Astronomy current events question: Spirit incommunicado

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

John Antczak, Associated Press, "Hayabusa Hits the Homestretch," March 30, 2010
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100401/ap_on_sc/us_sci_mars_rover

According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Mars rover Spirit failed to make a scheduled communication because it:
(A) is covered by dry ice (carbon dioxide) snow drifts.
(B) shut down for safety during a marsquake.
(C) is still processing a software upgrade.
(D) was drilling a hole into the core of a meteorite.
(E) does not generate enough power from its dust-covered solar panels.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 30679, 30680
(A) : 4 students
(B) : 2 students
(C) : 5 students
(D) : 0 students
(E) : 27 students

Astronomy current events question: Hayabusa mission near completion

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Kelly Beatty, "Hayabusa Hits the Homestretch," March 30, 2010
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/89510417.html

After many setbacks, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency Hayabusa spacecraft is planned to complete its mission, which is:
(A) landing on and burrowing into the core of a comet.
(B) bringing to Earth samples scraped off an asteroid.
(C) delivering a rover onto the surface of Mars' moon, Phobos.
(D) unfolding and using solar sails to travel to Jupiter's moon, Europa.
(E) proving ion engines can be used for interplanetary travel.

Correct answer: (B)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 1 student
(B) : 51 student
(C) : 5 students
(D) : 1 student
(E) : 2 students

Astronomy current events question: Pac-Man Mimas

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "1980s Video Icon Glows on Saturn Moon," March 30, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9714

Recent images obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft of __________ on Saturn's moon Mimas show a pattern resembling the 1980's video game icon "Pac-Man."
(A) surface temperatures.
(B) computer-enhanced colors.
(C) organic compound concentrations.
(D) ancient versus recent lava flows.
(E) surface reflectivity/absorption.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 48 students
(B) : 3 students
(C) : 6 students
(D) : 3 student
(E) : 0 studentss

Found physics: step-up transformer

100410-1150326
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4509302580/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Step-up transformer using RadioShack 273-104 snap-on RF choke as the soft-iron core, driven at 60 Hz. Photo by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Division instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len.

Student scribble: Galilean satellites, re-imagined

20100326502
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4465839843/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Student reinterpretation of Galilean satellites, Astronomy 210L worksheet. Photo taken by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len. Taken at 3:58 PM on April 02, 2010--uploaded by ShoZu.

20100326503
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4487032908/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Student scribbles on Galilean satellites, Astronomy 210L worksheet. Photo taken by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len. Taken at 3:58 PM on April 02, 2010--uploaded by ShoZu.

Student scribble: "Physics 205B Rules!"

20100326502
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4465839843/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Student artwork posted on bulletin board in Room 2101, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA. Photo by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Division instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len.

Found physics: ferromagnetic paper clip, staples

20100325499
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4463902740/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

U-magnet, paper clip, and staples demonstration of ferromagnetism. Photo by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Division instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len.

Found physics: sun, through solar filter

100315-1150165
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/4508661381/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

The sun, observed safely through a 14" solar filter, Bowen Observatory, Science Forum rooftop, Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo. Photo by Cuesta College Physical Sciences Division instructor Dr. Patrick M. Len.

Overheard: tricky and tricked

Astronomy 210, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

(Overheard in introductory astronomy lecture.)

(Students plotting locations of known stars at different distances from Earth's location in the Milky Way, and realizing that all these locations are only in the immediate vicinity, well within the same galactic spur, rather than spread out at varying distances across the Milky Way, as initially expected.)

Student: "Hey, y'know, that question was pretty tricky! But we totally got it now."

(Beat.)

Instructor: "It was only tricky if you were tricked."

(Beat.)

Student: "Yeah...okay. Now that deserves a fist bump."

Overheard: floating rocks

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Submerged crustal rocks
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/536539070/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

(Overheard in introductory astronomy lab.)

(Students dropping rocks into a water-filled graduated cylinder, in order to determine their displacement volume.)

(Beat.)

Student: "Wait! Why aren't the rocks floating?"

Astronomy current events question: primitive supermassive black holes

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "Astronomers Discover Most Primitive Supermassive Black Holes Known," March 18, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9678

University of Arizona researchers have announced the discovery of two supermassive black holes, which are thought to be the most primitive known because of their:
(A) lack of dust.
(B) low masses.
(C) sharp edges.
(D) extreme blackness.
(E) monstrous size.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 48 students
(B) : 1 student
(C) : 4 students
(D) : 1 student
(E) : 8 students

Astronomy current events question: smarter Opportunity rover

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "Mars Rover Getting Smarter As It Gets Older," March 24, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9693

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is now able to choose and investigate targets on its own, without constant human monitoring, due to:
(A) rebooting its memory.
(B) unexplained reasons.
(C) a software upgrade.
(D) transferring data to the unused Spirit rover.
(E) an evolution in artificial intelligence.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 2 students
(B) : 1 student
(C) : 46 students
(D) : 9 students
(E) : 5 students

Astronomy current events question: Gliese 710 close approach

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Kelly Beatty, "Future Shock From Gliese 710," March 17, 2010
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/news/home/88198587.html

According to researchers, what is predicted to happen when the star Gliese 710 passes 1.3 light years from the sun roughly 1.5 million years from now?
(A) A slight increase in comet impacts on Earth.
(B) Disruption of Earth's orbit around the sun.
(C) A small probability that a binary star system will form.
(D) Massive tides on Earth.
(E) The night sky will no longer be dark enough to see other stars.

Correct answer: (A)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 16 students
(B) : 6 students
(C) : 2 students
(D) : 1 student
(E) : 1 student

Astronomy current events question: Jupiter's Great Red Spot glowing

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "Jupiter's Spot Seen Glowing," March 17, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9673

Ground-breaking thermal images of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, revealing swirls of warmer air and cooler regions, were recently taken by:
(A) the Hubble Space Telescope.
(B) instruments attached to ground-based telescopes.
(C) the Galileo space probe.
(D) the Spitzer Space Telescope.
(E) instruments attached to the International Space Station.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 9 students
(B) : 8 students
(C) : 7 students
(D) : 5 students
(E) : 2 students

Astronomy current events question: first temperate exoplanet

Astronomy 210L, Spring Semester 2010
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Students are assigned to read online articles on current astronomy events, and take a short current events quiz during the first 10 minutes of lab. (This motivates students to show up promptly to lab, as the time cut-off for the quiz is strictly enforced!)

Astronomy.com editors, "First Temperate Exoplanet Sized Up," March 17, 2010
http://www.astronomy.com/asy/default.aspx?c=a&id=9675

Planet Corot-9b is considered the first exoplanet that resembles planets in our solar system. The French space agency CoRot satellite discovered this planet by __________ its host star.
(A) measuring temperature fluctuations of.
(B) detecting wobbles in the motion of.
(C) watching as it passes in front of.
(D) beaming radar signals that were reflected from around.
(E) observing the amount of light reflected by the planet from.

Correct answer: (C)

Student responses
Sections 30678, 30679, 30680
(A) : 8 students
(B) : 3 students
(C) : 24 students
(D) : 8 students
(E) : 6 students