We demonstrated that an optimally designed pinhole camera can be used as an astronomical tool to observe the libration and apparent diameter change of the Moon at night. The libration and apparent diameter change of the Moon were observed using a handmade pinhole camera with a diameter of 0.65 mm and a focal length of 400 mm. It was found that the…

Laboratory astrophysics and astrochemistry are emerging fields highlighting the importance of laboratory simulations and experiments to benefit remote observations. In particular, ice mixtures found in the outer solar system may offer insight into the early evolution of organic molecules. H[subscript 2]O-ice mixtures containing other species such…

A solar eclipse provides a well-characterized reduction in solar radiation. Solar radiation is a driving factor in meteorological and climate models. Hence, solar eclipses provide a unique opportunity to do large-scale meteorological experiments by measuring the effects on temperature, pressure, and wind while the atmospheric conditions stay…

During the August 21, 2017, solar eclipse, high school students measured secondary cosmic ray flux using QuarkNet detectors. These students conducted experiments examining cosmic ray flux, shower, speed of muons, and muon lifetime using QuarkNet cosmic ray muon detectors (CRMDs). These detectors measure muon flux of momenta greater than ~2 GeV, a…

Providing exposure to the process and methods of science is a fundamental goal of any general education college science course. This is largely because most students taking such courses are generally "not" science majors, so they are likely to take few, if any, other science courses. Meeting this goal can be a challenge in courses such…

In this paper, we describe a study of cosmic ray muon rates and energies at various elevations on Mauna Kea on the island of Hawaii. The study was originally conceived as an extension to the upper-division modern physics laboratory at the University of Hawaii at Hilo and used the TeachSpin Muon Physics apparatus (abbreviated TSMP below) from that…

A planetarium is an invaluable tool for teaching introductory astronomy, but one that few astronomy educators have ready access to. Here we describe a do-it-yourself planetarium that can be built with modest funding. There have been other planetarium construction projects described in the literature and online, most of which use cardboard to make…

Video motion analysis allows tracing trajectories of objects in motion and is an established method in physics education. Tablet computers, with their integrated cameras, offer the opportunity to both record and analyze dynamic motions during experiments on a single device. This enables students to work without transitioning the data between…

Dark matter comprises most of the matter in the universe, yet physicists are unsure of its nature. A significant effort is devoted in contemporary research to attempts to understand dark matter, making it a both captivating and relevant area of astrophysics to discuss in a classroom setting. What is more, the physics behind these experiments is…

In astronomy, methods such as direct imaging or interferometry-based techniques (Michelson stellar interferometry for example) are used for observations. A particular advantage of interferometry is that it permits greater spatial resolution compared to direct imaging with a single telescope, which is limited by diffraction owing to the aperture of…

In a recent "AstroNote," I described a simple exercise on the mass-luminosity relation for main sequence stars as an example of exposing students in a general education science course of lower mathematical level to the use of quantitative skills such as collecting and analyzing data. Here I present another attempt at a meaningful…

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, two black holes, one of mass 36 solar masses and the other of mass 29 solar masses, were dancing their death waltz, leading to their coalescence and the emission of gravitational waves carrying away with them three solar masses of energy. More precisely, it happened 1.3 billion years ago at a distance of…

Asteroids are clumps of rock, the sizes of which range from less than a kilometer to a few hundred kilometers in diameter. They are generally found in the unusually large gap between Mars and Jupiter. There are probably more than 40,000 asteroids in this gap called the "asteroid belt." In this paper we describe our efforts in confirming…

As is true of a far more famous story, it all began a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. It even involved a binary star system. A small star, called a white dwarf, had become a burned out husk of its former self and it turned to gorging on hydrogen and helium from its bloated red giant neighbor. The transferred gas reignited the fires of…

In the popular press, diagrams showing the evolution of the universe begin with a great jump in size labeled "inflation." Can we explain the basic ideas behind inflation to our students who have taken our introductory physics course? Probably not. In our standard introductory physics courses, even those with special relativity, something…