For Your Class
For Your Class
Course: Physics of Astrophysics
Institution: University of Notre Dame
Faculty: Evan Kirby
Assignment
Stellar physics has several high-profile examples of discrimination that eventually led to vindication. What character traits did historical astronomers need to uncover the truths about astrophysics? Which of these traits are still required today? The class will have 9 problem sets and 2 class projects. The problem sets will give you a chance to practice what you learned in class. They will be due every 1 to 2 weeks. Across three of the problem sets you will be asked to consider Cecilia Payne’s PhD thesis.
From Problem Set 1:
We are celebrating this landmark thesis’s 100th year. Pay particular attention to the footnote on page 188 and to the sentence, “The enormous abundance derived for [hydrogen and helium] in the stellar atmosphere is almost certainly not real.”
Today, we know that hydrogen and helium comprise 98% of the sun by mass. Discuss the influences that led Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin to write the sentence above. What virtues did she exhibit in doing so? What virtues did she not exhibit?
From Problem Set 3:
Henry Norris Russell was an external advisor to Cecilia Payne’s PhD thesis. On January 14, 1925, he advised Payne to edit her thesis as follows:
There remains one very much more serious discrepancy, namely, that for hydrogen, helium and oxygen. Here I am convinced that there is something seriously wrong with the present theory. It is clearly impossible that hydrogen should be a million times more abundant than the metals, and I have no doubt that the number of hydrogen atoms in the two quantum state is enormously greater than is indicated by the theory of Fowler and Milne. Compton and I sent a little note to ‘Nature’ about metastable states, which may help to explain the difficulty ...
What virtues did Prof. Russell exhibit in advising Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin to revise her thesis? What virtues could he have exhibited better?
From Problem Set 5
Recall that Prof. Russell advised Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin to revise her thesis to downplay the enormous overabundance of hydrogen and helium relative to the metals in stellar atmospheres. Now read Section III.14 on pages 64–70 of Russell (1929, Astrophysical Journal, 70, 11). Pay special attention to Table XVI.
What virtues did Prof. Russell display in this section? What virtues were not present?
About
Students in class: 15-20
Teaching modality: In person
Grade level/year: Senior undergraduate students and graduate students
Course type: This course is a part of the Astronomy and Astrophysics major and graduate programs
Virtues integrated: curiosity, open-mindedness, and inquisitiveness
Course: Physics of Astrophysics
Institution: University of Notre Dame
Faculty: Evan Kirby
Assignment
Stellar physics has several high-profile examples of discrimination that eventually led to vindication. What character traits did historical astronomers need to uncover the truths about astrophysics? Which of these traits are still required today? The class will have 9 problem sets and 2 class projects. The problem sets will give you a chance to practice what you learned in class. They will be due every 1 to 2 weeks. Across three of the problem sets you will be asked to consider Cecilia Payne’s PhD thesis.
From Problem Set 1:
We are celebrating this landmark thesis’s 100th year. Pay particular attention to the footnote on page 188 and to the sentence, “The enormous abundance derived for [hydrogen and helium] in the stellar atmosphere is almost certainly not real.”
Today, we know that hydrogen and helium comprise 98% of the sun by mass. Discuss the influences that led Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin to write the sentence above. What virtues did she exhibit in doing so? What virtues did she not exhibit?
From Problem Set 3:
Henry Norris Russell was an external advisor to Cecilia Payne’s PhD thesis. On January 14, 1925, he advised Payne to edit her thesis as follows:
There remains one very much more serious discrepancy, namely, that for hydrogen, helium and oxygen. Here I am convinced that there is something seriously wrong with the present theory. It is clearly impossible that hydrogen should be a million times more abundant than the metals, and I have no doubt that the number of hydrogen atoms in the two quantum state is enormously greater than is indicated by the theory of Fowler and Milne. Compton and I sent a little note to ‘Nature’ about metastable states, which may help to explain the difficulty ...
What virtues did Prof. Russell exhibit in advising Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin to revise her thesis? What virtues could he have exhibited better?
From Problem Set 5
Recall that Prof. Russell advised Dr. Payne-Gaposchkin to revise her thesis to downplay the enormous overabundance of hydrogen and helium relative to the metals in stellar atmospheres. Now read Section III.14 on pages 64–70 of Russell (1929, Astrophysical Journal, 70, 11). Pay special attention to Table XVI.
What virtues did Prof. Russell display in this section? What virtues were not present?
About
Students in class: 15-20
Teaching modality: In person
Grade level/year: Senior undergraduate students and graduate students
Course type: This course is a part of the Astronomy and Astrophysics major and graduate programs
Virtues integrated: curiosity, open-mindedness, and inquisitiveness