The star LL Persei is ejecting gas like a sprinkler on a lawn. Problem 490: LL Pegasi - A Perfect Spiral in Space Students use parametric equations and calculus to determine the linear equation for the path of Barnards Star, and then determine when the minimum distance to the sun occurs Problem 494: The Close Encounter to the Sun of Barnards Star The also work with time and speedĬalculations to estimate the speed of the supernova compared to the International Space Station. Students work with proportions and scaling to discover the size of the supernova remnant compared to the distance from the Sun to the nearest star Alpha Centauri. Problem 517: A Distant Supernova Remnant Discovered Students estimate how quickly this planet will lose its atmosphere and evaporate at its present loss rate of 6 million tons/second Problem 561:Exploring the Evaporating Exoplanet HD189733b When would colonists at different locations observe the star Betelgeuse become a supernova? Students explore the light year and its relationship to light travel time for observing events in different parts of space. Problem 564:Exploring the Stars in Orion - Light Year Madness Students create a 3-d model of the constellation Orion and explore how stars are located in space and how this perspective changes from different vantage points. They determine the minimum distances and a timeline of which star will be the suns new closest neighbor in space in the next 80,000 years. Students study a graph that models the distances from the sun of seven nearby stars over a 100,000 year time span. Problem 664: HST - The Suns Nearest Companions at least for now! Students examine the statistics of the latest candidate planets beyond our solar system, work with poercentages and a bar graph, and estimate the number of earth-like planets in our Milky Way. Problem 665: Kepler - Keplers Latest Count on Goldilocks Planets Students explore two nearby stars Ross 128 and Gliese 445 and determine when they will be the nearest stars to our sun by working with quadratic equations that model their distances. Problem 669: Exploring Two Nearby Stars to the Sun.