Astronomy101WeeklyProject1

BesurethatyourassignmentisclearlylabeledwithyournameanddiscussionsectionnumberandGSI
name.Ensurethatcalculationsareneatlydoneshowingallstepsandassumptions,citingwhereyougotthe
informationyouneededtosolvetheproblem.Graphsshouldbeneatlyconstructedwithclearaxesand
labels.100wordanswersneedtobetypewrittenforlegibility,inacademicproseandusingappropriate
grammarandpunctuation.Staplemultiplepagestogether.Therelevantpartsofthetextbookareidentified
tohelpyouwithsolvingtheproblems.
1.[relatedtoMathematicalInsight2.1]Atselectedtimes(i.e.duringatotaleclipse)theangularsizeofthe
moonandtheSunareexactlyequal.

a.Whatparametersdotheseangularsizesdependupon?

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b.ComputetheradiusoftheSuninunitsofthemoonsradius.Showyourcalculations,andcitethe
sourcesoftheinformationyouneededtolookuptosolvethisproblem.

[3]

2.[relatedtoMathematicalInsights1.1and1.2,1.4]Supposeyouhadacarthatcouldgoanywhereata
constantspeedof100km/hr(62mi/hr),eveninspace.Makesuretocitethesourcesforinformationyou
neededtolookuptosolvetheproblem.

a.HowlongwouldittaketodrivearoundtheEarthscircumferenceattheequator?Assumethat

youcandriveacrossbothlandandoceans(!).

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b.SupposewelefttheEarth.HowlongwouldittaketodrivetotheSun?

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c.Howlongwouldittake(inyears)todrivethe4.4lightyearstothenearbystarAlphaCentauri?

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3.[relatedtosection1.3]IfyouwereonMarswouldPolarisstillbethenorthstar?Explainyouranswerin
around100words,and/orusingacarefullydrawndiagram.

[3]
4.[explainedinclassonMonday,andLUsection13.3]Imagineacivilizationthatdecidedtocolonize
nearbyhabitableworlds.Thecivilizationsendsoutonecolonyship,whichestablishesacolony.10,000
yearslater,theoriginalworldandthenewcolonyeachsendoutacolonyship,whichthemselvesestablish
colonies.10,000yearslater,theoriginalworldandeachcolonyeachsendoutacolonyship,whichestablish
colonies.Theprocesscontinues.
a.Drawagraphofthenumberofworlds(theoriginalworldandcolonizedworlds),continuingtothe
first100,000years.Makesuretolabelyouraxes.

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b.Harder:Writeanexpressionforthenumberofworldsasafunctionoftimet.

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c.Harder:Assumingthisrateofgrowthcanbesustained,howlongwouldittakeforthiscivilization
tofillup100billionavailableworlds?AnapproximatecalculationisOK,ifyoustateyourapproximationsor
processforreachingyouranswer.

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d.Humanityhasnotyetsucceededinitssearchforintelligentextraterrestriallife.Inthecontextof
youranswertopartc,describeinaround100wordssomepossibleexplanationsforourfailuretodetect

intelligentalienlife(ifyoudidntanswerpartc,neverfearexplainoneormorepossiblesolutionstothe
FermiParadox).

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