Astronomy quiz question: morning star Venus?

Astronomy 210 Quiz 2, spring semester 2020
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

The locations of Mercury, Venus, and Earth are shown in the diagram below (not to scale, and orbits have been simplified as circles instead of ellipses).


At sunrise, Venus will be:
(A) low over the east horizon.
(B) somewhere high up in the sky.
(C) low over the west horizon.
(D) not visible in the sky.

Correct answer (highlight to unhide): (A)

If a line is drawn from Earth to the sun, the observer at sunrise (6 AM) is located perpendicular to that line.


Everything above that line would be above the horizon, such that Venus will be visible at sunrise, low over the east horizon.

Section 30676
Exam code: quiz02SnRl
(A) : 20 students
(B) : 2 students
(C) : 8 students
(D) : 14 students

Success level: 48% (including partial credit for multiple-choice)
Discrimination index (Aubrecht & Aubrecht, 1983): 0.60

Astronomy quiz question: evening star Venus?

Astronomy 210 Quiz 2, spring semester 2020
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

The locations of Mercury, Venus, and Earth are shown in the diagram below (not to scale, and orbits have been simplified as circles instead of ellipses).


At sunset, Venus will be:
(A) low over the east horizon.
(B) somewhere high up in the sky.
(C) low over the west horizon.
(D) not visible in the sky.

Correct answer (highlight to unhide): (D)

If a line is drawn from Earth to the sun, the observer at sunset (6 PM) is located perpendicular to that line.


Everything below that line would be below the horizon, such that Venus will not be visible at sunset.

Section 30674
Exam code: quiz02n1xI
(A) : 5 students
(B) : 3 students
(C) : 5 students
(D) : 18 students

Success level: 59% (including partial credit for multiple-choice)
Discrimination index (Aubrecht & Aubrecht, 1983): 0.88

Online reading assignment: atmosphere problems, Earth, the moon, Mercury (SLO campus)

Astronomy 210, spring semester 2020
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.

"That light waves can be affected by our atmosphere. I just found it interesting because it was something that I never considered."

"How light pollution can affect so many things in our environment, such as animals."

"That light pollution interferes with the view of the stars/planets. People would then need go to hilltops far away away from the light pollution just to look at the clear stars and planets."

"I found light pollution very interesting and did not think it was a very big problem until I read into it some more."

"Something I found interesting was that if you were to go to a rural town with not very many lights you could see a faint Milky Way. I found that interesting because we do not get that many chances to see it if you do not leave your hometown."

"Comparing the atmosphere to rippling water was a good analogy. I found this part interesting because I knew that the atmosphere made it more difficult to view view things using a telescope, but this comparison made it easier to understand why."

"I found the comparison between sitting under a pool of water and looking up to sitting under a 'pool' of air really interesting. I never thought about how movement in the sky, such as turbulence, could create such a problem for astronomers or anyone interested in the views of the sky."

"I found learning about how atmospheric turbulence and opacity affect our ability to use telescopes and the ways we combat those effects interesting. I never understood why it was better to have telescopes at a higher altitude and now I do."

"I found the readings about different ways that astronomers have to go about collecting different types of electromagnetic radiation. I found this interesting because it forces them to find new and interesting ways to collect data, which leads to a deeper understanding of our known universe."

"I thought that it was very interesting that telescopes in space can be the size of a bus. This is crazy to me how they can be that and still be be able to function in space."

"Airborne and space telescopes (airplanes, balloons, rockets and satellites), because it is such an interesting perspective to think about."

"I liked reading about all the different atmospheres on the different planets and I liked how it got into global warming. I was also interested by the stages that earth has gone through to and how we'll basically always be in stage three because Earth's surface is constantly changing."

"The greenhouse effect of how an atmosphere traps heat and raises the temperature of a planetary surface. It's crazy how the atmosphere has such an effect on planets--without it, Earth would be a lot different."

"The large impact hypothesis, stating the bulk of two objects will combine to form Earth (and the moon), with most of their cores and the surrounding crust melting, then coalescing."

"I was interested particularly in the geology comparing the planet Mercury to our own moon. Both involved the formation of craters followed by partial filling of lava. I found it fascinating that both bodies were strikingly similar and figured that this could help us learn more about the formation of other planets."

"When learning about the history of Earth's moon, I really enjoyed reading about the magma ocean, it just sounds super awesome to picture."

"I thought the different sizes of the moon's core versus Mercury's core was interesting because you would expect them to remotely similar but are different and you can determine this by the gravitational pull."

"I really liked looking at the pictures of the moon's and Mercury's surfaces. It is cool looking at the ridges and craters shown in the pictures."

"I think it's increasingly interesting how much we think we know about other planets that is primarily based on extrapolation. All of this could change as soon as new evidence presents itself."

"Super-hectic weekend and wasn't able to get to the reading but I will before class!"

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.

"I do not understand the electromagnetic spectrum graph or how to use it."

"I did not quite get what the difference between radio astronomy and light astronomy was. I wanted to know, but was just lost by the name drop."

"I don't understand how atmospheric turbulence occurs."

"I'm still catching up on the history stuff, I'm really bad at remembering names and related numbers and just putting it all together in the right way."

"The greenhouse effect."

"How carbon dioxide enters and leaves the atmosphere and everything about it, mainly confusing because I thought I already had an idea and now I am jumbled up."

"I was confused about how an asteroid wouldn't be able to break the moon's structure or crack it, it would only leave a crater."

"Something I found confusing was trying to determine which craters were oldest to youngest. Personally because when I was reading the information I just could not retain it."

"That the four inner planets were composed of rock when the outer planets are not."

"The atmosphere on Venus. Why is it so cloudy and thicker than Earth's? It's confusing for me because I thought all the planets had the same amount of atmosphere."

A large modern optical telescope in outer space would have images with better __________ than a comparable ground-based telescope.

brightness.	******** [8]
resolution.	************************ [24]
magnification.	* [1]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	*** [3]

Stars to appear to "twinkle" in the night sky because of...

"The stars twinkle in the night sky because of the effects of our atmosphere. When starlight enters our atmosphere it is affected by winds in the atmosphere and by areas with different temperatures and densities. This causes the light from the star to twinkle when seen from the ground."

"Movement within the atmosphere causing the images of the stars to move and blur."

"Stars appear to twinkle in the night sky because of the effects of our atmosphere. When the light from the stars enter our atmosphere, it experiences turbulence. This causes the stars to look like they 'twinkle.'"

"Living in at the bottom of an 'ocean of air,' turbulence disturbs the air in the atmosphere, making our view disrupted."

"The way our atmosphere moves and shakes."

"I'm not sure, I don't remember this part of the reading."

"Unsure."

Identify how carbon dioxide enters and how it is taken out of Earth's atmosphere.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Enters atmosphere from: volcanoes [44%]
Taken out of atmosphere by: oceans [57%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on the moon.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Craters partially filled in with flat lava plains: oldest (formed longest ago) [31%]
Flat lava plains: middle [22%]
Craters on top of flat lava plains: youngest (formed most recently) [53%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on Mercury.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Large crater basins: oldest (formed longest ago) [39%]
Lava-filled lowlands: middle [61%]
Long curving ridges: youngest (formed most recently) [58%]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"I was unsure about why the segmented mirrors might be beneficial. The textbook said that the thin mirrors weigh less and cool faster?" (Yes, saving weight is important when there are so many mirror segments in a large telescope, and having the mirrors be able to cool down (or warm up) quickly is good, because any temperature differences will make a "mirage" effect from thermal air currents around the mirror segments.)

"I found understanding the order that the features formed on the moon and mercury difficult to grasp, the moon a little more so than Mercury. To me, neither the textbook or online presentations presented a clear order and explanation of how we can tell which order they came in."

"I was confused about the order that things occurred on moon because I searched pretty hard and couldn't really find the definitive answer." (We'll be sure to cover this in class this week.)

"What is the significance of knowing the surface features of the moon? Those are just the way it formed, but I would want to know why it's so important to study the moon." (We brought back an abundance of samples from different parts of the moon for thorough laboratory analysis, so we have a very good idea of how the moon formed. Since we do not have samples from other planets (yet) that we can analyze back here on Earth, then the best way to understand those outer planets is to compare their similar/different features compared to the moon's features.)

"I thought the large impact theory in reference to the moon and Earth colliding would have ruined the round structure of both, but I assume over time the gravitational pull at the core would reshape the round sphere?" (Yes, the impact would melt/vaporize both, but as that material cooled gravity would bring everything back together similar to how they first formed by themselves, but now they'll form side-by-side, with the current moon made mostly of the vaporized outer layers of both.)

"I don't totally understand how the large impact theory for the moon's formation is supported when there's contradictory evidence." (Well, it is the best supported and also least contradicted theory given the evidence available.)

Online reading assignment: atmosphere problems, Earth, the moon, Mercury (NC campus)

Astronomy 210, spring semester 2020
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.

"It's so cool to think about infrared light with longer wavelengths than visible versus ultraviolet with shorter wavelengths than visible light."

"How in a telescope's tube there can be a mirror at the back and the light can bounce back and forth inside the tube and project the image to the eyepiece. To be honest I found it interesting just as to the fact it's sort of simple, but also complex at the same time."

"I found that the "Keck in Motion" video was the interesting part for me because I personally thought it was cool on how they basically work together to find stuff out with the stars and how they move."

"I thought that light pollution was interesting. I was always wondering why telescopes are in the middle of nowhere, but I never looked into why they are so far away from civilization. The reason being light pollution makes complete sense and it makes me want to go to the middle of the desert somewhere at night and observe all the stars that I can't see in the city because of light pollution."

"After reading the textbook, I thought learning about light pollution was interesting because some places have more light pollution like big cities. This makes sense to me because I feel like people who live in the country enjoy looking up at the sky and soaking in its beauty. People who live in the cities might think the sky is pretty but may not think it's as pretty as people who live in areas with less light pollution because they are able to see more."

"I liked reading about sidereal tracking. I never thought about how telescopes would need to move continuously to continue to look at a certain point in space."

"What I found most interesting was the explanation for why stars appear to 'twinkle,' because stars don't actually twinkle but due to turbulence in Earth's atmosphere."

"It was very interesting to hear about different places where telescopes are placed."

"That the planets and the sun both start from a nebula."

"That we are capable of finding data on the formations, compositions, and histories of other planets despite there not being any humans that set foot on any of them."

"That the ocean absorbs the CO₂ in the atmosphere and filters it down to be trapped in sedimentary rocks. You only hear that plants use CO₂ in photosynthesis but never that the ocean could use it to make rocks. I found that really interesting."

"I did not know how hot Earth's core is compared to other terrestrial planet cores in our solar system."

"I thought the geological structures of Mercury being so similar to those of the moon to be very interesting."

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.

"The big interferometer in the presentation slides, I was just confused in its entirety and how it works."

"The textbook's explanation of how carbon dioxide is removed by oceans."

"The creation of Earth's secondary atmosphere, because of the steps it took to create it--I wasn't familiar with carbon dioxide being soluble in water which helped remove CO₂ from the atmosphere."

"The history of the planets seemed to confuse me more than most of the reading. It just seemed like a blob of information to me and it was really hard to try to remember which fact was relative to which planet."

"I was confused on the features for the moon, the reading wasn't very specific."

"I still don't completely understand which craters are older or younger when it comes to the moon and Mercury. It's just not making sense to me."

"The large impact hypothesis for the moon's origin."

A large modern optical telescope in outer space would have images with better __________ than a comparable ground-based telescope.

brightness.	******** [8]
resolution.	************ [12]
magnification.	**** [4]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	*** [3]

Stars to appear to "twinkle" in the night sky because of...

"The twinkles are caused by turbulence in Earth's atmosphere. A star near the horizon will twinkle more than a star overhead."

"The light from the star travels through our atmosphere and by the time the light gets to earth its path will have bounced around a bit."

"The stars twinkle in the night sky because of the effects of our atmosphere. When starlight enters our atmosphere it is affected by winds in the atmosphere and by areas with different temperatures and densities."

"The way our atmosphere is."

Identify how carbon dioxide enters and how it is taken out of Earth's atmosphere.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Enters atmosphere from: volcanoes [48%]
Taken out of atmosphere by: oceans [52%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on the moon.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Craters partially filled in with flat lava plains: oldest (formed longest ago) [37%]
Flat lava plains: middle [26%]
Craters on top of flat lava plains: youngest (formed most recently) [44%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on Mercury.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Large crater basins: oldest (formed longest ago) [56%]
Lava-filled lowlands: middle [41%]
Long curving ridges: youngest (formed most recently) [56%]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"Telescopes are pretty rad."

"How did science first figure out stars twinkle because of our atmosphere?" (The amount of twinkling is noticeably related to how windy it is. Less wind = less twinkling.)

"After doing the reading, what struck me the most was how there's atmospheric turbulence. The presentation talks how to solve this problem by placing the telescope as high as possible, where the thin air is. My question how do they know where the thin air is?" (Basically the higher up in elevation you are, the thinner the air--if you've driven or hiked up a high enough mountain, you may be literally "out of breath" because there is less oxygen up there for your lungs to take in. Also, yes, there would be less twinkling because there is less atmosphere up there.)

"Can a core of a planet reach the same intense heat of the sun?" (No. While Earth's core is pretty hot, the core of the sun is hella hot.)

"I'm completely lost on memorizing the terrain and the order it comes in, is there any shortcuts to remembering?"

"How can you tell which crater is younger and older and in the middle? Would smooth areas be considered youngest because it looks seemingly untouched since the planet formed?" (We'll go into further detail on this in class.)

"Can the moon die?" (It's already dead.)

"In the readings it is said that a large-scale collision may not have been responsible for Mercury's larger than expected iron core. It then just moves to the next stage of Mercury's expected history. Were no other theories developed on the planet's creation?" (There are many theories for Mercury's formation, but until a probe can land on its surface and analyze its rocks, then there really isn't much evidence to go on right now, and the limited evidence we have from looking at its surface from above is somewhat contradictory.)

"What's the oldest planet in our solar system?" (They're all the same age, in that they all formed at the same time as the sun from the same nebula. However, their surfaces will be different ages, because we think of rocks as "old" or "new" depending on how long it's been since they first hardened from being molten lava.)

"Will we have any opportunities for extra-credit? And when?" (Yes, typically in class just before/after each midterm, which is when most of you really need some extra-credit points.)

Astronomy quiz archive: solar system

Astronomy 210 Quiz 4, fall semester 2019
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Section 70158, version 1
Exam code: quiz04S3re


Section quiz04S3re

0- 8.0 :	* [low = 6.0]
8.5-16.0 :	***
16.5-24.0 :	******
24.5-32.0 :	******* [mean = 26.5 +/- 8.6]
32.5-40.0 :	************ [high = 36.5]

Section 70160, version 1
Exam code: quiz04NDme


Section 70160

0- 8.0 :	** [low = 6.0]
8.5-16.0 :	***
16.5-24.0 :	****** [mean = 23.5 +/- 8.7]
24.5-32.0 :	********
32.5-40.0 :	**** [high = 36.5]

Astronomy midterm question: 12 hours between Mercury setting and Venus rising?

Astronomy 210 Midterm 1, fall semester 2019
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

An astronomy question on an online discussion board was asked and answered[*]:

J.F.: Can an observer ever witness Mercury setting at the same time while Venus is rising?
rzfr: No, that is impossible. It will take about 12 hours between Mercury setting and Venus rising.

Discuss why it would take about 12 hours between Mercury setting and Venus rising for an observer in San Luis Obispo, CA, and how you know this. Support your answer using a diagram showing the positions of the sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and an observer on Earth.

[*] answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090328072648AALZoVS.

Solution and grading rubric:

• p:
  Complete diagram and reasoning includes the following explanations for why there would be about 12 hours between Mercury setting and Venus rising:
  1. places observer on Earth at sunset to watch Mercury (in an inner orbit) setting in the west; and
  2. places observer on Earth at sunrise to watch Venus (in an inner orbit) rising in the east.
• r:
  Nearly correct (explanation weak, unclear or only nearly complete); includes extraneous/tangential information; or has minor errors. Typically diagram is correct, but supporting argument is contradictory or incomplete. May have placed Mercury to rise at sunrise and placed Venus to set at sunset.
• t:
  Contains right ideas, but discussion is unclear/incomplete or contains major errors. Still has Mercury and Venus along inner orbits around the sun.
• v:
  Limited relevant discussion of supporting evidence of at least some merit, but in an inconsistent or unclear manner. Some attempt at diagram(s), but no clear indication of observer/horizon on Earth and/or placement of inner planets. Typically misplaces Mercury and Venus in their relative outer/inner orbits around the sun.
• x:
  Implementation/application of ideas, but credit given for effort rather than merit.
• y:
  Irrelevant discussion/effectively blank.
• z:
  Blank.

Grading distribution:
Section 70158
Exam code: midterm01Sw3e
p: 20 students
r: 4 students
t: 5 students
v: 6 students
x: 0 students
y: 0 students
z: 1 student

Section 70160
Exam code: midterm01N0dL
p: 6 students
r: 5 students
t: 5 students
v: 7 students
x: 0 students
y: 0 students
z: 0 students

A sample "p" response (from student 1234):

Online reading assignment: atmosphere problems, Earth, the moon, Mercury (SLO campus)

Astronomy 210, fall semester 2019
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.

"I found light pollution bouncing off the atmosphere interesting because without the atmosphere, all the stars would be perfectly visible."

"I never knew what the reason behind the twinkling of the stars was. I thought it was pretty cool that air can kind of ripple like water."

"What I found interesting (since this is new to me) was how electromagnetic waves can penetrate our atmosphere (or not) depending on their wavelengths. For example, smaller-wavelength UV rays and some microwaves don't get very far when traversing our atmosphere. So what do we do? We put an big infrared telescope on a refurbished airliner (SOFIA) that can fly close to the threshold where these EM waves can reach. Awesome."

"The deeper we get into space the more I enjoy and find the topics interesting. I find the history of different planets and the moon very interesting."

"I would have never thought that Earth's core would have been the hottest, I would have guessed that Mercury or planets closer to the sun would have had hotter cores because they are hotter in general."

"That smaller planets are more geologically dead. We have all been exposed to the possibility of man inhabiting Mars thanks to studies and movies like 'The Martian.' It makes me question whether we really can inhabit Mars since the planet is technically geologically deficient."

"Describing continental drift like gravy skin. This is an easy way to remember definitions, when you relate it to things you are common with."

"Tectonic plates were pretty interesting and how volcanoes, trenches, mountains, and islands are made by the plates pushing together or pulling away from each other."

"The cause of natural greenhouse gases and how both volcanoes and oceans have an effect on it, as well as man-made greenhouse gases."

"I didn't know that carbon dioxide is absorbed by our oceans and found that aspect of the carbon cycle to be fascinating."

"The large impact hypothesis, because I have never really thought much about how Earth and the moon came to be."

"It's fascinating to imagine that our Earth was created by two clashing objects, and that the vaporized crust from these planetesimals formed the moon."

"To learn how similar the moon and Mercury are. I always knew they were alike, but didn't quite realize exactly in what ways."

"Similarities between the moon and Mercury's formation."

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.

"Reading about the telescopes was a little bit confusing, but maybe because my motivation to learn about telescopes was not too high."

"I find atmospheric turbulence confusing, mostly why it happens."

"Why divide the planets into two different groups?"

"What I found most confusing was the topic of the different cores being bigger and cooling off at different rates depending on size."

"Honestly the core of Earth being the hottest was weird to me, it was the most interesting but also the most confusing to me."

"Plate tectonics. Even when I learned about it in elementary school, I couldn't understand it just by reading about it."

"The greenhouse effect and how carbon dioxide works."

"Regarding the surface details of Mercury and the moon, I don't quite understand how the highlands and lowlands work. For the moon I am wondering if the lowlands have the higher impact craters on the surface and the highlands are filled with small impact craters higher above the surface. I wonder what the greatest depth is from a highland area to a lowland area on either Mercury or the moon."

"The video from one of the presentations. It was supposed to show the difference between the youngest and older features of Mercury, but I wasn't able to tell."

"The progression of the moon and Mercury's features."

"It is all rather confusing, but the more I read the clearer it becomes."

A large modern optical telescope in outer space would have images with better __________ than a comparable ground-based telescope.

brightness.	*** [3]
resolution.	************* [13]
magnification.	* [1]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(Two of the above choices.)	**** [4]
(All of the above choices.)	****** [6]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	* [1]

Stars to appear to "twinkle" in the night sky because of...

"Our atmosphere distorting the light coming to us."

"The atmosphere's turbulence, light gets refracted in different directions when passing through."

"Ripples in atmospheric air, atmosphere turbulence, causes 'twinkling.'"

Identify how carbon dioxide enters and how it is taken out of Earth's atmosphere.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Enters atmosphere from: volcanoes [66%]
Taken out of atmosphere by: oceans [59%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on the moon.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Craters partially filled in with flat lava plains: oldest (formed longest ago) [34%]
Flat lava plains: middle [31%]
Craters on top of flat lava plains: youngest (formed most recently) [44%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on Mercury.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Large crater basins: oldest (formed longest ago) [62%]
Lava-filled lowlands: middle [52%]
Long curving ridges: youngest (formed most recently) [62%]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"I feel a lot more informed in the world of telescopes, and I like now knowing what makes a telescope good or not. We go through a lot of crazy measures just to be able to clearly look at objects in outer space!"

"Should I believe what I read on the textbook? About the moon, the planets, etc. (I can't tell you what to believe (or not believe) about what we know in astronomy, but I can test you on understanding how we know what we know in astronomy.)

"How soon do you think greenhouse gases will warm our planet to the point that it is unlivable?" (I think we still have time to fix things, as long we don't keep ignoring Earth's "check engine" light for much longer.)

"Is the heat from Earth's molten core retained purely because of 'insulation' from the crust, or is there some interior heating (from sun, or radioactive materials in the core) contributing to Earth maintaining core temperature for so long?" (Both the insulation from the crust, and radioactive decays inside the core keep Earth's interior warm. The sun doesn't do anything except heat up the outside of Earth.)

Can you discuss a little more about the large-impact hypothesis? How was the hypothesis formed, how did the Apollo 11 mission, etc."

"I need more clarification on how to figure out which parts of the moon/Mercury are older/younger."

"How can you tell the age of the surface of a terrestrial planet based on surface features?" (Generally stuff on top is the newer than the stuff beneath. Like all the stuff stacked on the desk on my office.)

"The large impact hypothesis was confusing because it honestly just didn't make any sense or seem very logical to me. If there was a large explosion from two planets impacting how would have life on Earth been able to occur and evolve. An impact like that would most likely have killed off any organism that was alive (if there were any at that time) and also probably would have prevented any life-sustaining factors." (At that time the surfaces of the forming planets were still molten, so life definitely would not have started yet.)

"How do the stars look on the moon?" (Pretty awesome, as long as you aren't on the sunlit side of the moon, as the reflected glare from the surrounding moonscape would then be too bright.)

"I think my knowledge of moon phases is waning." (That's okay, just make sure you time the next waxing cycle of moon phase knowledge for the midterm.)

Online reading assignment: atmosphere problems, Earth, the moon, Mercury (NC campus)

Astronomy 210, fall semester 2019
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.

"That atmosphere turbulence affects telescopic observation. I wasn’t aware that the temperature and the irregular air motion in the atmosphere could prevent astronomers from seeing a clearer view of the sky, making these observations take place in high altitude places such as mountains."

"Why stars twinkle, note that I have pretty bad eyesight and I didn't see stars twinkle until I was about 13 so I never really had any grasp of what was going on but now I know it's just the light entering the atmosphere and getting jumped by all the stuff that isn't in space."

"Light pollution and the struggles astronomers have to go through in order to get great surveillance of the night sky."

"Our visible light spectrum is just a sliver of the total forms of E/M waves."

"How the sky itself will no longer be completely black, with a faint 'skyglow' of atmosphere-reflected light."

"That we have actually launched telescopes into space, such as the Hubble Space Telescope."

"How we believe that the moon actually used to be part of Earth until hit with something and formed out of the shattered pieces. I don't think I ever really thought of how we got our moon. I've thought about how everything came to be but mainly in terms of planets."

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.

"I found atmosphere problems a little bit confusing because I know I am going to mess up some of turbulence and opacity."

"I'm not understanding the greenhouse effect and all that."

"The 'Turkey/Cornish Hen Effect' could use some explanation."

"How to identify the features of the moon and Mercury. I do not understand the majority to be honest, I need clarification on the topic."

"These readings were pretty straightforward with lots of information."

"Nothing much but who knows I probably missed something."

"Pretty much everything bro. Plz help me."

A large modern optical telescope in outer space would have images with better __________ than a comparable ground-based telescope.

brightness.	** [2]
resolution.	****** [6]
magnification.	[0]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(Two of the above choices.)	**** [4]
(All of the above choices.)	***** [5]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	[0]

Stars to appear to "twinkle" in the night sky because of...

"Turbulence."

"They seem to 'twinkle' because of the effects of our atmosphere. When starlight enters our atmosphere it is affected by winds in the atmosphere and temperatures."

"Turbulence in Earth's atmosphere--and a star near the horizon, where you look through more air, twinkle more than stars overhead."

Identify how carbon dioxide enters and how it is taken out of Earth's atmosphere.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Enters atmosphere from: volcanoes [39%]
Taken out of atmosphere by: oceans [44%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on the moon.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Craters partially filled in with flat lava plains: oldest (formed longest ago) [44%]
Flat lava plains: middle [22%]
Craters on top of flat lava plains: youngest (formed most recently) [44%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on Mercury.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Large crater basins: oldest (formed longest ago) [56%]
Lava-filled lowlands: middle [44%]
Long curving ridges: youngest (formed most recently) [50%]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"Can you go over the opacity part of the presentation?"

"I always hear bad stuff about greenhouse effect."

"Were all the planets created at the same time? Like could the other planets develop an atmosphere or could that only happen with active or tectonic plate planets?"

"How do you identify the features on Mercury from oldest to youngest?" (Generally stuff on top is the newer than the stuff beneath. Like all the stuff stacked on the desk on my office.)

"Plz go over everything."

"This quiz is gonna be the death of me."

Astronomy quiz archive: solar system

Astronomy 210 Quiz 4, spring semester 2019
Cuesta College, San Luis Obispo, CA

Section 30674, version 1
Exam code: quiz04n3Ni


Section quiz04n3Ni

0- 8.0 :
8.5-16.0 :	* [low = 9.0]
16.5-24.0 :	*********
24.5-32.0 :	************ [mean = 26.7 +/- 7.1]
32.5-40.0 :	******** [high = 40.0]

Section 30676, version 1
Exam code: quiz04Si3n


Section 30676

0- 8.0 :
8.5-16.0 :	***** [low = 9.5]
16.5-24.0 :	************
24.5-32.0 :	************** [mean = 25.1 +/- 8.4]
32.5-40.0 :	******** [high = 40.0]

Online reading assignment: atmosphere problems, Earth, the moon, Mercury (SLO campus)

Astronomy 210, spring semester 2019
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.

"One thing I found interesting is why astronomers decide to place optical telescopes on mountains. I visited the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and wondered why it was on a mountain, now, I know its because the air is thin and transparent up there."

"How Mauna Kea is essentially an outer space viewing Mecca."

"The reason stars appear to twinkle is because of turbulence in the atmosphere. I had never actually considered the reason why before."

"The twinkling of a star is actually caused from the atmosphere around Earth and that it doesn't 'twinkle' outside our atmosphere."

"How much placing a telescope in space can differ from one placed on the ground."

"How light pollution affects the view of the stars, which honestly is sad."

"That light is reflected by particles in the atmosphere and washes out the stars, also the analogy of being underwater and looking up and how that distortion parallels turbulence in the atmosphere was particularly interesting to me because I am interesting in learning about light pollution and 'twinkling.'"

"It was really cool to see the SOFIA plane in the text. A family member worked on that and was publishing a book about it before he passed away."

"The inner four planets, Mercury, Venus, and Earth and Mars are small, dense worlds composed of rock and iron are known to be terrestrial planets. The outer four planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune are called the jovian planets because they have low-density materials."

"I think it is really cool how the smaller planets are more dense than the bigger planets."

"I can't seem to find where this was anymore but when I began reviewing this chapter I found a section on the theory of two planets colliding with each other and having the remnants form into the moon and Mercury, I thought that was interesting because of HOW COOL that is! PLANETS GO BOOM."

"That the moon's core is smaller than expected and that mercury's core is larger than expected. This means that Mercury has a thinner crust."

"It was really interesting to me learning about the greenhouse effect, especially because there are good and bad effects."

"After reading about the Turkey/Cornish Hen effect, I was fascinated how simple it was to determine the cooling factor and/or speed of different planet cores."

Describe something you found confusing from the assigned textbook reading or presentation preview, and explain why this was personally confusing for you.

"I just need a little more clarification on how adaptive optics works."

"How can disturbed air make you not be able to see, it's windy all the time and I can still see"

"What in the atmosphere exactly is causing this turbulence?"

"The electromagnetic spectrum chart was very confusing. I don't understand how to read that or what it really means?"

"I need more help in understanding how carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere. I read that carbon dioxide dissolves in water, but not clear on how it enters."

"I understand that volcanos release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and that carbon dioxide gets absorbed into the ocean, but how much is absorbed by plants? I was taught in school that plants produce oxygen and take in carbon dioxide, but I’ve never heard of the ocean taking in carbon dioxide."

"Understanding the one-way function of greenhouse gases/material took longer for me to comprehend. It is just something that was hard to get when first reading the explanation, but the visual provided helped."

"I didn't find that much confusing, just a lot to take in."

A large modern optical telescope in outer space would have images with better __________ than a comparable ground-based telescope.

brightness.	** [2]
resolution.	**************** [16]
magnification.	** [2]
(None of the above choices.)	* [1]
(Two of the above choices.)	******** [8]
(All of the above choices.)	******* [7]
(Unsure/guessing/lost/help!)	* [1]

Stars to appear to "twinkle" in the night sky because of...

"Turbulence in the atmosphere."

"Because of disturbances in our atmosphere like wind and temperatures and densities."

"As the star's light go through Earth's atmosphere it gets bounced around therefore causing the twinkling."

"Don't know."

Identify how carbon dioxide enters and how it is taken out of Earth's atmosphere.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Enters atmosphere from: volcanoes [51%]
Taken out of atmosphere by: oceans [46%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on the moon.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Craters partially filled in with flat lava plains: oldest (formed longest ago) [43%]
Flat lava plains: middle [37%]
Craters on top of flat lava plains: youngest (formed most recently) [59%]

Identify the oldest (longest ago) to the youngest (most recent) features on Mercury.
(Only correct responses shown.)

Large crater basins: oldest (formed longest ago) [46%]
Lava-filled lowlands: middle [35%]
Long curving ridges: youngest (formed most recently) [65%]

Ask the instructor an anonymous question, or make a comment. Selected questions/comments may be discussed in class.

"I don't have any today."

"Is there such a thing as a telescope that's 'too big?'" (Only for refractors, as there is a limited to how big a single piece of glass can be made into a lens before it begins to sag under its own weight. For reflectors, you can support the mirror from the back, so it doesn't matter how big/heavy it gets.)

"Will we get to go back to the observatory and use it?" (Later this semester, weather permitting. Also, the dome still needs to get fixed.)

"How was the large impact hypothesis confirmed? (From studying the rocks brought back from the moon, which solidified from crust that was vaporized at super-high temperatures (as opposed to molten temperatures.)

"Could we watch more animations of collision theory and see more planets go BOOM?"

"What are the chances of another planet or moon impacting Earth? What's protecting us?" (Zero. However, there are plenty of asteroids out there that can still hit us. NASA is currently planning a Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) to see if an incoming asteroid can be redirected away from us. Soon. Maybe.)

"Please go over the presentation slides in class if there is time, because I learn mostly through listening!"

"Do you offer extra-credit during the course?" (Yes, later this semester.)

"Can we talk about the upcoming exam and go over what we need to study exactly?" (For now concentrate on Quiz 3, which is on telescopes and also a review of selected topics from the first two quizzes; then we'll have a review session for the first midterm.)

"Thanks for being a cool teacher."

"You are an awesome teacher!"

"P-dog you are by far my favorite teacher. You make learning exciting and I thank you for that."