The Milky Way
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Unit 4: The Milky Way This material was developed by the Friends of the Dominion Astrophysical Observatory with the assistance of a Natural Science and Engineering Research Council PromoScience grant and the NRC. It is a part of a larger project to present grade-appropriate material that matches 2020 curriculum requirements to help students understand planets, with a focus on exoplanets. This material is aimed at BC Grade 6 students. French versions are available. Instructions for teachers ● For questions and to give feedback contact: Calvin Schmidt [email protected], ● All units build towards the Big Idea in the curriculum showing our solar system in the context of the Milky Way and the Universe, and provide background for understanding exoplanets. ● Look for Ideas for extending this section, Resources, and Review and discussion questions at the end of each topic in this Unit. These should give more background on each subject and spark further classroom ideas. We would be happy to help you expand on each topic and develop your own ideas for your students. Contact us at the [email protected]. Instructions for students ● If there are parts of this unit that you find confusing, please contact us at [email protected] for help. ● We recommend you do a few sections at a time. We have provided links to learn more about each topic. ● You don’t have to do the sections in order, but we recommend that. Do sections you find interesting first and come back and do more at another time. ● It is helpful to try the activities rather than just read them. ● Explore the “Ideas for extending this section” and “Resources” sections at the end of each topic in this Unit - they aren’t just for teachers! Learning Objectives ● To appreciate the number of stars in the Milky Way ● To understand the basic structure of the Milky Way Galaxy viewed from above and the side ● To understand the physical components of the Milky Way: stars, planets, gas, dust, dark matter. Friends of the DAO - ExoExplorations - https://centreoftheuniverse.org/exoexplorations 1 ● To understand our solar system’s location in the Milky Way, how that relates to the appearance of it in our sky, and how our solar system orbits the centre. ● To understand that most of it is unexplored Learning Outcomes ● Students will know that the Milky Way is made up of billions of stars but that it is so big we can only see stars that are closest to us or extremely bright. ● Students will know when the Milky Way can be seen from Canada, and recognizing it in both summer and winter ● Students will know that the Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy and can illustrate what it might look like ● Students will know how the Plaskett Telescope was used to find the shape, size and rotation of our galaxy. ● Students will know what kind of objects they are most likely to find in the plane of the Galaxy, and what type of objects are not likely to be found there. Materials and tools needed for the activities ● Activities 1, 3 and 4: Stellarium ○ You should make sure that you’ve installed Stellarium and know some of the basics as we’ve described in our Stellarium Introduction document. We will use it frequently in this unit. ● Activity 2: ○ Paper and coloring pencils. ○ Scissors (Optional). ● Activity 5: ○ Paper and pencil. ○ Calculator. Time Required ● Lesson time - 90 minutes ● Activity time ○ Activities One to Four - 10 minutes each ○ Activity Five - 20 minutes Contents The activities are marked in orange. ● Understanding the Milky Way ● It encircles the sky ○ Activity 1: Looking at the Milky Way in Stellarium ● Why does it look like pieces are missing? ● We’re seeing the Milky Way from the inside out Friends of the DAO - ExoExplorations - https://centreoftheuniverse.org/exoexplorations 2 ● What does the Milky Way look like from above? ○ Activity 2: Your Cosmic Address: The Long Address ● Our entire solar system orbits the centre of the Galaxy ○ Activity 3: Find the direction we’re moving in Stellarium ● How many Stars are in the Milky Way? ● The stars only look close together ● What else is in the Milky Way? ● It's got little companions ○ Activity 4: Viewing the Milky Way’s surroundings on Stellarium ● It’s mostly unexplored ○ Activity 5: How long would it take to get out of the Milky Way? U nderstanding the Milky Way In the last unit we were introduced to the Milky Way. We learned that Galileo discovered, using his small telescope, that this beautiful, mysterious band of light is made up of stars. In the 400 years since Galileo’s discovery, astronomers have uncovered more of the Milky Way’s secrets. We’ve learned that it isn’t just something interesting in the sky: it is our solar system’s home. We live inside it, which means our Sun is a star in the Milky Way. Seen from a planet going around another star in the Milky Way, our Sun would be just another average star in the Milky Way in that planet’s sky. In this unit we’re going to learn more about where we are in the Milky Way, what it might look like from the outside, how our solar system orbits inside it, and more about what it contains. I t encircles the sky In Canada, the Milky Way is usually noticed by people in the summertime when they are camping on moonless nights. As we mentioned in Unit 3, it’s only easy to see the Milky Way when the Moon is not in the sky. It is also important that you are not in a city as the city lights will interfere with seeing it. We’ll explore the Milky Way more in Stellarium, beginning with Activity 1 at the end of this section. The Milky Way runs roughly in a north-south direction across the sky, and there are parts that can be seen from people who live far south of us.You can see it from everywhere in the world at some point in the year, if your sky conditions and location are good. The portions that can be seen best from the southern hemisphere are wider and brighter than what we see in Canada. One of the widest and brightest parts of the Milky Way is close to the horizon in Canada, which makes it dimmer, as can be seen in Figure 1. But if you live in the Friends of the DAO - ExoExplorations - https://centreoftheuniverse.org/exoexplorations 3 southern hemisphere like Chile or Australia this is high overhead and bright, and you can see the parts that dive below the horizon in this photo. It made such an impression on the Aborigine people of Australia that their stories about the sky centre mostly on the Milky Way rather than constellations of bright stars. You can read more about their stories in the Resources and References section at the end of this section. Figure 1: The Milky Way from Canada (photo by Nic Annau) You can see only half of the widest part in figure 1, and not very well because our atmosphere dims some of its light near the horizon, making it harder to see. That part is called “The Bulge” because, well, it looks wider. What about the rest of it? Figure 2 shows a picture of the entire Milky Way that has squished the entire sky into one image. This requires some explanation to relate it to the real sky. Unlike a regular photo of something in front of you, if you’re looking towards the Bulge at the centre and line it up with the real Bulge in the sky, both the right side and left side would actually connect behind your head and you’d have to turn around to see those parts of the Milky Way. When we say it encircles the sky we mean that the Milky Way goes all the way around the sky. Friends of the DAO - ExoExplorations - https://centreoftheuniverse.org/exoexplorations 4 This all-sky image showing 1.7 billion stars in the Milky Way was made with the European Space Agency’s Gaia spacecraft. You can see the rest of the Bulge shown in figure 1. If you look carefully you might be able to match the left side of the Bulge in figure 2 to figure 1. Figure 2: Map showing 1.7 billion stars in the Milky Way (courtesy GAIA/European Space Agency) You can imagine a line drawn horizontally along the middle of this: we call that the “Galactic Equator” or “Galactic Plane”. In Activity 1 you’ll add that line in Stellarium to help you see where the Milky Way is in the sky. A ctivity 1: Looking at the Milky Way in Stellarium ● Open Stellarium and make sure it’s nighttime and the location of the program matches yours. You can adjust these on the “date and time” and “location” menus. It’s also preferable that the moon is visible in the sky. ● In the sky tab, make sure your light pollution is set to “take from location database”. ● Now close all the open windows and drag around the scene to look for the Milky Way. You may see a band of stars that looks like Figure 1. ● Depending on the amount of light pollution in your location, the Milky Way will either appear very faint, or simply impossible to spot. What can you do to fix that? Friends of the DAO - ExoExplorations - https://centreoftheuniverse.org/exoexplorations 5 ● Open the “Sky and viewing options” window again, untick the “take from location database” box next to “light pollution” and decrease it as much as you want.