we see the Sun as it was 8 minutes ago. Now imagine what we would see if we could look at Earth from far away ...

AND ... a general announcement. The review sheet is now posted on the Assignments webpage. Reminding yourselves of those topics is a good way to get started on your studying. The TA-led Review Session will be held Monday, May 19, from 7-9 in CSS 1113. That's a new room for us - come into the CSS building from the entrance nearest the PG2 parking garage. Go up a 1/2 flight of stairs and to your left. Then you're there! Good luck with HW#8 and your studying!

MESSAGE #186. Thu May 8 17:00:23 2003 . Lauren Mitchell wrote:

yeah, i am with nicole. i am lost on #2 for chapter 16. can anyone provide ANY help at all????????????????????????????????

MESSAGE #185. Tue May 6 11:08:58 2003 . Nicole Heston wrote:

I was wondering if anyone could help me with a homework problem. I dont even kno where to look for an answer to thought question number 2 in chapter 16. Am i missing something in the book? or are we supposed to look somewhere else? To anyone who can help, thank you!

MESSAGE #184. Mon May 5 19:27:42 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

so how many of you are going to the open house tonight (like me) ? I bet parking will be a pain!

MESSAGE #183. Thu May 1 23:01:45 2003 . Nicole Wildoner wrote:

Thanks George. I got a 8/10. It was questions about the sun that got me. I better study hard for the final. :-)

MESSAGE #182. Thu May 1 9:29:21 2003 . George Lam wrote:

Here's a short and fun little quiz on the Solar System:

http://encarta.msn.com/quiz/quiz.asp?QuizID=42

I got all but one right.

MESSAGE #181. Tue Apr 29 21:45:34 2003 . Nicole Wildoner wrote:

I was in the stairwell at work the other day and since it's in an office building, it's made of cement and cinderblocks so everything echos. I could tell someone else was using the stairs and I was curious so I stopped to see if I could tell if they were going up or down. They were going up and that reminded me of the Doppler shift. So, now when the class starts to complain that we NEVER need to know any of this stuff, we may not need to know it, but it is applied to everyday life sometimes.

MESSAGE #180. Tue Apr 29 15:47:24 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

On Grading ...

Currently about half of you have done the Open House assignment, and half have not. Those who haven't, your scores will increase by 30-50 points depending once you turn it in. In addition, however, the divisions between grades will rise once the final set of open house papers is added. So if you have done your open house paper already, your grade may drop if a bunch of students raise their scores above yours. Basically, the grade boundaries will shift upward, but probably by only 5-15 points.

On the exams, the letter grade is an indication of how well you are doing. For grading, I add the numerical score to all of the other scores and then curve the whole thing. A curve attempts to compensate for the situation when a test (or the whole course) is too difficult. For instance, on exam II the average was 62.5 - I would have preferred 75.5. Two equally good ways to deal with this are: i) Raise the Grade (add 13 to everyone's score) r ii) Lower the grade boundaries (take 13 off of each of the grade boundaries. My grade program does option ii).

MESSAGE #179. Sun Apr 27 19:03:37 2003 . George Lam wrote:

I don't know if I'm right about this or not, but I think that you need to know the star's orbit to find its mass. Think about how we find the star's orbit, and you should probably find out why we can't find its mass.

MESSAGE #178. Sun Apr 27 16:19:28 2003 . Randall Coleman wrote:

I need help with thought question #3 from chapter 12. Suppose a binary star's orbit is in a plane perpendicular to our line of sight. Can we measure its mass using the methods described in this chapter? Whhy? I don't think the direction of its orbits should matter but I'm not sure.

MESSAGE #177. Sat Apr 26 14:22:36 2003 . Lauren Mitchell wrote:

In response to your question on the homework#7: That problem gave me a little trouble too. Think about which elements ARE in space. Does hydrogen exist in space? Does oxygen exist in space? Also, think about the amount of power that is needed to power the sun. Would combustion be enough? Hope that helps!

MESSAGE #176. Fri Apr 25 15:24:53 2003 . Yonah Singer wrote:

In the homework #7 I am really confused on the thought question which reads " Why can the sun not be powered by a chemical process such as the combustion of hydrogen and oxygen to form water?" Can anybody help me out to understand the concepts on this question a little more?

MESSAGE #175. Thu Apr 24 13:05:19 2003 . Scott Cherry wrote:

How should we incorporate the curve for the exams on the grading page?

MESSAGE #174. Thu Apr 24 10:35:35 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

Is the curved grading scale on the "what is my grade now" page compensating for the lack of open house papers? If my question is unclear, basically is the curve going to be less "curved" when all the open house papers are turned in, or should I just add a reasonable score as the open house to get a better idea of where I will stand towards the end of the semester?

MESSAGE #173. Thu Apr 24 9:57:31 2003 . Randall Coleman wrote:

Hi everybody, Did anyone see the solar flare last night at around 9:40? Well.....I did. It was pretty cool. there was one at 10:40 too but I missed that one, I heard that one was supposed to be brighter. You can find more info about the flares on the astro website. Take care.

--Randy

MESSAGE #172. Tue Apr 22 23:38:07 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

Thanks Prof. Hamilton. It's so great that I can go out and tell my friends what's in the sky and why it happens to look like that. I love that. hehehehehe Have a great night everyone.

MESSAGE #171. Tue Apr 22 21:07:24 2003 . Ling-Chun Chiang wrote:

I was on the road a few nites ago, and i noticed the moon was just above the horizon and was glowing dirty yellow, almost orange. Can anyone explain this to me? Is it because of the atmosphere b/c the moon was close to the horizon? Alrite everyone take care.

MESSAGE #170. Mon Apr 21 13:12:25 2003 . Gislaine Fertullien wrote:

Today in Lecture there was some discussion about the Sperical Shell. What effects the shape of the Spherical shell and what is its purpose?

MESSAGE #169. Sat Apr 19 17:43:11 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Good guess about the Flux problem Nora! And it *was* a bit confusing Brianna. The TAs and I feel a little guilty about this one because we only talked about it on two class days. It is in the book, but not until the stars chapter. Nora is right though, even if you haven't seen the formula before, just form a ratio like we've done with other equations. I'll do another of these in class soon. And we'll try to go easy on the grading ...

Steven - lots and lots of moons being discovered these days! In 2003, there were the six new Jupiter moons that you read about as well as three new moons of Neptune! I'm writing up a 2 page note for the journal Nature with a popular level summary of the advances - I'll put a link on the class website when it is finished!

MESSAGE #168. Thu Apr 17 20:21:58 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

So , I thought that the test wasn't so bad. The one thing that really struck me though was that equation. I didn't study anything about flux. I was completely lost, but I guessed. Hopefully, I guessed right. :)

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Ciao

MESSAGE #167. Wed Apr 16 7:53:17 2003 . Zachary Nemser wrote:

What a glorious couple of days we've had this week! The skies are so clear that you can see an infinate amount of stars at night. This is a great time to look for those constellations and planetary bodies. I have yet to really concentrate and look for individual things, but the sight is an amazing one!

MESSAGE #166. Wed Apr 16 0:14:41 2003 . Nora Gayzur wrote:

Are you talking about Wein's law or the Energy of a Photon? The energy of a photon is really easy. You have to convert the 20 cm to nm, which is 200,000,000 nm. Then you do the ratio where E=hc/wavelength. Take the evergy of the 500nm divided by the energy of 200,000,000nm. (E500/E200,000,000). Then write out the energy equations for both. (hc/wavelength 500)/(hc/wavelength 200,000,000). Then multiple by the inverse. (hc/wavelength 500)x (wavelength 200,000,000/hc) then just divide 200,000,000 by 500 and you will get a number. Usually it will tell you how much more energy is in the shorter wavelength (500nm). If you are doing wein's law, just do the multiplication, because I don't think he will ask about the ratios with that. It only deals with wavelength and temperature. I hope that helps. P.S. the ratios are always done the same. divide the greater by the smaller, multiply by the inverse and divide. The lower number on top and the smaller number on the bottom. You can always do the short cut and divide 200,000,000 by 500, but you might have to show work. He might also ask about flux as a ratio, because it talks about brightness, but don't worry, it is done the same way.

MESSAGE #165. Tue Apr 15 21:31:51 2003 . Randall Coleman wrote:

I know this is kind of late being that the test is tomorrow but, I'm having problems understanding the ratio aspect of the Energy of wavelength problems. I don't understand what they mean when they say compare the energies of waves with wavelengths of 500 nm and 20 cm. I have done the problem but with the actual numbers, I know there is a way to do it without them for the test. If anyone can help me please post fast!

MESSAGE #164. Thu Apr 10 11:41:47 2003 . Zachary Nemser wrote:

While I was in San Antonio for spring break, I was in the hot tub on ethe roof of my hotel. I was looking up to the sky and saw a brilliant "shooting star" that must have been visible for a good 3 seconds. I learned this past week that I saw a meteor. Pretty neat stuff!

MESSAGE #163. Mon Apr 7 23:07:05 2003 . Amit Patel wrote:

I wanted to ask if anyone saw the sun set on Saturday, the 5th of April? Usually I don't really look at the moon and the sun, but when something looks really magnificent it catches my eye. The sun was about to set and it was huge and it was a light shade of orange. It was just a great thing to see. Because I am taking astronomy right now, I thought it was something that I could share.

MESSAGE #162. Mon Apr 7 20:42:56 2003 . Steven Blitzstein wrote:

Speaking of moons, as I was reading new space facts on the CNN web site I discovered that six more moons have been spotted orbiting Jupiter bringing the current total of moons to 58. Who knows how many more are out there. Only time will tell!!!!!!!!! Steven Blitzstein

http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/04/05/jupiter.moons.ap/index.html

MESSAGE #161. Sat Apr 5 13:52:34 2003 . Saudia Harris wrote:

Tonite, April 5th 2003 Saturn will be visible. It will be visible 45 minutes after sunset, which will be @6:36 according to Weather Bug. To see it, you would look in the Western sky. Saturn will be visible through most of the nite, but it will set near midnight.

MESSAGE #160. Tue Apr 1 23:12:40 2003 . Kevin Ahn wrote:

yesterday around 10pm i saw the big dipper right above my house. It was very interesting to see something that i learned about right in front of my face.

MESSAGE #159. Tue Apr 1 9:49:32 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Hi Class,

Some Reminders of upcoming ASTR100 events:
- HW5 due Wednesday (tomorrow!)
- Next Open House on Saturday, April 5
- Open House due Friday, April 11.

MESSAGE #158. Fri Mar 28 12:39:57 2003 . TA Stacy Teng wrote:

Hi, for those of you who enjoy looking at pretty pictures and are interested in the type of science they do on the International Space Station, you should check out this brand new site from NASA:

Space Station Science Picture of the Day

MESSAGE #157. Thu Mar 27 14:27:21 2003 . TA Stacy Teng wrote:

Nicole, Yes, you can still use the information you got from the March 5th open house to write the paper. If you turn it in before April 11 (I think that's the next due date, but please double check), you will get 4 point extra credit instead of 8.

MESSAGE #156. Sun Mar 23 21:37:55 2003 . Nicole Wildoner wrote:

I just have a question about the Open House paper. I went to the Open House on March 5th but didn't end up writing the paper. Can I still use the information from that Open House to write my paper due for the next Extra Credit due date? Or, is each due date scheduled around what is talked about at the Open House and I have to go to another one?

MESSAGE #155. Tue Mar 18 9:50:43 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

#153: My mistake - its fixed now.

MESSAGE #154. Mon Mar 17 23:14:34 2003 . Robert Kronenthal wrote:

Relative to recent lectures where it is discussed how certain satellites and probes have observed the surfaces and characteristics of Mars and Jupiter (and other planets too), how often do we periodically send them out? Considering the amount of time it takes for one of these objects to reach its destination you would think we would want to provide ourselves with the most equipment for future observations.

MESSAGE #153. Mon Mar 17 23:10:02 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

Why are extra credit points considered part of the max possible grade?? I thought they were exactly that, EXTRA CREDIT

MESSAGE #152. Sun Mar 16 5:02:16 2003 . Stanislav Berenshteyn wrote:

I found an interesting article about evaporating planets. They're called "hot Jupiters," as those planets are similar to Jupiter and their orbits spiral so close to their own stars, that they begin to lose their own atmospheres.

Here's a link with a cool picture:

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/news/n0303/12planet/

And another link with a bunch of confusing numbers and graphs:

http://www.nature.com/cgi-taf/DynaPage.taf?file=/nature/journal/v422/n6928/full/nature01448_fs.html

MESSAGE #151. Sat Mar 15 18:39:49 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

I think that I did okay. I for the life of me could not understand the question about planet impactors. When did we talk about that? It was question #15. I was so confused.

MESSAGE #150. Fri Mar 14 7:45:02 2003 . Mohammad Haque wrote:

"Water 'flows' on Mars"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2846897.stm

MESSAGE #149. Fri Mar 14 3:31:05 2003 . Christopher Dirda wrote:

hope everyones ready for the exam...im not

good luck all

MESSAGE #148. Thu Mar 13 18:56:49 2003 . George Lam wrote:

Craig, just study the stuff we went over. I think it's chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

MESSAGE #147. Thu Mar 13 18:55:30 2003 . George Lam wrote:

For those of you who aren't busy studying for the test, here's a great article about a shrinking planet that's orbiting around a star similar to our sun.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/space/20030313/sc_space/incredible_shrinking_planet_may_become_liquid_lava_world

MESSAGE #146. Thu Mar 13 18:14:58 2003 . Craig Crompton wrote:

Are we going to need to know how Newton used the light spectum, and the different wavelengths of colors?

MESSAGE #145. Thu Mar 13 17:49:45 2003 . Nebiyu Adenaw wrote:

correction

http://www.astro.umd.edu/~hamilton/teaching/ASTR100spring03/review/examI.html

MESSAGE #144. Thu Mar 13 17:48:17 2003 . Nebiyu Adenaw wrote:

exam review

http://www.astro.umd.edu/~hamilton/teaching/ASTR100spring03/review/examI.html

MESSAGE #143. Thu Mar 13 17:41:22 2003 . Stanislav Berenshteyn wrote:

I answered my own question. The review is found on tbe bottom of the assignments page. Here's a direct link:

http://www.astro.umd.edu/~hamilton/teaching/ASTR100spring03/review/examI.html

MESSAGE #142. Thu Mar 13 17:37:52 2003 . Stanislav Berenshteyn wrote:

Another request for the link to the review sheet. Thanks.

MESSAGE #141. Thu Mar 13 17:10:28 2003 . James Ragusa wrote:

Can anyone point out where the review sheet is on the web page I am having trouble locating it?

MESSAGE #140. Thu Mar 13 8:12:48 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Hi Everyone -

Lots of action on the good 'ole ASTR100 Bulletin Board! Some quick comments:

Msgs #33 and #138 - New measurements by the WMAP satellite, when combined with detailed models do indeed pin down the age of the Universe at 13.7 +/- 0.2 billion years according to Dr. Chuck Bennett, leader of the satellite team. Dr. Bennett gave a joint Physics/Astronomy talk about this on Tuesday! We'll discuss the details at the end of the semester ...

Msg #134 - Tides that the Moon raises on the Earth act back on the Moon and cause it to drift away from the Earth by about 1 inch/year. Since the Moon has an elliptic orbit, its distance from the Earth varies by about 40,000 km over one month! So it will take a long time (billions of years!) before the Moon would appear noticably smaller! In answer to an earlier question, the Moon's apparant size when viewed from Earth can vary by 10% over a month because of the Moon's elliptic orbit - possibly noticable. When the Moon is on the horizon, however, it looks bigger because of an optical illusion!! Basically there are trees and houses and stuff to compare it to. You can test this by holding up a coin to just cover the full Moon when it is on the horizon and when it is up in the sky. You'll find that it is basically the same size (to 10%) always!

And finally, good luck to all on the test tomorrow. Check out the online study sheet, and tonight's review session in CSS2400 (7:00pm).

MESSAGE #139. Thu Mar 13 8:11:22 2003 . Mohammad Haque wrote:

I found this link off of slashdot...

"The Great Dark Spot

The Cassini spacecraft has photographed an extraordinary dark cloud on Jupiter twice as big as Earth itself."

You can read the article at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2003/12mar_darkspot.htm?list635374

MESSAGE #138. Wed Mar 12 21:26:30 2003 . Thomas Geiger wrote:

I don't know if anyone is into science or political journals, but I just read in the February issue of The Economist that the universe is 13.7 billion years old. Can anyone confirm this?

MESSAGE #137. Tue Mar 11 22:31:05 2003 . Zorina De La Cruz wrote:

hey guys i might sound like a dork but it's a clear night and the moon looks beautiful so take a look!

MESSAGE #136. Tue Mar 11 21:15:09 2003 . Sylvia Kim wrote:

The Moon today looks like it is vertically cut in half. What is this called? First Quarter? Anyways, it's pretty=)

MESSAGE #135. Tue Mar 11 17:23:30 2003 . Charles Keys wrote:

Good luck to everyone on the midterm. I am interested in attending in study groups or sessions before Friday. Once again good luck.

MESSAGE #134. Tue Mar 11 17:08:01 2003 . Gary Heckman wrote:

I read that the moon moves about an inch away from the Earth every year. I was wondering if I took a picture of a full moon today and one 50 or so years from now could I notice any difference.

MESSAGE #133. Tue Mar 11 2:27:54 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

Ill try to be at Dochester Hall by 9 or latest 9:30pm thanks

MESSAGE #132. Mon Mar 10 22:59:11 2003 . Stephen Yaeger wrote:

William, yeah it is, i would really appreciate it. Thanks. Also, if ayone is interested i forming a study group for wed night email me at stephenyaeger@yahoo.com

MESSAGE #131. Mon Mar 10 21:14:48 2003 . William Gomes wrote:

Stephen, is that including March 10, discussion. If you want I can post the questions/topics we went over.

MESSAGE #130. Mon Mar 10 16:41:12 2003 . Stephen Yaeger wrote:

Hello, due to a crazy work scheduele i have missed the last few of Vanessa's discussions. Could anyone help me out and brieflt let me know what was covered. Thanks

MESSAGE #129. Mon Mar 10 15:00:51 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

I will be studying Tuesday at 9pm in Dorchester Basement. Doing my homework as well.

It's all good about McKeldin. I'm not the library type. Books scare me :) JUST KIDDING!!!hahahahahah Jokes People Jokes

Good Luck to everyone

MESSAGE #128. Sun Mar 9 21:30:07 2003 . Brian Pickeral wrote:

Statistics show that the moon could also have an affect on a woman's Menstrual Cycle. Check out this Web Site: Pregnancy, Conception, Birth Timing and the Moon

MESSAGE #127. Sun Mar 9 3:59:50 2003 . Brian Wint wrote:

It looks like the phase of the moon could play a factor in when an attack on Iraq could occur. See how the moon was a factor in past battles too.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/750150.asp?vts=030920030025

MESSAGE #126. Fri Mar 7 19:26:20 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

Was wondering. It might be a good idea just to post a time/place where people might be planning to study. Just post a message before going out to study so if any one is interested the person can join. I am dtudying tommorow during the day but I will post a message before going to Mc Keldin. I will propably be there between 2-3pm for a couple of hours.

MESSAGE #125. Fri Mar 7 14:13:09 2003 . Sakeenah Smith wrote:

Just post a message for the time and place that you will be studying at McKeldin on Tuesday at. Thanks!!!!

MESSAGE #124. Thu Mar 6 23:15:20 2003 . Mohammad Haque wrote:

Ahoy hoy. I thought this would be interesting to share. There is a new movie coming out soon, the movie is called The Core. It's basically about a team of the world's most gifted scientists, travels into the Earth's core in a subterranean craft because the Earth's inner core to stop rotating . Their mission.... detonate a device that will reactivate the core. I'm sure we can find bunch of mistakes about this movie without even watching it.

the official movie site...

http://www.thecoremovie.com/

MESSAGE #123. Thu Mar 6 20:38:33 2003 . Francis Chaney wrote:

I enjoyed the open house on March 5. The night ended up being pretty clear, I enjoyed seeing Jupiter. You could really see the plane the 4 moons around Jupiter sat on, also the color distinction was easily apparent on the planet. I have never had the opportunity to view through those types of telescopes. Altogether it was informative and enjoyable.

MESSAGE #122. Thu Mar 6 20:21:24 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

Well the Open House was nice. Just didnt like the speaker being rude to the ASTR100/101 students. Well about the test and the homework, somehow I thought it was on monday. Well about Mc Kendin was only a thought Brianna. I study there all the time so thought most of you do too. Easy access to the net if one wants to find something out etc. I havnt been able to do much because of my shoulder, sore a muscle or did something not very good. I will be studying this weekend except for saturday. If people want to study just post it on the BBS. I would prefer enenings but dont mind other times either. Lets see how it works.

MESSAGE #121. Thu Mar 6 18:39:37 2003 . Jill Goldfarb wrote:

Here's an interesting little article about the Moon and the question of whether or not a person actually saw the collision of a meteorite on the moon in 1953. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/releases/2003/23.cfm

MESSAGE #120. Thu Mar 6 16:01:01 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

Okay...so there are people who want to study, but these people aren't showing up to the study sessions. Where would you guys like to meet? McKeldin? That's cool. I will be studying this weekend as well. I will probably try and set up a study group on Tuesday before the homework is due and before the test on Friday.

There were only two of us that showed up on last Tuesday, but it's all good though.

Happy Studying!!!!!

MESSAGE #119. Thu Mar 6 15:49:16 2003 . Anh Nguyen wrote:

The 8 in telescope was the beehive cluster. It looks like random stars that somehow shape into a beehive looking thing. Did anyone get to see Saturn? There were two telescopes looking at the Orion nebula until someone changed it later.

MESSAGE #118. Thu Mar 6 13:51:38 2003 . Sakeenah Smith wrote:

I really need to study with someone next week. I dont really know whats going on. I will study on my own this weekend but I may need some help next week. Please help!! Also one way to be certain that you know the material is the ability to teach it to someone else. Thanks!!!!! saksmith18@aol.com

MESSAGE #117. Thu Mar 6 12:23:45 2003 . George Lam wrote:

Whoever went to the Open House yesterday, did you see the really powerful laser pen? The speaker was pointing at the sky with it, and it was so easy to see the constellations with it.

Anyway, there was one telescope that I looked in yesterday, and I didn't know what I was supposed to see. In the 8 inch telescope, I saw lots of stars, but I didn't know what I was looking at. If anyone can help, I would really appreciate it. Thanks.

MESSAGE #116. Thu Mar 6 11:06:40 2003 . William Gomes wrote:

That is interesting. Didn't we already find out the moon isn't made of cheese and that's why we haven't gone back.

MESSAGE #115. Wed Mar 5 14:40:26 2003 . Stanislav Berenshteyn wrote:

I came across an interesting article about Europe's first mission to the moon. It's not a manned mission, but they are sending a satellite called "Smart 1" that is set to orbit the moon and bring back data.

The article breifly talks about the mission, and it also mentions a topic that we covered in class (the formation of the moon). The article is at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2818551.stm

There is also a detailed site about the actual mission, and it has a bunch of cool stuff about objectives, statistics, and information about it. The link to this site is: http://sci.esa.int/home/smart-1/index.cfm

This mission also has particular interest because they are using a new rocket that exploded on its first flight. An article on that can be found at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/2565387.stm

If the mission goes as planned we'll know conclusively whether or not the moon is made out of cheese.

MESSAGE #114. Tue Mar 4 20:15:59 2003 . Laura Cinnamon wrote:

The shuttle is gonna pick people up at 7:30 between the CSS building and Cambrige (Farm Drive, i think). i'm almost positive that's the only time is gonna do that, so i wouldn't be late. i on the web site for the open house, they say we can park in the lot next to CSS after 5, i think. check it out, i don't want anyone to get a ticket. have a good night everyone!!!

MESSAGE #113. Tue Mar 4 17:32:37 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

I am definately going to the Open House. Dont know if I should drive there. Also have to find out where the shuttle is leaving from.

MESSAGE #112. Tue Mar 4 14:14:13 2003 . Shekeyra Andrews wrote:

I plan on goingto the March 5th Open House.If there is anyone on campus that plansto go please contact me 4-1254 and let me know where to catch the shuttle. Thank You.

MESSAGE #111. Tue Mar 4 12:37:21 2003 . Anh Nguyen wrote:

I'm interested in studying at McKeldin. Just let me know when. My email is Lan_Anh00@hotmail.com (it's double zeros at the end).

Also, about Lecture yesterday, did anyone get what Dr. Hamilton said about the relationship between the amount of craters and the age of the moon? Thanks!

MESSAGE #110. Tue Mar 4 1:09:33 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

Are people interested in studying at Mc Keldin? Just a thought. Maybe make it a 2 day week session and people can get together and maybe finish off the homework or something.

MESSAGE #109. Mon Mar 3 17:01:43 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

Study Session in TWO locations

Tuesday, March 4th, 9pm

Dorchester 1st Floor Lounge and Laplata Hall

**I hope that this accomadates those people who live on north and south campus. For those who commute, what time would be best for you to meet?***

Hope to see you guys there...email me at bri614@yahoo.com

MESSAGE #108. Mon Mar 3 14:19:59 2003 . George Lam wrote:

I live off campus, so is there a way that we can have review sessions earlier in the day (say in the afternoon)? If it's at 9 p.m., I don't think I'll be able to make it. How many others commute?

MESSAGE #107. Mon Mar 3 13:09:55 2003 . Brian Wasser wrote:

We have an exam coming up, and I still think a great study method would be to see who lives where, so buildings can get together and people close to each other can study together. So, if anyone is interested, type your building or location in a post so that everyone can see where everyone lives to get together. I live in ELKTON, so anyone in the Denton community is really close to me. Any other takers??

*Good luck to everyone on all their midterms!*

MESSAGE #106. Mon Mar 3 11:51:07 2003 . TA John Vernaleo wrote:

Hi. This message is mostly intended for my section, but probably holds for the others as well.

Returned homeworks are real helpful to study from. So if you don't get a homework (or extra credit or anything else) back because you missed a discussion class, you should really think about picking it up later. I always have a pile of unclaimed stuff in my office, so people in my section should try to stop by during my office hours to get things that they missed back. The other TA's will probably do the same type of thing (you can always check with them of course).

John

MESSAGE #105. Mon Mar 3 10:24:54 2003 . Jennifer Friedman wrote:

To charles, i'd like to get a studygroup together. I have no class until 2 on mon and wed after astr. Maybe a couple of us could walk to hornbake.

MESSAGE #104. Sat Mar 1 16:18:50 2003 . Daega Fatah wrote:

Thanks Zorina!

MESSAGE #103. Fri Feb 28 22:04:27 2003 . Steven Lam wrote:

I know it will not happen for a couple billions of years, but what will happen if the Earth’s core loses all its heat? Just curious.

MESSAGE #102. Fri Feb 28 18:01:25 2003 . Matthew Bernstein wrote:

Has anyone been following the moon? I haven't had a chance to look and was wondering what phase we are in now.

MESSAGE #101. Fri Feb 28 10:15:13 2003 . Haider Ali wrote:

I find the lecture topic of last monday's class was very educational and entertaining as well. The re-visitation to Newton's laws and the example the teacher gave were very useful. I personally like the fire estinguisher attached to the tricycle, that was great. This lecture proved to the best lecture of the whole semester. Hope there is more to come!

MESSAGE #100. Fri Feb 28 10:08:48 2003 . Zorina De La Cruz wrote:

Hey guys. I think that the shuttle picks you up right behind the outside of the CSS building on North Campus!

MESSAGE #99. Fri Feb 28 8:06:30 2003 . Daega Fatah wrote:

Hey everyone. Does anyone have the details for where exactly the shuttle picks you up for the observatory trips? March 5th is coming up pretty quickly.

MESSAGE #98. Thu Feb 27 11:31:25 2003 . Jared Fulcher wrote:

Hey every one! todays NASA Pic of the day is actually anim of the moons revolving around Jupiter. IF you get this post after today, you can go back to Tursday, the 27th and see. it's a very nice-a!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

Enjoy and see you all in class.

Jared

MESSAGE #97. Thu Feb 27 10:33:59 2003 . Laura Cinnamon wrote:

yeah, i missed class yesterday too. traffic was a mess. so if anyone can give us a little overview, that would be great! thanks

MESSAGE #96. Thu Feb 27 4:06:19 2003 . Stanislav Berenshteyn wrote:

http://216.127.90.3/screensavers/1MoonAboveSetup.exe

This is a link to a 3D windows screensaver featuring the moon. It's aligned with the Earth and Sun, so you can see the current phase, or accelerate the time to see how the phase changes. It's educational, but moreso, it looks cool when you're away from your computer.

MESSAGE #95. Wed Feb 26 22:18:59 2003 . Melissa Breboneria wrote:

Hello everyone. i was just wondering what was covered in class today. I was stuck in traffic for 2.5 hours and missed class. thanks.

MESSAGE #94. Wed Feb 26 22:07:47 2003 . Tymesha Pendleton wrote:

Helloe everyone, I plan on going to Open House on March 5th and I was hoping that someone who has gone already can tell me what I should expect as well as where I need to be to catch the shuttle to the observatory.

MESSAGE #93. Wed Feb 26 21:43:27 2003 . Christine Amberg wrote:

i was having a little trouble with homework problem #7 on page 56, could someone tell me a page in the book or something that could help me?

MESSAGE #92. Wed Feb 26 18:00:05 2003 . Nebiyu Adenaw wrote:

Jennifer, I think you mean prob. 4 in chapter 1. You have to use Kepler's Third Law, with P being the orbital period...a is the distance from the sun.

MESSAGE #91. Wed Feb 26 17:18:05 2003 . Charles Keys wrote:

Hello everybody, I'm writing this to find out if there are any study groups established for this class, Please let me know. Thank You

MESSAGE #90. Wed Feb 26 15:22:13 2003 . Christine Collins wrote:

I'm in Easton 3116, I'm planning on going to the open house on March 5th.

MESSAGE #89. Wed Feb 26 11:10:56 2003 . Jennifer Benitez wrote:

I'm trying to figure out the answer to #4 Ch. 2, the alien question. Can someone point me in the right direction?

MESSAGE #88. Wed Feb 26 5:16:35 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

To all those who couldn't make it to the study session it's cool. I wasn't there either. I over slept. But we will be having another one. George I addded you to the list.

I hate math.....just wanted to let everyone know. :)It's just not my thing. Homework took me like 3hours to complete. Ahhhhhh!

MESSAGE #87. Wed Feb 26 1:09:42 2003 . Ryann Price wrote:

Kinda building on Omar's question, why is the moon some times HUGE? I think its called a harvest moon but im not sure. but what i want to know is why it looks so big then when you drive 5 minutes down the road its not big anymore. and its alot more orange than usual too. Second question is about the open house. im wondering if it has been rescheduled and if prof. hamilton is extending the extra credit cut off date.

MESSAGE #86. Tue Feb 25 22:00:58 2003 . Anh Nguyen wrote:

Omar- the color is due to some of the sun's light hitting the earth's outter atmosphere to the moon. It's similar to what happens when the moon is red. It's just not going through a lot of the atmosphere so more light gets through to the moon. I'm not 100% sure though.

Does anyone know if there is a difference between Density and Average Density?

MESSAGE #85. Tue Feb 25 21:29:05 2003 . Omar Paredes wrote:

There are nights when the moon has sort of a yellowish color to it. What's the change of color due to?

MESSAGE #84. Tue Feb 25 19:48:07 2003 . Laura Cinnamon wrote:

George- your right... i think. if the earth wasn't tilted it would always be one temp. Brianna- sorry, i can't make it tonight- something's come up. please email me when y'all come up with the next date.

MESSAGE #83. Tue Feb 25 18:59:34 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

I was going to go to the study session today but then I didn't feel like driving in College Park with the Basketball game traffic.

MESSAGE #82. Tue Feb 25 17:26:59 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

Hi, please put me in the study session too. I should start working on this class too. My e-mail is chiru3001@hotmail.com thanks. Chiru

MESSAGE #81. Tue Feb 25 11:58:02 2003 . George Lam wrote:

Brianna,

First, I would like to be on the listserv. My e-mail is george_c_lam@hotmail.com. Even though I can't make it to the study session today, I would like to know about future ones that you're doing.

And second, just making sure, if Earth wasn't tilted, that means that the whole year would be the same without defferent seasons, right? One of the homework questions asked how Earth's seasons would be affected if Earth wasn't tilted. I mean the sun isn't in the exact center of the Earth's orbit, so shouldn't there be some difference in the temperature throughout the year? Or is the sun just a tad bit off the center for there to be any big differences?

Thanks.

MESSAGE #80. Tue Feb 25 1:26:45 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

Okay, so the distance between the sun and the earth does not effect the seasons. Our orbit is eliptical, however, the major and minor axis are not that significantly different. I hope you got that. I worded it kind of weird.

Anywho, TUESDAY, Feb. 25, 7pm CSPAC libray. For all of you South Campus folks we will be having another study session on South Side. Hope to see you there.

MESSAGE #79. Mon Feb 24 20:20:04 2003 . Nora Gayzur wrote:

I am having some homework problems. I have been doing the equation for the density of pluto, but it never calculates like it does in the book. Is there some kind of conversion I am missing. I know that it is already in grams and centimeters, but does something have to happen with the conversion. I am getting these huge numbers, and i know they are wrong. Can anyone help?

MESSAGE #78. Mon Feb 24 19:14:14 2003 . Julia Gerhardt wrote:

Is anyone from North Campus interested in going to the March 5th Open House with me? If so let me know. I'm in Denton 5107 or just post something here.

MESSAGE #77. Mon Feb 24 15:07:34 2003 . Nebiyu Adenaw wrote:

Correction: I meant the Feb 20 Open House

MESSAGE #76. Mon Feb 24 15:05:32 2003 . Nebiyu Adenaw wrote:

Has the Open House Cancelled On March 20 been rescheduled?

MESSAGE #75. Sun Feb 23 12:41:06 2003 . Pei-Tzu Tsai wrote:

Does anyone know whether the distance b/n the Earth and the Sun affects the seasons? Like whether the winter in the Northern Hemisphere is warmer than the winter in the Southern Hemisphere because we're closer to the Sun during winter?

MESSAGE #74. Sat Feb 22 17:40:32 2003 . Jill Goldfarb wrote:

Why does the harvest moon appear bigger than the typical full moon?

MESSAGE #73. Sat Feb 22 17:07:44 2003 . Nathan Moulton wrote:

Just to let everyone know, the moon will be in its new moon phase in a couple of days (Monday, March 3).

MESSAGE #72. Sat Feb 22 15:48:56 2003 . Whoman Bahrami wrote:

i was wondering if any one knows why the moon sometimes appears larger and smaller. i understand how it goes through its phases, but the actual size of it changes.

MESSAGE #71. Fri Feb 21 7:15:59 2003 . Laura Cinnamon wrote:

oh yeah, we only need to go to one, but that way we have the option to go to 3 before the little paper is due.

MESSAGE #70. Fri Feb 21 3:31:56 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

Dont we have to go to only one open house? Just asking its 3:30am uhoh need to sleep for class tommorow. Yes I think we housl have atleast one or two extra open house for our cerdits.

MESSAGE #69. Thu Feb 20 23:28:54 2003 . Laura Cinnamon wrote:

I was gonna go too.... bummer. i think the 8 extra pts. should be extended to after the March 20th Open House (maybe to the 24th). that way we can still get to 3 before the first deadline.

MESSAGE #68. Thu Feb 20 21:23:24 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

I think we should get an extention on the extra credit stuff. I was going to go but snow happened.

MESSAGE #67. Thu Feb 20 19:16:54 2003 . Joshua Segovia wrote:

hey bri put me on that list, and i was trying to make it to the open house tonite, but it's a big no go, do you think we can get the next date as a make up and still get the full extra credit?

just an idea, not a theory, or even a Law

-josh

MESSAGE #66. Thu Feb 20 17:19:30 2003 . TA Robyn Sanderson wrote:

A note for those of you who would like some help on approaching math problems, especially ones dealing with distance-velocity-time relationships: In the back of your book on p. 554 is a little section explaining how to get a start on problems like these. I saw some people discussing this, and the book does a good job of explaining it clearly. Also, the tips it gives for setting up the problems are applicable to math questions in general, not just those dealing with motion. Enjoy the snow, and happy astronomy-ing!

MESSAGE #65. Thu Feb 20 12:51:46 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

I looked at the website too. No open house today. Was thinking of finishing the Observatory open house before school goes onto its full force. Untill next time. Chiru

MESSAGE #64. Thu Feb 20 2:01:22 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

I just looked on the main website and it said that the Observatory itself would be closed due to no parking. We will see I guess. We will have to catch the next one :(

MESSAGE #63. Wed Feb 19 23:42:33 2003 . William Gomes wrote:

About the open house,on their website it said that a final decision will be made by 4pm on Feb. 20th.

MESSAGE #62. Wed Feb 19 23:40:20 2003 . Laura Cinnamon wrote:

email me too!!! lilred443@yahoo.com... oh, and was anyone else a bit confused about the way the book trys to work out problems for you??? it might just be me.

MESSAGE #61. Wed Feb 19 21:26:43 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

I would be intersted in the study session chiru3001@hotmail.com Chiru

MESSAGE #60. Wed Feb 19 21:08:22 2003 . Krista Fisher wrote:

I would like to join the study group... kfisher@wam.umd.edu

MESSAGE #59. Wed Feb 19 20:08:33 2003 . Annette Mann wrote:

I don't know Michael. I was planning on going Thursday but I guess I'll have to catch the next one.. Anyway taking the bus from campus?

MESSAGE #58. Wed Feb 19 19:43:25 2003 . Michael Piercey wrote:

I just found out that the observatory will be closed tomorrow. Does anyone know if they will move the open house?

MESSAGE #57. Wed Feb 19 14:13:16 2003 . Nora Gayzur wrote:

I would like to join a study session. My e-mail is snuffy134@hotmail.com. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks alot!

MESSAGE #56. Wed Feb 19 11:18:36 2003 . Michael Piercey wrote:

Just a note, Today, wednesday February 19th is Copernicus' birthday. He was born in 1473 so he would be 530 were he alive today. Just a fun note for astronomy people.

MESSAGE #55. Tue Feb 18 16:53:22 2003 . Christine Collins wrote:

study session : cmc@wam.umd.edu

MESSAGE #54. Sun Feb 16 20:17:47 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

HEY FOLKS!!!! THIS IS BRIANNA JACKSON AND I AM ORGANIZING A STUDY SESSION. FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO POSTED THEIR EMAILS I WILL SET A LISTSERV SO THAT WE CAN KEEP IN TOUCH WITH ONE ANOTHER. I AM THE 3RD FLOOR RA IN DORCHESTER AND WE HAVE A HUGE BALCONY. IT'S LOVELY TO WATCH THE SKY AND STUDY FOR ASTRONOMY. SO IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED PLEASE POST YOUR EMAIL AND I WILL ADD YOU TO THE LISTSERV.

I NEVER THOUGHT THAT ASTRONOMY COULD BE SO COOL.

MESSAGE #53. Sat Feb 15 16:34:36 2003 . TA Robyn Sanderson wrote:

Another note - if you have cool relevant pictures but no web address for them, you can put them in your public directory on wam (/users/username/pub). Then you can access them from a web browser by going to http://wam.umd.edu/~username/filename where username is your wam account name, and filename is the name of the file. If this is the case, make sure to give credit where it's due for the pictures.

MESSAGE #52. Sat Feb 15 16:29:49 2003 . TA Robyn Sanderson wrote:

To post a web link directly to the bulletin board, use
<A HREF= "YOURLINK">YOURLINK </A >
and replace YOURLINK with the website. Then people can just click on it to go to the site! It's good to read all the stuff being posted. Keep helping each other out, but don't give the problems away completely =) Enjoy the class!

MESSAGE #51. Fri Feb 14 19:57:16 2003 . Vikram Prasanna wrote:

The moon appears to be full, although it still may be in the waxing phase. However, it is very cloudy today so it's hard to get an accurate view. Hopefully, we will see it in the next few days.

MESSAGE #50. Fri Feb 14 19:35:27 2003 . Chiranjeev Roy wrote:

Well I have some really nice pictures from satellites. How do I post them on the web or should I froward them to anyone so people can take a look at it.

MESSAGE #49. Fri Feb 14 5:30:12 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

I too agree that explosions help make lecture more interesting. Especially after I have been sitting in that same lecture hall since 8am trying to stay awake through calc 2 lecture....Another thing that would make lecture fun would be sportscenter, but that is not really related to astronomy unfortunately.

MESSAGE #48. Fri Feb 14 4:45:49 2003 . Zachary Nemser wrote:

The other night when I was walking to Mckeldin Library from Leonardtown, I was able to see Saturn by using the constelation Orion as a guide. Saturn was about 5-10 degrees above the top two stars in Orion.

MESSAGE #47. Fri Feb 14 1:45:51 2003 . Shea Hoxie wrote:

I just looked up what a Waxing Gibbous is... such a funny name for something so simple. Wouldn't that be a great name for a rock band? or maybe Prof. Hamilton and the exploding hydrogen balloons. We should blow some more of those balloons, while answering important scientific questions, like what would happen if a flaming comet slammed into a hydrogen-oxygen atomsphered planet? Oh, what a coincidence, here's a match, oh! and a hydrogen balloon...

MESSAGE #46. Fri Feb 14 1:31:24 2003 . Shea Hoxie wrote:

Wow, the moon is almost full. When the course started it was a little sliver in the sky. Unfortunately the temperature on the moon is about the same it is here, COLD! Its hard to look at the moon for longer than a few minutes when your eyes glaze over from the cold.

By the way, how do I find Jupiter and Saturn in the sky? Since they move around throughout the year, and they move across the sky as we rotate. If anyone has seen them let me know where we can find them as compared to the moon or some other major... thing in the sky.

MESSAGE #45. Thu Feb 13 22:38:05 2003 . Annette Mann wrote:

Has anyone been checking out the Waxing Gibbous lately? ^_^

MESSAGE #44. Thu Feb 13 19:06:26 2003 . Lauren Mitchell wrote:

For help with Essay #1, Question #1 it is helpful to think about the altitude of planets. For example, the inner planets like Mercury and Venus can never be too far from the sun, so their altitude is not much more than the sun's altitude. Therefore, at 7 p.m. the sun has set and is just below the horizon. These inner planets will also be very close to the horizon.

MESSAGE #43. Thu Feb 13 17:15:43 2003 . Robert Canas wrote:

Can anyone out there, please guve a hint on how to answer # 1 for the Review Questions in Essay 1?

MESSAGE #42. Thu Feb 13 15:16:40 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

anybody care to give a hint for chapt 1 review #11 question about identifying a planet and not confusing it with a star?

MESSAGE #41. Thu Feb 13 14:28:45 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

My best friend's dad got transferred to Australia for work so his parents live there. He was there last month and it was summertime.

MESSAGE #40. Thu Feb 13 12:38:20 2003 . Mattie Dowd wrote:

Krista, In response to your question about #6- You should think about what month it is in Australia during winter. Does this coincide with it being April in Paris at that same time?

MESSAGE #39. Wed Feb 12 23:30:43 2003 . Krista Fisher wrote:

I am getting confused by the question #6 on the homework...how do we determine what month it is in Paris if it is winter in Australia?????

MESSAGE #38. Wed Feb 12 21:56:24 2003 . Hugo Moreno wrote:

Movies of various sky phenomena! You need to have Quicktime installed on you computer to view these cool videos.

http://planck.phys.uwosh.edu/mike/exercises/anim/index.html

MESSAGE #37. Wed Feb 12 17:06:08 2003 . Brian Wasser wrote:

Just a quick typo: For my post about Problem 7, in the last line... it should, of course, be 186,000 miles/sec, not 300,000 miles/sec. Also, another hint... you're original answer will be in seconds... just keep dividing by 60 until you get minutes, and then hours! Good luck =)

MESSAGE #36. Wed Feb 12 17:03:29 2003 . Brian Wasser wrote:

For problem 7: We know that light travels at a speed of 186,000 miles per second, and we know that Pluto is 4,000,000,000 miles away from the sun. Look at it this way. If you had to drive to grandma's house which is 4,000,000,000 miles away (on Pluto!) and you drove a constant 186,000 miles/sec for every second of the trip, how long would it take you to get there? The same concept applies for the speed of light; how long will it take light to travel 4,000,000,000 miles going 300,000 miles/sec? A simple calculator will give you the answer (just divide) =Þ

MESSAGE #35. Wed Feb 12 16:11:46 2003 . Jeremy Reyno wrote:

Sakeenah, i had some trouble with that problem too. I was confused on what speed we had to go, it is a looooooooong way away from the sun. Try calculating it using the speed of light. And see if that makes sense.

MESSAGE #34. Wed Feb 12 13:35:35 2003 . Sakeenah Smith wrote:

I'm having trouble on problem 7 of the homework. Pluto is 4 billion miles from the sun, but I can't figure out how long it takes to get there. PLEASE HELP!!!!!!

MESSAGE #33. Wed Feb 12 11:13:39 2003 . William Gomes wrote:

Anyone else read the article "Scientists Capture Best Image Ever of Universe's Beginning" in the Washington Post.

It says astronomers have calculated the earth to be 13.7 billion years old. It's an interesting article. I amazed at how astronomers can create such images and figure these things out. If you want to read it here is the page:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A59406-2003Feb11.html

MESSAGE #32. Tue Feb 11 23:43:21 2003 . Jeffrey Wade wrote:

Hey everybody, a few of us are meeting on Tuesday the 18th at the Performing Arts Center to do some studying. If anyone else is interested, you can email me at jwade@umd.edu to see what time we are meeting and stuff like that. See ya.

-Jeff

MESSAGE #31. Tue Feb 11 20:59:46 2003 . Jeffrey Wade wrote:

The other reason is because of the great size of the Sun. The sun is like a million times bigger than the earth and moon, or somethiong like that. The light from the sun hits the moon and causes a shadow only like a couple hundred of miles for the few minutes that the moon is in the way. Thats why the eclipse can only be seen at a certain area of the earth at a certain time. Thats how I look at it if that makes any sense.

-Jeff

MESSAGE #30. Tue Feb 11 16:25:58 2003 . Meredith Cordisco wrote:

Hey guys, I think forming a study group for the first exam is an awsome idea! Please contact me where and when you all will be having the study session. mmcordis@uncg.edu ! Thanks!!

MESSAGE #29. Tue Feb 11 16:25:52 2003 . Meredith Cordisco wrote:

Hey guys, I think forming a study group for the first exam is an awsome idea! Please contact me where and when you all will be having the study session. mmcordis@uncg.edu ! Thanks!!

MESSAGE #28. Tue Feb 11 14:44:52 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

Well in order for the light to be blocked out the moon has to be in a straight line between the observation point and the sun. So if the moon isn't directly between where you are and the sun you will not be able to see it. That is atleast my understanding of it, if anyone disagrees or knows better feel free to correct me.

MESSAGE #27. Tue Feb 11 12:19:56 2003 . Anh Nguyen wrote:

I was confused during yesterday's lecture as to why we can only see the Solar Eclipse at specific spots on the Earth. Can anyone help explain this?

MESSAGE #26. Tue Feb 11 0:37:06 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

I live in seven springs village apartment complex off of Cherry Hill Rd. e-mail is mclagett@wam.umd.edu AIM is goaliehitman33

MESSAGE #25. Mon Feb 10 23:17:19 2003 . Brian Wasser wrote:

I think it'd be cool to organize study groups based on where we live. For instance, have everyone interested post what dorm building/apartment they are in so that people close to them can study together and work on homework together. I'll start. I am in ELKTON HALL on the 8th floor. Anyone in Elkton? Post your building so we can all know!

MESSAGE #24. Mon Feb 10 20:41:49 2003 . Krista Fisher wrote:

I was driving back from the eastern shore this weekend and I saw the moon. It looked like it was close to being a half moon and it was a very bright moon with a fairly clear night. It was neat because on the eastern shore where there was very little road light, the moon lit up the sky.

MESSAGE #23. Mon Feb 10 20:37:59 2003 . Jeffrey Wade wrote:

Hey Guys: I'm down with some studying, too. It helps a lot. Let me know if you want to.

Email: jwade@umd.edu

Lets get something together.

-Jeff

MESSAGE #22. Mon Feb 10 17:53:38 2003 . Laura Cinnamon wrote:

I was confused about that HW question too, but i tried the distance from the Sun to Pluto and the speed of light.... if it's not right, sorry and someone please let me know. Dorchester Hall sounds like a great idea. we should get a group together! have a great night out with the stars everyone!

MESSAGE #21. Mon Feb 10 16:05:20 2003 . Christine Collins wrote:

I was hoping to get together and study with a group. Email me if anyone organizes anything... cmc@wam.umd.edu Also, I had a question regarding the homework question asking us to calculate how long it takes light to get from the sun to pluto. If anyone has any suggestions of how I should approach this problem please post a message. I am going to the observatory on the 20th. An astrophysics major on my floor said it was his professor giving the speech and that he is an incredibly interesting guy. So I highly suggest you go check him out!!!

MESSAGE #20. Mon Feb 10 11:02:33 2003 . George Ginis wrote:

I have a qyestion about the HW assignment that is due the 14th of this month. In one of the problems we are asked to calculate a distance (I think). Does our answer needs to be in ligt years or astronomical units? or it does not matter if we are going to have it as Km,m or something else??

MESSAGE #19. Mon Feb 10 0:42:02 2003 . Anh Nguyen wrote:

would anyone be interested in going to the Air & Space museam when it gets warmer? I enjoy the IMAX films

MESSAGE #18. Sun Feb 9 19:38:10 2003 . Michael Piercey wrote:

Hey all, I was wondering what the Open Houses were like (I'm going to the Feb 20 one) also my discussion session hasnt met yet and I was wondering what those are like, and I wont know till the 14th. Just curious!

MESSAGE #17. Sat Feb 8 19:50:08 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

That's more like it ... a little activity on the ASTR100 Bulletin Board!! If anyone is online tonight, it is worth taking a look at the sky outside. It is beautifully clear, and Jupiter, Saturn and the Moon are all visible. I have three questions for you!

1) Where is the Moon in the sky relative to Jupiter and Saturn?
2) What is the phase of the Moon (cresent, half full, full)?
3) Where are Jupiter and Saturn relative to a line drawn through the most and least curved points on the Moon (the symmetry axis)?

If you go out and see this for yourself, the lectures on Monday and Wednesday will be more clear! And if someone posts the configuration of these planets every day, that would be even better! :)

MESSAGE #16. Sat Feb 8 14:57:17 2003 . Hugo Moreno wrote:

I think getting together and studying is a good idea. I'm free after 6:30 PM everyday so if you want to get together and go over the materials send me a email at Hugoazael@comcast.net

Hugo Moreno

MESSAGE #15. Fri Feb 7 18:17:48 2003 . Brianna Jackson wrote:

Well, Dorchester Hall has a great balcony. You can't drink beer up there, BUT you can smoke and study up there. It's great. I go out there every night to look at the stars. We could have a study session in Dorchester. Post a note if you are interested.

MESSAGE #14. Fri Feb 7 18:09:56 2003 . Jeffrey Wade wrote:

Hey Guys, I was wondering if anyone was interested in trying to get together and study sometime when we get closer to the first exam. I personally just think its easier to study with people who are learning and studying the same material. Let me know what you guys think. Also, we could go get some beer and look at the moon or something. Later!

-Jeff

MESSAGE #13. Thu Feb 6 22:40:46 2003 . Akshay Varma wrote:

Hi, I went to the openhouse last night. It was freezing cold but the sky was clear so had no problems in viewing the stars the planets. I also came to know that the brightest night star is Sirus.

MESSAGE #12. Thu Feb 6 20:55:06 2003 . Pei-Tzu Tsai wrote:

I also went to the openhouse last night. It took about an hour to go around all four telescopes. It was freezing cold but worthwhile. Saturn is so cool!

MESSAGE #11. Thu Feb 6 17:23:06 2003 . Jill Goldfarb wrote:

I went to the open house last night too. It was very interesting. I had never heard of dark matter before. I think the lecture was about 30 or 40 minutes long. Definately dress warmly, after the lecture, we wait in line to look at the telescopes and that can take a while.

MESSAGE #10. Thu Feb 6 16:33:33 2003 . Mattie Dowd wrote:

I went to the open house last night and saw the orion nebula. The lecture was pretty interesting, but be prepared to sit on the floor since students aren't allowed to have chairs.

MESSAGE #9. Thu Feb 6 12:33:07 2003 . Anh Nguyen wrote:

How long did the overall presentation and star gazing last?

MESSAGE #8. Wed Feb 5 22:51:45 2003 . Kavita Khurana wrote:

I went to the open house today and it was a beautiful clear night (even if it WAS -4 degrees celsius! Thanks Prof. Hamilton for the advice on dressing warmly!)

I saw Saturn with the ring around it, Jupiter with its moons and other amazing celestial bodies! The presentation was quite interesting as well. Good experience overall :)

MESSAGE #7. Wed Feb 5 19:48:02 2003 . Joseph Hickman wrote:

"For many years it has seemed a fair speculation that some [other planet around other suns] are located, like the earth, at a distance from their stars that is not too hot and not too cold--at a location that would support life. This idea is appealing. Based upon recent " hard science modeling," however, a growing number of astronomers contend that the range of distances from a star for life-supporting conditions as we know them is much tinier than previous thought."(1)

With this in mind, what are really the chances that all this happen through an accident (the Big Bang)? With the above facts and the mathematical evidence of probability of evolution, it seems to me more unbelievable that this happen by chance. Things like the placement of earth being just right, have the atmosphere be just right to support life, and then there is the complexity of our bodies and the bodies of other animals. I am sure there are other thing that I am missing but just those things for me seem enough of evidence to disprove evolution as we see it. I am not saying that all evolution theories sound bad but the core theories I just don't see happening. I see the theory of evolution just as other theories like say creationism, you would need "faith" (a conviction, or trust) to believe in one of them.

(1) Hewitt, Paul G., John Suchocki, Leslie A. Hewitt. Conceptual Physical Science 2ed. Addison Wesley Longman, 1999. Page 710

MESSAGE #6. Wed Feb 5 17:02:55 2003 . Christina Allen wrote:

Dear Scott,

I too was confused on whether the sun actually moved or not. But now I know that it doesn't. That is how it appears from our perspective on earth, and it makes it easier to explain seasons and stuff when you say the "sun is moving" .

MESSAGE #5. Wed Feb 5 15:48:59 2003 . Scott Cherry wrote:

Is the astronmical unit or the light year used more often in astronomy to determine the distance from one point to another????

Also I got confused in lecture today about the motion of the sun. Does the sun move or is it just the Earth that rotates around the sun to cause that perception???

MESSAGE #4. Wed Feb 5 15:04:39 2003 . Nora Gayzur wrote:

The book says that the equinoxes are when the hours of the days, marking spring and autumn, are exactly the same length. I think that Prof. Franklin also said the sun hit directly of the equator during the beginning of the two seasons. I hope that helps out.

I am wondering what the blue star is? I think that it is to the west of Jupiter. I am not good with directions, but last night it was close to Jupiter in the sky. Thanks.

MESSAGE #3. Wed Feb 5 10:16:14 2003 . Michael Clagett wrote:

I don't have my textbook with me and missed the definition for equinox, can anyone post it? Also let's get some beer and look at the moon and stuff.

MESSAGE #2. Tue Feb 4 15:30:11 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

It sure is awful lonely here with noone talkin' ...

Actually, there were a few technical difficulties that I just fixed this morning, so please try posting a message now (sorry to those of you who couldn't before)! Anything astronomical is fair game - a question that you have, a cool website you found, a planet that you saw, what the Moon's phase is, etc.

MESSAGE #1. Mon Jan 27 8:25:39 2003 . Prof. Doug Hamilton wrote:

Welcome to ASTR 100! I hope that you will use this bulletin board to communicate with other students in the class. You can learn a lot from each other as well as from the TAs and the Prof. But wait, there's more! Act now (by posting a message anytime in February) and you'll earn a cool 4 bonus points added to your grade at the end of the semester!!

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