STRUCTURE of the UNIVERSE What Is the Universe, What Is It Made Of, and How Does It Behave?

Lesson 204: STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE What is the universe, what is it made of, and how does it behave?

Fundamental Questions Attempting to give thorough and reasonable answers to the following questions will help you gauge your level of understanding this lesson. Students that can confidently answer these questions have mastered the concepts of this lesson.

1. What is the universe? 7. How long does it take you to travel 4.3 light-years if you 2. In what ways is the universe's behavior different than are light? what you would expect? 8. What time is it if you live in a black hole? 3. What are the most important objects in the universe? 9. If you want to slow time down, is it better to have more 4. Assuming that the 5th dimension exists, what could it mass, to be closer to Earth’s core, or to move at the be? speed of light? 5. How can scientists be sure that the universe had a 10. Why are stars so important to the universe? beginning? 11. Which has more mass, a nebula or a black hole? 6. Could Earth be located at the center of the universe?

Lesson Objectives At the end of this lesson, students should have mastered the objectives listed below.

1. Students understand that time is a dimension and that there may be more than four dimensions. 2. Students gain an appreciation for the size and age of the universe. 3. Students know the distance between Earth and the Sun. 4. Students know the distance to the nearest star, Alpha Centauri. 5. * Honors and Intensive students can convert light-years into kilometers and miles based on the speed of light. 6. Students can identify the features of the universe (e.g. moons, planets, stars, etc.) and organize them by mass and importance. 7. Students understand the structure and organization of our solar system, galaxy, and the universe. 8. Students recognize how gravity warps space-time and our view of the universe. 9. Students know the size and shape the Milky Way and know the approximate location of our solar system. 10. Students learn what a light-year is and understand that the further something is from earth, the older the light is that we see. 11. Students understand how gravity and motion effect time and size.

Important Terms The following terms are some of the vocabulary that students should be familiar with in order to fully master this lesson.

1. Universe 11. Ternary star system 21. Light-year 2. Age of universe 12. Galaxies 22. Speed of light 3. 4 dimensions 13. Milky Way Galaxy 23. Time dilation 4. Planets 14. Elliptical galaxies 24. Length contraction 5. Asteroids 15. Spiral galaxies 25. Gravity wells 6. Comets 16. Irregular galaxies 26. Relativity 7. Moons 17. Quasars 27. Alpha centauri 8. Nebulae 18. Black holes 28. Andromeda 9. Star systems 19. Novas 29. Cosmos 10. Binary star system 20. Supernovas 30. Cosmology

Assessment Questions The following are examples of questions that students should be able to answer. These or similar questions are likely to appear on the exam.

1. Describe the 4 known dimensions. 5. * Compare the distance between Earth and the 2. How old is the universe? sun and the distance between Earth and the 3. How have scientisits determined the age of the most distant galaxy. How many times further universe? from earth is the most distant galaxy? 4. List these basic ingredients of our universe in 6. How many light-years away is Alpha Centauri order of mass, beginning with the highest mass: from earth? asteroids, atoms, black holes, comets, galaxies, 7. * How many miles are in one light-year? moons, nebulae, planets, quasars, stars. Printed on 1/11/2015 1

8. * How many miles would you need to travel to 14. Which has more mass, a nebula or a black hole? travel across the entire Milky Way Galaxy? 15. Describe three ways that you can slow down 9. What is a galaxy? time. 10. * How many times larger is the entire universe 16. How far from the center of the Milky Way is Earth compared to our Milky Way? located? 11. What is Alpha Centauri and how far away is it? 17. Describe what happens to the size and time of a 12. How is a moon different than a planet? spaceship moving near the speed of light. 13. How is an asteroid different from a comet?

Related Web Sites The following are some web sites that are related to this lesson. You are encouraged to check out these sites to obtain additional information.

1. http://www.google.com/sky/ 2. http://scaleofuniverse.com/ 3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_rJKO-ZXeU 4. http://hubblesite.org/gallery/album/the_universe/ 5. http://lightyears.blogs.cnn.com/ 6. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/ 7. http://www.nasa.gov/topics/universe/index.html 8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universe 9. http://science.howstuffworks.com/universe-made-of.htm 10. http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_matter.html 11. http://map.gsfc.nasa.gov/universe/uni_age.html 12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_the_universe 13. http://www.space.com/13336-universe-history-structure-evolution-infographic.html

Related Book Pages The following are the pages from your book that correspond to this lesson.

Comprehensive E.S. Book Intensive/Honors E.S. Book Meteorology/GIS Book pp. 715-721 pp. 833-846

Massachusetts Standards The following are the Massachusetts Framework Standards that correspond to this lesson.

Earth Science Learning Standard(s) 4.1, 4.2, and 4.3

What’s Next?

Notes

2 CCIV. STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE A. What is the universe? 1. The universe is everything! Matter, gravity, energy, space, and everything else that we know about and don’t know about are all part of our universe. 2. As far as we know, there is only one universe, but there is evidence for more than one. 3. There are 4 dimensions: a. up/down c. front/back b. left/right d. time B. What is inside the universe? 1. Planets – like Earth 2. Asteroids – resemble planets, but are much smaller and are rarely spherical 3. Comets – small objects made of ice, gas, and dust 4. Moons – planet-like objects that orbit around planets, not stars; natural satellites 5. Nebulae - massive clouds of dust and gases where stars are born 6. Star (Solar) Systems a. include planets, moons, asteroids, comets, and other cosmic debris that orbit a star b. Binary Star System – star system with 2 stars that are gravitationally tied together c. Ternary Star System – star system with 3 stars that are gravitationally tied together 7. Galaxies – enormous collections of stars; there are billions of galaxies in the universe a. Elliptical Galaxies – most common type; egg-shaped b. Spiral Galaxies – pinwheel-shaped; we live in the Milky Way Galaxy c. Irregular Galaxies – oddly-shaped 8. Quasars – very old and distant sources of radio waves; resemble stars but are much larger and brighter; may be very young galaxies 9. Black Holes – stars so massive that they have collapsed under their own gravity; not even light can escape their gravity 10. Novas and Supernovas – stars that suddenly increase in brightness; thought to be exploding stars or explosions caused by stars in a binary star system C. How big is the universe? 1. Light-year a. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year. A light year is not a quantity of time, like seconds or minutes. A light-year is about 9,500,000,000,000 kilometers (5,800,000,000,000 miles). b. Light travels at an unimaginable speed of 300,000 kilometers per second (Km/s). Yet even at that speed it takes light over 100,000 years to travel from one end of our galaxy to the other. c. It would take about 4.3 years to travel from Earth to the nearest neighboring star (Alpha Centauri) so this star is said to be 4.3 light-years away from Earth. 2. Scale of the Universe a. Average distance from Earth to our Sun = 150,000,000 kilometers (93,000,000 miles) b. Distance from Earth to next closest star, Alpha Centauri = 40 trillion (40,000,000,000,000) kilometers c. Even though Alpha Centauri is almost 300,000 times further away from us than the sun, it is still within our own galaxy, the Milky Way! There are billions of other galaxies outside our galaxy. The closest one (Andromeda) is 2,300,000 light-years away! d. On a smaller scale, if the Earth were only 1 centimeter from the sun, Alpha Centauri would be about 2.5 kilometers away! e. The Universe may be about 400,000 times larger than our galaxy!

STARS

GALAXIES BLACK

HOLES PLANETS

THE UNIVERSE STAR COMETS SYSTEMS

QUASARS ASTEROIDS

? NEBULAE MOONS

An illustration of our galaxy, the Milky Way. An illustration of our galaxy, the Milky Way.

The Horsehead Nebula

Irregular Galaxy

Spiral Galaxy Elliptical Galaxy

The Structure and Formation of the Universe Page 1 of 1 http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/21/age_of_the_universe_planck_results_show_universe_is_13_82_billion_years.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/21/age_of_the_universe_planck_results_show_universe_is_13_82_billion_years.html The Universe is 13.82 billion years old. The Universe’s Baby Pictures Reveal It’s a Bit Older Than We Thought By Phil Plait The age of the Universe is a little bit higher than we expected. A few years ago, the WMAP spacecraft looked at the Posted Thursday, March 21, 2013, at 2:46 PM Slate.com Universe much as Planck has, and for the time got the best determination of the cosmic age: 13.73 +/- 0.12 billion years old.

The Universe is a wee bit older than Planck has found that the Universe is nearly 100 million years older than that: 13.82 billion years . we thought. Not only that, but turns out the ingredients are a little bit different, At first glance you might think this is a really different number. But look again. The uncertainty in the WMAP age is 120 too. And not only that , but the way million years. That means the best estimate is 13.73 billion years, but it could easily be 13.85 or 13.61. Anything in that they’re mixed isn’t quite what we range is essentially indistinguishable in the WMAP data, and 13.73 is just in the middle of that range. expected, either. And not only that , but there are hints and whispers of And that range includes 13.82 billion years. It’s at the high end, but that’s not a big deal. It’s completely consistent with something much grander going on as the older estimate, but Planck’s measurements are considered to be more accurate. It will become the new benchmark well. for astronomers.

So what’s going on? The Universe is expanding a bit slower than we expected.

The European Space Agency’s Planck The Universe is expanding, and has been ever since the moment it was born. We can measure the speed of this Baby picture of the Universe. Click to expand. Image credit: ESA–Planck Collaboration mission is what’s going on. Planck has expansion in various ways; for example, looking at distant exploding stars. We can measure how fast they are moving been scanning the entire sky, over and over, peering at the radio and microwaves pouring out of the Universe. Some of away from us, swept along with the expansion of space, by seeing how much their light is redshifted (I have details about this light comes from stars, some from cold clumps of dust, some from exploding stars and galaxies. But a portion of it how this works in an earlier post on redshifts and the expansion of the Universe). We can measure their distance, too, comes from farther away…much farther away. Billions of light years, in fact, all the way from the edge of the observable using various methods including how bright they appear to be, and with both their speed and distance we can calculate Universe. how fast the Universe is expanding.

This light was first emitted when the Universe was very young, about 380,000 years old . It was blindingly bright, but in its The farther away you go, the faster the Universe expands, and what Planck found is that the Universe is getting bigger at eons-long travel to us has dimmed and reddened. Fighting the expansion of the Universe itself, the light has had its a rate of 67.3 kilometers per second per megaparsec. A megaparsec is a unit of distance equal to 3.26 million light wavelength stretched out until it gets to us in the form of microwaves. Planck gathered that light for over 15 months, using years (which is convenient to astronomers). That means that if you look at a galaxy one megaparsec away, it appears to instruments far more sensitive than ever before. be moving away from you at 67.3 km/sec. A galaxy two megaparsecs away would recede at twice that speed, 134.6 km/sec, and so on.

The light from the early Universe shows it’s not smooth . If you crank the This is called the Hubble constant. Various methods have been used to measure it for the past century, and some of the contrast way up you see slightly brighter and slightly dimmer spots. These best found it to be about 74.2 km/s/Mpc. Planck’s measurement is smaller, so the Universe appears to be expanding a correspond to changes in temperature of the Universe on a scale of 1 part in little more slowly than we thought, which is why the age is a bit higher than measured before, too. 100,000. That’s incredibly small, but has profound implications. We think those fluctuations were imprinted on the Universe when it was only a trillionth of a Part of the reason the number is smaller from Planck is that it’s looking at light that is very old, and came from very far trillionth of a second old, and they grew with the Universe as it expanded. They away, so they extrapolate forward in time to see how fast the Universe is growing. Other measurements use light from were also the seeds of the galaxies and the clusters and galaxies we see objects that are closer, and scientists extrapolated backwards. today. Since the two numbers are different, this may mean the Hubble constant has changed over time, though that’s way too What started out as quantum fluctuations when the Universe was smaller than preliminary to tell. I’ll just note it here as an interesting development. The Hubble constant is notoriously difficult to a proton have now grown to be the largest structures in the cosmos, hundreds measure, and I imagine astronomers will be arguing about it for some time yet to come. Drawing of the Planck spacecraft. Image credit: of millions of light years across. Let that settle in your brain a moment. ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech The Universe is 4.9 percent normal matter, 26.8 percent dark matter, and 68.3 percent dark energy. And those fluctuations are the key to Planck’s observations. By looking at those small changes in light we can find out a lot about the Universe. Scientists spent years looking at the Planck data, analyzing it. And what they found is pretty I love this bit. The amount of the fluctuations in the light from the early Universe as well as how they are distributed can amazing: be used to figure out what the Universe is made of. The ingredients and amounts of the universal constituents are:

The Universe is 13.82 billion years old. 4.9 percent normal matter The Universe is expanding a bit slower than we expected. 26.8 percent dark matter The Universe is 4.9 percent normal matter, 26.8 percent dark matter, and 68.3 percent dark energy. 68.3 percent dark energy The Universe is lopsided. Just a bit, just a hint, but that has profound implications.

What does all this mean? Let’s take a quick look, one at a time, at these results. Normal matter is what we call protons, neutrons, electrons; basically everything you see when you look around. Stars, Page 1 of 4 Sep 11, 2013 05:37:54AM MDT Page 2 of 4 Sep 11, 2013 05:37:54AM MDT http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/21/age_of_the_universe_planck_results_show_universe_is_13_82_billion_years.html http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2013/03/21/age_of_the_universe_planck_results_show_universe_is_13_82_billion_years.html cashews, dryer lint, and books are all made of normal matter. So We may be seeing something so big in extent are you. it’s happening over scales we literally cannot see. It’s like having a house built on a slight Dark matter is a substance we know exists, but it’s invisible. We incline. Standing in one room you might not see its effects through its gravity, which profoundly alters how notice it, but measuring the elevation in a room galaxies rotate and clusters of galaxies behave. There’s more on one side of the house versus one all the than five times as much of it as there is normal matter. way on the other side might show the discrepancy. And even then, it only gives you a Dark energy was only discovered in 1998. It’s very mysterious, taste of how big that hill might be. but acts like a pressure, increasing the expansion rate of the Universe. We know very little about it other than the fact that it We’re seeing that on a cosmic scale. The exists, and it’s a bigger component of the universal budget than Universe itself appears to be slightly canted, normal and dark matter combined. and we only get a hint of it when we take the Planck's map of the location of all the matter in the Universe . The strip A map of the lopsided Universe. This shows the difference between a smooth mathematical fit to measure the entire Universe. across the middle is due to bright light from our galaxy which interfered The best estimates for these numbers before Planck were a bit the background light of the cosmos versus what is actually seen - these leftover fluctuations are with the much fainter background, and had to be subtracted away. Click different: 4.6, 24, and 71.4 percent, respectively. That’s neat: just a hair bigger than we expected, but that makes all the difference in the Universe. Click to Everything to ensaganate. Image credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech Planck's map of there’s less dark energy than we thought, so the Universe is anomalate. Image credit: ESA and the Planck Collaboration the location of all the matter in the Universe . The strip across the middle is due to bright light from our galaxy which interfered with the made up a little bit less of that weird stuff, if that makes you feel I am entirely and thoroughly delighted by these new results. much fainter background, and had to be subtracted away. Click to better. But there’s still a lot of it! ensaganate. Image credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech As a scientist, of course, I like it when we get better measurements, more detail, refined numbers. That’s how we test The good news is that having better numbers for all these means astronomers can tune their models a little bit better, and models, and it helps us understand our ideas better. we can understand things a little better. Different models of how the Universe behaves predict different ratios for these ingredients, so getting them focused a bit better means we can see which models work better. We’re learning! But I’m human, and a big part of my brain is still reeling from the fact that we can accurately measure the age of the Universe at all. We can figure out what’s in it, even when most of it is something we cannot see. We can determine not The Universe is lopsided. Just a bit, just a hint, but that has profound implications. only that it’s expanding, but how quickly.

Of all the results announced so far, this may be the most provocative. We expect the Universe to be pretty smooth on And best of all, we see that the Universe is doing things we still don’t understand. It’s showing us that there is still more large scales. Those early fluctuations should be random, so when you look around at this ancient light, the pattern should out there, things occurring on so vast a canvas that it both crushes utterly our sense of scale and expands ferociously our be pretty random. imagination.

And it is! The distribution of the fluctuations is quite random. It may look to your eye to have patterns, but our brains are Every day, we get better at learning what the Universe is doing. And the work continues to find out how . It may even lead miserable at seeing true randomness; we impose order on it. You have to use computers, math, and statistics to measure us to the answer of the ultimate question of all: why? the distribution to test for true randomness, and the Universe passes the test. If that answer exists (if the question even makes sense), and we can understand it, then we are making our first steps Kindof. The distribution is random, but the amplitudes of the fluctuations are not. Amplitude is how bright they are; like the toward it right now. height of a wave. It’s hard to see by eye, but in the big map made by Planck, the fluctuations are a wee bit brighter than they should be on one side, and a wee bit dimmer on the other. It’s an incredibly small effect, but appears to be real. It I still hear some people say that science takes the wonder out of life. Those people are utterly and completely wrong. was seen in WMAP data and confirmed by Planck. Science takes us to the wonder. A simple model of the Universe says that shouldn’t happen. The Universe is lopsided on a vast scale! What can this Want more of your favorite content on the MSN homepage? mean? Try the news , sports or entertainment editons.

Right now, we don’t know, and there are far more ideas for why this would happen than we have data to test for. It could mean dark energy is changing over time, for example. Another idea, and one that is terribly exciting, is that we’re seeing some pattern imprinted on the Universe from before the Big Bang. I know, that sounds crazy, but it’s not completely crazy. My friend and cosmologist Sean Carroll has some detail on this.

Page 3 of 4 Sep 11, 2013 05:37:54AM MDT Page 4 of 4 Sep 11, 2013 05:37:54AM MDT Largest structure in universe discovered - Technology & science - Space ... http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/50434185/ns/technology_and_science-sp...

Largest structure in universe discovered — it's mind-boggling Large quasar group stretches 4 billion light-years, so big theory says it shouldn't exist

ESO / M. Kornmesser Light from the most distant quasar yet seen reveals details about the chemistry of the early universe.

By Mike Wall

updated 1/11/2013 12:38:37 PM ET

Astronomers have discovered the largest known structure in the universe, a clump of active galactic cores that stretches 4 billion light-years from end to end.

The structure is a large quasar group (LQG), a collection of extremely luminous galactic nuclei powered by supermassive central black holes. This particular group is so large that it challenges modern cosmological theory, researchers said.

"While it is difficult to fathom the scale of this LQG, we can say quite definitely it is the largest structure ever seen in the entire universe," lead author Roger Clowes, of the University of Central Lancashire in England, said in a statement. "This is hugely exciting, not least because it runs counter to our current understanding of the scale of the universe."

Quasars are the brightest objects in the universe. For decades, astronomers have known that they tend to assemble in huge groups, some of which are more than 600 million light-years wide.

But the record-breaking quasar group, which Clowes and his team spotted in data gathered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, is on another scale altogether. The newfound LQC is composed of 73 quasars and spans about 1.6 billion light-years in most directions, though it is 4 billion light-years across at its widest point.

To put that mind-boggling size into perspective, the disk of the Milky Way galaxy — home of Earth's solar system — is about 100,000 light-years wide. And the Milky Way is separated from its nearest galactic neighbor, Andromeda, by about 2.5 million light-years.

The newly discovered LQC is so enormous, in fact, that theory predicts it shouldn't exist, researchers said. The quasar group appears to violate a widely accepted assumption known as the cosmological principle, which holds that the universe is essentially homogeneous when viewed at a sufficiently large scale.

Calculations suggest that structures larger than about 1.2 billion light-years should not exist, researchers said.

"Our team has been looking at similar cases which add further weight to this challenge, and we will be continuing to investigate these fascinating phenomena," Clowes said.

1 of 1 1/11/2013 8:11 PM Discovery sheds new light on black holes in universe - The Boston Globe Page 1 of 1

Discovery sheds new light on black holes in universe By Marc Kaufman Washington Post / November 21, 2010

WASHINGTON – For the first time, scientists believe they have witnessed the birth of a black hole.

It began 30 years ago when a star 50 million light-years away imploded, setting into motion events that created a region where gravity is so great that nothing can escape, even light.

The initial 1979 observation of the exploding star was made by an amateur astronomer from Maryland, but the profession‘s top scientists have studied it intently with increasingly sophisticated orbiting X-ray telescopes.

In announcing the discovery this month at NASA headquarters, the researchers said that although the information they have collected is consistent with the birth of a baby black hole, they cannot rule out some other possibilities. Nonetheless, they spoke enthusiastically about what they are learning and will learn about the evolution of black holes.

—We‘ve never known before now exact birthday of a black hole, and now we can watch as it grows into a child and teenager,‘‘ said Kimberly Weaver, an astrophysicist at NASA‘s Goddard Space Flight Center. —Learning about black holes has been like solving a puzzle, and this will help us get closer to a full understanding.‘‘

Not only do researchers consider this to be groundbreaking science, but the birth of the black hole in real time delivers a little-appreciated message about our galaxy and universe: It is always changing. Stars seem to be permanent, but they are born and die; black holes are created, get bigger, and over time they wither, too.

The time scale is usually much too great for humans to observe, but the baby black hole reminds us that even the cosmos is forever in flux.

—This is the first time we‘ve been able to observe what certainly appears to be a black hole form and grow,‘‘ said Daniel Patnaude, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

—It makes sense for us to think of the universe as existing now as it always has and always will, because that‘s what we experience,‘‘ he said. —But the last 20 years of study have shown that in fact the universe changes every single day in significant ways, and this apparent black hole is a dramatic example of that.‘‘

The theory that black holes exist was first put forward by Albert Einstein and is now a well-accepted fact in astronomy and cosmology.

Although they define darkness, black holes can be bright – or at least the disc surrounding the hole and pulling matter into it can be. That process creates friction and light as huge masses of swirling matter are pulled down into what might be thought of as a kitchen drain.

http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2010/11/21/discovery_sheds_new_light_on... 11/22/2010 Many Interacting Worlds: Physicists Propose Existence, Interaction of Pa... http://www.sci-news.com/physics/science-many-interacting-worlds-parall...

1 of 2 11/3/2014 7:21 AM Many Interacting Worlds: Physicists Propose Existence, Interaction of Pa... http://www.sci-news.com/physics/science-many-interacting-worlds-parall...

2 of 2 11/3/2014 7:21 AM http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/12/tech/innovation/warp-speed-spaceship/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

What an Enterprise! NASA physicist, artist unveil warp-speed craft design By Caitlin Schmidt , Special to CNN updated 12:21 PM EDT, Thu June 12, 2014 | Filed under: Innovations CNN.com

(CNN) -- Thanks to a NASA physicist, the notion of warp speed might just travel out of sci-fi and into the real world.

NASA's Harold White has been working since 2010 to develop a warp drive that will allow spacecraft to travel at speeds faster than light -- 186,000 miles per second.

White, who heads NASA's Advanced Propulsion Team, spoke about his conceptual starship at a conference last fall. But interest in his project reached a new level this week when he unveiled images of what the craft might look like.

Created by artist Mark Rademaker , who based them on White's designs, the images show a technologically detailed spacecraft that wouldn't look out of place in a "Star Trek" movie. Rademaker says creating them took more than 1,600 hours.

For now, warp speed is only possible in TV and movies , with both "Star Trek" and "Star Wars" referencing an idea that was completely speculative at the time. White has fittingly named the concept spacecraft IXS Enterprise, for the starship famously piloted by Captain James T. Kirk in the "Star Trek" TV series and movies.

At the SpaceVision 2013 Space Conference last November in Phoenix, White talked about his design, the concepts behind it and the progress that's been made in warp-drive development over the decades. He discussed the idea of a "space warp," a loophole in the theory of general relativity that would allow for massive distances to be traveled very quickly, reducing travel times from thousands of years to days.

In his speech, White described space warps as faraway galaxies that can bend light around them. They work on the principle of bending space both in front of and behind a spacecraft. This would essentially allow for the empty space behind the craft to expand, both pushing and pulling it forward at the same time. The concept is similar to that of an escalator or moving walkway.

"There's no speed limit on the expansion and contraction of space," White said at the conference . "You can actually find a way to get around what I like to call the 11th commandment: Thou shall not exceed the speed of light."

It's the idea of space warps that inspired physicist Miguel Alcubierre in 1994 to first theorize a mathematical model of a warp drive that would be able to bend space and time. While studying Alcubierre's equations, White decided to design his own retooled version of the Alcubierre Drive. His recently unveiled design has much less empty space than the first concept model, increasing its efficiency.

The warp drive that White's team has been working on would literally transcend space , shortening the distance between two points and allowing the craft to break the speed of light. This would be a spaceship with no speed limit.

Because travel into space has been extremely limited due to existing means of propulsion, such a technology could blow open the possibilities of space exploration. It could allow for study of the farthest reaches of space, parts that scientists once considered unimaginable.

Although the technology to create the spacecraft or the warp drive doesn't yet exist, the artistic renderings Rademaker created could potentially be a model of what's to come -- the first spacecraft to break the speed-of-light barrier and journey beyond our solar system.

In his design, White says he drew from Matthew Jeffries' 1965 sketches of the Enterprise from "Star Trek," saying parts of that ship were mathematically correct. He worked with Rademaker and graphic designer Mike Okuda to update the math and produce what he believes to be a viable spacecraft.

According to NASA, there hasn't been any proof that a warp drive can exist, but the agency is experimenting nonetheless. Although the concept doesn't violate the laws of physics, that doesn't guarantee that it will work.

"We're starting to talk about what the next chapter for human space exploration going to be," White said at SpaceVision.

Page 1 of 1 Jun 13, 2014 08:55:21AM MDT

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o Sirius r G W E l O N S lu f I tore K x o S Y NE CANIS MONOCEROS U a lt M re M41 e Y A M44 M I N O R M50 SE B B P th “ N A e e I R t Procyon th EG O w CANCER s B U in a . N s CANIS n E D o C w C I n I o FA TS s M A J O R n of T k U CE L P M47 is YO N e I at T TE da L h A R in C w TH f EveningThe Sky Map ( c Jupiter E M67 m N JU la M46 or O ST ss t f TI A ic as EC S al -e IR YO my th D THE NIGHT SKY u U tho M48 so HE AR log he S T E D y. in t A OI e” ME NG lin SA a E • Star Charts & Astro Posters • Telescopes & Binoculars NOW EAST s “in TH ) S star IS O T bright MAP HE C The three THE OMPA M OF SS DIRE BOTTO CTION THAT APPEARS ALONG THE rs. Get Sky Calendar on Twitter http://twitter.com/skymaps Look for a bright bright a for Look rs or telescope. or rs with the Sun at 14h UT. Not visible. The The visible. Not Sun at 14h UT. with the , 19° east of Sun , 19° east of peaks in brightness (mag. 4). Well 4). Well (mag. peaks in brightness (36° from Sun, (36° from (morning sky) at 2h(morning UT. peaks at 2h UT. Active between Active peaks at 2h UT. (18° from Sun, (18° from (evening sky) at 18h UT. Occultation Occultation sky) at 18h UT. (evening SAVE ON RECOMMENDED PRODUCTS • http://Skymaps.com/s • PRODUCTS RECOMMENDED ON SAVE • Star Atlases & Planispheres • Books for Sky Watchers Help Help supportfree and distribution production the o (evening sky) at 12h UT. (evening (morning sky) at 0h UT. (morning (16° from Sun, evening sky) at Sun, evening (16° from at 7:48 UT. at 9:46 UT. (closest to Sun) at 7h UT. The Sun-Earth Sun-Earth The UT. 7h at Sun) to (closest (morning sky) at 6h UT. Mag. –2.5. Mag. UT. 6h at sky) (morning (morning sky) at 12h UT. (morning (morning sky) at 12h UT. Mag. +0.6. Mag. UT. 12h at sky) (morning (closest to Earth) at 20h UT (evening sky) at 3h UT. Mag. +1.2. Mag. sky) at 3h UT. (evening (farthest from Earth) at 18h UT from (farthest (22° from Sun, evening sky) at 2h UT. Mag. –3.9. Mag. UT. 2h at sky) evening Sun, from (22° at 13:14 UT. Start of lunation 1139. lunation Start of at 13:14 UT. at 4:53 UT. First Quarter Moon First Last Quarter Moon Moon near Mars Full Moon Mercury 0.65° W of Venus 0.65° W of Mercury Moon near Regulus Quadrantid Meteor Shower Quadrantid Moon very near Aldebaran Moon very visible from northern Canada. northern visible from at inferior conjunction Mercury sky. morning the passes into elusive planet (evening sky) at 20h UT. Mag. –0.6. Near Venus. –0.6. Near Mag. sky) at 20h UT. (evening Saturn near Moon Moon near Spica elongation at greatest Mercury evening sky) at 1h UT. Mags. –0.7 and –3.9. –0.7 and Mags. sky) at 1h UT. evening Moon near Aldebaran Moon near Mercury 18h UT. Mag. +0.6. Mag. 18h UT. Moon at perigee size 33.2'). (359,645 km; angular Venus near Moon Moon near Cluster Beehive placed in the evening sky all month (refer to map). to (refer month all sky evening the in placed binocula in seen Best tail. dim a with object fuzzy Comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) Mars 0.21° SSE of Neptune 0.21° SSE of Mars evening sky) at 0h UT. Mags. +1.2 and +8.0. +1.2 and Mags. sky) at 0h UT. evening Moon New Moon at apogee size 29.5'). 405,408 km; angular (distance December 28 and January 12. Produces up to 120 meteors up to 120 meteors 12. Produces January December 28 and Boötes. is in northern Radiant per hour. Perihelion at Earth kilomete million 147.1 or a.u. 0.983277 is distance Moon near Jupiter near Moon FREE* EACH MONTH FOR YOU TO EXPLORE, LEARN & ENJOY The Evening Sky Map 29 30 at http://Skymaps.com/skycalendar/ and links sky events More = UT – 5 hours.) Time Eastern Standard (UT). (USA Time in Universal All times 27 16 13 14 13 23 21 21 22 7 20 20 5 2 Sky Calendar – January 2015 9 11 4 8 9 4

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About the Celestial Objects Easily Seen with the Naked Eye Listed on this page are several of the brighter, more interesting celestial objects Capella Aur The 6th brightest star. Appears yellowish in color. Spectroscopic binary. Dist=42 ly. visible in the evening sky this month (refer to the monthly sky map). The objects are Sirius CMa The brightest star in the sky. Also known as the "Dog Star". Dist=8.6 ly. Procyon CMi Greek name meaning "before the dog" - rises before Sirius (northern latitudes). Dist=11.4 ly. grouped into three categories. Those that can be easily seen with the naked eye (that b Cephei Cep Cepheid prototype. Mag varies between 3.5 & 4.4 over 5.366 days. Mag 6 companion. is, without optical aid), those easily seen with binoculars, and those requiring a Deneb Cyg Brightest star in Cygnus. One of the greatest known supergiants. Dist=1,400 ±200 ly. telescope to be appreciated. Note, all of the objects (except single stars) will Castor Gem Multiple star system with 6 components. 3 stars visible in telescope. Dist=52 ly. appear more impressive when viewed through a telescope or very large Pollux Gem With Castor, the twin sons of Leda in classical mythology. Dist=34 ly. binoculars. They are grouped in this way to highlight objects that can be seen using JANUARY 2015 Vega Lyr The 5th brightest star in the sky. A blue-white star. Dist=25.0 ly. Rigel Ori The brightest star in Orion. Blue supergiant star with mag 7 companion. Dist=770 ly. the optical equipment that may be available to the star gazer. Betelgeuse Ori One of the largest red supergiant stars known. Diameter=300 times that of Sun. Dist=430 ly. Algol Per Famous eclipsing binary star. Magnitude varies between 2.1 & 3.4 over 2.867 days. Tips for Observing the Night Sky Pleiades Tau The Seven Sisters. Spectacular cluster. Many more stars visible in binoculars. Dist=399 ly.

NORTHERN HEMISPHERE Hyades Tau Large V-shaped star cluster. Binoculars reveal many more stars. Dist=152 ly. When observing the night sky, and in particular deep-sky objects such as star clusters, Aldebaran Tau Brightest star in Taurus. It is not associated with the Hyades star cluster. Dist=66.7 ly. nebulae, and galaxies, it’s always best to observe from a dark location. Avoid direct Polaris UMi The North Pole Star. A telescope reveals an unrelated mag 8 companion star. Dist=433 ly. light from street lights and other sources. If possible observe from a dark location away from the light pollution that surrounds many of today’s large cities. Easily Seen with Binoculars You will see more stars after your eyes adapt to the darkness—usually about 10 to M31 And The Andromeda Galaxy. Most distant object visible to naked eye. Dist=2.5 million ly. 20 minutes after you go outside. Also, if you need to use a torch to view the sky M2 Aqr Resembles a fuzzy star in binoculars. map, cover the light bulb with red cellophane. This will preserve your dark vision. M38 Aur Stars appear arranged in "pi" or cross shape. Dist=4,300 ly. M36 Aur About half size of M38. Located in rich Milky Way star field. Dist=4,100 ly. Finally, even though the Moon is one of the most stunning objects to view M37 Aur Very fine star cluster. Discovered by Messier in 1764. Dist=4,400 ly. through a telescope, its light is so bright that it brightens the sky and makes many of M44 Cnc Praesepe or Beehive Cluster. Visible to the naked eye. Dist=590 ±20 ly. the fainter objects very difﬁcult to see. So try to observe the evening sky on M41 CMa First recorded observation by Aristotle in 325 BC as "cloudy spot". Dist=2,300 ly. moonless nights around either New Moon or Last Quarter. + Cephei Cep Herschel's Garnet Star. One of the reddest stars. Mag 3.4 to 5.1 over 730 days. Mira Cet Famous long period variable star. Mag varies between 3.0 & 10.1 over 332 days. r Cygni Cyg Long period pulsating red giant. Magnitude varies between 3.3 & 14.2 over 407 days. Astronomical Glossary M39 Cyg May be visible to the naked eye under good conditions. Dist=900 ly. Conjunction – An alignment of two celestial bodies such that they present the least i Draconis Dra Wide pair of white stars. One of the finest binocular pairs in the sky. Dist=100 ly. M35 Gem Fine open cluster located near foot of the twin Castor. Dist=2,800 ly. angular separation as viewed from Earth. a Leporis Lep Visible with binoculars. Gold & white stars. Mags 3.6 & 6.2. Dist=30 ly. Sep=96.3". Constellation – A deﬁned area of the sky containing a star pattern. R Lyrae Lyr Semi-regular variable. Magnitude varies between 3.9 & 5.0 over 46.0 days. 2232 Mon A large scattered star cluster of 20 stars. Dist=1,300 ly. Diffuse Nebula – A cloud of gas illuminated by nearby stars. 2244 Mon Surrounded by the rather faint Rosette Nebula. Dist=5,540 ly. Double Star – Two stars that appear close to each other in the sky; either linked by M50 Mon Visible with binoculars. Telescope reveals individual stars. Dist=3,000 ly. gravity so that they orbit each other (binary star) or lying at different distances from Cr 69 Ori Lambda Orionis Cluster. Dist=1,630 ly. Earth (optical double). Apparent separation of stars is given in seconds of arc ("). M42 Ori The Great Orion Nebula. Spectacular bright nebula. Best in telescope. Dist=1,300 light years. M15 Peg Only globular known to contain a planetary nebula (Mag 14, d=1"). Dist=30,000 ly. Ecliptic – The path of the Sun’s center on the celestial sphere as seen from Earth. Double Cluster Per Double Cluster in Perseus. NGC 869 & 884. Excellent in binoculars. Dist=7,300 ly. Elongation – The angular separation of two celestial bodies. For Mercury and Venus 253Telescopic Scl ObjectsFine, large, cigar-shaped galaxy. Requires dark sky. Member of Sculptor Group. Mizar & Alcor UMa Good eyesight or binoculars reveals 2 stars. Not a binary. Mizar has a mag 4 companion. the greatest elongation occurs when they are at their most angular distance from the Sun as viewed from Earth.

Galaxy – A mass of up to several billion stars held together by gravity. CELESTIAL OBJECTS a Andromedae And Attractive double star. Bright orange star with mag 5 blue companion. Sep=9.8". Globular Star Cluster – A ball-shaped group of several thousand old stars. a Arietis Ari Impressive looking double blue-white star. Visible in a small telescope. Sep=7.8". M67 Cnc Contains 500+ stars mag 10 & fainter. One of the oldest clusters. Dist=2,350 ly. Light Year (ly) – The distance a beam of light travels at 300,000 km/sec in one year. d Cassiopeiae Cas Yellow star mag 3.4 & orange star mag 7.5. Dist=19 ly. Orbit=480 years. Sep=12". Magnitude – The brightness of a celestial object as it appears in the sky. 61 Cygni Cyg Attractive double star. Mags 5.2 & 6.1 orange dwarfs. Dist=11.4 ly. Sep=28.4". a Delphini Del Appear yellow & white. Mags 4.3 & 5.2. Dist=100 ly. Struve 2725 double in same field. Open Star Cluster – A group of tens or hundreds of relatively young stars. e Eridani Eri Striking blue-white double star. Mags 3.2 & 4.3. Visible in a small telescope. Sep=8.2". Opposition – When a celestial body is opposite the Sun in the sky. ` Monocerotis Mon Triple star. Mags 4.6, 5.0 & 5.4. Requires telescope to view arc-shape. Sep=7.3". 2264 Mon Christmas Tree Cluster. Associated with the Cone Nebula. Dist=2,450 ly. Planetary Nebula – The remnants of a shell of gas blown off by a star. m Orionis Ori Superb multiple star. 2 mag 7 stars one side, mag 9 star on other. Struve 761 triple in field. Universal Time (UT) – A time system used by astronomers. Also known as Greenwich M1 Tau Crab Nebula. Remnant from supernova which was visible in 1054. Dist=6,500 ly. Mean Time. USA Eastern Standard Time (for example, New York) is 5 hours behind UT. M33 Tri Fine face-on spiral galaxy. Requires a large aperture telescope. Dist=2.3 million ly. M81 UMa Beautiful spiral galaxy visible with binoculars. Easy to see in a telescope. Variable Star – A star that changes brightness over a period of time. M82 UMa Close to M81 but much fainter and smaller. The Evening Sky Map (ISSN 1839-7735) Copyright © 2000–2015 Kym Thalassoudis. All Rights Reserved. CONSTELLATION PROJECT – Option 1 Due Date: ______

For this mandatory assignment, you will design and construct a digital poster that will display facts and graphics for one of the 88+ established star constellations and then you will present your constellation to the class. You will be assigned a constellation from the list below. Circle your constellation so that you do not forget which one you have been assigned.

1. Andromeda 7. Canis Minor 13. Cygnus 19. Lepus 25. Perseus 2. Aries 8. Cassiopeia 14. Draco 20. Libra 26. Pisces 3. Auriga 9. Cepheus 15. Gemini 21. Lyra 27. Taurus 4. Bootes 10. Cetus 16. Hercules 22. Ophiuchus 28. Ursa Major 5. Cancer 11. Corona Borealis 17. Hydra 23. Orion 29. Ursa Minor 6. Canis Major 12. Corvus 18. Leo 24. Pegasus 30. Virgo

This assignment will be worth 55 to 65 homework/classwork points. Your grade will be based on the overall appearance of your poster, the accuracy of your poster’s facts/drawings, the completeness of your constellation facts/graphics, and your adherence to the project instructions (see attached rubric). You will only be allowed to pass in this assignment up to 1 week late. Only half-credit will be given for assignments that are passed in late. The following are the minimum requirements for your poster:

1. Prior to the class when the project is due, the poster must be saved as a PDF file and stored on the Student Drop (S:) drive or emailed to [email protected]. Your poster will be considered late if this is not done prior to class. Students that are absent on the due date should be sure to email the PDF file to Mr. Roberts or the assignment will be considered late. (5 points) 2. The poster dimensions must measure 13” by 19” in size/area and should only be one slide or page (2 points) 3. Your name must be clearly displayed on the poster and the poster must display a title (your constellation’s name). The title should be large and easy to find. (3 points) 4. The poster must display the English translation or nickname for your constellation’s Arab/Latin/Greek name. For example, Monoceros means “unicorn” in English and Perseus does not have a direct translation but can be called “the hero”. (2 points) 5. The poster must display a photo, illustration, or digital drawing of the arrangement of stars that make up your constellation. This illustration should clearly show each star that is part of the constellation. The bright stars should be displayed as larger than the dim stars. Medium brightness stars should be medium in size. (5 points) 6. The poster must have an illustration that shows all adjacent constellations that surround your constellation. The stars that make up these constellations and the constellation names should be displayed. (3 points) 7. The poster must list the numeric apparent magnitudes of each star in your constellation. Again, the bright stars should be displayed as larger than the dim stars. Medium brightness stars should be medium in size. (5 points) 8. Each star within your constellation illustration should be labeled with the star’s name. A few stars do not have names, but instead use Greek letters as their name. These Greek letters (such as β for beta) usually correspond to the relative brightness of the star within the constellation. Whenever possible, the actual name must be used. You will lose points if you do not list the official name of the star.(5 points) 9. The poster must display images of at least 2 celestial objects (not ordinary stars) that are located within or near your constellation. These celestial objects could include exoplanets, protostars, nebulae, galaxies, quasars, black holes, star clusters, etc. The location of these objects, relative to the stars of your constellation, should be shown. The names and types of these celestial objects should be clearly labeled. Do not include planets in our solar system (e.g. Jupiter) because their positions will constantly change! (5 points) 10. The poster should contain a brief write-up for the myth/legend/history for your constellation. This write-up should be written in your own words and not copied from the internet. The story can be from any culture, such as Native American, Arab, Greek, etc. (4 points) 11. The poster must display a fantasized illustration of what your constellation is supposed to represent. For example, the constellation Draco is supposed to look like a dragon so an illustration of a dragon should be included. (3 points) 12. The poster must state the days or months of the year that are best for viewing your constellation. Remember that you live in the northern hemisphere (42° north latitude) so that is where you will be viewing it from. (2 points) 13. The poster should state the compass direction and best viewing time to see your constellation on the due date. (3 points) 14. All references should be cited using “Chicago” citation style. Citationmachine.net is a great site for creating your citations. (3 points) 15. The appearance of the poster is aesthetically-pleasing and has a professional-looking layout and construction. Font sizes should be no smaller than 8 font. (5 points)

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Intensive and Honors students must also find additional information for at least one star that is part of their constellation (Comprehesive/Transitional students may do this for extra credit). Any star within the constellation can be chosen as long as it is not a nebula, protostar, black hole, or neutron star, but it will probably be easier to research the brightest star in your constellation. After researching the star you have chosen, you must include on your poster the following characteristics of your star:

1. the star’s mass – 1 point 5. surface temperature – 0.5 points 9. apparent magnitude – 1 point 2. diameter (not radius) – 1 point 6. the star’s color – 0.5 points 10. current stage of stellar evolution – 0.5 points 3. distance from Earth – 2 points 7. the star’s luminosity – 1 point 11. previous stage of stellar evolution – 0.5 points 4. spectral class – 0.5 points 8. absolute magnitude – 1 point 12. next stage of stellar evolution – 0.5 point

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You may find the following web sites to be quite helpful: http://www.astro.wisc.edu/~dolan/constellations/ http://server1.sky-map.org/?locale=EN http://www.ne.jp/asahi/stellar/scenes/data_e/const88.htm http://www.allthesky.com/constellations/ http://www.starryskies.com/The_sky/constellations/index.html http://www.davidmalin.com/fujii/general/af_const1.html http://stars.astro.illinois.edu/sow/sowlist.html http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/constellations/default.htm http://www.dibonsmith.com/data.htm http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/stars/ http://www.google.com/sky/ http://hsci.cas.ou.edu/exhibits/exhibit.php?exbgrp=3&exbid=20&exbpg=0 http://www.worldwidetelescope.org/ http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/C55 http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/skychart http://stellarium.org Poster Grading Star Grading - All or Nothing! INT / HON Grades

0 2.5 Mass 0 1 A+ >62.5 PDF file format 5 Not Digital Wrong Format Diameter 0 1 A 60.5 - 62.5

0 0 Distance 0 2 A- 58.5 - 60 13" x 19" 2 Wrong Size Wrong Size Spectral Class 0 0.5 B+ 56.5 - 58

0 1.5 Temperature 0 0.5 B 54 - 56 Name and Title 3 Too Small or Too Missing Color 0 0.5 B- 52 - 53.5 Obnoxious 0 1 Luminosity 0 1 C+ 50 - 51.5 Translation 2 No Translation Wrong Translation Absolute Magnitude 0 1 C 47.5 - 49.5

0 2.5 5 Apparent Magnitude 0 1 C- 45 - 47 Photo/Drawing Missing or Missing Stars or Shows All Current Stage 0 0.5 D+ 43.5 - 45 Unintelligible Brightness

Adjacent 0 1.5 3 Previous Stage 0 0.5 D 41 - 43 Constellations Mostly Missing or Shows Some or Shows All Next Stage 0 0.5 D- 39 - 40.5 Unintelligible Names Missing

Apparent 0 2.5 5 F < 39 Magnitudes Mostly Missing or Missing Some Shows All Unintelligible Magnitudes Subjective Comments 0 2.5 5 Professional Needs Improvement; Impressive; appears to COMP Grades looks like a high school have been made by a Star Names Appearance; Mostly Missing or freshman made it (0 pro graphic artist and Missing Some Names Shows All A+ > 53 Unintelligible Wow Factor points) scientist (1 point) Too much empty No dead space and 0 2.5 5 A 51 - 53 space, overcrowded, items aren't Celestial Objects Use of Space Missing or Missing Some or and/or fluff fillers (0 unintentionally Shows All A- 49.5 - 50.5 Unintelligible Missing Labels points) crowded (1 point) Lacks order or items 0 2 4 Features are neat and B+ 48 - 49 Layout / are not neatly or Myth/Legend balanced; info is easy Write-up missing Arrangement intuitively arranged (0 Missing or Plagiarized Shows All to find (1 point) B 45.5 - 47.5 important info points) Spelling/Grammatical No mistakes; 0 1.5 3 B- 44 - 45 Fantasized Error(s); Too many Neatlines; Excellent The Fine Details Illustration Missing or Doesn't match fonts or colors; No use of fonts and colors Shows All C+ 42.5 - 43.5 Unintelligible Constellation Neatlines (0 points) (1 point) 0 1 2 C 40 - 42 Best Viewing Good to Excellent (1 Effort Poor to Fair (0 points) Dates Missing or Inaccurate or point) Shows All C- 38.5 - 39.5 Unintelligible Incomplete Dates Compass 0 1.5 3 D+ 37 - 38 Direction and Missing or Viewing Time Inaccurate Information Shows All D 34.5 - 36.5 Unintelligible Total 0 1.5 3 Combined D- 33 - 34 References Missing or Incomplete or Score Shows All F < 33 Unintelligible Inaccurate CONSTELLATION PROJECT – Option 2 Due Date: ______

Instead of doing the Constellation Poster, you can design and record a digital video tour of your constellation using Google Earth Pro. You will then create a movie from your tour, import it into Windows Movie Maker or another video-editing program and add music, text, audio, and/or photos to enhance your video. In addition, you will need to make a 2-minute presentation of your constellation in the planetarium. The topic of your presentation is up to you, but it must be relevant to your constellation and you must present from memory.

This assignment will be worth 55 to 65 homework/classwork points. Your grade will be based on the overall viewing experience of your video, the accuracy of your video’s facts, the completeness of your tour, your planetarium presentation, and your adherence to the project instructions (see attached rubric). You will only be allowed to pass in this assignment up to 1 week late. Only half-credit will be given for assignments that are passed in late. The following are the minimum requirements for your video tour:

1. Prior to the class when the project is due, the video must be saved in a common video format (wmv, mov, mp4, DVD, etc.) and either given to Mr. Roberts on a disc, stored on the Student Drop (S:) drive, or emailed to [email protected]. Your poster will be considered late if this is not done prior to class. Students that are absent on the due date should be sure to email Mr. Roberts a link to the video file or the assignment will be considered late. DropBox, SkyDrive, Vimeo, Youtube, and Google Docs are great tools for sharing large video files. (5 points) 2. The video should be 3 to 6 minutes long and narrated by you speaking or narrated by synchronized text messages. (2 points) 3. Your name must be clearly written on the disc if submitting a DVD or the file name should be “Your Name Constellation Video Tour”. Additionally, you name should appear as beginning/ending credits during the video. (1 points) 4. The video must display a title (your constellation’s name) and this title should be seen near the beginning of the video. (2 points) 5. The video must display or state the English translation or nickname for your constellation’s Arab/Latin/Greek name. For example, Monoceros means “unicorn” in English and Perseus does not have a direct translation but can be called “the hero”. (2 points) 6. The video tour should begin with a full view of the arrangement of stars that make up your constellation in Google Sky. Irrelevant data layers should be turned off so that the stars are easily viewable. You may add additional images of your constellation to your video if you would like. The bright stars should be displayed as larger than the dim stars. Medium brightness stars should be medium in size. (5 points) 7. The video must shows all adjacent constellations that surround your constellation. Each constellation’s name should each be displayed or stated. (3 points) 8. The video must list or state the star’s name and the numeric apparent magnitudes of each star in your constellation. The video tour should fly to each of the stars as it relays this information. A few stars do not have names, but instead use Greek letters as their name. These Greek letters (such as β for beta) usually correspond to the relative brightness of the star within the constellation. Whenever possible, the actual name must be used. You will lose points if you do not state the official name of the star.(10 points) 9. The video tour must fly to at least 2 celestial objects (not ordinary stars) that are located within or near your constellation. These celestial objects could include exoplanets, protostars, nebulae, galaxies, quasars, black holes, star clusters, etc. The location of these objects, relative to the stars of your constellation, should be shown. The names and types of these celestial objects should be clearly labeled or stated. Do not include planets in our solar system (e.g. Jupiter) because their positions will constantly change! (5 points) 10. The video should contain a brief statement of the myth/legend/history for your constellation. This statement should be your own words and not plagiarized from the internet. The story can be from any culture, such as Native American, Arab, Greek, etc. (4 points) 11. The poster must display a fantasized illustration of what your constellation is supposed to represent. For example, the constellation Draco is supposed to look like a dragon so an illustration of a dragon should be included. (3 points) 12. The video must state/display the days or months of the year that are best for viewing your constellation. Remember that you live in the northern hemisphere (42° north latitude) so that is where you will be viewing it from. (2 points) 13. The video should state or display the compass direction and best viewing time to see your constellation on the due date. (3 points) 14. All references should be cited using “Chicago” citation style. Citationmachine.net is a great site to help you structure your citations. These references should be inserted as text at the end of the video. (3 points) 15. The video should be entertaining, informative, and it should look professional. Text should be easy to read and audio should be easy to hear. You must also make a 2-minute presentation about your constellation inside the planetarium. This presentation can focus on whatever topics you want as long as they are relevant to your constellation. This presentation will take place in the darkness of the planetarium so you must memorize what you want to say and you should be able to recognize the pattern of your constellation. (5 points)

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Intensive and Honors students must also find additional information for at least one star that is part of their constellation (Comprehesive/Transitional students may do this for extra credit). Any star within the constellation can be chosen as long as it is not a nebula, protostar, black hole, or neutron star, but it will probably be easier to research the brightest star in your constellation. At some point during the video, your video tour should fly to this star and state or display the following characteristics of the star:

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Viewable file -65 2.5 Mass 0 1 A+ >62.5 5 format Cannot Play Video Requires Conversion Diameter 0 1 A 60.5 - 62.5

Video Length 0 1 Distance 0 2 A- 58.5 - 60 2 and Narration Too Short or Narration Too Long or Narration Unintelligible Unintelligible Spectral Class 0 0.5 B+ 56.5 - 58

0 0.5 Temperature 0 0.5 B 54 - 56 Name 1 Too Small or Too Missing Color 0 0.5 B- 52 - 53.5 Obnoxious 0 1 Luminosity 0 1 C+ 50 - 51.5 Title 2 Too Small or Too Missing Absolute Magnitude 0 1 C 47.5 - 49.5 Obnoxious

0 1 Apparent Magnitude 0 1 C- 45 - 47 Translation 2 No Translation Wrong Translation Current Stage 0 0.5 D+ 43.5 - 45

Full View of 0 2.5 5 Previous Stage 0 0.5 D 41 - 43 Constellation Missing or Partial View or Too Shows All Next Stage 0 0.5 D- 39 - 40.5 Unintelligible Many Distractions

Adjacent 0 1.5 3 F < 39 Constellations Mostly Missing or Shows Some or Shows All Unintelligible Names Missing Subjective Comments 0 5 10 Professional Needs Improvement; Impressive; appears to COMP Grades Star Names and looks like a high school have been made by a Appearance; Magnitudes Mostly Missing or Missing Some Names freshman made it (0 pro film-maker and Shows All A+ > 53 Unintelligible or Magnitudes Wow Factor points) scientist (1 point) Text/Narration is 0 2.5 5 Text/Narration does A 51 - 53 perfectly timed and Celestial Objects Synchronization not sync well with Missing or Missing Some or syncs with the video (1 Shows All video (0 points) A- 49.5 - 50.5 Unintelligible Missing Info point) 0 2 4 Text/Speaking Error(s); No mistakes; Good B+ 48 - 49 Myth/Legend The Fine Details Too many fonts/colors; video quality; Excellent Poor Video Quality (0 use of fonts and colors Missing or Plagiarized Missing important info Shows All points) (1 point) B 45.5 - 47.5 Presentation is dull, Presentation is fun, 0 1.5 3 B- 44 - 45 Fantasized Planetarium disorganized, poorly- interesting, well- Illustration Missing or Doesn't match Presentation rehearsed, or poorly- rehearsed, and well- Shows All C+ 42.5 - 43.5 Unintelligible Constellation executed (0 points) executed (1 point) 0 1 2 C 40 - 42 Best Viewing Good to Excellent (1 Effort Poor to Fair (0 points) Dates Missing or Inaccurate or point) Shows All C- 38.5 - 39.5 Unintelligible Incomplete Dates Compass 0 1.5 3 D+ 37 - 38 Direction and Missing or Viewing Time Inaccurate Information Shows All D 34.5 - 36.5 Unintelligible Total 0 1.5 3 Combined D- 33 - 34 References Missing or Incomplete or Score Shows All F < 33 Unintelligible Inaccurate