Week of October 22, 2012

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Better late than never! Seeing that the test email from our wonderful tech helper, Andreas, went through, I’m re-sending the blog post for this week’s assignments. Thank you for your patience while the blog email system has been naughty. It should behave well now! 🙂

Week of October 22, 2012

Well, it’s here! The end of the quarter is Friday, so let’s follow through and finish strong! Please remember that Twitter users can now follow our class on Twitter to receive occasional updates and reminders about our class.

This week in physics: We will wrap up our study of projectiles by finishing assignment 2on Monday and by doing additional practice problems using the ActivExpressions on Tuesday. Look for a quiz over the conceptual and mathematical aspects of projectiles on Wednesday when we will also wrap up our study of two-dimensional motion by looking at satellite motion and doing assignment 3. Our unit test will most likely be Thursday, so be sure to start studying early using our study guide and our podcasts. Next up: The most famous un-moustached man in physics!

This week in astronomy: We will continue our investigation of lunar phases by doing several more activities followed by a quiz on Wednesday or Thursday. We’ll then conclude the unit with a look at lunar geography. Look for a test next Monday. Next up: Eclipses!

Cool Science of the Week: Another week with too much good stuff to share only one! First…

OHMYGOSHTHEREWILLBEABIGMETEORSHOWERTHISWEEKEND!!!!! Yes, we will be passing through the debris left behind from the most recent visit of Halley’s Comet (1986), and it will give us a rockin’ meteor shower in the overnight hours of Saturday and Sunday. Look to the left of the constellation Orion.

Look for the three bright stars of Orion's belt in the south/southeast quadrant of the sky.

Second, NASA’s Kepler mission has found a planet with FOUR SUNS. WHAT!?!

Finally, European astronomers have found an Earth-sized planet orbiting our closest star neighbor, Alpha Centauri! Don’t make vacation plans, though. The weather is ridiculously hot. (The link from the photo, below, is to a video. The news story is here.)