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Name: ______________________________ Date: ______________ Observing “The Life of a Star” During this exercise, you will look at stars in the various stages of life, from before formation, through formation, life, and after death. Individual stars form, age, and die much too slowly to observe, so different stars must be seen in different stages of their life. For each object, sketch the object and note the particulars of your observation. Formation: Star form out of the interstellar medium from dark cool clouds of dust and gas. Many of these dark nebulae were cataloged by E. E. Barnard, and they are called Barnard objects. Then, as the stars begin to heat up, they cause the gas around them to glow. These glowing clouds of gas are called diffuse nebulae. Dark Nebulae: Observe two dark nebulae. (Note: Sometimes you can see a dark nebula in front of a diffuse nebula.) Name of object: ____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Location: _________________________ Location: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Magnification: _____________________ 1 Diffuse Nebulae: Observe two diffuse nebulae. Note if there are any other objects in the same field of view as the diffuse nebula. Name of object: ____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Location: _________________________ Location: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Magnification: _____________________ Star Clusters: When stars form, they usually form into clusters. Some clusters, such as open clusters are loose and last only for a few hundred million to a few billion years before the stars dissipate into individual stars. Other star clusters, such as globular clusters, remain fairly stable for billions of years. Open clusters are located in the plane of the galaxy and are often called “galactic clusters”. They are generally composed of fairly young stars. Some open clusters can be found inside of diffuse nebulae. Globular clusters, however, formed when the galaxy formed, billions of years ago. They form a halo around the rest of the galaxy and do not lie in the plane of the galaxy. 2 Globular Clusters: Observe two globular clusters. Name of object: ____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Location: _________________________ Location: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Magnification: _____________________ Open Clusters: Observe two open clusters. Name of object: ____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Location: _________________________ Location: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Magnification: _____________________ 3 Stellar Remnants: When stars die, they leave behind a cloud of gas. This cloud of gas dissipates over time, but is visible for a number of millennia after the star dies. When a star like the Sun dies, it sheds its outer layers into a round cloud of gas called a planetary nebula (which has nothing to do with planets). When an extremely massive star dies, it explodes and the outer parts of the star form a cloud of gas called a supernova remnant. Planetary Nebulae: Observe two planetary nebulae: Name of object: ____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Location: _________________________ Location: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Supernova Remnant: Observe one supernova remnant. Name of object: ____________________ Location: _________________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ 4 Bonus: The more objects that you observe, the more that you realize each object is unique. For extra credit, you may observe an additional two diffuse nebulae, two planetary nebulae, one globular cluster, and two open clusters. Name of object: ____________________ Type of object: _____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object:____________________ Type of object: ____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Type of object: _____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object:____________________ Type of object: ____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Type of object: _____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object:____________________ Type of object: ____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ 5 Name of object: ____________________ Type of object: _____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object:____________________ Type of object: ____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Type of object: _____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object:____________________ Type of object: ____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object: ____________________ Type of object: _____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ Name of object:____________________ Type of object: ____________________ Telescope: ________________________ Eyepiece: _________________________ Magnification: _____________________ 6
