13 of the Greatest Discoveries in Astronomy (total 12 points)
SCI 105 Scientific Inquiry

Physics Department --- Mercer University --- Fall 2006

Watch the video in class (from The Science Channel, August 2006, with narrator Bill Nye “The Science Guy.”). For each discovery after the first one, write down responses to the following:

· What was the discovery? (“The planets move.”)

· Who made the discovery? (“Babylonians”),

· Roughly when was it made? (“Ancient times, maybe 1000BC?”)

· What one question do you have about that discovery? (“How many planets did they see?”)

1. The planets move… How many planets are there?

2. The Earth moves. (Copernicus 1543)
Why does the Earth orbit the Sun?
Why had no one questioned this before?
How fast does it move?
Why did they decide to theorize the Earth is not the center?
How did he discover it?
How could they actually prove this?
When did he start writing the book?
What made him realize this?
What did Copernicus use to discover the Earth’s movement?
What got Copernicus interested in astronomy in the first place?
Does all else around the Earth move with it?
Why is the Sun the center?
Why did Copernicus reexamine the Greek theories?
Where did he get his idea from?
What kind of oppression did Copernicus (suffer?)?
How did he decide the Sun would be the center?
Did this cause a calendar change?

3. Planetary orbits are elliptical. (Kepler 1571)
Why are some orbits less circular than others?
What first made him ask this question? (Planets move in ellipses?)
What about Earth’s Moon?
How did he know it was Mercury?
How many tables did it take?
How did he learn this?
How did he come up with the tables?
How did he produce a chart to predict movement?
How did Kepler create his model of the universe?
Did Kepler’s findings help him with the founding of calculus?
Do the elliptical orbits of planets ever overlap?
Did he agree with Copernicus?
Why are the orbits elliptical?
What other planets did he figure orbits for?
What kind of math was used if not calculus?
What kind of acclaim did he receive when he was correct?
What made him think of the shape of planetary orbits?
Is it consistent? Is it getting narrower?

4. Jupiter has moons. (Galileo 1609)
Where do moons come from?
What made him think to turn a toy into a scientific instrument?
So did he invent the telescope?
How precise or powerful was his telescope?
How strong was his telescope?
How could he know this with such a simple telescope?
How long did it take him to make the telescope?
Why did he think they were stars?
What did the movements of the moons look like?
How did Galileo perfect the telescope?
Do all planets have moons? Why Jupiter?
Did he see moons around any other planets?
How did Galileo rationalize the heliocentric system with his religious beliefs?
What inspired Galileo to make his telescope out of a toy?
How was the telescope first thought of?
How complicated was his telescope?
How did he tell moons apart from stars?
How could he tell they were moons, not asteroids?

5. Halley’s Comet. (1695)
Why don’t comets orbit like planets?
How was he so sure with almost no proof?
How did he know the comet circled the Sun every 76 years, if he didn’t live that long?
Did people persecute him also?
How did he know it would come back?
How could he tell they’re the same comets?
How did he know it was 76 years?
How did he decide it’d come every 76 years?
What is the tail distance of the comet?
What made Halley want to find out more while others feared?
Can Halley predict if the comet will ever disappear?
Why does the comet return?
How did Halley figure out 3 comets were actually only one?
Where did he get his historical comet data from?
When will it return?
What method did Halley use to compute the trajectories?
How did they know each comet?
Will it always follow the same schedule?

6. Milky Way is a disk of stars. (Hershel 1700s)
How did he count the stars?
How many stars are there?
Is the Milky Way called that because the stars are so “jam packed?”
What were the telescopes made of? How many stars did he count? How many are there now?
How many telescopes did he make? How many stars did he count?
Why did they name it the Milky Way?
How did it get the name Milky Way?
How long did it take to count stars in each field?
How many stars are in the Milky Way?
How had the Milky Way been conceptualized? When was it discovered?
Why is the Milky Way in rings/swirls?
How did Hershel decide the Milky Way is a disk?
How much did ancient telescopes cost?
How did he divide the sky to count the stars?
How did he build his telescopes?
Are there planets around these stars?

7. General Relativity. (Einstein 1915)
How did Einstein realize that space was curved?
If space is curved, how do you factor this in when going to the Moon?
So can you measure the pull of space like the pull of gravity?
How did he come up with the idea of curved space?
What made him so interested in Mercury?
How did they see the changes?
How did he come up with the equation?
How long did it take to predict Mercury’s paths?
How does relativity equate to an atom bomb?
How did Einstein initially find the discrepancies in Mercury?
Does any other planet shift orbits?
How did Einstein’s study of Mercury’s orbit become the Theory of Relativity?
How did Einstein get his Theory of Relativity?
Why was it thought of as curved space?
How did he specifically refine Newton’s theory?
How did they know how to test his theory with pictures of stars?
Does this theory apply to smaller objects?

8. The universe is expanding. (Hubble 1924)
When did the Big Bang happen?
How do you measure the universe?
How do they know how to make a telescope see so far?
How did he calculate the distances?
How long did it take to build the telescope?
How far does the universe expand?
What made him want to do his job?
How powerful was the telescope?
How far will the universe expand?
Were there any that were moving in? Why were they?
Could he know if the universe is infinitely expanding?
What causes the expansion?
Where is the Milky Way located in relation to the expansion?
How powerful is the Hubble telescope?
How fast is the expansion?
How does the telescope measure difference?
How does he know blue = approaching and red = moving away?
How did they discover the color shift?
At what rate?

9. Milky Way emits radio waves. (Janske 1930)
When did everything get sucked in? (Black hole at the center of the galaxy)
What does a black hole do?
How can we see light years away?
Had anyone proposed the idea of a black hole before Janske’s discovery?
What tools did he use?
What good does it do to know this?
Why the Milky Way?
How was he able to pinpoint the location it came from?
What does a black hole look like? (Trick question)
What kind of waves if any does a black hole emit?
Do all galaxies emit radio waves?
Do black holes emit radio waves?
How did Janske discover the source of the radio waves?
How many things are detected with (different?) wavelengths?
How did he pinpoint the black hole?
How can you measure a black hole?
How do they know that the hole could fit billions of our suns?
At what strength is this black hole expanding?

10. Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation. (Penzias & Wilson 1964)
What existed before the Big Bang? (Origin of Big Bang)
Why would the Big Bang still leave heat that exists today?
What exactly is the Big Bang Theory?
Is there any other reason this radiation could exist besides the Big Bang?
How many years did it take to do the experiment?
Why did they decide to study this?
What made (them) want to do this?
Why did they want to measure radiation?
How big was the Big bang?
What were Penzias and Wilson’s ideas about the Big Bang Theory previous to their discovery?
Why does radiation = Big Bang?
Are we really a result from the Big Bang?
Where does the radiation come from?
Why would pigeons change the measure of radiation? What makes the Big Bang fact?
How do they know for sure where the radiation is coming from?
What did the telescope measure specifically?
It supports the theory of the Big Bang, 300,000 years ago? How can they know that?
How can they be so sure about the Big Bang Theory?
Any plausible reason besides Big bang?
Could there be another event, other than a Big Bang, that causes such background radiation?
What did measuring the radiation from the Earth to the Milky Way prove? What is it needed for?

11. Gamma Ray Bursts. (1960s)
How much energy is released in a gamma ray burst?
How do gamma ray bursts occur so frequently?
What is the importance of these gamma ray bursts?
Why are gamma ray bursts considered a possible cause of extinction on Earth? What evidence is there of this?
What do gamma ray bursts do to our galaxy?
Did this have an effect on the Cold War?
What causes them to burst?
How fast do supernovae burst?
Do gamma rays affect the earth?
Do they know what causes gamma ray bursts?
Will these bursts ever interfere with the Earth?
Can gamma ray bursts destroy the Earth?
What causes gamma ray bursts?
How did gamma ray bursts cause worldwide extinctions?
What was the closest burst?
What evidence do we have to support the gamma extinction theory?
What kind of events cause gamma ray bursts?
Could nuclear gamma rays affect human life?

12. Planets orbiting other stars. (Jeff Marcy, Alex Volchan 1990s)
Even if we identify a planet with Earth-like conditions, how can we get to it?
What degree do you need to have to use one of those telescopes?
Can people live on these other planets?
How long might it be until we can see if there are any other earths out there? How many planets have they found so far?
Any planets that look like Earth now?
What significance does this have?
So are (people) going to live on another planet?
How do you know where to look?
How many planets are in the “prime zone”?
Where are the triple/quadruple planet systems?
Will these telescopes find planets ever farther away?
Do other earth-like planets exist?
Could life exist on a pulsar-orbiting planet?
Are they trying to find extraterrestrial life with their work?
Are there any possibilities for earth-sized planets?
Couldn’t geothermal activity counteract a too-cold planet’s (in)ability to hold life?
How many planetary systems have been discovered?
Can this device take pictures of the new planets found?

13. The universe is accelerating. (Saul Perlmutter 1998)
What is dark energy?
What will happen if the universe keeps accelerating?
Why is the universe accelerating and how do they know?
How quickly is it accelerating?
When will satellite be released?
What effect does this have on the Earth and the people on the Earth?
How long does it take to build a telescope of that size?
How does dark energy work against gravitational force?
What is dark energy made from?
Does it go against the Big Bang Theory?
Will the universe ever decelerate? Stop?
How would you measure the acceleration?
What is dark energy? How does it relate to the accelerating universe?
Why is it important to know that the universe is expanding?
How fast is the acceleration of the universe?
How is the acceleration of the galaxy measured?
What is the “dark energy” that is causing the universe to expand?
What is dark energy? How is it compared to gravity?