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 eclipses, and an preliminary overview of the history of astronomy.
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.
"I found the lunar eclipses very interesting. I am a photographer and in 2015 when there was a good 'blood moon' I took photos of it and I never knew why it was red but I thought it was cool. Then I discovered it's because of sunlight scattering through earth's atmosphere then hitting the moon causing that look."
"I went and saw the total solar eclipse in Oregon, and it was the most beautiful and amazing experience, so to understand more behind it was interesting."
"When I lived in Oregon I saw the total solar eclipse, and to read about it now is really interesting to put it together like that. Also we had to buy special glasses to watch the sun just before and after just totality so it wouldn't hurt our eyes."
"That when you are observing a solar eclipse you can still get blinded by the sun even when the sun is not quite completely blocked."
"That lunar eclipses always occur on full moons, but not every full moon and solar eclipses always occur on new moons, but not ever new moon. This was interesting to me because I've always been intrigued with eclipses, so knowing they occur quite often now makes me excited to go out and watch them."
"I really liked looking at the pictures of the solar and lunar eclipses. I thought those pictures were so cool to look at."
"I didn't know that lunar eclipses were when Earth blocks out light to the moon. Now I understand why it's called a lunar eclipse because the moon (luna) is being eclipsed! Go figure."
"To see the exact measurements for how far and big the sun is compared to the moon. It's insane that they just happen to line up to create eclipses. So weird to me."
"That solar eclipses only happen during the new moon phase."
"The history of astronomy and how far we have come from then to now."
"The historical evolution of how we understood our solar system; I had never learned the order in which correct conclusions were made, and it was cool to know the order in which things were figured out."
"That ancient astronomers abided by 'first principles' for so long."
"All the philosophers who kept changing the model of planetary motion over and over again. I thought the first principles were interesting in that everyone just agreed with them, even though there was no research."
Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.
"I'm just bad at starwheel questions. The starwheel always confuses me a little."
"The terminology for everything having to do with eclipses is overwhelming. I know that it can be learned with practice, but I hope to understand what each term means and be able to explain it with understanding and not just memorization."
"This might sound dumb but I didn't know the difference between the lunar and solar eclipse. I also didn't know why or how often they happened."
"Picking apart the differences between solar and lunar eclipses. This was confusing because there are a lot of things going on for each eclipse that can easily get crossed."
"I found the terms and umbra and penumbra confusing, because they weren't really defined. Also, I'm confused in the order they occur in when it comes to eclipses."
"I thought the lunar eclipse was confusing at first because if Earth is in front of the moon, wouldn't the moon be just dark? Then I figured out it doesn't work like that."
"In the textbook it says for a lunar eclipse the sun can turn a coppery red, because the moon is hiding in Earth's shadow, and Earth is blocking the sunlight. I haven't looked it up, but based solely on the textbook reading, I don't understand why the moon would turn red if it's in the shadow, and why it wouldn't just be dark or not visible."
"I was confused as to why a lunar eclipse could occur only during a full moon. While it made sense why this might affect visibility when viewing it from Earth, wouldn't the phenomenon still take place regardless of moon phase?"
"The only thing that was slightly confusing was why solar eclipses and lunar eclipses don't happen at every full/new moon."
"I found the GIF animation in the presentationthat shows the moon and Earth's movements as seen from the sun a little hard to understand. I understand that when the moon is in the right phase and the orbit is aligned, that's when there is an eclipse. But when the GIF is in motion it is hard for me to distinguish when the orbit is aligning."
"I think having to remember the different astronomers and the order in which they contributed will be a struggle and also having to differentiate whether they are a mover or disprover."
"One thing I think could be confusing will be trying to remember the order of the different astronomers and each of their contributions and ideas."
"Though I am not entirely lost on the subject, the idea of movers and disprovers is what I am understanding least. They each have specific roles in the progression of our understandings, but I am confused as to why they must be separated into groups, I feel all movers should attempt to disprove their own models in order to strengthen their arguments?"
"The idea of planets going into retrograde and moving the opposite direction that there supposed to for a short amount of time was difficult for me to visualize. but after thinking about it a little and reading the explanation about a runner on a track and how it's like when you pass someone and it appears they are moving backward compared to their background helped a lot."
A friend of yours has a birthday on March 30. According to your starwheel, the sun would have been located in front of which zodiac sign on that date? (Ignore daylight saving time.)
Aries. **** [4] Taurus. [0] Gemini. [0] Cancer. [0] Leo. [0] Virgo. * [1] Libra. [0] Scorpio. [0] Sagittarius. [0] Capricorn. [0] Aquarius. [0] Pisces. *********************************** [35] (Unsure/guessing/lost/help!) ** [2]
I believe astrology is able to make accurate predictions about my future. (This is a follow-up question.)
Strongly disagree. ****** [6] Disagree. ********** [10] Neutral. ********************** [22] Agree. ** [2] Strongly agree. ** [2]
Briefly discuss what you know now (that you didn't know before) that may (or may not have) affected your earlier opinion regarding your belief/disbelief in astrology. (This is a follow-up question.)
"I am still confused with astrology so I am still neutral because I don't exactly know what it is."
"I didn't know that percession existed therefore changed my idea on the predictions we see today."
"I've always been curious about astrology, but never a big believer that it has a certain say in my future. I think it predicts some things that makes me think it could be true, but then it's also always vague. What I didn't know is that everyone's astrological sign is off! That's so funny to me, and makes me disbelieve in it more."
"I never understood what people meant by 'sun-sign," I always assumed you had only one sign and it dealt with when you were born. Understanding now that your house is where the sun lined up with the constellations is really interesting but my opinion remains neutral on the subject"
"I personally didn't know my sun-sign. But now I'm able to find it on the starwheel."
"I do not believe my answer affects my opinion because I like to trust my thinking."
"I'm very neutral about astrology because I do believe and I do not believe in some of the predictions that are made about us."
"How I can predict what constellation will be in the sky on a specific night."
"I feel like my opinion stays the same due to the fact that I said it was neutral because sometimes they are true and others they are false. "
"I learned that our sun-sign is on a one-month shift and our sign is actually different than what the horoscope says. This still doesn't really change my view. I still do not think that astrology can determine our personalities or tell our futures."
"I didn't know that astrology was 'discovered' so long ago, that the sky has changed now, and that it changes which stars are in the sun on certain days. I didn't believe in the social media predictions of astrology before, so it doesn't really change my opinion."
"I find it weird that I was told I was a Scorpio growing up but now that I have seen in the lecture I'm a Libra."
"I now know that the sun-signs used in modern astrology are not really your true sun-sign, and that it really has no correlation to life events or personality."
"I still kinda do not believe it especially now that I know that the dates are shifted one month over My belief has not changed, I do not believe in astrology as fortune telling."
"I don't believe scientifically in the big bang, I believe in God's creation."
"What I know now that has affected my earlier opinion is that your house sign will most likely not be the same as your birthday zodiac sign. It makes me believe more in astrology and its process."
"I still don't think my future is affected by astrology and horoscopes but I am a little offended to be a Leo when using the star chart. Being a 'Virgo cusp' I have always fully identified as a Virgo, but found Leo's in my life to be polarizing. Being a Leo by the star chart made me not want to believe it matters..."
"It didn't change my opinion at all to be honest I still believe that it has no affect in your life at all."
"I didn't know that the zodiac signs are different now then when we recorded them I don’t believe that this makes astrology able to predict my future."
"That sun-signs don't necessarily fall within the typical dates, but rather when the sun is "in" each zodiac constellation. I still believe in astrology despite it being a psuedoscience- it's fun and something for me and my friends to talk about."
"The fact that our signs are different according to the starwheel makes me question some of the legitimacy of astrology and those who wholeheartedly believe in it as if it were a religion."
"I never knew that the signs were so off! I also didn't even know or understand how we even got our sun-signs in the first place. I totally believe a little bit that it has something to do with who you are because I have always thought that I was more of a Leo, rather than a Virgo, and according to the starwheel, I am, lol."
"I still don't know enough abut them to make a different opinion."
"I don't believe that stars have a direct influence on our life. I do believe that some of the zodiacs can be extremely accurate to describe a person which is interesting. If there is any influence I believe that it's through people reading their zodiac and acting how they think they are destined too."
"I didn't know how the constellations correlated with the date of birth or that the zodiacs have changed over time."
"I was already quite skeptical of the sun-signs, learning that they are all completely off though really was pretty entertaining."
"I didn't know that our signs are a whole month behind our actual signs. This is huge in showing people that astrology is a bunch of bologna."
"I thought I was a Cancer according to my 'natal chart' and it told me all my personality traits but now that I know all of the zodiac signs are off because of precession I think it's all fake."
"I think the ideas of a mover and disprover help to give background to the different thought processes and help bring light to the ideas behind them and allows others to form their own opinion."
"I didn't know about the different solstice and equinoxes and now I know a bit more about them and when they occur."
"My opinion stays the same. I don't think your astrological sign can predict your future, but I think that people with the same astrological signs can carry similar character traits."
"During class, I learned that precession affects the accuracy of monthly changes in astronomical signs. This explains why the signs sometimes differ for the same given date depending on whether a starwheel or horoscope is used. After learning this, I only became more convinced that astrology cannot make accurate predictions about the future (my initial belief to begin with)."
"I learned how to find my true zodiac sign from in class and learned more about the history behind the sun-signs. But I still don't think that means it can predict my future or who I am."
"Well I never knew that the zodiac symbols where off by a month and I thought I was a Aquarius but I'm in-between Capricorn and Sagittarius (Jan 25)."
"I previously didn't believe that astrology could make accurate predictions about my future. The last lecture re-enforced that by going over how astrology is actually not even correct. In the sense that precision has shifted the zodiac constellations roughly a month off. This makes it even harder to believe that this system could predict anything."
"Everything is a lie, and sun-signs attest to that statement."
"I did not know that most people actually have a different sun-sign than what is posted online."
"I didn't know that precession has changed the location of the zodiac constellations in relation to the time of the year. Astrology was never something I took super-seriously, but I take it even less seriously now."
"Knowing that the constellations in the sky when people are born has changed over the years doesn't really affect my opinion on astrology. When I speak to people about astrology I have always looked at both what their house is listed as well as the one to come and the previous house. I still find that there are aspects in the descriptions of these types of people within each of the different houses. I still don't look to astrology to make predictions about my future."
"I learned that due to precession, the dates for our astrological signs have changed. Therefore, predictions made by horoscopes are meant for people born in months other than those they are stated for. For instance, I'm a Leo but my starwheel says that I'm a Cancer. Therefore, astrological readings for Leo that are supposed to be predictions for me are 'inaccurate.'"
Match the phase of the moon during these eclipse types. (Only correct responses shown.)
Total solar eclipse: new moon [74%]
Partial solar eclipse: new moon [57%]
Annular solar eclipse: new moon [62%]
Total lunar eclipse: full moon [88%]
Partial lunar eclipse: full moon [69%]
Place these astronomers in chronological order of their historical contribution to astronomy. (Only correct responses shown.)
Aristotle [83%]
Ptolemy [71%]
Copernicus [79%]
Tycho [57%]
Kepler [55%]
Galileo [55]
Newton [76%]
Match these terms with their descriptions. (Only correct responses shown.)
Ideas accepted as truth without further examination: first principles [88%]
Predictions that could be tested by observations: hypotheses [86%]
Universal statements of cause and effect: rational laws [76%]
Describe phenomena without explaining why it occurs: empirical laws [67%]
Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.
"Can you explain the sun and lunar eclipses more in class?"
"Still not too sure about the eclipse phases."
"I would like a little bit of clarification on the relationship between full solar eclipses, annular eclipses, and partial eclipses. The way I understand it is that a full solar eclipse is when the moon totally blocks the sun, and an annular eclipse is when the moon isn't big enough to cover the whole sun so there is that ring. What I wanted was clarification on is (1) is it considered a partial eclipse if you are in the penumbra for either of those eclipses, and (2) is an annular eclipse is always considered a partial eclipse since it doesn't totally cover the sun?" ((1) Yes, if you are only in the penumbra (one of the side shadow zones of the moon) for any type of solar eclipse, then you are only seeing a partial solar eclipse, where only the edge of the sun is covered up. (2) Annular eclipse means that you are actually in the "negative shadow" (the antumbra), and while the sun is not completely covered up by the moon, it is still centered on the sun, so it's not considered a partial solar eclipse.)
"How many total solar eclipses have you witnessed, if any?" (Just one, so far, in Hawaii with my family in 1991. Hopefully I'll get to take Mrs. P-dog somewhere to see her first total solar eclipse one day.)
"Are the predictions or estimates all true of annular and partial eclipses since they predict or estimate through 2024 in the book?" (Yes, but here's a list of upcoming eclipses specifically for San Luis Obispo, CA.)
"How much time do you think we should put aside for extra studying for tests and quizzes to do well? Are going over notes or studying the textbook more in-depth going to be more helpful?" (I would say that going over the past semester's quiz, and the quiz question packet would be most helpful, and then referring to your notes and/or the textbook as needed to answer those questions.)
"This homework assignment was difficult for me and the reading took me a while."
"How long did the mustache take to grow?" (A long time. Too long. Now that I've had it for the past sixty semesters, I don't think I'll ever shave it off.)
"I can't think of a question yet!" (Well, you were able to think of a comment.)
