It is a period of civil war. Rebel
spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory
against the evil GALACTIC EMPIRE.
During the battle, Rebel spies managed to
steal secret plans to the Empire's ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an
armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet.
Pursued by the Empire's sinister agents,
Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen
plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy...
And thus begins STAR WARS, the movie
that re-invented the way science fiction is broadcast to a large
audience. Below is the brief list of characters:
R2-D2 & C-3PO -- droids that fall into Luke's possession;
originally passengers on Leia's ship. Princess Leia -- senator from the planet Alderaan and a central
figure in the Rebellion. Darth Vader -- evil agent of the Empire; seduced by the dark
side of the Force. Luke Skywalker -- young farmboy from the planet Tatooine. Ben (Obi-Wan) Kenobi -- former Jedi Knight, lives on Tatooine;
former teacher of Darth Vader. Han Solo -- hotshot freighter pilot and smuggler. Chewbacca -- Solo's first mate. Governor Tarkin -- commander of the Death Star.
Objectives
The purpose of this lab is to get you to
use your ability to think and reason in order to critically analyze
STAR WARS. All questions should be answered in class, and you
may use anything you may have learned this semester in this course to
answer the questions. Please note: for the purpose of this lab, only
STAR WARS exists. You may not use information from any of the
other movies, or interviews, comics, novels, and the like. The
questions are based on what happens in this movie, and the information
to answer them is contained in the movie.
List 5 technological advances that we have yet to master (you must
be somewhat specific. For instance, "spaceships" is not a
valid answer, for we have traveled to the moon in a
"spaceship"). Make your answers explicit enough so there is
no doubt as to the meaning.
List 5 technological advances that we HAVE mastered.
R2-D2 and C-3PO escape from the ship in an escape pod and
crash-land somewhere on a strange planet. How could they determine
what latitude they landed at? (Hint #1: think back to lab 4
when we determined latitude in the planetarium -- what measurement(s)
did we make? Hint #2: you don't need to watch the movie to answer
this.)
When attempts to determine whether life is possible in other
planetary systems are made, astronomers tend to make an inherent
assumption about the planetary system, based largely on our own Solar
System. Can you spot a violation of this inherent assumption by
Luke's home world Tatooine? (Hint: look for this in the scene after
Luke, his uncle, and his aunt discuss whether or not Luke can leave
for the academy before the harvest.)
Assuming the two "suns" of Tatooine have approximately
the same luminosity, then which of the following classifications for
the stars (based on the H-R Diagram) could be correct:
White Dwarf and Giant
White Dwarf and Main Sequence
Both Main Sequence
Both Giants
Cool Main Sequence and Giant
Main Sequence and Supergiant
(Hint #1: what are the approximate temperatures/colors and
luminosities of each type. Hint #2: remember giants and supergiants
are not all "red" colored, they can be orange and yellow
too.)
During the meeting between Kenobi, Luke, Han and Chewbacca that
occurs in the cantina, Kenobi asks if the Millennium Falcon is a fast
ship. Han, while bragging, makes a critical mistake when describing
the speed of his ship. Can you spot this mistake?
How fast can Han's ship go? (Listen for the line "What a
piece of junk" from Luke when he first sees the ship). Is this
speed possible?
Han claims that he has traveled across the galaxy and back and has
never seen evidence of the Force. Assuming the galaxy is similar in
size to the Milky Way, is this trip possible using his ship? (Hint:
1 pc = 3 light years, and the diameter of the Milky Way is about
100,000 ly) Just answer yes or no.
Extra Credit: if the Millennium Falcon really could travel at 1.5
ly/year, then how long would it take Han to make this trip (across
the galaxy and back)? (Hint: speed=distance/time)
Is the travel time from Tatooine to Alderaan realistic based upon
what we know about the distances between stars and the ship's speed?
(Hint 1: is there any type of indication how long they have been
traveling? Has it been hours, days, months, etc. Hint 2: It takes
almost 4 hours for light to travel from the Sun to Neptune, and about
4 years for light to travel from the Sun to the next nearest star.)
When Han is making the calculations for the "jump to
light-speed" he claims he must be very careful to avoid crashing
into stars or a supernova. We noticed in the last question that he
wasn't going that far, probably just to the next closest star. Do you
really think he had to be so worried (based on your knowledge of
astronomy and the distances between stars)?
What astronomical object is the Death Star mistaken for?
If light sabers emit light the same way stars do (i.e.
"Blackbody" radiation), then whose saber has a higher
temperature, Darth Vader's or Obi Wan's?
What do you notice about the rebel base that is a little unusual?
(Hint: What type of astronomical object is it located on?)
On all of the various inhabited celestial bodies in this movie, the
sky appears to be blue. This implies that all of their atmospheres
are composed of the same types of gases (oxygen, nitrogen, carbon
dioxide, etc.). Do you think most "human-like" creatures
would breath the same type of air or is this an example of modeling
life in other systems based on our own (limited) experience?
You need to turn this in BEFORE you leave lab -- there is NO
summary for this lab.
Good luck with finals and have a great break!