Section 2: Exploration Experiment The second half of this lab is for you to do your own mini-research project. I'd like you to use the tools we've worked with in this lab to try answering your own research question. Below are a few examples of the types of question you might ask. Select one of these or create your own. Note that you will have to do some research to determine the data needed for this experiment.

1. Create your own scale model of objects in the universe. One option would be a model of the Milky Way galaxy with markers for different parts of the galaxy. Other options include creating a model of the Earth-Moon system (including low-Earth orbiting and geosynchronous satellites), one of the other planets and their moon systems. (Make sure you take some pictures of your model to include with your writeup).
2. If you have been assigned a constellation you could make a 3D model of the stars in that constellation (not just a map on the sky - include the distances). If you have been assigned a Mystery Solar System you can make a model of your solar system.
3. How do other types of deep sky objects (e.g. open clusters, globular clusters, and planetary nebulae) fit into the three size scales we've discussed here? Are they all on the same scale or are different ones closer to different scales?
4. Is there a relationship between the brightness of stars and their distance? Note that astronomers use the term magnitude to describe brightness, but larger magnitudes mean fainter objects!
5. Other questions you have related to the sizes and distances of objects in the universe.

Note that the exploration experiment is a full experiment. Once you have selected one of these questions to work on you will need to collect data, make measurements, and analyze the results. In your writeup you will also have to describe the question (don't just copy the text above: say specifically which part you are working on), describe in detail the steps you took to answer the question, list all of the data you used and any analysis you did, and finally, describe the conclusions you drew from the experiment.

Final Writeup Whether or not you are working in groups each student should do their own writeup. This means that you can share data but the written answers should be in your own words.

From the Section 1 of the lab you should turn in the following:

1. Completed Table I (see the note about significant figures)
2. The Powers-Of-Ten Graph
3. Your answer to the discussion question
4. Show your work on any calculations you did (e.g. converting units)

In addition, I would like you to type up your discussion in your own words of the Section 2: Exploration Experiment. In this discussion you should clearly describe the following:

1. What the question is.
2. What procedure you used to answer the question (explain what you did in detail)
3. What data you took and what calculations you made (make sure you show your work here)
4. The conclusions you derived from this data.

The final writeup should be at least few paragraphs long at least, preferably typed, and it should give enough detail that an interested reader can follow the steps you took and clearly see how you reached your conclusions. Upload all of the lab work to the Week 2 lab folder on Canvas.

Rubric: