Rainy Day Projects

You’ve screwed up and waited too long and now the weather forecast is for a cloudy sky for the 5 nights prior to the observing project due date -- what do you do? You may elect to do ONE of these activities in the place of ONE observing project.  You may make this decision simply because you are interested in one of these activities, or because you have not been able to complete a particular observing project for an upcoming due date. Do not choose one of these because today is the day before it is due, since it is unlikely that you will have time to complete it.

Rainy I. Solar System Report

This project will give you the opportunity to research one object (or a group of objects) within our solar system in much greater depth than we can in course.  What planet, object, or group of objects you focus your report on is completely up to you, as is what features you decide to highlight.  However, your report should be readable, clear, and informative.

Of all possible objects in our solar system, the only two that you may not report on are Earth and the Sun.  These will be more completely covered in the course.  Solar system objects that you might consider include:

• A planet, such as Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, or Pluto.
• Objects which orbit any of the planets, such as moons or rings.
• Other solar system debris, such as comets or asteroids.

Your paper should be an in-depth report that is 4-5 typed pages (1000-1250 words).  You need to be careful that you do not fill your 5 pages with just an overview/summary of the solar system object you choose.  Your report must be more specific, asking a question such as, “What is the mechanism behind Jupiter’s great red spot?” or “How do we determine the origin of Pluto?” or “Could there be life on Mars?” or “What did we learn from the mission to the NEAR asteroid?” You should get the idea. Ask your instructor if you’re not sure. Regardless of the object(s) your report focuses on, you must concentrate on a specific question or set of questions, rather than a general description of what the object looks like and is made of.

Your report should also be referenced, including the citations to your references.  One obvious reference may be your textbook, but many others exist, such as journals/magazines like Scientific American, Astronomy, Mercury, or Sky & Telescope.  You may also supplement your references with information from the internet, but make sure that you have at least two references that are in-print/non-internet.

Most importantly, develop a report that is interesting to read.  This means that you need to find a topic that is interesting to you.  The search for your topic may be the most time consuming and frustrating part of this project, but ultimately the most important as well