Zepf Astronomy Report

The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) was launched into low Earth orbit roughly 25 years ago to allow scientists and astronomers to peer into space. Since that day, Hubble – the largest and most versatile space telescope - has recorded some of the most detailed and awe-inspiring images (http://clapway.com/2015/08/27/hubble-space-telescope-butterfly-nebula123/), which have led to several breakthroughs in astrophysics.

If you look outside your window and stare up at the night sky, you will see multiple little, tiny, bright dots. At first, the bright dots will look like nothing. The stars will just be random little dots, but if you look a little more you will start to see that these stars connect in different ways. If you look a little closer you can start to see figures and patterns. These pictures in the night sky are called constellations. For many years in history, people, scientists, and astronomers have observed and studied the constellations. They would see a figure among the stars and come up with a name and story as to why they are up in the sky. They would name the constellations according to what was important to them. For example, the Chinese would

I chose the Orion constellation because after doing some research, I found that the history of this constellation was very interesting. The Orion constellation looks like a man holding a weapon and a dead lion, so it was named after a hunter in Greek mythology. The Orion is located on the celestial equator and it consists of seven stars known as Betelgeuse, Rigel, Bellatrix, Mintaka, Alnilam, Alnitak, and Saiph, but it's brightest stars are Rigel and Betelgeuse. This constellation is most visible between January and March at evening time and can be seen all across the world.

Take a moment and think about this lesson’s learning objective. What skills will you need to be successful? Consider presentations you’ve seen in the past. How does a speaker demonstrate that he or she is aware of the audience? How does a speaker use volume for effect? Should volume vary to emphasize a point? How

The movement of the stars in the night sky can be categorised into two different motions. The first is diurnal, and it is an astronomical term referring to the motion of the stars every 24 hours around the two celestial poles (Earth). The diurnal motion of the stars is caused by Earth’s rotation on its axis from west to east, resulting in every star moving in a circle (the diurnal circle). One sidereal day (23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds) is the time it takes for one complete rotation. If one were to look into the night sky in the southern hemisphere, the stars would appear to rotate from east to west around the South Celestial Pole (due to the rotation of Earth). Stars are also only visible during certain times of the year, as the brightness

For my own part in the speech I noticed that I was speaking at a good pace but still needed to maybe speak a bit faster. I also mispronounced a few words and used too many filler words like “umm” instead of pausing. In my visual delivery I felt like I did a good job in except my movement of my head seemed more sporadic than I remember. Even though this was a video and had no real live audience to present to, I think I did well connecting to the audience. The presentation aids that I put into the power point for was great for visualizing our ideas to the audience. I did feel that some slides had too many pictures. The video I found also made it easier for the audience to relate to the topic.

We structured the presentation well by stating the three main points in the introduction and conclusions, and the visuals before each new point. We worked well during the presentation because we practiced how to transition (although I think we need more work as it seemed sloppy) and to cue each other when to move on. Each person also got to speech on each point, so it was less skewed toward one person speaking more (although this problem was still present). Our presentation was clear because we stated explicitily what our goals were for the presentation, what our service was, the points we addresses, and how it related to the audience. We stated all of these components in the introduction, but also kept reminding people throughout the presentation. For example, the last sub point for the second and third point tied our points to the service and goals. We engaged the audience throughout the presentation too. We started off with asking the audience their opinions on some outfits. We asked a question in the middle of the speech about a TV show to make sure everyone was on the same page and to relate our service to their lives. We also kept explaining (especially at the end) how our service would work for our audience (like when Taylar mentioned college fair attire in the

I like that you used a lot of images in your presentation. With the use of visuals, it’s easier for the viewer to visualize what you’re talking about. Your presentation could’ve been even more effective, if you used less text on your slides, and instead, put more in the notes section. If this would’ve been

The presentation on Pompeii was given by presenter Joel Pless. Presenter Pless did a great job presenting on Pompeii he used multiple tools of communication to keep his audience engaging and interesting to listen to. Presenter Pless used visuals, storytelling, humor, written outline and questioning. Visuals like maps of Italy and the city of Pompeii were presented using a PowerPoint. The presenter also showed pictures that he took himself when he toured Pompeii. The fact that the pictures were taken himself really made the presentation more credible and relatable. Presenter Pless told stories about his experience of touring Pompeii. Through this presentation, I felt like I was on the tour and presenter Pless was my guide. From the stories and the visuals, I was able to stay engaged through the entire presentation. By using humor presenter Pless was able to keep the presentation serious, but also fun. My favorite statement was when he said, “Papa Murry’s love at 425.” Lastly by having a outline handed out before hand it made the presentation easy to follow and kept the presenter orderly and organized. The outline was divided up in three sections; volcano, venue, and victims of Pompeii. Having each section of the presentation divided up I was able to take very detailed notes and gather my thoughts in an organized fashion. In conclusion, the presentation was very informative and was presented very professionally to all audience members. Hard work was put into this presentation and presenter Pless presented the information

In physics I found Native Astronomy the most interesting. What I found the most interesting was that “Numerous indigenous tribes have inhabited America before the European colonists arrived and they each had their own way of interpreting what they saw in the sky” (DawLez) Natives perceptions and legends are what were outstanding compared to our thoughts of it in general. In the article “10 Ancient Cultures and Their Contributions to Astronomy” it mentions how they traditionally believed that the way to let others know knowledge was by using the stars to tell stories and legends. Not only was it the Native American that believed that having stars for guidance was important, it was many more as well that agreed to that idea. For example Pawnee

As proposed in an article posted on amazing space.org, “The telescope, a basic reflector with a 94.5 in (2.4 meters) mirror.” While also having being a second mirror that the light bounces to to. Within that mirror, many instruments were compacted together that allowed for clear and visible views in infrared and ultraviolet light. It was different compared to any other ground based telescope whereas it allowed astronomers to observe and witness details that had never been seen before due to Earth being in the way for those other telescopes. The telescope revolves around the earth completely every ninety-seven minutes at the speed of five miles per second, allowing for many observations in space. The observations occur when light hits the main mirror and then bounces towards the second mirror in which the second one focuses the light. The telescope began to be created in 1977 and was originally supposed to launch during the year of 1985. Unfortunately an accident had occurred when a space shuttle challenger exploded and flights into space took a halt. It was finally launched on April 4th of 1990 once the halt had stopped. The improved observations had begun and the history of astronomy had changed. Unfortunately there were some minor setbacks that had to be dealt with. One setback was that the primary mirror was ground incorrectly in which the curve of it was too flat. It was off just

Smith Telescope, which uses a 2.72 m diameter mirror made of fused silica, was used to gather information about the composition of the star and the planet’s characteristics (‘Texas Astronomers Help Find Earth’s Older, Bigger Cousin’). The Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory in Arizona used high-resolution spectrographs to determine the size of Kepler-452b, and the attributes of its host star (Hammond). This observatory houses 7 telescopes in its ground based telescope dome (‘Fred Lawrence Whipple Observatory’). The data analysts used the 10-metre Keck I Telescope at Keck observatory in order to confirm the data obtained from the Kepler Instrument, and further analyze the host star’s characteristics. This was done by adding the HIRES instrument to the telescope, which creates high resolution spectrographs (‘Found: Earth’s Closest Cousin Yet’). High resolution spectrographs are spectras of objects covering a wide range of wavelengths by separating light into stripes of spectra (‘Found: Earth’s Closest Cousin

Through this summer program I want to experience an intro to astrophysics and gain a preview of college life. During this course I want to become familiar with the work involved in astrophysics. This will help me be more prepared for what to expect in college and what kind of work I should be ready for. I also want to use this time to see if I have the right skills to be an astrophysicist and what skills I need to improve before college. From participating in this course I also want to see if my preliminary interests in astrophysics continue after experiencing a taste of what a career in this subject could be like. This would be the best time for me to find this out about myself as opposed to spending tens of thousands at college and learning

Honestly, this presentation had the least amount of impact on me. It seemed scattered and unorganized. I honestly didn’t get much at all from this. I do think it has great potential with some

If there are many galaxies, why is the sky at night so dark? What causes these galaxies to transmit light to the Earth? These are questions that researchers have been investigating for many years. The astronomers have been studying the Olber’s paradox. The Olber’s paradox states that even though the night sky looks dark, its not. The night sky is brimming of galaxies which gives off a glow. Even galaxies that existed thousands of years ago can give off a glow, but it is hard to distinguish. There is light beyond the Milky Way which is hard to see. Space is not completely black and is glows with EBL or extragalactic background light from galaxies. Scientists are able to measure EBL by observing gamma rays when they collide into photons. This