the cosmos out your back door - utah state university
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Utah State University Utah State University
DigitalCommons@USU DigitalCommons@USU
Public Talks Astrophysics
7-14-2010
The Cosmos out your back door The Cosmos out your back door
Shane L. Larson Utah State University
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Part of the Astrophysics and Astronomy Commons
Recommended Citation Recommended Citation Larson, Shane L., "The Cosmos out your back door" (2010). Public Talks. Paper 11. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/astro_pubtalks/11
This Presentation is brought to you for free and open access by the Astrophysics at DigitalCommons@USU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Public Talks by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@USU. For more information, please contact [email protected].
Shane L. LarsonMichelle B. Larson
Department of PhysicsUtah State University
[email protected]@usu.edu
The Cosmos out your back door
Senior CenterHyrum, Utah14 July 2010
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Storyline
Seeing the Sky
Our Star the Sun
Books and more
Solar Observing
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Seeing the sky
You interact with the Cosmos through your eyes — seeing is discovering. Astronomy is a spectator sport!
Instruments like binoculars and telescopes help, but are not required!
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Daytime Astronomy
Astronomy is not just a nighttime activity!
You can get plenty of rest and still enjoy the sky!4
Daytime Astronomy
Astronomy is not just a nighttime activity!
You can get plenty of rest and still enjoy the sky!4
Daytime Astronomy
Astronomy is not just a nighttime activity!
You can get plenty of rest and still enjoy the sky!4
Daytime Astronomy
Astronomy is not just a nighttime activity!
You can get plenty of rest and still enjoy the sky!4
Daytime Astronomy
Astronomy is not just a nighttime activity!
You can get plenty of rest and still enjoy the sky!4
Daytime Astronomy
Astronomy is not just a nighttime activity!
You can get plenty of rest and still enjoy the sky!4
The Moon
Our nearest neighbor is the easiest to see
To the naked eye, the phase changes on a monthly basis
The surface is light (the highland “terrae”) and dark (the lowland “maria”)
The light and dark contrast are most often seen as images
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Moon Shadows
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Moon Shadows
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Moon Shadows
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Moon Shadows
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Telescopes
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The Milky Way
We can see the Milky Way stretching overhead on clear evenings – the Backbone of Night
The dark lanes are vast molecular clouds – the future stars of our galaxy
The faint light is the combined light from 400 billion stars
In Cache Valley, you can easily see the Milky Way away from city lights.
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The Deep Sky: Nebulae, Clusters & Galaxies
There are lots of common names, but most objects have a catalog number, that uniquely identifies them
The “M-objects” are from the Messier Catalog of 109 objects that could be mistaken for comets. Composed by Charles Messier in the late 1700’s, the Messier Catalog is the most commonly observed list of objects in the sky
M8 – LAGOON NEBULA
M103 – CHRISTMAS TREE CLUSTER
M31 – ANDROMEDA GALAXY
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The sky full of stars...
The stars outnumber all other objects in the galaxy; they are the body of our home, the Milky Way
They come in many types and colors
Albireo is a binary star ––!two stars orbiting one another like planets orbit our Sun. Blue and Yellow.
Stars eventually perish. Those like the Sun make planetary nebulae. Others explode in supernovae.
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The sky full of stars...
The stars outnumber all other objects in the galaxy; they are the body of our home, the Milky Way
They come in many types and colors
Albireo is a binary star ––!two stars orbiting one another like planets orbit our Sun. Blue and Yellow.
Stars eventually perish. Those like the Sun make planetary nebulae. Others explode in supernovae.
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The sky full of stars...
The stars outnumber all other objects in the galaxy; they are the body of our home, the Milky Way
They come in many types and colors
Albireo is a binary star ––!two stars orbiting one another like planets orbit our Sun. Blue and Yellow.
Stars eventually perish. Those like the Sun make planetary nebulae. Others explode in supernovae.
10
The sky full of stars...
The stars outnumber all other objects in the galaxy; they are the body of our home, the Milky Way
They come in many types and colors
Albireo is a binary star ––!two stars orbiting one another like planets orbit our Sun. Blue and Yellow.
Stars eventually perish. Those like the Sun make planetary nebulae. Others explode in supernovae.
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Our Star the Sun – July 13, 2010
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Filtered Observing
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The Dynamic Sun
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Galileoʼs Dynamic Sun
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Our Star the Sun – July 13, 2010
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Some astronomy activities...
Cache Valley Stargazers
Ott Planetarium @ Weber State
Clark Planetarium in Salt Lake City
We meet 2nd Friday of every monthOur next meeting is a public STAR PARTY @ America West Heritage Center
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Some things to read...
COSMOSby Carl Sagan
Coming of Age in the Milky Wayby Timothy Ferris
Sky & Telescope(monthly)
Astronomy(monthly)
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