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Student Resource Sheet ESS - 6 I CAN SEE THE STARS IN YOUR EYES! Your space craft begins to travel at the speed of light, taking you towards the sun. Traveling at this speed, the trip from Earth to the sun, a distance of 93 million miles, would take about 8 minutes, not very long for such a long trip! Yet, to get to the next closest star, Proxima Centauri, would take 4.2 years. “Hmmm…,” you think to yourself, “that might be an interesting fact to include in my presentation.” Even more amazing is that most stars are much farther from Earth than Proxima Centauri. Even though the stars in the night sky appear to look the same, they may be very different. In this investigation, you will identify characteristics of stars in order to distinguish among the many stars in the universe. Objective When you have completed this investigation, you should be able to identify characteristics of stars in order to explain how these characteristics affect a star’s appearance from Earth. Activity 1: Before You Read 1. Observe the materials set-up by the teacher. 2. Describe the position of the two flashlights in Chart 1, “Observations of Flashlights.” 3. Observe the brightness of the two flashlights. Record your observations of the lights in Chart 1. Chart 1 Observations of Flashlights Description of the positions of the flashlights 4. Observations of the brightness of the light 2 meters from the screen This is lighting a brighter region. The region is smaller. 6 meters from the screen This is lighting a dimmer region. The region is bigger. Predict why there was a difference in the brightness of the two flashlights. Use prior knowledge to support your response. The light from the flashlight that was 2m from the screen was brighter than the light from the flashlight that was 6m from the screen. . . ___________________________________________________ ESS - 49 Student Resource Sheet ESS - 6 Activity 2: Reading Road Map LOCATION Page 127 Classifying Stars Paragraph 1 SPEED START What are stars? Stars READ QUICKLY, WRITE! Page 127 Par. 1 are huge spheres of glowing gas. They are made up mostly of hydrogen. List the characteristics used to classify stars: ____________________ READ QUICKLY, WRITE! Sizes of Stars Page 127 Par. 4 – 5 The main characteristics used to classify stars are size, temperature, brightness, color and composition _____ List five sizes of stars from smallest to largest. READ SLOWLY, WRITE! Neutron star White dwarf star Medium sized star Giant star Supergiant star White dwarf stars are about the same size as what planet? How do neutron stars compare to white dwarf stars? Page 127 Par. 5 READ QUICKLY, THINK! Color & Temp. of Stars Page 127 Par. 2 – 3 MISSION READ SLOWLY, WRITE! White dwarf stars are about the same size as Earth. Neutron stars are much smaller than white dwarves. Which stars make up the constellation Orion? Orion’s shoulder is Betelguese. Orion’s heel is Rigel. What does a star’s color reveal about the star? A star’s color reveals its temperature. ESS - 50 Student Resource Sheet ESS - 6 Page 127 Par. 3 READ SLOWLY, WRITE! Identify the temperature associated with each color, and include an example of a star that would appear each color. Red: about 3200º C -Betelguese White: about 5500º C -Our sun Blue: over 20,000º C -Rigel Brightness of Stars Page 128 Par. 4 READ QUICKLY, WRITE! List the two characteristics which determine a star’s brightness. A star’s brightness depends on its size and its temperature. Define apparent magnitude. Page 129 Par. 2 Page 129 Par. 2 Page 129 Par. 3 READ QUICKLY, WRITE! READ QUICKLY, THINK! Apparent magnitude is a star’s brightness as seen from Earth. ______________ Are stars that are closer to Earth and which appear brighter in the sky, necessarily brighter stars? Why or why not? They may only appear brighter because they are closer. Define absolute magnitude. READ QUICKLY, WRITE! READ QUICKLY, THINK! Page 129 Par. 3 STOP! ESS - 51 Absolute magnitude of a star is its brightness if it were a standard distance from Earth. How do astronomers determine the absolute magnitude of a star? Scientists determine absolute brightness by studying globular clusters. The stars in a globular cluster are all about the same distance from Earth. Student Resource Sheet ESS - 6 5. Review the demonstration from Activity 1. Explain why there is a difference between the brightness of the two flashlights you observed. Use information from the reading to support your response. There is a difference in the apparent brightness of the two flashlights, because they were different distances from the screen. 6. Observe the teacher demonstration using different sizes of bulbs. Complete Chart 2, “From Lights to Stars,” based on your observations. Chart 2 From Lights to Stars Position of Lights Lights at different distances from the screen (Apparent Magnitude) Observations of Brightness They have the same apparent magnitude, because they are different distances from the screen. The absolute magnitudes are different. Lights at equal distances from the screen (Absolute Magnitude) At the same distance from the screen, they have different apparent magnitudes because their absolute magnitudes are different. 7. Compare your observations of the lights using different sized bulbs to your observations using the flashlights. Tell the difference between apparent and absolute magnitude based on our flashlights. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ Analysis 1. The Sun is a medium sized star while Betelgeuse is a super giant star. However, the Sun appears much brighter in the sky than Betelgeuse does. Explain why the Sun appears to be so much brighter than Betelgeuse. In your response you must include information about the apparent and absolute magnitudes of both stars. Use information from the reading and the demonstrations to support your response. ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ESS - 49