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Astronomy 104 Stories of Stellar Evolution

Fall 2007

Due: Monday, Nov. 5 at class.

For this paper, you will research and write about the objects found in an assigned section of the sky (see the end of this handout to determined your assigned section of sky). Use the stars, nebula, clusters, etc. found in your part of the sky to tell the story of stellar evolution. Organize your paper in terms of stellar evolution (i.e. follow the progression of ideas in chapters 18 through 22 of the text), rather than go constellation by constellation. Your paper should connect and relate the objects seen in the sky to your explanation of stellar evolution, and to what we have studied in class. Show several examples of each of the different types of stars. For example, show examples of different main sequence stars. Your paper should be well organized, thorough, and include many examples. It should be interesting to read, not just dry facts. Think of creative ways to demonstrate the connections of your objects with stellar evolution. Perhaps you could make an HR diagram for your objects. Include tables of interesting and relevant stellar properties. You might want to include images and star charts. Concentrate on naked eye and binocular or small telescope objects, but include others as needed to be sure to have recent results (e.g. if there is a recent HST image of an object in your part of the sky, you should include it in your discussion, even if its not a naked eye object). You should make note of equipment is needed to see the object. Be sure to reread your paper and make sure it is complete and has a clear story line. A final word of advice: try to balance all parts of stellar evolution. Don't go into too much detail on one stage and then skimp on another.

You should write for an audience who is generally scientifically literate, but who has not had astronomy. Think about how you would explain stellar evolution to someone while showing them the sky. Imagine that you take your family outside the next time you are home, and explain what you have learned in this class using the objects in the sky for examples.

You will find the resources you used for the AConstellations@ paper will be good for this assignment. In particular, I think you will find "Burham's Celestial Handbook" will be a good source. Do not forget the constellation web sites you reviewed. I think Prof. Kaler=s web site on stars and constellations will be quite useful. Use the image sites you reviewed to find images of objects to enhance your paper. All factual information in your text must be referenced. If I cannot easily verify your information, your grade will be lowered. For web sites, include the full url to the site, as well as the date you accessed it. Remember to include references for any images you use.

Your paper should be 6 - 8 standard pages, excluding images. By "standard page" I mean: double spaced, one inch or smaller margins, 12 or 10 point font..

All papers should be clear, well organized, and cover the range of stellar evolution. Be sure to state the time and date you are using.

At the end of your paper (but not part of the 6-8 pages) include the following: 1) an annotated bibliography and 2) an appendix which lists the constellations you are using and cross references them to the sources in your bibliography.

AA@ papers will:

be an accurate description of stellar evolution with all stages explained.

include objects in the sky that represent the stages of stellar evolution.

make connections the objects in the sky and the explanation of stellar evolution

use examples from all of the visible sky on the assigned date and time

will use sensible examples...i.e. major stars from majors constellations, not dim obscure stars from minor constellations

will describe where in the sky (e.g. altitude and azimuth) the objects can be seen in addition to saying which constellation the object is in

include multiple examples, especially of main sequence stars

include star charts cross referenced to the text

include an HR diagram linked to the text

include images of some objects

have recent detailed images of some objects (e.g. from the HST)

clearly indicate the equipment needed to see an object (naked eye, binoculars, small telescope, big telescope...)

make clear connections between the properties of the stars and objects and what we see (e.g. if you show two red giant stars and one is much brighter than the other, talk about how all stars of the same spectral and luminosity class have the same intrinsic brightness, the dim red giant must be more distant)

use many references

include and annotated bibliography and an appendix with the list of constellations used.

be a creative and fun to read story of stellar evolution!

AC@ papers will

use only a few constellations

neglect one or more stages of evolution

have poor choices of objects (e.g. dim obscure objects in minor constellations rather than well known prominent objects in major constellations)

have few or no images

have few or no charts or diagrams

just one example for each stage

no recent detailed images

use only a few references

AB@ papers will be somewhere in between!

Here is your section of the sky. Find the LST at midnight on your birthday. Use your star charts to determine what you can see at midnight on your birthday. Write your paper based on that section of sky. If your birthday is between August 25 and Sept 30, or March 5 to April 25, and you are having trouble finding a star forming region in your sky, you can shift your time by 1 - 2 hours either direction ( e.g. 10:00 pm to 2:00 am) in order to get either Sagittarius or Orion in your sky.

This is a graded assignment, worth 50% of the Aassignments@ part of your final grade.