Online reading assignment question: interesting Midterm 2 astronomy topics

Astronomy 210 Online reading assignment 13, spring semester 2012
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

120514-Astr210-MT2-interesting-1
http://www.flickr.com/photos/waiferx/7197652548/
Originally uploaded by Waifer X

Wordle.net tag cloud for interesting topics covered in Midterm 2, generated by responses from Astronomy 210 students at Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA (www.wordle.net/show/wrdl/5298643/Untitled).

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.

List at least three words describing interesting subjects covered in class (up through this midterm). (Graded for completion.)

[Responses have been edited to consolidate related common subjects.]

Student responses
Sections 30674, 30676

planets, absolute, darkmatter
supernovae, MilkyWay, blackholes
dark, massive, space
stars, bigbang, galaxies
supernovae, supernovae, blackholes
bigbang galaxies stars
blackholes, stars, mass
MilkyWay, bigbang, planets
MilkyWay, bigbang, Earth
bigbang blackholes
blackholes, stars, quantumleaps
blackholes, photons, sun
darkmatter
exciting, fun, intriguing
blackholes, space, heat
absolutemagnitude apparentmagnitude
confused numbers grade
stars, supernovae, blackholes
eventhorizon, supernovae, Pdog Pimpstarrims
bigbang, lookbacktime, darkmatter
bigbang, blackholes darkmatter
bigbang, blackholes, supernovae
bigbang
bigbang, Hubbleslaw, lookbacktime
supernovae, galaxies, MilkyWay
antimatter, blackholes, supernovae
galaxies, MilkyWay, planets
supernovae, blackholes, bigbang
housepartymodel, craters, blackholes
blackholes, starclusters, supernovae
supernovae, galaxies, bigbang
nebulae, galaxies
starclusters, red, blue
supernovae, bigbang, starclusters
bigbang starsizes distances
supernovae, stars, starclusters
supernovae, blackholes, volcanoes
supernovae, starclusters, galaxies
planets, luminosity, bigbang
lightspeed, blackholes, craters
bigbang
bigbang dinosaurs
HRdiagram, bigbang, sun
Kirchhoffslaws, photosphere, stars
Wienslaw supernovae stars
bigbang, supernovae, Dopplereffect
HRdiagram, supernovae, MilkyWay
iou
bigbang novae galaxies
stardeath blackholes bigbang
bigbang, blackholes, planets
starformation, novae, blackholes
solarflares expansion, lookbacktime
galaxies, expansion, Hubbleslaw
luminosity, size, stars
lightyears, MilkyWay, gravity
solarflares, expansion, universe
MilkyWay, novae, blackholes
MilkyWay, evolution, novae
bigbang, MilkyWay, supernovae
bigbang, densitywaves, blackbodyradiation

Describe your most interesting subject, and briefly explain why this subject interested you. (Graded for completion.)

The following are all of the student responses to this question, verbatim and unedited.

"It would have to be the planets because they are objects close enough to see but yet we know so little."

"supernovae, because before this class I didn't know much about them at all and now I have more knowledge on the subject."

"Dark Matter, because it's interesting."

"The most interesting part to me was learning about the beginging of the universe up to the very first seconds because I never knew any of that information."

"I thought it was really interesting to learn about blackholes. It was particularly mind boggling learning about the event horizon and how if someone fell in that we would see them forever going in a circle but they would die of being stretched apart"

"Big bang because it wasnt just a bang"

"I liked learning about your house party concept; it really helped."

"Big Bang. I was very curious as to what evidence there is about how our universe was created."

"The big bang theory, this interest me because its interesting trying to know how we came here and our universe too."

"The big bang is interesting because of the whole concept of the wall of light and the fact that in actuality there was no bang."

"The means by which a photon will leap from one level to the next. The strict rules that dictate just how many levels it will reach or not reach. That being the case, the sun will be very interesting."

"The sun, it's a constant in our lives that seems so distant in the heavens but so palpable when examined with a careful eye. Astrologically speaking."

"supernovaes type II and the creation of valuable meatals and gold"

"Star cluster ages, because the house party model really helped me to understand."

"Nothing really interested me to be honest."

"Absolute and apparent magnitude. I find it sweet to be able to determine the distance and true brightness of stars"

"The box of fun"

"Blackholes, how they are still an anomaly"

"Black Holes, they are a mystery and as of yet are not completely understood"

"look back time, it is cool that we can see back in time"

"creation of the earth and sizes of the cores"

"Black holes because i never really understood what they were but they seemed interesting"

"The milky way assortment"

"Hubble's Law because I didn't know that the space between the galaxies shifted, instead of the galaxies themselves."

"Planets are pretty interesting; for example, how they develop. Cool stuff."

"Look back time.I find it interesting that were are able to see back billions of years because of the finite speed of light."

"The milky way galaxy, because it's cool to look up at the sky and know that you are looking at a disc shaped galaxy and not just some random brownish stuff in the air."

"supernovae, how they can create different things"

"The house party because im pretty sure that is the only thing i semi understand"

"star clusters... easy to understand."

"The most interesting subject covered was learning about how to identify the different nebulae. How to differentiate between what is in the blue/pink/black nebulae."

"Dark matter blew my mind. The fact that stars all orbit the centers of their respective galaxies at the same speed as each other is insane."

"Star clusters"

"Big Bang Theory because I like to hear others opinions on how things were created."

"star sizes. i am very interested in star sizes. it is incredible how big they are and how hot they are and how they don't come crashing down on earth."

"stars. i find them fascinating."

"black hole is really interesting because there is so much mystery"

"Star cluster, because its cool to see which stars are hotter and larger"

"Terestial planets because we live on one"

"black holes are just a crazy concept"

"looking at further stars and seeing into the past is very cool because its like a time machine"

"Learning about black holes was cool."

"Determining the characteristics of the stars using the H-R diagram."

"The stars really interested me because I didn't know anything about the life and death of stars."

"supernovae- how elements are made"

"The Doppler Effect, now I understand the joke in the Big Bang Theory and understand why cars honks change as they go by"

"i found that the luminosity chart was interesting. its something i can figure out. not just an idea that is hard to grasp"

"derp"

"The Big Bang, I find it interesting how it is a look back into time. How the farther you look into space, the farther your looking back in time"

"probably the death of stars. i always assumed that they just disappeared into the night sky but its cool to know that their star dust created us."

"Big Bang"

"star formation because I think it is interesting to think about"

"the end of time in space because it's crazy to think that there is an exact end point of when the universe began."

"Hubble Law--that from any galaxy in the universe, it *appears* as if you are the center and everything is moving away from YOU, yet in reality, everybody is moving apart due to the expansion of space. That and the understanding that everything around us (including us) came from a various mishmash of atoms from the earliest moments of the universe."

"tar distance and the finite speed of light. It is crazy how the stars we look at are from the past"

"I never knew what supernova's were before this class and now I know!"

"how when we look at time were loolong into the past... or maybe future... who knows"

"honestly, i don't even remember whats going to be on the test."

"Well i didn't know we were part of the milky way galaxy before, so that's cool. its like a whole new world! i would say a whole new galaxy, but i guess its not really"

"The big bang because it shows all everything started."

"I enjoyed learning about the death of stars. I was unaware of all the different ways a star could die."