THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.main
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970
Julian date: 2457670.16
"Reality is all very well, but it is more of a tragedy to lose touch with fantasy."
THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, October 7, 2016
Quiz # 6: Myths and Misconceptions
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FIRST FRIDAY ART WALK!
Today 5:00 p.m. at the Southworth Planetarium
The "Prayers Made Visible" series continues.
Free and open to the public!
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"Myths and Misconceptions" is the topic on this afternoon's "Radio Astronomy" radio show. WMPG 90.9 FM (www.wmpg.org)
Fridays at 1:00 p.m.
Play along with us today as we try to dispel as many
astronomical misconceptions as we can in half an hour.
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Today's glittering gem from the cave of the quiz wizard abounds with astronomical myths and misconceptions. Unlike most quizzes that offer answer choices, this quiz consists of various statements. Your task is to determine if the statement is true or a misconception. The answer section will offer more information about each statement. We advise caution, of course, as a couple of these might be a mite tricky.
1. Looking directly at a total solar eclipse is dangerous.
2. The last quarter moon is slightly dimmer than the first quarter moon
3. Polaris, the north star, is the brightest night sky star.
4. Because of light's finite travel speed, we are not seeing the stars as they appear now, so most of the stars we see no longer exist.
5. Astronauts aboard the International Space Station experience far less gravity than people on Earth.
6. Comet tails always point away from the Sun.
7. When at its closest distance, Mars will appear as large as the full moon.
8. The moon has so many craters because it has no air or water to erode them.
9. Galileo invented the telescope
10. The moon is the only body involved in Earth's tides
ANSWERS
1. MYTH! (With a caveat)
When a solar eclipse is total, one may observe it without doing any damage to the eyes. HOWEVER, one should be sure to know when totality will end because one does NOT want to look at the eclipse when the first sliver of Sun appears.
2. TRUE!
The first quarter moon is 9% as bright as the full moon, but the last quarter moon is only 8% as bright as the full moon. The side of the moon illuminated at first quarter is slightly brighter than the side illuminated during the last quarter moon.
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The first quarter moon (on the left) is brighter than the
last quarter moon (on the right), because the part of the surface
illuminated during a first quarter moon is not as dark as the
part we see during a last quarter moon.
3. MYTH!
Sirius, the brightest star is Canis Major, is the night sky's brightest star. Polaris ranks 47th!
4. MYTH!
While it is true that a few stars such as Betelgeuse (Orion) and Antares (Scorpius) are toward the end of their life cycles and might have already gone supernova, almost all of the stars we see still exist. Even the most distant naked eye stars will only be a few thousand light years from Earth. Most stars have life spans far exceeding 10 million years.
5. MYTH!
The astronauts on the ISS float because they are "falling" with the station as it revolves around Earth. The space station is about 250 miles above the planet's surface, so the astronauts are experiencing slightly less gravity than we do on the ground, but the difference is not significant. The astronauts float because they are orbiting Earth within the space station.
6. TRUE!
We think of comets as having heads with long flowing tails stretched out behind them as they travel. In fact, this tail -which is actually two tails*- points away from the Sun. As the comet approaches the Sun, the tail forms behind the head. As the comet moves away from the Sun, the tail points ahead of it. (A difficult thing to imagine, we know.)
7. MYTH!
And this myth has been promulgated through the internet for years. In August 2003, Mars came closer to Earth than it had been in 60,000 years! At this close approach, Mars still looked only like a bright red star. In order for Mars to appear as large as the full moon, it would have to be about half a million miles from Earth. Even at closest approach, Mars will be a bit more than 30 million miles from us.
8. TRUE!
When observing the moon, one will see many craters, some of which formed billions of years ago! The moon doesn't have air, water or weather systems like we do on Earth. Therefore, a moon crater won't experience any erosion as craters do on Earth.
9. MYTH!
Galileo Galilei was the first person to use a telescope to make astronomical observations. Dutch lensmaker Hans Lippershey is created with having invented the telescope in 1609. Of course, even this claim is disputed. Even though Galileo revolutionized astronomy by using the telescope for astronomy, he was not it inventor.
10. MYTH!
The moon is the most important body involved in Earth's tides. However, the Sun is also involved, albeit it to a lesser extent. For this reason, tides are highest around the full and new moon, the two times when the moon, Earth and Sun are linearly aligned.
*A dust tail, formed by particles liberated from the sublimating ice, and an ion tail repelled by the solar wind.