Astronomy 101: Moons and Planets - Class 6

[stargazer-ellie.livejournal.com]

Week 6 -- October 11: Mars, the red planet

Syllabus | Class Roster

Handouts:
Starmaps: North | South | East | West | Overhead

The strains of Holst's "Mars, the Bringer of War" greeted the students today as they arrive. Ellie had several pictures of Mars on display as she began the lecture.

"Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system and is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. Mars is also known as the 'Red Planet' due to its reddish appearance when seen from Earth.

Until the first flyby of Mars by Mariner 4 in 1965, it was thought that Mars had channels of liquid water. Observations later showed that these channels do not exist. Still, of all the planets in our solar system other than Earth, Mars is the most likely to harbor liquid water, and perhaps life. Its rotational period and seasonal cycles are also similar to those of the Earth. It has the highest mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons, the largest canyon in the solar system, Valles Marineris, and polar ice caps.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and oddly-shaped. These may be captured asteroids similar to 5261 Eureka, a Mars trojan asteroid. Mars can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. Its apparent magnitude reaches -2.9, a brightness surpassed only by Venus, the Moon, and the Sun. For much of the year, Jupiter may appear brighter to the naked eye than Mars."

Ellie continued with the lecture, going on about the geology and atmosphere of Mars, occasionally showing slides of scenes from "War of the Worlds" and "Mars Attacks!" just to see if people are paying attention. She finished up with:

"Two notes before I let you go. First, there is going to be a science fair in December, and I encourage all of you to submit a project. See me for approval if you need it. Second, Ms. Frizzle has invited our class to join her on an exploration of the Solar System with her Science! class tomorrow during period 7. If you have that hour free, please consider going. Anyone who does go -- and anyone who submits a science project for the fair -- will get extra credit for this class."

Comments

During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[stargazer-ellie.livejournal.com]

Mars. Needs. Women.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[justmisplaced.livejournal.com]

Shawn is sitting, and listening, and if he could get his pen to work he'd even be taking notes. As it is he's just fiddling with it.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke glanced over at Shawn, then floated his extra pen onto his desk with a small smile.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[justmisplaced.livejournal.com]

Floating pens, surprisingly still not something Shawn is completely used to. He blinked momentarily, then grinned at Luke in thanks. "Neat talent."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"I'm still working on it," Luke admitted. "Pens are easy. Rocks are harder."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[justmisplaced.livejournal.com]

Shawn chuckled, "In more ways than one. He picked up the pen and twirled it between his fingers. "Seems like you've got the pen thing down at the very least."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"As long as you don't throw it at me," Luke replied. "I'm not great with that part yet."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[justmisplaced.livejournal.com]

"Wasn't intending on throwing anything at you," Shawn said smirking. "I don't think I know you well enough for that."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

Luke snickered. "Hasn't stopped other people before," he said, thinking of Leia's temper, "but I appreciate it."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[justmisplaced.livejournal.com]

"No problem." Shawn jerked a thumb back at himself, "I'm Shawn," he added.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[tatooine-doofus.livejournal.com]

"Luke," he replied, "Skywalker. Hi."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[enginegirl.livejournal.com]

Kaylee sat down and started thinking of potential projects for the science fair.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[notafairmaiden.livejournal.com]

Gwynn is puzzled by coming up with a project for the faire.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[notthehulk.livejournal.com]

Teddy looked up from his doodles notes when a field trip was mentioned. Those were always fun.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

Marie took good notes and pondered science fair projects.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker rubbed her eyes, frowned at her paper, then looked over at Marie. "Do you have any ideas for extra credit scientific goodness?"

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

"Sadly, no," Marie said, glancing at her tablet which was mostly covered in doodles. "I'd love to do something about mutants, but I don't think I'm smart enough."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker's no science genius, but the words 'not smart enough' are like a red flag. "Why not? How smart would someone have to be, to do a science project about mutations?"

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

Marie shrugged. "I don't know anything about how they work or genetics or anything."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker's tapping her pen on the desk, thinking about this week's Bio class. "Well. Maybe they're adaptations? To things we haven't detected yet? We couldn't do anything about DNA, but maybe something about natural selection. How rough is your world, anyway?"

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

"It's bad," Marie said softly, staring at her paper. "Mutants are feared and hated. My parents don't know the truth yet."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

That hadn't been what Parker meant, but if anything, it convinces her that this project really *should* happen. "So? A project that maybe isn't so much about proving something, as explaining it. About how normal it is. If it can happen to you, it can happen to anyone, Marie." She cocked her head. "But if it makes you too uncomfortable...."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[untouchableskin.livejournal.com]

"I think it's a little too close," Marie admitted. "And it's possible that all this research has been done. I could ask Jamie..."

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[mparkerceo.livejournal.com]

Parker could use the extra credit but has no ideas for a science fair project. Frowning, she took notes and tried to think of an idea.

Re: During the Lecture -- talk, pass notes

[l1ttle-billy.livejournal.com]

Billy blinked at the clips from War of the Worlds and Mars attacks. The hell?