ASTRO 801
Planets, Stars, Galaxies, and the Universe

Additional Resources

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  1. I tend not to focus too much on the historical figures in astronomy and their accomplishments, and I left out a lot about Galileo, who was very important in the transition from a Geocentric to Heliocentric view of the Universe. If you'd like to read more about Galileo on your own, I recommend the Galileo Project.
  2. In the ClassAction Modules there are modules related to this unit under Basic Motions & Ancient Astronomy and Renaissance Astronomy. I recommend the Renaissance Astronomy module called the "Planetary Orbit Simulator," and they also have modules similar to the ones in this lesson (e.g., the retrograde motion animation).
  3. On Teacher's Domain, there are several resources related to this lesson:
  4. In the lesson, I recommended the PhET simulations and suggested you try experimenting to create stable and unstable orbits using one of their orbital simulators. A physics teacher collaborator and I wrote an article about an in-class investigation you can do with one of those simulations, and it is available for free in PDF form here: Earth Scientist Vol XXIX Summer 2013 (see p. 32)

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