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Lecture Notes |
All the grades are out now. Have a nice summer 2009!
25 May 2009
We had our final exam, from 7:00 to 10:00 pm in SLHA
19 May 2009
We talked a bit about what is important for the exam and continued with the fast voyage through the universe. We finished
with the newest results on cosmology and asked ourselves whether life exists outside our Earth. That concluded the course. The correct answers for assignment #3 are now shown in the display case. Please go an have a look. Next week
we have the final exam. All the best!
14 May 2009
We had our 7th serious quiz. We talked about Kuiper belt objects, asteroids, meteorides and comets. We looked at
a sketch of a typical comet and elaborated on the different components of a comet. Then we finished Chapter 15.
In the last 15 minutes we looked at slides that showed scenarios where new stars are made. We also looked at the fate of our sun and the fate of more massive stars that will go "supernova." On Tuesday we will continue this fast voyage through the universe and also talk a bit more about the final exam. Answers for assignment #2 are posted in the display case near my office (P331).
12 May 2009
We talked about the solar term project. Please note that there was a misprint in the .pdf version of the description
of the project. Only seven images, and seven position measurements, are needed for each of the three sets of images
for the three latitudes. The misprints have been corrected in the meantime. Then we continued learning about Uranus and how its rings were discovered, Neptun and Pluto, as well as their moons. Pluto is so different from the Jovian planets that it is not surprising that astronomers pushed it off the planet pedestal. We also learned from the Globe and Mail (7 May 2009) how Pluto as a newly discovered object in 1930 got its name. By the way, it was not named after the Disney dog. Then we started on Chapter 15. Tomorrow during the tutorials we want ot look at assignment #2 and the following
questions: Chapter 13; 1, 6, 7, 10. Chapter 14: 2, and other questions.
7 May 2009
We figured out what the temperature on Earth should be if there were no (small) greenhouse effect. Then we focused on the four Galilean moons and on Saturn's moon Titan. We saw a movie made from the probe Huygens while it descended
to the surface of Titan. Click here for a rerun. Then we looked at Uranus and Neptun. Assignment #3 is now on the web.
5 May 2009
We had our 6th serious quiz. We covered Chapter 12. We first, as usual, looked at the dry data of Jupiter and Saturn and tried to put some life into them. Some data were really amazing: short rotation period, large diameters, relatively small mass of only 300 and 100 times the mass of the Earth, respectively. That is of course due to the low average densities. Jupiter would only very slowly sink in the Atlantic Ocean and Saturn would FLOAT! Then the average temperatures at the surface, sorry, the cloud tops: -110 and -180 C. Well, and then the composition of the atmosphere: Mostly just hydrogen and then some helium! These giants are giant gas planets and then they show differential rotation. Then we looked at the "weather," zoomed in on the Great Red Spot, learned that the two planets have a rocky core, surrounded by liquid "ices,"
and then surrounded by liquid metallic hydrogen mixed with helium and finally surrounded by ordinary hydrogen and helium. The liquid metallic hydrogen is the cause for the strong magnetic field. Then we looked at the rings and learned that they are within the Roche limit. We also talked about the shepherds. Tomorrow during our tutorials we want to talk about questions: 10, 19, 37, 41, 47 and some other questions.
30 April 2009
First we had our 5th serious quiz. Then we talked about Venus and Mars, compared the atmospheres of Venus, Earth and Mars and looked at the causes of their
differences in some detail. We also learned that Mars is in some respects very similar to Earth. Details of the surface features were displayed and a link revealed a recently observed avalanch on Mars.
28 April 2009
We finished Chapter 16 and continued with Chapter 11 by focusing on Venus. Tomorrow for the tutorial we want to look at the midterm questions and then go to Chapter 16, questions: 1, 12, 14, 25, 29, 31, 34.
23 April 2009
We had our 4th serious quiz. The marks are on the web. Today we started with Chapter 16 (18 in 7th edition), the Sun. We realized how much we can learn from the basic numbers that give the characteristics of the Sun. Then we learned about the different layers of the sun, how the energy gets transported to the surface and how mass is converted to energy in the Sun's interior. We also learned about sun spots. We got to p 421.
22 April 2009
The marks for the midterm exam are now on the web.
21 April 2009
Today we had our midterm exam. Tomorrow during the tutorials we will discuss assignment 1 and then from Chapter 8 questions: 1, 3, 5, 14, 15, 22, 23, 30 and 31, from Chapter 9 questions: 11, 13, 14, and from Chyapter 10, questions 23 and 24.
16 April 2009
Yesterday during the tutorials we had our last 3/4 make-up class and finished Chapter 9 and started Chapter 10. Today we finished Chapter 10 and covered the section on Mercury in Chapter 11. We are now on p 268. Homework assignments#1 were returned. The answers to the assignments can be found in the display case next to my office P331 on the 3rd floor of Petrie. The assignments were marked by Sunne Dong. Please see her if you have questions concerning the marking. Her office is P323.
14 April 2009
We finished Chapter 8 and discussed the different ways of discovering extrasolar planets. We also discussed how to determine the period, semimajor axis or the orbit and the mass of the planet. Then we started on Chapter 9 and covered a good portion of the chapter, up to p 225.
Tomorrow we have another 3/4 hour make-up class and then our tutorials. We want to discuss from Chapter 7, questions: 8, 10, 21, 24, 25, 27, 32. From Chapter 8 we want to discuss questions: 1, 3, 5, 14, 15, 22, 23, 30 and 31
9 April 2009
We had our 3rd serious quiz. Marks are posted. We had a 3/4 hour make-up class before the tutorials on Wednesday. Today we finished Chapter 7 and covered a good portion of Chapter 8 and are now on p200.
7 April 2009
We finished Chapter 6 and started on Chapter 7. For the tutorial tomorrow, we want to go through some more review questions from Chapter 5 and then deal with those of Chapter 6, particularly, ## 17, 23, 24, 27, 34, 36, 37, 39,43.
2 April 2009
We started Chapter 6. The make-up class will be divided between 8 and 15 April. We will start the tutorials as usual at 2:30 but then
continue with a 3/4 h class at 3:15pm. The same will be done on 15 April. Also, please note that the midterm exam has been rescheduled
due to a religious observance. We will now have it on 21 April during class.
26 March 2009
We finished Chapter 5.
24 March 2009
We finished Chapter 4 and started on Chapter 5. We are now at p. 105. For the tutorial tomorrow, we want to discuss questions:
from Capter 3: 4, 37 (pp60, 61) and from Chapter 4: 6, 9, 11, 20,23, 38, 43, 45, 49 (pp 92,93). Also, the starry night assignment is
now on the web.
19 March 2009
We had our first serious quiz. We continued with Chapter 4, learned about how Kopernicus invented the heliocentric model and about Tycho Brahe's amazement that the sky is not static when he saw what we know know is a supernova and when he also experienced a comet. He was good in recording positions of celestial objects. Kepler used his recordings and came up with his three laws. Galileo Galilei used the newly invented telescope and saw phases of Venus coupled with a change of Venus' angular diameter that clearly supported the heliocentric model. Then came Newton with his three laws and his law of universal gravitation and gave Kepler's laws the physical meaning and created a view of our physical world that ranks among the highest achievements of humanity. Back to our student lifes: the marks of the first quiz are now on the web.
17 March 2009
Assignment #1 is now on the web. For the tutorials tomorrow, please look at questions: Chapter 1: 9, 22, 24, 26, 31, 36, and
Chapter 2: 21, 28, 37, 47, 48, 49, and 53. We finished Chapter 3 and started on Chapter 4 and are now on p 68.
12 March 2009
We had a fun quiz again, actually a pretty difficult one where we had to show that we understand the concept of LST, RA, and HA. In our course we elaborated on these concepts. We learned about different definitions of time, in particular about
solar days and sidereal days, etc. We finished Chapter 2 and started with Chapter 3.
10 March 2009
Important announcements: 1) There will be no mandatory observing during this term since there are essentially no sun spots visible. That also means that the telescope-dome checkout is cancelled. Instead we will fully focus on the analysis of archival data from the spacecraft Soho. 2) There will be no tutorial session on 11 March 2009. The first tutorial is scheduled for 18 March 2009.
We started with a "fun quiz" and then started with Chapter 2 and got half way through the chapter. We particularly tried to understand the concepts of HA, sidereal time, RA, dec, earth latitude, celestial sphere, vernal equinox, etc. A globe prooved to be quite helpful for demonstrating some of these concepts.
5 March 2009
We started the term, went through some logistics and finished Chapter 1
11 February 2009
Welcome to the Winter 2008/2009 Phys 1070 3.0 website, full of useful
information for
this course. Browse and enjoy!
Please read the course outline carefully to be
clear on all the different elements of the course, particularly those
that
involve the submission of assignments, etc.
In particular, note that all assignments must be typed when
submitted
(diagrams are exempt but not equations.) Failure
to type your submissions will result in a 25% penalty.
For the solar
observing project (see below) you have to go through our famous
telescope-dome checkout. This will take place on Wednesday, 11 March
2009 during the tutorial. We gather on the
third floor of Petrie in the north-west corner, that is at the entrance
to the observatory. Please note that
it is
ESSENTIAL for you to be checked out on Wednesday as you will not be
given access to the telescope for the Solar
Observing lab without a successful checkout.
This site will be updated as regularly as
practical ... stay tuned.