Rodel S.

Agpalza

BSED III – Science

1. How can sunspots help to determine the period of rotations of the sun?
- The period of rotation of the sun is determined by use of sunspots. Sunspots which are cyclonic disturbances in
the photosphere of the sun are found to move across the solar disk from day to day. They differ widely in duration,
sometimes lasting for several months and sometimes disappearing in the course of a few hours. The plane of
rotation of these sunspots are inclined seven degrees to the ecliptic. The motion of sunspots determine the rate of
rotation at a particular latitude. The sun doesn't rotate as a solid body, but rather varies its rotation period from the
equator to the poles. The various rotation periods may also vary with time. Sunspots move by small amounts over
the surface of the sun, but these movements are small enough that they may be ignored and therefore sunspots
may be used to determine the rotation of the sun.
- The sun rotates on its axis from east to west. The sun as a whole has no single period of rotation, but different
portions of its surface perform their revolutions in different times. The equatorial regions move more rapidly than
the rest of the solar surface, and as a result they also complete the entire rotation in shorter time. The period of
rotation of the sun varies somewhat with latitude, (at higher latitudes the sun tends to rotate more slowly), but it is
estimated that the sun's period of rotation at the surface varies from about 25 days at the equator to about 35
days at the poles.

2. Explain why meteors are more often seen late at night and usually numerous before dawn.
- On any night of the year, meteors appear faster, brighter, and more numerous after midnight. That's when your
location has turned into Earth's direction of motion around the Sun and plows into meteor particles nearly head-
on, rather than having them catch up from behind. The peak activity of a meteor shower occurs in the hours when
Earth passes closest to the orbit of the shower particles. The ideal circumstance for any observer is for the
shower to peak at a time when its radiant is highest in the sky during the morning hours; most of the year's best
showers have the potential to meet these criteria.

3. Why are comets more clearly visible when they approach the sun?
- Comets are huge balls of grit and ice many kilometers in diameter. When they come near the Sun the heat melts
some of the ice and this produces a huge cloud of gas and dust that we see as the tail of the comet. These tails,
millions of kilometers in length, become visible as they near the Sun. The tail always points away from the Sun
because of the pressure of the solar wind on its tiny particles. We only see a comet for a short time because they
move fast when they are close to the Sun but very slowly in the outer parts of their orbit, see Kepler's second law.
One of the most famous comets, Halley's comet returns every 75 years.

4. How does the color of a star indicate its age?

- Astronomers have long used stars' color to identify their temperature, and they created a classification system
called spectral classes to do so, which places stars into a category based on their temperature. Class O stars,
which are blue in color, are the hottest, and class M stars, which are red in color, are the coldest. This can be
tricky to remember, as we typically think of blue as a cool color and red as a hot one. Thus, it's helpful to
understand the reason blue stars are hot and red ones are cool. Remember that the temperature of an object is a
direct measure of the amount of motion within it. The hotter the star, the faster its particles move and the more
energy they radiate. Cool stars radiate most of their energy in the red and infrared region of the electromagnetic
spectrum — which means shorter wavelengths and less energy. Thus, they appear red, while hot stars — in
which particles are moving much more quickly — emit more energy and thus emit mostly at blue and ultra-violet
wavelengths, making them appear blue or white. Throughout most of a star's life, it is burning hydrogen at its
core, which creates lots of energy and thus makes it appear blue. As stars age, they run out of hydrogen to burn,
decreasing the amount of energy they emit. Thus, younger stars can appear bluer while older ones appear more
red, and in this way, a star's color can tell us something about that star's age.
5. Why will space crew require an extensive mathematics background?
- Astronauts use math in order to make precise mathematical calculations, from how the spacecraft leaves
Earth's atmosphere to how the astronauts pilot the craft. Designers use math to calculate distance, speed,
velocity, and their own safety when creating space-faring vehicles.

6. Compare the rotational period of the inner and outer planets. 

- The four inner planets have slower orbits, slower spin, no rings, and they are made of rock and metal. The
four outer planets have faster orbits and spins, a composition of gases and liquids, numerous moons, and
rings. The outer planets are made of hydrogen and helium, so they are called gas giants.

7. If a space vehicle is designed to orbit around the Earth very slowly, should it be put into a low or high orbit?
Explain. 
- It should be put in high orbit. An orbit is the result of a perfect balance between gravity pulling a satellite down
and the satellite going forward. A satellite that is going very fast will keep going forward very fast, because of
inertia. If a satellite is going very fast, it can go forward so quickly that the pull of gravity can't keep it in an
orbit. If it is going slowly, it will not go forward enough to counter the pull of gravity and crash into the thing it is
orbiting around. Changing speed is one way to change the orbit of a satellite or make a satellite leave orbit.
Speed can be changed by increasing thrust to make a ship go faster, or retro burning or aerobraking to slow it
down.

8. Suppose you find a dense, irregular fragment on the ground. How can you tell whether it is a meteorite or not? 
- Meteorites are generally dark, black, or rusty and reddish brown. Some have thumbprint-like depressions
covering the surface called regmaglypts. After you find a rock you suspect is a meteorite, one of the easiest
ways to check your candidate is by carrying a magnet because it can attract fragments of meteorites.

9. Why doesn’t a total lunar eclipse occur every month? 

- A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon enters the Earth's shadow. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's
shadow falls on the Earth. They do not happen every month because the Earth's orbit around the sun is not in the
same plane as the Moon's orbit around the Earth.

10. How do the moon and sun cause tides? 

- Tides are caused more by the moon than by the sun, because while they appear the same size in the sky, the
moon is denser. High and low tides are caused by the moon. The moon's gravitational pull generates
something called the tidal force. The tidal force causes Earth—and its water—to bulge out on the side closest
to the moon and the side farthest from the moon. These bulges of water are high tides.