THE SOUTHWORTH PLANETARIUM
207-780-4249 www.usm.maine.edu/planet
70 Falmouth Street Portland, Maine 04103
43.6667° N 70.2667° W
Founded January 1970Julian date: 2457997.5
2017-18: # 1
"You have never been humiliated, demeaned, belittled, or ridiculed by a strong person. Remember this simple fact and those memories will lose some of their sting."
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I dedicate this DA school year to my new wife and best friend,
Tree. Our first date was a Monday. We decided to marry on Tuesday: such is the efficiency of natural affinity. We weave together like tapestry strands and will lend each other the resiliency to confront life's wholly unromantic sequence of trials, tribulations, and other growth opportunities. Because of you, my dear, I now know the difference between admiring the heavens and being indebted to them. Amo Da.
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THE DAILY ASTRONOMER
Friday, September 1, 2017
Quiz I: Voyagers
So, we open the doors to the DAcademy for a brand new school year and the first thing the scattered-brain teacher does is administer a quiz?! Well, in our defense, the school year just happened to begin on a Friday, our quiz day. Also in our defense, with the exception of my Uncle, I'm not actually grading you on these quizzes, so you shouldn't feel at all resentful. As they say at the Department of Motor Vehicles, quizzes and tests are just for fun!
The first quiz literally takes us out to the solar system fringes where the two Voyager crafts are chugging along toward the shores of interstellar space. Although designed principally to _______________, these vessels now serve as Earth's robotic emissaries, destined to travel through the galaxy for millions or even billions of years! Our planet's veritable bottles in the vast cosmic ocean.
We hope you enjoy this quick Voyagers quiz and don't flee the classroom in a panic!
1. In what year were the Voyager probes launched?
a. 1975
b. 1976
c. 1977
d. 1981
2. What were the Voyager probes designed to do?
a. explore the Sun
b. explore the outer planets of the solar system
c. explore the asteroid belt
d. explore the Alpha Centauri system
3. Which Voyager probe visited Pluto?
a. Voyager 1
b. Voyager 2
c. Both of them
d. Neither of them
4. Approximately how far away is the Voyager 2 craft from the Sun right now?
a. 80 times farther from the Sun than Earth
b. 100 times farther from the Sun than Earth
c. 115 times farther from the Sun than Earth
d. 200 times farther from the Sun than Earth
5. About how fast is the Voyager 2 probe traveling relative to the Sun?
a. 23,000 mph
b. 29,000 mph
c. 34,100 mph
d. 55,300 mph
6. Voyager 2 is expected to make close "fly-bys" of stars, including Sirius. The craft is scheduled to come within 4.3 light years of Sirius in about ____________________
a. 296,000 years
b. 510,00 years
c. 798,000 years
d. 1.2 million years
7. Which one of the following recordings is not included in the gold record attached to the Voyager probe?
a. "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry
b. "Melancholy Blues" by Louis Armstrong
c. "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys
d. Selections from the "Magic Flute"
8. Which probe is the most distant human made object from Earth?
a. Voyager 1
b. Voyager 2
c . Pioneer 10
d. New Horizons
9. What is keeping the Voyager probes in motion?
a. they are moving on their own volition in accordance with Newton's motion law
b. Plutonium
c. Ion propulsion
d. Intermittent rocket bursts
REFER TO THIS IMAGE FOR QUESTION # 10:
10. What does the starburst design at the lower left of the Voyager record represent?
a. the positions of the planets in our solar system
b. the positions of nearby pulsars relative to the solar system
c. the electron configuration of phosphorus
d. the solar system's progenitor supernova
ANSWERS
1. c. 1977
The Voyager 1 probe launched on September 5, 1977
The Voyager 2 probe launched on August 20, 1977
2. b. explore the outer planets of the solar system
3. d. Neither of them
4. c. 115 times farther from the Sun than Earth
5. c. 34,100 mph
6. a. 296,000 years
7. c. "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys
8. a. Voyager 1
The Voyager 1 probe is about 116 times farther from the Sun than Earth.
9. a. they are moving on their own volition in accordance with Newton's motion law
10. b. the positions of nearby pulsars relative to the solar system