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| Astronomy Journal |
When I came home last night, there it was.
The hard copy of the journal that contains the article that Connor co-authored.
I have been waiting for days to see the magazine in its full glory.
Hard to believe that he is publishing as an undergraduate.Well, maybe not so hard to believe for me, knowing how early he goes to school and how late he comes home from studying.
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| ... title of the article which Connor co-authored with P. Longil and J. Campbell ... |
No more authoritative definition was in the dictionary than the fact that this is a word used in astronomy.
Now Connor and Kelvin have to look it up in the Dictionary of Astronomical Terms. Of course, Connor doesn't have to look up the word. He already knows what it means. Only Kelvin is still looking for further light and knowledge.
Just love it.
Arta
Rock it, Connor!
ReplyDeleteConnor - when you get back from tree planting this summer, can you do a tutorial on exoplanets for your relatives that love the night sky? Can we do an all-nighter with you to observe the trajectory? Is the equipment needed anywhere in the Shuswap vicinity?
ReplyDeleteHey Bonnie, I got your note on my door when I came home today. I will try to explain star formation as simple as I can. Here it goes:
ReplyDeleteWe live in a very large Universe full of billions of galaxies, and each galaxy is full of billions of stars. Aside from stars, galaxies like our Milky Way also contain a significant amount of gas and a small amount of "dust." This gas and dust can clump together in large clouds due to the gravitational force. This is the same force that keeps the moon orbiting the earth and the earth orbiting the sun. You can draw an analogy to magnets sticking to the fridge. The magnet and the fridge want to stick together, just as the gas and dust in the galaxy want to stick together. As more and more gas and dust stick together it forms a core, this core heats up from all the collisions of the gas and dust. You can show David that things heat up when they collide by hammering a nail into some wood and then feeling the head of the nail after it is in (hope it works, if not, hammer it some more (= ). So eventually, these collisions heat up the core so much that nuclear fusion occurs. A star is said to be born when nuclear fusion starts. Nuclear fusion is the reason the sun and other stars shine so bright (=.
ReplyDeleteThis is the basics of star formation but I have left out some significant details. I also realize that I may have said some things that may need further explaining, so let me know if you have any questions.
If anyone wants to see a fairly accurate simulation of star formation check out the link below. The first time I saw this simulation I couldn't contain myself.
ReplyDeletenote the time (in years) in the upper right hand corner as the simulation proceeds. Enjoy (=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbdwTwB8jtc&list=PL3E59AE44D9E6DAFE
Connor . That was an amazing video. Though it was basically a bunch of red swirls, that let's me know better how a star is formed. I kinda know because my teacher explained it to my class yesterday but I didn't really understand because she was only talking and I couldn't see what the gas and particles were doing.
ReplyDeleteI tried the hammer nail experiment. It worked. It was a tiny bit hot. You do pretty amazing science.
David
PS: say hi to Pouria and Amir for me, please. Thank you.