In this 85-point project, you will be combining a large amount of information that you have learned about constellations and some information that you will learn as the project goes on: what constellations are, what kinds of objects are in them, how they appear in the night sky, how their stars are actually positioned in space, how they will change their appearance over time, and which of their stars will die first.
To get started, you need to choose a constellation. The full list of constellations and their important stars is available here.
The first part of the project will involve observing the constellation with Stellarium to see what objects it contains and to see how the change in its rise time can be used to calculate the length of the year. Part two of the project involves collecting information on the stars in your constellation and making an accurate picture of the constellation. The third part of the project will revisit some of the ideas covered in the stellar evolution section of the course. The last parts of the project will involve writing a project report and creating a poster as well.
I will describe the project on February 5. The first two parts of the project will be completed at home and may be submitted on Cobra. The third part of the project is math-intensive. We will work on this portion in lab on March 19, which is also the due date.
It is important that you correct any mistakes on the three parts before working on the report.
| Project Part | Point Value | Due Date |
|---|---|---|
| Project Assigned in Class | 2/5 | |
| Part 1: Constellation Objects and the Length of the Year | 15 points | 2/19 |
| Part 2: Data Gathering and Constellation Drawing | 15 points | 3/4 |
| Part 3: Stellar Evolution | 25 points | 3/19 in lab |
| Analysis and Summary | 15 points | 4/8 |
| Poster | 15 points | 4/22 |
| Poster Session | Extra Credit | 4/24 |