Imaging the Moon II: Webcam CCD observations & analysis (a two week lab for non-majors)

Presented is a successful two week lab involving real sky observations of the Moon in which students make telescopic observations and analyze their own images. Originally developed around the 35 mm film camera as a common household object adapted for astronomical work, the lab transitioned to use the webcam as film photography evolved into an obscure specialty technology and increasing numbers of students had little familiarity with it. The printed circuit board with the CCD is harvested from a retail webcam and affixed to a tube to mount on a telescope in place of an eyepiece. Image frames are compiled to form a lunar mosaic and crater sizes are measured. Students also work through the logistical steps of telescope time assignment and scheduling, keeping to schedule and working with uncertainties of weather, in ways paralleling research observations. Because there is no need for a campus observatory, this lab can be replicated at a wide variety of institutions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, COSMOS in the Classroom 2013 (conference proceedings), astronomy educatio

Observation of Microscopic Deformation Behavior of Cork

Cork is a material that has many characteristics, for instance, light weight, elasticity, insulation against heat, impermeability for liquid, and so forth. There are two types of cork, the natural and the agglomerated corks. In the present paper, compression tests of the natural and the agglomerated cork specimens were carried out. The compression test were done in various directions. Compressive stress was measured by a original compression apparatus, and stress-strain curves were obtained in various directions of the cork specimens. In the natural cork, there are differences between the radial and the non-radial direction. The recovery of dimensions after compression was also studied in respective directions. The structure of the deformed surface was observed by a scanning electron microscope

Mean-Field Calculation Based on Proton-Neutron Mixed Energy Density Functionals

We have performed calculations based on the Skyrme energy density functional (EDF) that includes arbitrary mixing between protons and neutrons. In this framework, single-particle states are generalized as mixtures of proton and neutron components. The model assumes that the Skyrme EDF is invariant under the rotation in isospin space and the Coulomb force is the only source of the isospin symmetry breaking. To control the isospin of the system, we employ the isocranking method, which is analogous to the standard cranking approach used for describing high-spin states. Here, we present results of the isocranking calculations performed for the isobaric analog states in $A = 40$ and $A = 54$ nuclei.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, talk given at the 2nd Conference on "Advances in Radioactive Isotope Science 2014" (ARIS 2014), Tokyo, Japan, Jun. 1-6, 201