Download Surface Environments of the Planets o+ our Solar System

Properties of the Stars
Introduction
We have begun our investigation of stars. In this lab, you will use online catalogs to determine the physical
characteristics of stars. You will also be asked to locate and identify some non-stellar objects. You may begin
by trying the website at http://www.stellar-database.com/
In this exercise, you will also become more familiar with the various naming systems for stars. Remember,
only the brightest stars which form our constellations have been given proper names. There are thousands of
stars that have either Bayer Greek letter names, and even more that have Flamsteed number names.
Here is a short list of some of the stellar properties we have talked about thus far.:
Distance:
in either light years or parsecs
Magnitude:
both apparent and absolute
Stellar Parallax:
in seconds of arc per year
Proper Motion:
also in seconds of arc per year
Radial Velocity:
in km per second
You have been two stars of your very own to research. One is a bright star, easily visible even in Bloomfield
Hills. The second is a nearby star, more likely than not invisible to the unaided eye.
You will also answer some questions about non-stellar objects such as nebulae, galaxies and star clusters.
Name ___________________________________
Questions
My bright star is ___________________
My nearby star is ___________________
1.
What is the apparent magnitude of your bright star?
Where did you find that information?
2.
How far away is your bright star?
_________________________
___________________________________________
__________________________________
Where did you find that information?
___________________________________________
3.
Why do most nearby stars not have proper names?
4.
In which constellation is your nearby star?
_________________________________________
How did you find that information?
___________________________________________
5.
What is the annual proper motion of your nearby star in milliseconds of arc per year?
__________________________________
6.
What is the radial velocity of your bright star?
_________________________________
is this star moving toward us or away from us? ______________________________
7.
What type of object is NGC 2392?
__________________________________
8.
What is the apparent magnitude od IC434?
9.
What is the distance to the Hercules globular star cluster?
10.
How bright is the Andromeda Galaxy?
11.
What type of object is the Eskimo nebula?
____________________
______________________
____________________________________
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