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 reviewing the history of astronomy, Kepler's and Newton's laws, and telescope powers.
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 way astronomy was looked at centuries ago: people that studied the planets were looked down on or even criminal."
"A first principal was something that 'seemed' obviously true to everyone and 'supposedly' needed no further examination.."
"Optical telescopes--I've always wanted to purchase a telescope but didn't know how to even begin looking."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"Prograde versus retrograde motion."
"I thought I had the astronomers down, but didn't do too good on the picto-quiz, and had to look some of them up!"
"Definitely everything about the telescopes in the presentation. I own one and now realized how much I didn't know about them!"
When a planet is undergoing retrograde motion, over several nights it moves __________ with respect to the background stars.
east to west. *************** [15] west to east. ***** [5] (Either of the above choices is possible.) ***** [5] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) * [1]
When a planet is undergoing prograde motion, over several nights it moves __________ with respect to the background stars.
east to west. ****** [6] west to east. ************** [14] (Either of the above choices is possible.) **** [4] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) ** [2]
The __________ powers of a telescope depends on the: (Only correct responses shown.)
light-gathering power: diameter of the primary lens/mirror [54%]
resolving power: diameter of the primary lens/mirror [69%]
magnifying power: both the focal lengths of the primary lens/mirror and eyepiece: [39%]
The least important feature to consider when purchasing an optical telescope is the __________ of its images.
brightness ** [2] resolution. *** [3] magnification ******************* [19] (Two of the above choices.) * [1] (Unsure/lost/guessing/help!) * [1]
Briefly explain your answer for the least important feature to consider when purchasing an optical telescope.
"Magnification is the least important feature, because if an object is increased in size that does not always mean a clearer image. The quality of the image needs to match the increase of size of the object for a clear picture."
"Well since the whole purpose of a telescope is to gather light and make images brighter. So the most important factor to consider when buying a telescope is the light-gathering power, and the second is resolving power which brings out details of an image, which is very important because most of the objects observed in astronomy are so far away. The light-gathering and resolving powers are fundamentals of telescopes whole the least important power which is magnification, can be changed by switching eye pieces. With that in mind when I would buy a telescope, I would base my choice on the first two factors and not magnification power."
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Looking forward for our field trip! Are we going to get to look through any telescopes?" (Yes, on Thursday. Also there is a star night scheduled that night on campus.)
"The questions regarding retrograde and prograde motion were confusing, could you please explain in more detail?" (We will have an in-class activity concentrating on retrograde and prograde motion.)
"I feel as if someone blurts out the answer in class, and it's correct, then everyone else goes with it and moves on without actually understanding why it's correct." (Totally call me out on that--I'm just going with what I see with the flashcards from the majority of the class, but if you're not comfortable with moving on, and need more explanation from me rather than from your classmates, let me know!)
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