Welcome to Astronomy class! My name is Professor Star. Below you will find samples of the lessons I taught here at Veritas HP. In this class the students studied the different aspects of the night sky, including the stars, planets, constellations, nebulas ect... They were asked to dress warm; as a lot of time was spent on the roof stargazing.  Requirements for this class included that students completed their homework assignments and remembered to have fun. Lesson Seven 
In 1979 a muggle spacecraft called Voyager 1 took pictures of Jupiter and determined that it had a thin outer ring. Three inner moons of Jupiter were also discovered from images taken by the Voyager spacecraft. These moons, named Metis, Adrastea, and Thebe, along with Amalthea (discovered in 1892) revolve around Jupiter at average distances of 79,500 miles, 80,000 miles, 138,000 miles, and 112,000 miles, respectively. They are dark and irregularly shaped. Amalthea is 84 miles across its largest dimension, and the other three moons range from 6 to 31 miles in diameter. The ring surrounding Jupiter is composed of three parts: a main ring, a halo, and an outer ring. The main ring is flat, about 4,300 miles wide, and extends out to 79,800 miles, which is about twice the radius of Jupiter. A halo of charged particles, which are spread pole ward by magnetic interactions, overlaps the main ring. A faint, outer, gossamer ring begins beyond the main ring and extends to the orbits of Amalthea and Thebe. Together the ring and the four inner moons form a closely related system. Homework: (80 House Points) 1. What year did the muggle spacecraft Voyager 1 find Jupiter’s ring? 2. What were the 3 moons also discovered by Voyager 1? 3. When was Amalthea discovered? 4. The moons are ____ and ___________ shaped. 5. What are the 3 parts of the ring surrounding Jupiter? 6. How big is the main ring? 7. What is the halo made up of? 8. A faint, outer, gossamer ring that begins beyond the main ring extends to which to moons? Lesson Six:
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet in the solar system, it is also the fourth brightest object in the sky. Due to its prominence in the sky, the Romans named the planet for their chief god, Jupiter. Jupiter’s year, or the time it takes to complete an orbit about the Sun is 11.9 Earth years. One day on Jupiter or the time it takes to rotate on its axis, is about 9.9 hours, less than half on Earth day. Unlike the rocky inner planets of the solar system such as Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars, Jupiter is a ball of dense gas and has no solid surface. Jupiter’s most famous storm, the Great Red Spot, has been going on for centuries. It is so enormous that if three Earths were placed side by side in front of it, they would scarcely cover it. The earliest report of a red spot was by Robert Hooke in 1664. The cause of the Great Red Spot is not yet known, but its motion is such that it must sustain itself on energy gained from the upper atmosphere. Jupiter is encircled by at least 61 satellites and a series of thin rings and is similar to a miniature solar system. Homework (80 House Points) 1. What is the largest planet in the solar system? 2. The Romans named Jupiter for what? 3. Jupiter’s year is how long in Earth years? 4. How long is a day on Jupiter? 5. What is Jupiter made of? 6. Jupiter’s most famous storm is called what? 7. The earliest report of this storm was recorded by whom? 8. How many satellites does Jupiter have? Lesson Five: 
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars is named for the Roman god of war and is sometimes called the red planet because it appears fiery red in Earth’s night sky. An interesting side note: the Roman god Mars was a god of agriculture before becoming associated with the Greek Ares; those in favor of colonizing and terraforming Mars may prefer this symbolism. The name of the month March derives from Mars. Mars is a relatively small planet, with about half the diameter of Earth and about one-tenth Earth’s mass. Mars is believed to be about the same age as Earth, having formed from the same spinning, condensing cloud of gas and dust that formed the Sun and the other planets about 4.6 billion years ago. The Martian day - that is, the time it takes Mars to rotate once on its axis—is about a half an hour longer than an Earth day and is sometimes called a sol. Its year, or the time it takes to revolve once around the Sun, is about two Earth years long. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are named after the dogs of the Roman god Mars. These tiny bodies are heavily cratered dark chunks of rock and may be asteroids captured by the gravitational pull of Mars. Phobos orbits Mars once in less than one Martian day, so it appears to rise in the west and set in the east, usually twice each day. Deimos has the more ordinary habit of rising in the east and setting in the west. Homework (100 House Points) 1. What Roman God is Mars named for? 2. Why is it sometimes called the Red Planet? 3. Mars is a relatively small planet, with about ____ the diameter of Earth and about ___-_____ Earth’s mass. 4. How much longer is one day on Mar’s than on Earth? 5. What is this day sometimes called? 6. How long is Mar’s year in Earth years? 7. What is the name of Mar’s two moons? 8. What are they named after? 9. Which moon rises in the west and sets in the east? 10. Which moon rises in the east and sets in the west?   *Let the Stars Be Your Guide* |
