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Astronomy 1000 Worksheet #2 Due Wednesday, Feb. 21 (Each question is worth 2 points) Student Name: Cirezi Hyvone 1. During a lab experiment, you determine that the index of refraction for some unknown material has a value of 0.85. Your lab instructor glances at your results, tells you that value is physically impossible, and suggests you rerun the experiment. Describe the physical reason your result could not have been correct. Since the speed of light in any medium is always less than the speed of light in a vacuum, the index of refraction must always be greater than 1. So a value of 0.85 implies that light travels faster in the material than in a vacuum, it violates the principle of physic. 2. A student claims that if the sun’s surface became much hotter (while the sun’s size remained the same), the sun would emit more ultraviolet light but less visible light than it currently emits. Do you agree or disagree with this statement? Explain your reasoning. I agree, because some the visible light would be converted into UV light, resulting in the sun emitting more ultraviolet light but less visible light than it currently emits. 3. Describe at least two ways in which Earth’s atmosphere can hinder astronomical observations, and why putting a telescope in space helps in each case. Atmospheric absorption and Turbulence/ Blurring

Astronomy 1000 Worksheet #2 Due Wednesday, Feb. 21 By placing telescopes in space it helps overcome these limitations. 4. Astronomers have observed that many young, newly formed stars rotate very rapidly compared to the sun. Using what you’ve learned about the formation of the solar system, explain why this is not surprising. Young stars rotating rapidly is expected due to the formation process of our solar system. 5. The solar system was formed from the collapse of a gas cloud called a nebula . This nebula was largely composed of hydrogen and helium gas, just like the sun and gas giants such as Jupiter. Explain why these elements are rare on Earth by comparison. The hydrogen and helium gas found in the nebula are rare on Earth because the inner planets didn’t have enough mass to hold on to these light gasses, causing them to float away into space. The sun and the massive outer planets had enough gravity to keep hydrogen and helium from drifting away.

Astronomy 1000 Worksheet #2 Due Wednesday, Feb. 21 6. Astronomers have suggested that giant impacts between the young planets and similarly sized planetesimals can explain many of the “oddities”, or breaks in otherwise rigidly upheld patterns, we have observed in the solar system. Describe any two of these “oddities” and how a giant impact could have caused them.  Tilted Axis: A giant impact would knock Uranus onto its side.  Moon Formation: A giant impact would eject material from Earth that later coalesced into the moon.

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