Please answer following questions.

Assignment 1: Astronomical Objects

Please note that assignments are changed every semester.

DO NOT USE OLD ASSIGNMENTS TO GUIDE YOUR WORK. Any assignment that does not follow this format will not be accepted and will be considered for plagiarism, if indicated.

Please submit in PDF or a current version of .docx (MS word) to the DROPBOX area under COURSE ACTIVITIES on the top menu bar.

For the Session Two assignment, you are going to use (good, scientific) web sites to describe astronomical objects. You are to select:

  • Three objects within our solar system
  • Three objects within our galaxy but outside our solar system
  • Three objects outside our galaxy.

For the nine total objects you are to provide the following for each:

1. An image

2. Its name and brief description (about 25 words).

3. Its approximate age

4. Its approximate distance from Earth

5. Unique or interesting features (about 75 words)

You will NOT get credit for text that is cut and paste from websites. You are to digest information and summarize in your own words.

You should include a brief introducation and conclusion, so that your total assignment ends up about 1000 words.

Our TA will grade them and should return them within 2 weeks. If you have trouble submitting, please email a copy of the assignment before the due date to get full credit.

Note on Citations: For assignments you should simply cite the title, author (or publisher) and date of the article along with the URL. You do not need in-text citations on assignments, but please be prepared, for your term paper I will expect full citations.

You are welcome to discuss the assignment in your study group, but remember that in the end YOU MUST HAND IN YOUR OWN WORK.

Assignments will be graded according to the following:

40% accuracy of content; 30% scientific validity and citations; 20% completeness and clarity of writing; 20% originality of writing

Some websites you may want to use for this assignment include:

http://hubblesite.org/images/gallery

https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

You are responsible for choosing a reliable web site with accurate scientific information. Finding these sites can be tricky. Here are some links with tips for finding good scientific websites:

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/finding-good-information-on-the-internet/

https://www.edb.utexas.edu/petrosino/Legacy_Cycle/mf_jm/Challenge%201/website%20reliable.pdf

https://nccih.nih.gov/health/webresources