DOCSLIB.ORG

College Students' Preinstructional Ideas On

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
College Students' Preinstructional Ideas On Part I: How Did We Get Here? College Students' Preinstructional Ideas on the Topic of Planet Formation, and the Development of the Planet Formation Concept Inventory; Part II: Evidence for Magnetically Driven Protoplanetary Disk Winds Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Simon, Molly Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 28/09/2021 19:16:30 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/633176 PART I: HOW DID WE GET HERE? COLLEGE STUDENTS' PREINSTRUCTIONAL IDEAS ON THE TOPIC OF PLANET FORMATION, AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PLANET FORMATION CONCEPT INVENTORY; PART II: EVIDENCE FOR MAGNETICALLY DRIVEN PROTOPLANETARY DISK WINDS by Molly Nora Simon Copyright c Molly Nora Simon 2019 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF PLANETARY SCIENCES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2019 2 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the support and guidance of so many amazing people! To my advisor, Chris Impey, thank you for taking a chance on a third-year graduate student looking to shift her focus from astrophysics research to astronomy education research. Your constant support, encouragement, levelheadedness, and humor has kept me grounded and motivated throughout this process. It has been a pleasure to learn from one of the greats! To Ilaria Pascucci, thank you for serving as my mentor for the first half of my studies. It was a true privilege to learn from you. Thank you for your continual support of my research interests throughout my entire time at LPL. To Sanlyn Buxner, it is safe to say I could not have done this without you. Thank you for being the calming voice of wisdom that I have grown so reliant upon. You are a jack of all trades: statistics, science, education, you do it all! Thank you for molding me into the researcher I am today - I appreciate you more than I could ever express in this 1-2 page limit. To Ed Prather, thank you for your wisdom and directness over the past few years. Your encouragement is what ultimately led me to pursue my passion for astronomy education research. Thank you for believing in me. To the rest of the Impey Research Group - Matthew, Martin, and Zander. You have been such wonderful colleagues throughout this process. Thank you for your invaluable feedback on papers, presentations, and most importantly - for your friendship. To the faculty members of LPL and Steward Observatory who allowed me to administer my surveys in your classes - thank you! This work could not have been completed without your willingness to let me pick your students' brains. To the friends I have made during my time in Tucson that have really become more 4 like family: James Keane, Rachel Fernandes, Ali Bramson, Michelle Thompson, Kyle Pearson, John Noonan, Laci Brock, Shane Stone, Jon Bapst, and Margaret Landis. This process has been astronomically more pleasant because of your friendship. Thank you for your Matlab assistance, the dinner dates, and the late night problem set sessions. To Sarah Peacock, how can I even begin to thank you in a few short sentences? You have been my best friend and partner in crime throughout this entire experience. Thank you for being my comfort blanket, a constant source of laughter, and my adventure buddy. I will miss you so very much! To my parents, Pam and Scooter Simon, I could fill an entire book with reasons why I am so grateful for you both. There is zero exaggeration when I say that I truly have the best, most generous, and most loving parents. You have allowed me to pursue this passion for the planets ever since I could speak. Thank you for visiting planetariums with me around the world, for sneaking into my conference talks, and for claiming me as your own even when I carried a picture of the Solar System around with me everywhere I went. This is only possible because you made it so. I love you both so much! To my family and friends near and far who have nurtured and supported my passion. I appreciate your willingness to (begrudgingly) sit through Journey to Infinity more times that you'd like to admit. The love I have for all of you is to infinity and beyond! To Ari - thank you for your unconditional love when I needed it most. This is the just the beginning of our adventure - onward to Chicago! And to our \Perfect Pooch" Tyrion - thank you for the kisses and snuggles. I love you both the mostest! Last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my grandfather, Sheldon Simon and my great-uncle Norman Simon for instilling in me a love of education. I miss you both everyday, and I hope you would be proud. It takes a village - and mine happens to be the best. 5 DEDICATION To everyone who has taken an unconventional path towards pursuing their dream... \Two roads diverged in a wood and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" - Robert Frost To Marilyn Simon, my greatest inspiration 6 Contents List of Figures...................................9 List of Tables.................................... 11 ABSTRACT.................................... 14 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION.......................... 16 1.1 Part I: Background and Motivation................... 17 1.2 Part II: Background and Motivation................... 19 Chapter 2 A SURVEY AND ANALYSIS OF COLLEGE STUDENTS' UN- DERSTANDING OF PLANET FORMATION BEFORE INSTRUCTION 24 2.1 Introduction................................ 24 2.2 Review of the Literature......................... 27 2.3 Methods.................................. 30 2.3.1 Setting and Participants..................... 30 2.3.2 Instrument Development..................... 32 2.3.3 Data Acquisition......................... 35 2.3.4 Data Analysis........................... 36 2.4 Results................................... 40 2.4.1 SSR Question 1: General Knowledge of Planet Formation... 40 2.4.2 SSR Question 2: Planetary Composition and the Architecture of our Solar System........................ 42 2.4.3 SSR Question 3: Planetary Motion and Migration....... 44 2.4.4 SSR Question 4: Basic Understanding of a Planet....... 45 2.4.5 SSR Question 5: The Solar System and Exoplanets...... 46 2.4.6 SSR Question 6: Solar System Formation and its Impact on Planetary System Architectures................. 48 2.5 Discussion................................. 50 2.5.1 Summary of Significant Results................. 50 2.5.2 The Impact of Previous Exposure to Astronomy........ 56 2.6 Conclusion................................. 59 7 Contents { Continued Chapter 3 THE DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF THE PLANET FORMATION CONCEPT INVENTORY (PFCI).............. 60 3.1 Introduction................................ 60 3.2 Methods.................................. 62 3.2.1 Concept Domain......................... 62 3.2.2 Test Question/Item Development................ 63 3.2.3 Preliminary Versions of the PFCI................ 63 3.3 Results................................... 70 3.3.1 PFCI Version 3 Sample...................... 70 3.3.2 Item Analysis I: Item Difficulty................. 70 3.3.3 Item Analysis II: Item Discrimination.............. 74 3.3.4 Student Learning Gains..................... 77 3.3.5 Instrument Reliability...................... 81 3.3.6 Instrument Validity........................ 81 3.4 Discussion................................. 83 3.4.1 Items Requiring Justification................... 83 3.4.2 Further Exploration of Learning Gains............. 86 3.5 Conclusions & Future Work....................... 90 Chapter 4 EVIDENCE FOR MAGNETICALLY DRIVEN PROTOPLANE- TARY DISK WINDS.............................. 92 4.1 Introduction................................ 92 4.2 Observations and Data Reduction.................... 96 4.2.1 Sample............................... 96 4.2.2 Observations........................... 99 4.2.3 Corrected Forbidden Line Profiles................ 100 4.2.4 Equivalent Widths........................ 103 4.3 Accretion Luminosities and Disk Accretion Rates........... 104 4.4 Deconstructing Forbidden Line Profiles................. 110 4.4.1 Gaussian Fitting......................... 111 4.4.2 The Low Velocity Component.................. 118 4.4.3 Velocity Shifts Among LVC................... 124 4.5 Results for the Low Velocity Component................ 126 4.5.1 Comparison to HEG....................... 126 4.5.2 Comparison to Recent Studies of Luminosity Relations.... 130 4.5.3 Fractional Contributions of the BC and NC to the LVC.... 131 4.5.4 Velocity Centroids of the BC and NC of the LVC....... 133 4.5.5 FWHM of BC and NC of the LVC: Dependence on Disk In- clination.............................. 135 8 Contents { Continued 4.5.6 Radial Surface Brightness of the Narrow LVC......... 139 4.5.7 Line Ratios............................ 143 4.6 Discussion................................. 146 4.6.1 Role of Winds in the Low Velocity Component......... 148 4.6.2 Comparison with Wind Models................. 150 4.7 Conclusions................................ 152 Chapter 5 CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK.............. 155 5.1 Part I: Summary of Significant Results................. 155 5.2 Future Work................................ 156 5.3 Part II: Summary of Significant Results................. 157 5.3.1
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Lonely Planet Lost in Space
    SPACE SCOOP NEWS FROM ACROSS THE UNIVERSE 14A LonelyНоември Planet2012 Lost in Space A rogue planet has been spotted wandering alone through space with no parent star in sight! The little orphan is thought to have formed in the same way as normal planets: from the leftover material around a young star. But for some reason this planet got kicked out of its home. Planets don't shine with their own light. If you've ever seen Venus, Mars or Jupiter in the night sky, you're actually seeing light from the Sun (the star closest to Earth) reflecting off them. Since rogue planets aren’t close to any stars, they don’t reflect any starlight making them very difficult to spot. Astronomers actually think these wandering worlds might be more common than stars in our Galaxy, but we just have a hard time spotting them! It's always tricky trying to calculate the size of objects so far away in space. Try looking at a boat on the horizon and try to guess how far it is and how big it is! It's even harder when the object is very dark and floating through space. Astronomers admit that they might have misjudged the size of this little rogue — it might not even be a planet at all, but a Brown Dwarf! These are star-like objects that are much bigger than planets — up to about 80 times bigger than Jupiter — but too small to be stars. They don't burn fuel at their cores, like stars do, so they are too cold to shine brightly.
    [Show full text]
  • Exep Science Plan Appendix (SPA) (This Document)
    ExEP Science Plan, Rev A JPL D: 1735632 Release Date: February 15, 2019 Page 1 of 61 Created By: David A. Breda Date Program TDEM System Engineer Exoplanet Exploration Program NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Dr. Nick Siegler Date Program Chief Technologist Exoplanet Exploration Program NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Concurred By: Dr. Gary Blackwood Date Program Manager Exoplanet Exploration Program NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology EXOPDr.LANET Douglas Hudgins E XPLORATION PROGRAMDate Program Scientist Exoplanet Exploration Program ScienceScience Plan Mission DirectorateAppendix NASA Headquarters Karl Stapelfeldt, Program Chief Scientist Eric Mamajek, Deputy Program Chief Scientist Exoplanet Exploration Program JPL CL#19-0790 JPL Document No: 1735632 ExEP Science Plan, Rev A JPL D: 1735632 Release Date: February 15, 2019 Page 2 of 61 Approved by: Dr. Gary Blackwood Date Program Manager, Exoplanet Exploration Program Office NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory Dr. Douglas Hudgins Date Program Scientist Exoplanet Exploration Program Science Mission Directorate NASA Headquarters Created by: Dr. Karl Stapelfeldt Chief Program Scientist Exoplanet Exploration Program Office NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology Dr. Eric Mamajek Deputy Program Chief Scientist Exoplanet Exploration Program Office NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory California Institute of Technology This research was carried out at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, under a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. © 2018 California Institute of Technology. Government sponsorship acknowledged. Exoplanet Exploration Program JPL CL#19-0790 ExEP Science Plan, Rev A JPL D: 1735632 Release Date: February 15, 2019 Page 3 of 61 Table of Contents 1.
    [Show full text]
  • A Review on Substellar Objects Below the Deuterium Burning Mass Limit: Planets, Brown Dwarfs Or What?
    geosciences Review A Review on Substellar Objects below the Deuterium Burning Mass Limit: Planets, Brown Dwarfs or What? José A. Caballero Centro de Astrobiología (CSIC-INTA), ESAC, Camino Bajo del Castillo s/n, E-28692 Villanueva de la Cañada, Madrid, Spain; [email protected] Received: 23 August 2018; Accepted: 10 September 2018; Published: 28 September 2018 Abstract: “Free-floating, non-deuterium-burning, substellar objects” are isolated bodies of a few Jupiter masses found in very young open clusters and associations, nearby young moving groups, and in the immediate vicinity of the Sun. They are neither brown dwarfs nor planets. In this paper, their nomenclature, history of discovery, sites of detection, formation mechanisms, and future directions of research are reviewed. Most free-floating, non-deuterium-burning, substellar objects share the same formation mechanism as low-mass stars and brown dwarfs, but there are still a few caveats, such as the value of the opacity mass limit, the minimum mass at which an isolated body can form via turbulent fragmentation from a cloud. The least massive free-floating substellar objects found to date have masses of about 0.004 Msol, but current and future surveys should aim at breaking this record. For that, we may need LSST, Euclid and WFIRST. Keywords: planetary systems; stars: brown dwarfs; stars: low mass; galaxy: solar neighborhood; galaxy: open clusters and associations 1. Introduction I can’t answer why (I’m not a gangstar) But I can tell you how (I’m not a flam star) We were born upside-down (I’m a star’s star) Born the wrong way ’round (I’m not a white star) I’m a blackstar, I’m not a gangstar I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar I’m not a pornstar, I’m not a wandering star I’m a blackstar, I’m a blackstar Blackstar, F (2016), David Bowie The tenth star of George van Biesbroeck’s catalogue of high, common, proper motion companions, vB 10, was from the end of the Second World War to the early 1980s, and had an entry on the least massive star known [1–3].
    [Show full text]
  • Perfect Planet?
    Key Stage 3 – Perfect planet? Notes for teachers At a glance This activity for gifted and talented students introduces some of the fascinating worlds outside our own solar system. Students begin by learning about the conditions which might make a planet habitable. They then study data about exoplanets, and evaluate evidence to predict which might harbour life. Learning Outcomes Students outline the conditions that make an exoplanet habitable. Students evaluate evidence to predict which exoplanets might harbour life. Each group of two or three students will need 1 copy of the pupil worksheet 1 copy of the Planet profile to complete 1 copy of the sheet Habitable or not? to complete One Exoplanet information sheet. There are twelve of these, each about a different exoplanet. Each group needs a different one. They are best printed in colour and laminated. www.oxfordsparks.net/planet Possible Lesson Activities 1. Starter activity Show the animation ‘Rogue planet’ to the class. Repeat the viewing, focusing on the section on exoplanets from 1:32 to 2:16. 2. Main activity Divide the class into twelve groups, and outline the activity as described on the pupil worksheet. Allow students time to read Conditions for life and Habitable zone on the pupil worksheet, then check their understanding. Make the link between the term Goldilocks zone and the children’s story of the same name. Give each group one copy of the Planet profile proforma to complete as well as one Exoplanet information sheet. There are twelve Exoplanet information sheets; each group needs a different one. Allow time for each group to complete its Planet profile, then display these around the room.
    [Show full text]
  • Recent Results from Gravitational Microlensing
    Recent Results from Gravitational Microlensing • Bound planets • Unbound/Distant planets Takahiro Sumi (Osaka University) MOA collaboration NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt planetary microlensing Microlensing observation global network Survey Group Micro Follow-up Group lensing Alert MOA(NewZealand) PLANET µFUN OGLE(Chile), Robonet-II Anomaly Wide field Alert MiNDSTEp Low cadence • Pointing each candidate • High cadence MOA (since 1995) （Microlensing Observation in Astrophysics） （ New Zealand/Mt. John Observatory, Latitude： 44°S, Alt: 1029m ） Mirror : 1.8m CCD : 80M pix.(12x15cm) FOV : 2.2 deg.2 (10 times as full moon) Observational fields • 50 deg.2 disk Galactic Center • （２００x full moon） • ５0 M stars 1obs/１hr 1obs/１０min. ~600events／yr http://www.massey.ac.nz/~iabond/alert/alert.html Mass measurement of the cold, low-mass planet MOA-2009-BLG-266Lb Muraki et al. 2011 mp = 10.4 +- 1.7 MEarth M* = 0.56 +- 0.09 M a = 3.2 (+1.9 -0.5) AU Orbital period: P=7.6 (+7.7-1.5) yrs. demonstrates the capability to measure microlensing parallax with the Deep Impact (or EPOXI) spacecraft in a Heliocentric orbit. anomaly Summary of Planet candidates • RV • Transit (Kepler) • Direct image • Microlensing：14planets Mass measurements Mass by Bayesian Planet Frequency vs semimajor axis 6planets dN = 0.36 dex"2 dlogq dlogs M~0.5M 7x • Most ice & gas giant planets do not migrate very far in K,M dwarf ! dN/dloga=0.39±0.15 • Amount of migration M~M is a continuous parameter Gould et al. 2010 Planet mass ratio function 4 Neptune, 1 sub-Saturn, dN n "q 5 Jupiter dlogq n = −0.68 ±0.20 (Sumi et al.
    [Show full text]
  • TITLE:Orbital Parameters Estimation for Compact Binary Stars
    1 AUTHOR: Penélope Alejandra Longa-Peña, MSc DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy TITLE: Orbital Parameters Estimation for Compact Binary Stars DATE OF DEPOSIT: . I agree that this thesis shall be available in accordance with the regulations governing the University of Warwick theses. I agree that the summary of this thesis may be submitted for publication. I agree that the thesis may be photocopied (single copies for study purposes only). Theses with no restriction on photocopying will also be made available to the British Library for microfilming. The British Library may supply copies to individuals or libraries. subject to a statement from them that the copy is supplied for non-publishing purposes. All copies supplied by the British Li- brary will carry the following statement: “Attention is drawn to the fact that the copyright of this thesis rests with its author. This copy of the thesis has been supplied on the condition that anyone who consults it is un- derstood to recognise that its copyright rests with its author and that no quotation from the thesis and no information derived from it may be published without the author’s written consent.” AUTHOR’S SIGNATURE: . USER’S DECLARATION 1. I undertake not to quote or make use of any information from this thesis without making acknowledgement to the author. 2. I further undertake to allow no-one else to use this thesis while it is in my care. DATE SIGNATURE ADDRESS ............................................................................................. ............................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Strong Dipole Magnetic Fields in Fast Rotating Fully Convective Stars
    Strong dipole magnetic fields in fast rotating fully convective stars D. Shulyak1∗, A. Reiners1, A. Engeln1, L. Malo2,3, R. Yadav4, J. Morin5, & O. Kochukhov6 1Institute for Astrophysics, Georg-August University, Friedrich-Hund-Platz 1, D-37077 Göt- tingen, Germany 2Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT) Corporation, 65-1238 Mamalahoa Highway, Ka- muela, Hawaii 96743, USA 3Institut de recherche sur les exoplanétes (iREx), Département de Physique, Université de Montréal, Montréal, QC H3C 3J7 4Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA 5LUPM, Universite de Montpellier, CNRS, place E. Bataillon, F-34095 Montpellier, France 6Department Physics and Astronomy, Uppsala University, Box 516, 751 20, Uppsala, Sweden M dwarfs are the most numerous stars in our Galaxy with masses between approximately 0.5 and 0.1 solar mass. Many of them show surface activity qual- itatively similar to our Sun and generate flares, high X-ray fluxes, and large- scale magnetic fields1–4. Such activity is driven by a dynamo powered by the convective motions in their interiors2,5–8. Understanding properties of stellar magnetic fields in these stars finds a broad application in astrophysics, includ- ing, e.g., theory of stellar dynamos and environment conditions around planets that may be orbiting these stars. Most stars with convective envelopes follow a rotation-activity relationship where various activity indicators saturate in stars with rotation periods shorter than a few days2,6,8. The activity gradually de- clines with rotation rate in stars rotating more slowly. It is thought that due to a tight empirical correlation between X-ray and magnetic flux9, the stellar magnetic fields will also saturate, to values around ∼ 4 kG10.
    [Show full text]
  • Issue 117, March 2009
    NNASA’sASA’s LunarLunar ScienceScience InstituteInstitute BeginsBegins WorkWork It has been 40 years since humans fi rst set foot upon the Moon, taking that historic “giant step” for mankind. Although interest in our nearest celestial neighbor has waned considerably, it has never disappeared completely and is now enjoying a remarkable resurgence. The Moon was born when our home planet encountered a rogue planet at its birth, and has since recorded the earliest history of the solar system (a record nearly obliterated on Earth). With four spacecraft orbiting the Moon in the past three years (from four separate nation groups) and a fi fth, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, due to arrive this spring, we are about to remake our understanding of this planetary body. To further contribute to the advancement of our knowledge, NASA recently created a Lunar Science Institute (NLSI) to revitalize the lunar science community and train a new generation of scientists. This spring, NASA has selected seven academic and research teams to form the initial core of the NLSI. This virtual institute is designed to support scientifi c research that supplements and extends existing NASA lunar science programs in coordination with U.S. space exploration policy. The new teams that augment NLSI were selected in a competitive evaluation process that began with the release of a cooperative agreement notice in June 2008. NASA received proposals from 33 research teams. L“We are extremely pleased with the response of the science community and the high quality of proposals received,” said David Morrison, the institute’s interim director at NASA Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, California.
    [Show full text]
  • GEORGE HERBIG and Early Stellar Evolution
    GEORGE HERBIG and Early Stellar Evolution Bo Reipurth Institute for Astronomy Special Publications No. 1 George Herbig in 1960 —————————————————————– GEORGE HERBIG and Early Stellar Evolution —————————————————————– Bo Reipurth Institute for Astronomy University of Hawaii at Manoa 640 North Aohoku Place Hilo, HI 96720 USA . Dedicated to Hannelore Herbig c 2016 by Bo Reipurth Version 1.0 – April 19, 2016 Cover Image: The HH 24 complex in the Lynds 1630 cloud in Orion was discov- ered by Herbig and Kuhi in 1963. This near-infrared HST image shows several collimated Herbig-Haro jets emanating from an embedded multiple system of T Tauri stars. Courtesy Space Telescope Science Institute. This book can be referenced as follows: Reipurth, B. 2016, http://ifa.hawaii.edu/SP1 i FOREWORD I first learned about George Herbig’s work when I was a teenager. I grew up in Denmark in the 1950s, a time when Europe was healing the wounds after the ravages of the Second World War. Already at the age of 7 I had fallen in love with astronomy, but information was very hard to come by in those days, so I scraped together what I could, mainly relying on the local library. At some point I was introduced to the magazine Sky and Telescope, and soon invested my pocket money in a subscription. Every month I would sit at our dining room table with a dictionary and work my way through the latest issue. In one issue I read about Herbig-Haro objects, and I was completely mesmerized that these objects could be signposts of the formation of stars, and I dreamt about some day being able to contribute to this field of study.
    [Show full text]
  • Arxiv:2010.00015V3 [Hep-Ph] 26 Apr 2021 Galactic Halo Can Scatter with Exoplanets, Lose Energy, and Gles Are the Same Set of Planets, Without DM Heating
    MIT-CTP/5230 SLAC-PUB-17556 Exoplanets as Sub-GeV Dark Matter Detectors Rebecca K. Leane1, 2, ∗ and Juri Smirnov3, 4, y 1Center for Theoretical Physics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA 2SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94039, USA 3Center for Cosmology and AstroParticle Physics (CCAPP), The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA 4Department of Physics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH 43210, USA (Dated: April 27, 2021) We present exoplanets as new targets to discover Dark Matter (DM). Throughout the Milky Way, DM can scatter, become captured, deposit annihilation energy, and increase the heat flow within exoplanets. We estimate upcoming infrared telescope sensitivity to this scenario, finding actionable discovery or exclusion searches. We find that DM with masses above about an MeV can be probed with exoplanets, with DM-proton and DM-electron scattering cross sections down to about 10−37cm2, stronger than existing limits by up to six orders of magnitude. Supporting evidence of a DM origin can be identified through DM-induced exoplanet heating correlated with Galactic position, and hence DM density. This provides new motivation to measure the temperature of the billions of brown dwarfs, rogue planets, and gas giants peppered throughout our Galaxy. Introduction{Are we alone in the Universe? This ques- Exoplanet Temperatures tion has driven wide-reaching interest in discovering a 104 planet like our own. Regardless of whether or not we ever find alien life, the scientific advances from finding DM Heating and understanding other planets will be enormous. From a particle physics perspective, new celestial bodies pro- vide a vast playground to discover new physics.
    [Show full text]
  • 9:00 Pm SFAA ANNUAL AWARDS and MEMBERSHIP DINNER MARIPOSA HUNTER’S POINT YACHT CLUB 405 Terry A
    Vol. 64, No. 1 – January2016 FRIDAY, JANUARY 22, 2015 - 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm SFAA ANNUAL AWARDS AND MEMBERSHIP DINNER MARIPOSA HUNTER’S POINT YACHT CLUB 405 Terry A. Francois Boulevard San Francisco Directions: http://www.yelp.com/map/mariposa-hunters-point-yacht-club-san-francisco Dear Members, our Annual January get-together will be Friday, January 22nd, 2016 from 5:00 to 9:00 at the Mariposa, Hunter's Point Yacht Club. There are many things to celebrate in this fun atmosphere, with tacos served by El Tonayense, salads & more, along with a full cash bar. All members are invited and SFAA will be paying for food. Non-members are welcome at a cost of $25. Telescopes will be set up on the patio, which provides beautiful views of the bay. We will be celebrating a year when we have made a successful transition to the Presidio, have continued the success of the sharing and viewing we have on Mt Tam, expanded and strengthened our City Star Parties and volunteered at many schools. Our Yosemite trip was very successful and the opportunity to tour Lick Observatory will not be soon forgotten. We will also be welcoming new members to our board and commending those whose work and commitment, our club could not function without. We look forward to enjoying the evening with all those who enjoy the night sky with the San Francisco Amateur Astronomers. There is plenty of parking, as well as easy access from the KT line and the 22 bus. Please RSVP at [email protected] Anil Chopra 2016 SAN FRANCISCO AMATEUR ASTRONOMERS GENERAL ELECTION The following members have been elected to serve as San Francisco Amateur Astronomers’ Officers and Directors for calendar year 2016.
    [Show full text]
  • De Natura Rerum: Exoplanets and Exoearths Pierre Léna Que L’Homme Contemple La Nature Dans Sa Haute Et Pleine Majesté… Que La Terre Lui Paraisse Comme Un Point
    De Natura Rerum: Exoplanets and ExoEarths Pierre Léna Que l’homme contemple la nature dans sa haute et pleine majesté… que la Terre lui paraisse comme un point. Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) Pensées Introduction At the 2004 Plenary Session of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences on Paths of Discovery, I presented a paper with the title The case of exoplanets [Léna 2005]. It was then close to the 10th anniversary of the discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995. There is no point in repeating here this paper. But in the last decade, the discoveries on this subject have been so considerable that, the 20th anniversary coming, it is worth addressing the topic again. During the first decade 1995-2004, only 133 exoplanets had been discovered by an indirect method, and the first direct image of an exoplanet was not even confirmed. Today in our Galaxy containing the Earth, statistics begin to indicate that on average every star has a planet, which means over 100 billions of exoplanets for this galaxy alone, of which nearly 2000 are now identified and more or less characterized. How does the subject of exoplanets relate with the Evolving concepts of nature, the title of this Plenary Session? In the 2005 paper, I recalled the long history of a quest which began metaphysically with Democritus, was disputed theologically during the Middle Age, provided phantasies to poets and writers, until it emerged as a scientific problem, to be addressed with the investigative methods of astronomy during the 19th century. Along this path, Giordano Bruno, who expressed ideas close to Lucretius’s ones, was condemned to the fire for multiple reasons, including this one.
    [Show full text]