Download Graphing the Big Dipper Although they look close together from

Graphing the Big Dipper
Although they look close together from Earth, the stars in the Big Dipper are actually
very far apart. They also vary tremendously in their distances from Earth. In this
activity, you will graph the stars of the Big Dipper to make these differences clearer.
Materials
Graphing the Big Dipper handout
Graph paper
Pencil/Pen
Procedure
Look at the diagram of the Big Dipper below. The distances listed refer to each star’s
approximate distance from Earth.
Dubhe
Mizar
Alioth
Alkaid
Megrez
ez
Phecda
1. On your graph paper, create and label the axis in order to graph the distances to each
of the stars from Earth. The x-axis of your graph will be the stars. The y-axis will be
distance from Earth (in light years).
2. Place the names of the stars along the x-axis in the
order they appear on the sketch of the Big Dipper above.
3. Create a bar graph using the distance to each of the
seven stars.
Example
ONLY
D
i
s
t
a
n
c
e
Merak
Alkaid
Stars of Big Dipper
Follow up questions
4. According to your diagram of the Big Dipper, which star appears next to Alkaid when
viewed from Earth? ___________________
5. Is the star you named in 4. the closest star in the Big Dipper to Alkaid? _______
Explain. __________________________________________________________
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6. What two factors affect a star’s apparent magnitude?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
7. If all the stars in this constellation had the same apparent magnitude, which would
appear brightest to people on Earth? Why?
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
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8. What is a light-year?
______________________________________________________________
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9. It takes about 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach the Earth. Using the
information 1 light year = about 9.5 trillion km or 9.5x1012 km, how many km is the Earth
from the sun? SHOW YOUR WORK!