Name ___________ Grade: Astronomy /10 pts. Assignment 1 He saw God’s foot upon the treadle of the loom, and spoke it; and thereafter his shipmates called him mad. So man’s insanity is heaven’s sense. --Herman Melville, Moby Dick 1. Shown to the right is a photo of the nebula known as the “Glowing Eye”, NGC 6751. What features make it beautiful according to Aquinas? What questions would ask in relation to the image? Thomas Aquinas defined beauty as "that which pleases upon being perceived." What is pleasing about this is firstly the color and it’s incredible contrast. Secondly, the shape and it’s simple symmetry. Thirly, the contrast and the complexity of the mixing of the colors. Lastly, is the scale of the beauty of it. Some questions one may ask are How large is this nebula? What makes up the nebula and causes each color? What caused the Nebula to form? 2. What is the difference between astrology, astronomy, and astrophysics? Astrology is the use of stars, constellations and the position of things in the sky to interpret worldly things and predict future events. It is a pseudoscience not based in fact. Astronomy is the study and science of space, stars, planets and other celestial objects. It is based on experiments and observation of the entire world as a whole. Astrophysics is the application of the principle of physics to Astronomy to help us understand the dynamics, properties and growth of celestials bodies and all the astronomical phenomena that exist. 3. What are three questions that one should ask when reading about a new discovery in astronomy? 1 4. How many dollar bills, lined up end-to-end, would stretch from the Earth to the Moon? Make a reasonable estimate of the size of a dollar bill. How does your answer compare to the national debt of $14 trillion? (Visit https://www.usdebtclock.org for an interesting view of US debt.) It would take almost 2.5 billion dollars lined up to reach the moon. At the current American debt of 36 trillion, we could reach the moon about 14 times before we would have our debt paid. 5. Which is larger, a solar system or a planetary nebula? Which is larger, a star cluster or a galaxy? A Nebula is larger than a Solar System and a Galaxy is larger than a Star Cluster. 6. At the speed of light, how long would it take to go from Earth to the Sun? (a) about a second (b) about a minute (c) about 8 minutes (d) about a day (e) about a year 7. Put these objects in the correct order, from nearest to farthest from Earth: (a) The Sun, the center of the Milky Way, Alpha Centauri, Pluto, the Andromeda galaxy (b) The Sun, Alpha Centauri, Pluto, the Andromeda galaxy, the center of the Milky Way (c) The Sun, Pluto, Alpha Centauri, the center of the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy (d) Pluto, the Sun, Alpha Centauri, the center of the Milky Way, the Andromeda galaxy 8. The distance from the Sun to the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, is about (a) 4 light minutes (b) 4 light hours (c) 4 light days (d) 4 light years 9. If you were floating above the Earth’s North Pole in which way would you see the Earth rotating? If you looked straight up from the North Pole, which star would you see with your unaided eye? The earth would be rotating west to east below you. Polaris or the North Star would be above you. 10. In what constellations do the following stars belong and what are their right ascension and declination? Star Constellation Right Ascension 2 Declination Aldebaran Capella Castor Mizar Taurus Auriga Gemini Ursa Major 4h35m55.24s 10h49m19s 7h34m36s 13h23m55.54s 3 16 30’33.0” 46 07’40” 31 53’18” 54 31’25”
