Module 1: Introduction
Activity 1:
Introduction to
Exploring the
Solar System
Click the PgDn key
to advance to the next slide!
Enceladus, satellite of Saturn
Summary:
In this Activity, we will investigate
(a) Navigating within the Activities,
(b) Structure of the Units,
(c) How to avoid dropping out!
(d) When we get it wrong, and
(e) About Exploring the Solar System.
about the
Units
in general
about this Unit
in particular
Click the PgDn key when you are
ready to advance to the next slide!
(a) Navigating within the Activities
As you study this unit, Exploring the Solar System, you will work through many
Powerpoint 97* Activities like this one. We suggest that you use the supplied
Powerpoint 97* viewer, but if you are using Powerpoint 97* itself, make sure
that you are in “full screen mode” - if not, click on the
symbol on the lower
left to fill the screen. (If there are no symbols, don’t worry - that means that you
are already in full screen mode.)
If you’re using Internet Explorer under Windows, then you should be viewing
this page embedded in your browser window. If you would like to view it in full
screen mode, right-click on the window and select “Full screen” from the popup menu.
You have already met the first rule for navigating through these Activities - use
the PgDn key to go forward to the next slide.*
* (98 for Macs)
There are two other ways you can go forward,
(1) click the left mouse button (try it now!)
* For Macs: click the mouse button
(2) or go to the next
slide by clicking the
right mouse button *
and choosing “Next”
or “Advance” from
the menu which
appears
- try it now!
* For Macs: hold down the Control The Crab Supernova Remnant
(Ctrl) key and click the mouse button
To go back to the previous slide, you can use the
PgUp key, or click the right mouse button*
and choose “Previous”
- try these now!
(The arrow keys
can also be used to navigate
forward and backwards from slide to slide.)
When you are ready, use your favourite method
to move on to the next slide.
The Magellanic Clouds
* For Macs: hold down the Control
(Ctrl) key and click the mouse button
In the previous slide we presented the text all at once.
However we will usually present the text a paragraph at
a time, to give you a chance to think about each point.
You’ll often need to use a left mouse click*(or PgDn ,
etc) to bring up the next paragraph - try it now.
So that you will know when the text and
animations for a particular slide are complete, the
Swinburne crest will appear in the bottom-right
corner of the slide.
* For Macs: click the mouse button
Sometimes we’ll give you a chance to find out more about
a topic, by saying something like
“if you want to find out more about this topic, follow this link”
Place the cursor over the underlined text,
and click on it with the left mouse button*.
Try it now!
* For Macs: click the mouse button
The Trifid Nebula
You are back in
the main part of
the Activity.
(If you ever get
‘lost’ in an Activity,
just hit the Esc
key
and go back to
the beginning.)
Sometimes a
presentation will contain
a link to an external file.
These might be to
movies contained on the
CD-ROM, or to web
pages on the Internet.
Links to web pages will pop up
an external browser and links
to movies will either play the
animation within PowerPoint
or use Quicktime.
The Helix Nebula
Click on the link below to see an animation of the
Earth and Moon.
Click here to see the animation
Occasionally we’ll provide you with a link to a site on the
Internet. These links will only work if you are connected
to the Internet, and will bring up a Netscape window
which can be dismissed by clicking on the “ x ” symbol
on the top right corner (or by choosing “Close” from the
“File” menu). (On Macs, click on the close box.)
We’ll also provide the Internet address, so that if you are
not connected to the Internet when you are viewing the
Activity, you can copy it down and visit the site later if you
wish.
Here’s an example:
“visit the Internet site of the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics
& Supercomputing (http://www.swin.edu.au/astronomy/ )”
(b) Structure of the Units
No one learning style suits everyone, and ‘multiple passes’
at course content (each with a different instructional
approach where possible) aid understanding. We believe
that people are likely to learn best in our units if they are
• first presented with an engaging overview of the course
content (the PowerPoint 97 Activities and, where
appropriate, our custom-made animations), then
• access more detailed information presented from
another viewpoint (the textbook and its CD-ROM), then
• delve deeper into topics they are interested in (the
Internet, and a local library if desired).
Newsgroup Discussions:
Passive learning usually results in limited understanding.
Discussion with other students (as well as with instructors)
is an invaluable way to integrate new concepts into your
world view, puts you into contact with others with similar
interests, and motivates you to keep studying!
Astronomy is quite close to the old idea of physical
sciences as “natural philosophy”, and while we will spend
a fair amount of time looking at practical details, there will
be plenty of room for more general philosophical
discussions too.
For these reasons, newsgroup contributions are a major
part of our units and form a significant part of the
assessment.
Your instructors will contribute to the newsgroups regularly,
but they won’t necessarily answer all your queries about
course content (at least at first).
That is because an important part of your assessment
(see Assessment section later for more detail) is to
regularly post queries about the course content, and
also to regularly answer other people’s queries.
This may sound like a “cop out” by the instructors! In
fact answering other people’s queries is an “active
learning” technique designed to involve you in
consolidating your own understanding of the course
content. If a query stays unanswered for a long period
of time, the instructor is likely to step in and provide an
answer at that stage.
Astronomical Images:
Astronomy is also
the closest
equivalent to Fine
Arts among the
sciences! We’ll
be providing you
with plenty of
magnificent
astronomical
images to learn
from and also for
sheer enjoyment.
The Horsehead Nebula
Up-to-date Content:
There is a revolution taking place in astronomy - our
understanding of the Universe around us, although still
very basic, is increasing at an unprecedented rate, fuelled
by new data and images provided, for example, by the
Hubble Space Telescope and the new generation of space
probes such as the various Mars missions.
We have tried to make our course content as up-to-date
as possible, but we will supplement it by publishing
relevant astronomy press releases and the postings of
occasional “guest contributors” in the unit newsgroups.
The newsgroups are accessed via our Internet website,
Swinburne Astronomy Online at
http://www.swin.edu.au/astronomy/sao/
Special-interest Groups:
Some people wish to learn more about Astronomy for
general interest and enjoyment. Others have more
specific reasons, such as to enhance their activities as
amateur astronomers, or as professional development for example, for secondary science teachers and
science museum/planetaria staff.
For that reason we’ll provide special interest
(non-assessable) newsgroups for those interested in
discussing amateur astronomy or educational approaches
to the teaching of astronomy.
Assessment:
Assessment can be a pain - but it can also motivate
deep learning and provide feedback to both you and the
instructors on what has been mastered and what has
not.
We are designing the assessment for our Units to combine
testing and feedback on your knowledge and understanding
of specific sections of each Unit, with opportunities to “put
it all together” - e.g. write essays combining what you have
learnt from several parts of a Unit - and project work
where you can concentrate on an aspect of a Unit
which particularly interests you. NGC 6744, a face-on spiral galaxy
There are no stressful end-of-semester examinations for
Swinburne Astronomy Online - instead the assessment
for each Unit will be selected from the following:
• newsgroup contributions, where you will be asked to regularly post a
query or extension comment about the course content, and also reply
to someone else’s posting,
• essays, where you will be asked to write one or two short essays
requiring you to synthesize what you have learnt from several Activities
in the Unit,
• correcting misconceptions, where you will identify statements which
involve common misconceptions about astronomy (for example, “there
is no gravity in space”) and explain briefly why they are wrong,
• online testing, short tests to provide feedback on your understanding
of each part of the Unit,
• problem solving, in the more advanced Units of the course, and
• a project, topic of your choice, which could involve amateur observing,
internet research, or curriculum design involving the teaching of
astronomy.
(c) How to avoid dropping out!
Retention rates - the percentage of people who stay
enrolled in a course until completion - are always an
issue with distance education courses in general and
online courses are no exception.
Many of you will be busy people, with full- or part-time
employment, and/or other established interests and
commitments, family responsibilities and lifestyle patterns
which will be competing with this course for your available
time.
On the positive side, you have enrolled in this course
because you have a specific interest in astronomy - it’s not
just the next scheduled subject in some multiple-year
undergraduate course.
The busiest amongst you are probably already
adept at juggling commitments, and will be able
to fit this in as just another commitment - as long
as you schedule time regularly for the course,
and don’t just leave it to be done when
everything else is out of the way!
Everyone has busy times: try to
anticipate them, where possible, and
get a bit ahead in the course work if
you know or suspect that a week or
two are coming up where you won’t
have time to do any study.
The Orion-Eridanus bubble
On the Unit web pages (accessed via
http://www.swin.edu.au/astronomy/sao/ ) you’ll find a
Study Guide, which will contain a schedule of what to
do in each two week interval of the Unit - what Activities
to work through, what postings to make to the newsgroup
and what Assessment to complete.
Try to keep to the Study Guide schedule: if you do, there
will be no end-of-semester panic and you’ll have time to
enjoy the work.
Another very important factor in “avoiding dropping out”
is communication.
If you were attending a lecture course, the instructor(s)
might notice if you fail to turn up to scheduled classes or
if you have a particular problem - but in an online
course,
… no one can hear yo
...
u scream
(unless they’ve installed the appropriate plug-in!), so you
have to contact your instructors, through the newsgroup or
by email, if you have a problem or if we’ve got something
wrong.
Centaurus A, a bright
radio galaxy
your
Newsgroup contributions form part of
assessment, but they also have a vital
role in helping you to avoid
“dropping out”.
At first newsgroups may seem an artificial way to
communicate, but if you approach them with an open
mind and contribute regularly you’ll probably discover,
as many have found in online education, that they can
provide a real sense of community.
(d) When we get it wrong
Technical problems:
We’ve tried to design the Units to involve as few technical
problems for you as possible - but inevitably, some will arise.
Problems involving the Blackboard Learning System are covered
by the Blackboard Help page at
http://www.swin.edu.au/lts/support/index.html
and if you are still having problems contact the Help Desk via
this link.
For other questions email the SAO helpdesk
(helpdesk@astro.swin.edu.au) and we’ll reply as soon as
possible. Note that we cannot answer technical queries by phone
(unless they involve not being able to contact us by email!)
Bloopers:
As each Unit involves of the order of 1500 animated
PowerPoint slides, it is likely that a few mistakes will remain
despite our “beta testing”.
Please let us know if you come across mistakes, by
following the Corrections and Comments link on the
Unit website.
If the mistake is in a PowerPoint Activity, remember to
quote the Activity name and number, and the slide
number(s) concerned.
To find out the current slide number when using the
PowerPoint viewer: click on the right mouse button,*
select Go, then select By Title. A list of the slides will
appear, with a tick beside the current slide.
(Try it now!) * For Macs: hold down the Control
(Ctrl) key and click the mouse button
One thing to note: the animated slides in our Activities are
designed to be viewed with the PowerPoint 97 *player or
PowerPoint 97*itself. They will not work properly if viewed
with earlier versions.
(Also, an advance comment about spelling: you’ll find that
we use Australian-usage spelling on some words, not US
spelling. So if, for example, you find that we consistently
use the spelling “colour” when you would have expected
“color”, don’t head for the bloopers section - it’s cultural!)
* (98 for Macs)
To leave no cliché unturned, you are
our best means of promoting
this course, so
NGC 4755, the
Jewel Box cluster
when we get it wrong, please tell us
- when we get it right, please tell everybody!
(e) About Exploring the Solar System
3-d Mars North Pole (Mars Global Surveyor)
This Unit, Exploring the Solar System, is an introductorylevel astronomy unit on the properties and probable
evolution of our Solar System which will draw heavily on
results from space missions past and present. No
background knowledge of astronomy or physics will be
assumed and the emphasis will be on conceptual
astronomy, not mathematical techniques.
Module 1 is an introduction to the Unit - made up of this Activity plus
introductory readings from the Textbook.
(You will have already completed these readings if you have
previously studied the Unit on Exploring Stars and the Milky Way.)
Module 2 - 5 discuss patterns and motions in the night sky and the
orbits of planets and our Moon in the Solar System.
Modules 6 - 8 introduce current thinking on the formation of the Solar
System and the evolution of planets, and look at the properties and
evolution of our Earth as a case study.
Modules 9 - 10 look at properties and evolution of our Moon and
Mercury, and similarities between the two.
Modules 11 -13 contrast the properties and probable evolution of three
terrestrial neighbours, Venus, Earth and Mars, and discusses the
conditions needed to support life (as we might recognize it)
Modules 14 - 16 move out past the terrestrial planets, first to the debris
collectively known as the Asteroid Belt, then to investigate the gas giant
Jovian planets, their zoo of natural satellites and ring systems.
Modules 17 - 18 investigate the odd-one-out among the planets, Pluto
and its companion Charon, their relatives in the Kuiper Belt, and the
debris of the Solar System - comets and meteorites.
Modules 19 - 21 complete the Unit with a review of the dominant
member of the Solar System, the Sun: its properties, structure, nuclear
energy source, solar activity and effects on Earth.
If you have previously studied the Unit on Exploring Stars and
the Milky Way you will have already worked through Modules
19 and 20. These modules occur in both Exploring the Solar
System and Exploring Stars and the Milky Way because the Sun
is important to both Units - but Module 21 will be new to you.
Although you will find out many facts and details about
our Solar System, our main emphasis (and
the main emphasis of the Assessment)
will be on the basic unifying themes
- unifying concepts which make
sense of many of those facts
and details, as far as our
current understanding
of Solar System
astronomy
allows.
Solar Flare
We hope that
you will find this
Unit both
enjoyable and
challenging!
Comet Hale-Bopp
Image Credits
NASA: Enceladus
http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/thumb/PIA01367.jpg
Solar flare
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap970918.html
3-d Mars North Pole (Mars Global Surveyor)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981216.html
MSSSO © Mike Bessell (used with permission):
The Crab Supernova Remnant
The Magellanic Clouds
The Trifid Nebula
The Helix Nebula
The Vela Supernova Remnant
The Horsehead Nebula
NGC 6744 a face-on spiral galaxy
Mosaiced Hasselblad image of the Orion-Eridanus bubble
Centaurus A, a bright radio galaxy
NGC 4755, the Jewel Box cluster
Comet Hale-Bopp as it passed two globular clusters
People Credits
This Unit has been put together through the hard work and
dedication of the following people:
Jon Booth
Peter Caldwell
Colin Love
Geoff Mazzolini
Debbie Sage
Sarah Maddison
Chris Brooks
Bronwyn Halls
Paul Maullin
Margaret Mazzolini
John Betts
and with the invaluable support of
Prof. Matthew Bailes & the Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing,
A/Prof. Dale Murphy & the School of Biophysical Sciences & Electrical Engineering,
the Swinburne Learning & Teaching Unit
and our external Course Advisory Panel members:
Dr David McConnell, Dr John Reynolds, Dr Lisa Germany, Dr John Lattanzio,
Dr Anne Green & Prof Ray Norris.
Sarah Maddison,
Swinburne Astronomy Online Course Coordinator,
Swinburne Centre for Astrophysics & Supercomputing
© Swinburne University of Technology
Now return to the Module 1 home page, and do
the introductory reading indicated in the
Textbook Readings.
Hit the Esc key
to return to the Module 1 Home Page
The link has taken you to a slide at the end of the
Activity - the Powerpoint equivalent of an Appendix.
Once you’ve read the Appendix slide(s), you’ll find
a link something like the following ...
Click here to return to the Activity!
… Try it now!