Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA
Students have a weekly online reading assignment (hosted by SurveyMonkey.com), where they answer questions based on reading their textbook, material covered in previous lectures, opinion questions, and/or asking (anonymous) questions or making (anonymous) comments. Full credit is given for completing the online reading assignment before next week's lecture, regardless if whether their answers are correct/incorrect. Selected results/questions/comments are addressed by the instructor at the start of the following lecture.
The following questions were asked on reading textbook chapters and previewing presentations on problems caused by the atmosphere for telescope observing, Earth, and the impacted worlds: the moon, and Mercury.
Selected/edited responses are given below.
Describe something you found interesting from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally interesting for you.
"The comparison of atmospheric turbulence and looking through ripples in water was really interesting. I never would've thought of it that way."
"The aircraft that was turned into a telescope...how cool is that?"
"Infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, and gamma ray light from space are all absorbed in Earth's atmosphere, never reaching the surface."
"I was surprised to see that Mercury had a much bigger core compared to the moon; the moon is nearly all crust, and Mercury is nearly all core. I wonder why that is."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"What evidence supports Mercury being formed by two colliding bodies?"
"I'm still confused about telescopes."
"The questions about what is younger on the surfaces of the moon or Mercury, not really understanding those."
"The large-impact hypothesis of the moon's formation."
"I didn't know what a Cornish hen was."
"The different types of electromagnetic radiation (ultraviolet, x-rays, gamma rays). This section was like reading a foreign language. It would help if you had time in class to quickly go over the differences and what scientists use them for."
Stars to appear to "twinkle" in the night sky because of:
"Stars appear to twinkle in the night sky because we see them from Earth's surface through thick layers of moving air in the atmosphere. The light from the star is bent and goes in many different directions. The refractions, when seen with the naked eye, gives you the appearance of twinkling."
"The amount of atmosphere between you and the star."
"Stars appear to twinkle due to the light pollution from urban areas and pollution in general and the lens of the telescope catching this."
A large modern optical telescope in outer space would have images with better __________ than a comparable ground-based telescope.
brightness. * [1] resolution. ************* [13] magnification. [0] (None of the above choices.) * [1] (Two of the above choices.) ****** [6] (All of the above choices.) ******* [7] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) ** [2]
__________ produced the carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere.
Volcanoes. ****************** [18] Oceans. ****** [6] Plants. * [1] The greenhouse effect. ***** [5] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) [0]
__________ prevent(s) Earth's atmosphere from building up too much carbon dioxide.
Volcanoes. [0] Oceans. ******************* [19] Plants. **** [4] The greenhouse effect. ******* [7] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) [0]
Which feature on the moon is the youngest?
Craters partially filled in with flat lava plains. ***** [5] Craters on top of flat lava plains. *********** [11] Flat lava plains. ******* [7] (There is a tie.) ** [2] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) ***** [5]
Which feature on Mercury is the youngest?
Lava-filled lowlands. ******* [8] Large crater basins. ******* [8] Long curving ridges. **** [4] (There is a tie.) **** [4] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) ****** [6]
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"It appears smaller terrestrial bodies just don't have what it takes to support life; they're smaller mass means faster cooling, thus less volcanic activity, a thinner atmosphere, a lesser greenhouse effect, and less of a chance to develop complex life. Assuming similar composition, roughly 1 AU distance and a similar main-sequence star, what might we generally assume about these super-earths? Inhospitable hot houses like Venus?" (Yes, possibly too hot to support life (as we know it).)
"How many star parties have you been to while teaching astronomy?" (A lot.)
"Well, without people actually on the moon to study the moon all the time, how can we tell what is new and what is old? I mean, who's to say that this crater is newer than that crater? What if two craters have been there long before the invention of the telescope, how would we know which one is older than the other? It's confusing!" (Going to the moon and bringing back samples from various locations was exactly the evidence needed to answer this question.)
"This is such an interesting class. I love that I learn something new every day. I always find myself telling friends what I learned too!"
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