Rocket Wind Tunnel

Audience: Educators
Grades: 3-12


Build a wind tunnel that your students can use to test their rockets. Air rockets are placed inside a wind tunnel, and their resistance to the flow of air in the tunnel is measured in tenths of grams. Students will use data generated in the wind tunnel to help them design better rockets.

Rocket Wind Tunnel   [803KB PDF file]

This activity is part of the Rockets Educator Guide.

Faraday's Cage

MIT Physics Demo

In the electric field of a Van de Graaff generator, an unprotected Ben Franklin feels electrostatic forces. However, when a metal cage surrounds him, he is completely shielded against any electricity or electrostatic force. This is due to the fact that all charges in a conductor reside on the outer surface, and always rearrange themselves to cancel out the electric field in the interior.

Laboratorium Astrofisika

Astrophysics Laboratory

  

~Tangan~

Apa gunanya tangan kalau tidak dipergunakan, apa juga manfaat tangan kalau dipergunakan untuk kemaksiatan,

~Mata~

Mata itu umpama satelit, sekali-kali jangan salah dipergunakan

Oleh:

 Mujahid Cinta

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics
60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

 

Staff

 

Professor John M. Kovac, Dr. Thomas Dame, and members of the Department. 

 

 

Harvard College/GSAS: 3615
Spring 2011; limited to 16 
First meeting: Wednesday, Jan 26, 2 PM *
Location:   Observatory Pratt Conference Room

 

Charles R. Alcock
Born	Charles Roger Alcock 1951 Windsor, England
Education	California Institute of Technology
Occupation	Astrophysicist
Years active	1977 – present
Known for	Director of the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (2004 – present) Acting Undersecretary for Science for the Smithsonian Institution
Awards	NAS: Astronomy (2001) Beatrice M. Tinsley Prize (2000) AAS: E.O. Lawrence Award (1996)
Website
Center for Astrophysics

Prof. Dr. Charles Roger Alcock, Ph.D. (born 1951 in Windsor, Berkshire, England)

Laboratory and observational projects in astrophysics, carried out with the research facilities of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Teams of two students perform two research projects during the course. Telescopes that may be used include the Submillimeter Array, the CfA millimeter-wave telescope, the Clay Telescope, and the heliostat at the Science Center. Laboratory projects include development of hard X-ray imaging detectors, testing of superconducting submillimeter detectors, and millimeter-wave laboratory spectroscopy.


Intended primarily for concentrators in Astronomy and Astrophysics or combined concentrators with Physics. Students with Physics as their primary concentration, but with a serious interest in astrophysics, may take this to satisfy their laboratory requirement (in lieu of Physics 191) upon petition to the Head Tutor in Physics.


Prerequisite: Astronomy 16 or 17, or Physics 15c or equivalent.

 

*NOTE: Only the first meeting is on Wednesday at 2 PM. Most subsequent meetings are arranged by the 2-student teams and their instructors, so course conflicts are rarely an issue. See the General Information page for the times and dates of the other group meetings.



Prerequisites
 
Astronomy 16 or 17, or Physics 15c or equivalent. The course is intended primarily for concentrators in Astronomy and Astrophysics or combined concentrators with Physics.


Requirements
 

Students work on an experiment in pairs but must submit individual written reports on each of two experiments performed during the term. Students must also give presentations on their experiments on March 9 and April 27.

The report (20 pages or less) should be modeled after a scientific journal article. It should contain an introduction which reviews the basic scientific principles behind the experiment and its astrophysical relevance, a section describing your preparation for and execution of the experiment, a section on your analysis and interpretation of the data, including a discussion of instrumental and possible systematic errors, and a conclusion discussing what was learned and how the experiment might be improved or followed up on. Figure captions and a reference list should also be included.


Presentations (15 minutes for a team of two students) should basically follow the same organization as the paper, with one student perhaps giving an introduction and description of the experiment, and the other describing the data analysis and results. A progress report on your analysis will be acceptable if the experiment was performed just a few days before. Proper timing of the presentation is very important since they will be strictly limited to 15 minutes.

Hours will vary with the experiment; some will require one or two late-night or overnight observing sessions.

The first experiment should be completed by the day of the first presentations, March 9, and the first report is due on March 28. The second experiment should be completed by April 27, the last day of classes, and its report is due on May 5. 

Required Textbook
 

Data Reduction and Error Analysis for the Physical Sciences
Third Edition, 2003
Philip R. Bevington & D. Keith Robinson
Boston : McGraw-Hill.
QA278.B48
Available from the Harvard Coop

 
General Meetings
 

All general meetings are held in the Pratt Conference Room at the Center for Astrophysics.

Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2-4 PM: Organizational meeting

Wednesday, Mar.  9, 1-4 PM: Student presentations

Wednesday, April 27, 1-4 PM: Student presentations

All other meetings are arranged by the 2-student teams and their instructors. 

 
Grades
 
Course grade will be based on lab work (30%), oral presentations (20%), and the written reports (50%).

Useful Link

• ADS Bibliographic databases, an essential tool of modern astronomers
  
  
• astro-ph Astronomy e-prints
  
  
• Astronomy Picture of the Day - never disappoints
  
  
• Chandra Coordinate Conversion and Precession Tool
  
  
• Clear Sky Clock - best local cloud forecaster
  
  
• SkyView - virtual telescope
  
  
• AstroWeb - Guide to astronomy on the internet
  
  
• AAS American Astronomical Society
  
  
• Handbook of Space Astronomy and Astrophysics by Martin V. Zombeck
  
  
• Research links from Harvard Department of Astronomy
  

Indonesian University Space Research Association

Indonesian University Space Research Association

Persatuan Universitas Riset Antariksa di Indonesia

IUSRA is an independent, nonprofit research corporation where the combined efforts of in-house talent and university-based expertise merge to advance space science and technology. 

STRENGTHS & CAPABILITIES Today and Future, IUSRA works across a wide spectrum of disciplines stemming from the range of challenges originally posed by the space program. From biomedicine to astrophysics, from basic research to facility management and operations, IUSRA is helping enable the study of the Universe from ground, airborne, and orbiting observatories, the study of Earth from space-based platforms, the development of advanced technologies for complex spacecraft, the human exploration of space by astronauts, and much more.

IUSRA Future VISION

The IUSRA business paradigm is to engage the creativity and authoritative expertise of university faculty and their students and deliver to customers sophisticated, forward-looking solutions, on schedule and within budget.

IUSRA objectively focuses on sponsor needs in these key areas:
 * Fundamental Research
 * Engineering & Technology Development
 * Operations & Management
 * Workforce Development

Universities are also a part of IUSRA's governance structure. 500 universities, all major research institutions, provide oversight solely as a public service. All IUSRA activities are conducted without bias or preference.

Neutrino radiation from dense matter

Armen Sedrakian
Institute for Theoretical Physics,
T¨ubingen University, D-72076 T¨ubingen, Germany
February 5, 2008
Abstract
This article provides a concise review of the problem of neutrino radiation from dense matter.
The subjects addressed include quantum kinetic equations for neutrino transport, collision integrals
describing neutrino radiation through charged and neutral current interactions, radiation rates from
pair-correlated baryonic and color superconducting quark matter.

http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0701017.pdf

Evolution of spiral galaxies in modified gravity

By: O. Tiret and F. Combes
Observatoire de Paris, LERMA, 61 Av. de l’Observatoire, F-75014, Paris, France
Received 26/09/2006/ 08/12/2006

ABSTRACT

We compare N-body simulations of isolated galaxies performed in both frameworks of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) and Newtonian gravity with dark matter (DM). We have developed a multigrid code able to efficiently solve the modified Poisson equation derived from the Lagrangian formalism AQUAL. We take particular care of the boundary conditions that are a crucial point in MOND. The 3-dimensional dynamics of initially identical stellar discs is studied in both models. In Newtonian gravity the live DM halo is chosen to fit the rotation curve of the MOND galaxy. For the same value of the Toomre parameter (QT ), galactic discs in MOND develop a bar instability sooner than in the DM model. In a second phase the MOND bars weaken while the DM bars continue to grow by exchanging angular momentum with the halo. The bar pattern speed evolves quite differently in the two models: there is no dynamical friction on the MOND bars so they keep a constant pattern speed while the DM bars slow down significantly. This
affects the position of resonance like the corotation and the peanut. The peanut lobes in the DM model move radially outward while they keep the same position in MOND. Simulations of (only stellar) galaxies of different types on the Hubble sequence lead to a statistical bar frequency that is closer to observations for the MOND than the DM model. Key words. Galaxies: general — Galaxies: kinematics and dynamics — Galaxies: spiral — Galaxies: structure — Cosmology: dark matter

http://arxiv.org/pdf/astro-ph/0701011.pdf 

Olimpiade Astronomi Internasional

The International Astronomy Olympiad (IAO) is an internationally recognized annual astronomy scientific-educating event for high school students (14–18 years old), which includes an intellectual competition between these students. It is one of the International Science Olympiads.

The Eurasian Astronomical Society founded the IAO in 1996.

Competing Rounds

The competing part of IAO consists of three rounds: a theoretical, an observational, and a practical. Problems of the theoretical round involve classical problems in branches of astronomy, astrophysics, space and planetary physics, and maybe hypothetical situations. The observational round involves recognizing stars, constellations, estimating star magnitude and angular distance, working with telescopes or other observational technique. The practical round consists of problems based on data results of observations, solutions propose analysis of these data. The chairman is Michael Gavrilov.

Indonesian  Astrophysics Association on Education

Pusat Pengembangan Kompetisi Olimpiade 

Astronomi dan Astrofisika

Mission

1. DI SETIAP KABUPATEN ATAU KOTA DI INDONESIA
MEMPUNYAI KLUB ASTRO FISIKA

2. PUTRA-PUTRI TERBAIK BANGSA MAMPU MENJUARAI
IVENT-IVENT ATAU KOMPETISI ILMIAH
DALAM BIDANG ASTRO FISIKA DI TINGKAT INTERNATIONAL

The International Astronomy Olympiad Web Site

Applying Newton's Laws

Audience: Educators
Grades: K-12


This document focuses on how rockets work, including the rocket engines and their propellants.

Applying Newton's Laws  [763KB PDF file]

Applying Newton's Laws is part of the Rockets Educator Guide.

Biophysics

Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of, and theories from, physics to study biological systems. Biophysics spans all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems. Biophysical research shares significant overlap with biochemistry, nanotechnology, bioengineering, agrophysics and systems biology.

Indonesian Astrophysics Association

Indonesian Astrophysics Association 

The mission of the  Indonesian Astrophysics Association (IAA) is to advance our knowledge and understanding of the universe through research and education in astronomy and astrophysics. 

Indonesian  Astrophysics Association on Education

Pusat Pengembangan Kompetisi Olimpiade 

Astronomi dan Astrofisika

Mission

1. DI SETIAP KABUPATEN ATAU KOTA DI INDONESIA
MEMPUNYAI KLUB ASTRO FISIKA

2. PUTRA-PUTRI TERBAIK BANGSA MAMPU MENJUARAI
IVENT-IVENT ATAU KOMPETISI ILMIAH
DALAM BIDANG ASTRO FISIKA DI TINGKAT INTERNATIONAL

The International Astronomy Olympiad Web Site

2nd International Olympiad On Astronomy and Astrophysics Part I

2nd International Olympiad On Astronomy and Astrophysics Part II

Astrophysics (Greek: Astro - meaning "star", and Greek: physis – φύσις - meaning "nature") is the branch of astronomy that deals with the physics of the universe, including the physical properties of celestial objects, as well as their interactions and behavior. Among the objects studied are galaxies, stars, planets, exoplanets, the interstellar medium and the cosmic microwave background. Their emissions are examined across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, and the properties examined include luminosity, density, temperature, and chemical composition. Because astrophysics is a very broad subject, astrophysicists typically apply many disciplines of physics, including mechanics, electromagnetism, statistical mechanics, thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, relativity, nuclear and particle physics, and atomic and molecular physics. In practice, modern astronomical research involves a substantial amount of physics. The name of a university's department ("astrophysics" or "astronomy") often has to do more with the department's history than with the contents of the programs. Astrophysics can be studied at the bachelors, masters, and Ph.D. levels in aerospace engineering, physics, or astronomy departments at many universities.