Science MC- Astronomy question (1 Viewer)

Cardea

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studentcheese said:
Altitude and temperature are the two main reasons according to the internet. D sounds like a better option, because these questions are supposed to draw upon skill with reading stimulus material. There is nothing on pollution in the stimulus material. In addition, pollution is not a main reason according to the internet anyway. Google it and tell me what else you find.
Nor was there anything on altitude and polar location, as far as I can recall. (Are you referring to the stimulus booklet, or the paragraph of information they gave us in reference to this question?) Either way, there wasn't anything related to D. There was, however, something on pollution in the stimulus booklet - the light bulbs and mercury pollution.

Here's what I can find - this is an actual case, by the way (Dome C in Antarctica) -

Australian researchers have shown than a ground-based telescope in Antarctica can take images almost as good as those from the Hubble Space Telescope, at a fraction of the cost.

While Antarctica has long been recognised as having characteristics that make it a potentially excellent site for astronomy, seeing conditions at the South Pole itself (latitude 90 degrees south) are poor due to atmospheric turbulence within 200 - 300 m of the ground.

By contrast, Dome C, located at latitude 75 degrees south, has several atmospheric and site characteristics that make it ideal for astronomical observations.

The site's atmospheric characteristics include low infrared sky emission, extreme cold and dryness, a high percentage of cloud free time, and low dust and aerosol content - features that confer significant benefits for all forms of astronomy, especially infrared and sub-millimetre.

Dome C is 400 m higher than the South Pole and further inland from the coast. Being a "dome" - a local maximum in the elevation of the terrain - it experiences much lower peak and average wind speeds, which has a profound beneficial effect on the performance of astronomical instruments. Like other regions on the Antarctic plateau, it shares the advantages of a lack of seismic activity and low levels of light pollution.

A key issue in considering where to locate new generation ground-based optical telescopes is to choose a site with excellent 'seeing'. Seeing is defined as the amount of star jitter or sharpness of astronomical images, which is affected by atmospheric conditions close to Earth.
But if you think about it, the atmospheric conditions can still affect a high-altitude location (if only slightly), so if you think of it as a chain perhaps, pollution would be the initial issue. I don't know if I'm making sense :(
I don't know.. we'll see in time. This should be interesting, lol.
 

DoctorPie

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The other option in that question was that the cold helps light to refract better, or something like that.

I went with pollution personally.

Does a medium star follow the course or a large or small star? Does it expand or contract.

I have a feeling it was expand, but I'm not sure.
 

studentcheese

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Yes. It expands. Some schools didn't go through the star process but SGHS did.
 

supercalamari

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We did, at some stage, I just didn't really pay that much attention.

It's /b/.
 

Isho

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studentcheese said:
Yes. It expands. Some schools didn't go through the star process but SGHS did.
shit shit shit! I put in explode without thinking. It expands then explodes. God damn it
 

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