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As teachers work through curricula in physics and physical science, there is always a desire to go deeper than the surface, especially when unexpected time or a "teachable moment" presents itself. While working with the Law of Reflection, it may be difficult to go much deeper, as the Law itself is simple and its results fairly intuitive. But we have developed a lab that may serve to increase connections from the Law of Reflection to other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, especially x-rays, and provide a robust activity that will enrich student understanding: http://suzaku-epo.nasa.gov/docs/suzaku-epo/education/lessons/gia/gia.html. The activity begins as a standard Law of Reflection lab that could be found in common texts. By introducing some obstacles and changing some variables, students learn about the uniqueness of x-rays while exploring their properties. They learn that telescopes must be designed differently to study x-rays vs. visible light. So stop by, try out the exercise, and let us know how it went! Send to suznuzfeedback@athena.gsfc.nasa.gov. Objects And Places Of Interest In X-Rays
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According to Greek mythology, Cassiopeia was a queen who, as punishment for her vanity, was chained to her throne and placed in the sky to circle the North Star, so she sits upside down half the time. Mythology can be quite entertaining! Scientists, however, know that over 300 years ago, the Cassiopeia constellation truly came "alive". One star brightened intensely, signaling one of the most violent events in the universe: a supernova.
Today we know a lot about that supernova, dubbed Cas A. We see many different types of radiation coming from its remnants. We also know it is about 10,000 light years away, spans about 10 light years, and partly due to its proximity to Earth is the strongest radio source outside our solar system.
The calibration image at the beginning of the newsletter is Cas A, and directly above are three images of Cas A taken by different missions. From left to right, they cover the radio, infrared, and x-ray portions of the spectrum. They give an excellent sense of the supernova's structure. These can loosely be seen as images of (from left to right) the coolest parts, relatively temperate parts, and hottest parts of Cas A.
In contrast, the Suzaku mission is more about composition than structure. It helps answer the question: "What are supernova remnants made of?" This is an especially interesting question, since supernova remnants seed the universe with newly created elements — the process that ultimately led to the development of… us!
For more information on Cas A:
Sometimes textbooks and websites allow for excellent research, but a well-informed professional in the classroom can make two dimensional pages come alive. We present these stories to help you discuss historical ideas and experiments that hopefully lead to further discussion and an increased sense of how science is done…
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In science, sometimes we don't find what we set out to, but we learn more in the process. In our last issue we covered Roentgen's 1896 discovery of x-rays. But the story of Henri Becquerel is a tale of a man looking for x-rays and finding more.
Becquerel learned of Roentgen's discovery and heard another French scientist, Henri Poincaire, propose that x-rays might be related to luminescence. He set out to experiment with this hypothesis. Becquerel had the unique expertise to do so, since both he and his father had experimented with phosphorescence and photography. He speculated that uranium might be an excellent source material for further x-ray studies.
The rest is history, though something of a surprise for Becquerel. The story in most texts is that Becquerel accidentally discovered radiation by leaving a photographic plate in the same drawer as a radioactive sample of uranium. In reality, his experiments were deliberate. In his Nobel acceptance speech of 1903, Becquerel briefly described his experiment to detect radiation. The procedure included the purposeful use of uranium salts and a procedure to exclude the effects of sunlight. Above you see the photographic result of his experiment. It was his honor and fortune to share that prize with Pierre and Marie Curie, who had discovered radium and made advances in that same field of study.
The field of X-ray astronomy began on June 18, 1962 with a five-minute sounding rocket flight carrying a Geiger counter. This flight led to the discovery of the first X-ray source object outside the solar system. What was the object and what type of object was it?
First person to answer correctly… will win educational materials from the Imagine the Universe! team.
Winner of previous trivia question: Keith N.
