Star-Lab

A description of a student's preparation for an experiment to watch stars with a home-made telescope.
2002, 690 words, 0 source(s).

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This paper is a personal story of a high school student who is taking a summer class at a state college.

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IN PREPARATION FOR MY EXPERIMENT THE FIRST THING I DID WAS GATHER ALL OF MY MATERIALS NEEDED FOR THE EXPERIMENT AND PLACED THEM BY THE BACKDOOR OF MY HOUSE, BECAUSE THE EXPERIMENT WAS GOING TO TAKE PLACE IN MY BACKYARD. SECONDLY, I TOOK A NAP. SINCE I WAS PERFORMING THE EXPERIMENT BY MYSELF, I WANTED TO BE WELL RESTED FOR THE 6 HR. SPAN THAT I WOULD BE OUTSIDE. THIRDLY, I ATE SOMETHING, I DID NOT WANT TO HAVE TO INTERUPT THE EXPERIMENT BY HAVING TO RUN TO THE REFRIGERATOR BECAUSE I COULD MISS A COUPLE OF SHOOTING STARS WITHIN THE TIME IT TOOK ME TO GET A SANDWICH. MY DOMAIN WAS THE EASTERN SKY WITH THE FOCAL POINT BEING "THE LITTLE DIPPER" WHICH WAS CLEARLY VISIBLE. I STARTED MY EXPERIMENT AT PRECISELY AT 11:00 PM, FRI. NOV. 15, TAG HEUER TIME, AND ENDED THE EXPERIMENT AT 5:00 AM, SAT. NOV. 16. FROM 11:00 PM TO 12:00 AM NO "SHOOTING STARS" WERE OBSERVED IN THE SKY. FROM THE PERIOD OF 12:00 AM TO 1:00 AM I OVSERVED 1 "SHOOTING STAR" AT 12:48 AM. NOTE: ( THE POSITION OF THE "SHOOTING STARS" AND THEIR PATHS ARE REFLECTED ON THE STAR MAP THAT I COMPLIED). THE 1ST 2 HOURS INTO THE EXPERIMENT WERE VERY DISCOURAGING DUE TO THE LACK OF ACTIVITY. FROM 1:00 AM TO 2:00 AM ACTIVITY STARTED TO PICK UP WITH THE SIGHTING OF 3 "SHOOTING STARS" AT 1:04 AM, 1:12 AM, & AT 1:52 AM. BETWEEN THE HR. OF 2:00 AM & 3:00 AM, I SAW 3 "SHOOTING STARS", 1 AT 2:02 AM, 1 AT 2:36 AM, & ANOTHER AT 2:53 AM WITH SOMEWHAT OF A LONGER VISIBLE PATH THAN OTHERS. BY 3:00 AM I NOTICED THAT THE "SHOOTING STARS" HAD NO APPARENT ORIGIN, OR SPECIFIC PATH PATTERN. DURING THE PERIOD OF 3:00 AM & 4:00 AM I STARTED TO SEE MORE "SHOOTING STARS" CLOSER TOGETHER IN TIME AT THE TIMES OF 3:16 AM, 3:27 AM, 3:34 AM, 3:36 AM & 3:49 AM. AFTER LOGGING THE ACTIVITY BETWEEN 3:00 AM & 4:00 AM I NOTICED THAT THE 3:00 AM TO 3:15 AM TIME SLOT THERE WAS NOT A "SHOOTING STAR" SIGHTED. THAT OBSERVATION POSED THE QUESTION; "WHEN I WENT TO THE BATHROOM, DID I MISS ANY SHOOTING STARS WITHIN THAT 8 MIN. WINDOW?". IN THE LAST HR. OF THE EXPERIMENT, 4:00 AM TO 5:00 AM I SIGHTED 7 "SHOOTING STARS" ALL IN DIFFERENT REGIONS OF MY DOMAIN. THE TIMES OF THE SIGHTINGS WERE 4:00 AM, 4:05 AM, 4:11 AM, 4:17 AM, 4:31 AM, 4:45 AM, AND AT 4:56 AM. CONCLUDING THAT THE 4:00 - 5:00 AM TIME FRAME WAS THE MOST PRODUCTIVE. ALSO CONCLUDING THAT THE EARLIER IN THE MORNING, OR THE CLOSER TO DAWN, THE NUMBER OF "SHOOTING STARS" OBSERVED WAS GREATER. THE ENDING NUMBER OF "SHOOTING STARS" TALLIED DURING THE PERIOD OF 11:00 PM - 5:00 AM, NOV. 15 - NOV. 16 WAS 20. QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED: QUESTION #1: WHY WOULD YOU EXPECT TO SEE MOST METEORS LATER IN THE NIGHT, TOWARD? ANSWER #1: THE EARTH'S ORBITAL MOTION & ROTATIONAL MOTION ARE MOVING IN THE SAME DIRECTION. WHICH CAUSES THAT PART OF THE EARTH TO MOVE FASTER. IN RESPECT TO THAT PART OF THE EARTH MOVING FASTER, IT IS CARRIED THROUGH MORE DEBRIS AT THE TIME OF NIGHT, OR EARLY MORNING. QUESTION #2: WAS THERE ANY PREFERRED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL FOR THE METEORS YOU SAW? ANSWER #2: NO, THERE WAS NO PREFERRED DIRECTION OF TRAVEL WHICH MADE ME CONCLUDE THAT THEY WERE "SHOOTING STARS," NOT PART OF A METEOR SHOWER. QUESTION #3: DID THE METEORS SEEM TO ORIGINATE FROM ANY PARTICULAR PLANE IN THE SKY? ANSWER #3: FAINTER METEORS, CALLED SHOOTING STARS, OR FALLING STARS USUALLY OCCUR SINGLY AND SPORADICALLY. AT INTERVALS, HOWEVER, HUNDREDS OF SUCH METEORS OCCUR SIMULTANEOUSLY AND APPEAR TO COME FROM A FIXED POINT. THESE SWARMS ARE CALLED METEORIC SHOWERS AND ARE NAMED AFTER THE CONSTELLATION IN WHICH THEY SEEM TO HAVE THEIR POINT OF ORIGIN. SOME APPEAR ANUALLY ON THE SAME DAYS OF EACH YEAR AND ARE CALLED PERIODIC SHOWERS; OTHERS OCCUR INFREQUENTLY AT VARYING INTERVALS.