Star Search Game: Constructing a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Inspired by: Ian Christie (VSSEC); Activity created by: Nandita Bajaj Introduction: Star Search is an online game developed by the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC) that allows the user to go on a simulated journey into space using a spacecraft in search of various stars. The user is able to scan the star to obtain important characteristics about the stage of the star s life cycle, such as mass, diameter, temperature, brightness, and distance from Earth. The obtained data can be used to correlate the various characteristics of the star, which can further be used to reinforce their location on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram. Instructions for the game and the activity Part 1: Star Research (computers required) 1. Go to the following link: http://interactive.vssec.vic.edu.au/starsearch/ 2. Click on Game Introduction and review the mission. 3. Click on Start Mission to start the search mission. 4. Choose your Spacecraft and click on Continue. 5. A list of 285 stars will appear (See also Table 2). 6. You will be assigned approximately 10 stars to research. Add the assigned stars to the Journey Plan screen using the Add button. 7. Select 45 minutes for your Mission Duration. 8. Enter your Captain Name. 9. Click on Start Mission to begin your journey. 10. Your chosen star name will appear under Next Destination. Click Go. (Note: At various times, you may need to call for Help, Refuel, and/or avoid cosmic hazards.) 11. Once you arrive at the star, click Scan. 12. Complete the Star Characteristics Table for each assigned star (See Table 1 below). Number Star Name Brightness Diameter Mass Temperature ( Celcius) Colour Table 1: Characteristics of Stars from the Star-Search Game
Database of the stars from the Star Search game 1. Gamma Crucis 2. G001-045 3. Eta Arietis 4. LP 062-147 5. LHS 2333 6. G163-051 A 7. LP 101-148 8. V1581 Cygni A 9. Wolf 940 10. AY Indi 11. EGM 635 12. L 104-2 13. HD 142 A 14. Beta Cassopeiae 15. Epsilon Phoenicis 16. HD 1273 17. GX Andromedae A 18. HD 1461 19. Zeta Tucanae 20. HD 1835 21. Beta Hydri 22. Kappa Phoenicis 23. V547 Cassiopeiae A 24. Beta Ceti 25. Eta Cassiopeiae A 26. Phhi-2 Ceti 27. Vyssotsky 89 A 28. GI 47 29. Mu Cassiopeiae A 30. Nu Phoenicis 31. Kappa Tucanae A 32. 50 Upsilon Andromedae 33. UV Ceti A 34. P Eridanus A 35. Tau Ceti 36. Alpha Trianguli 37. Beta Arietis 38. Chi Fridani A 39. BD-10-403 A 40. Alpha Hydri 41. Alpha Arietis 42. Mu Fornacis 43. Delta Trianguli 44. Kappa Fornacis 45. Delta Hydri 46. CC Eridani 47. Lambda-2 Fornacis 48. Epsilon Ceti A 49. Gamma Ceti A 50. Theta Persei A 51. Iota Horologii 52. Tau-1 Eridani 53. BD+25-449 54. VY Arietis 55. HD 18455 A 56. Tau-3 Eridani 57. Iota Persei 58. Alpha Fornacis A 59. BD-69-177 A 60. BD-46-968 61. Zeta-1 Reticuli 62. Kappa Ceti 63. Zeta-2 Reticuli 64. 82Eridani 65. GI 140 A 66. Kappa Reticuli A 67. Epsilon Eridani 68. GI 145 69. Delta Eridani 70. Groombridge A 71. Beta Reticuli 72. Tau-6 Eridani 73. BD-21-784 74. Omicron-2 Eridani A 75. Gamma Doradus 76. Epsilon Reticuli 77. Alpha Tauri A 78. Alpha Caeli A 79. Beta Caeli 80. Pi-3 Orionis 81. Eta-1 Pictoris 82. Zeta Doradus 83. Kapteyn s Star 84. Capella A 85. GI 195 A 86. Lambda Aurigae 87. 371 Orionis 88. Nu-2 Columbae 89. Gamma Leporis A 90. Zeta Leporis 91. Beta Pictoris 92. Chi-1 Orionis A 93. Eta Leporis 94. Alpha Mensae 95. 577 Monocerotis A 96. XI Geminorum 97. Sirius A 98. Psi-5 Aurigae 99. Alpha Pictoris 100. I Puppis 101. Delta Geminorum A 102. Rho Geminorum A 103. VV Lyncis A 104. Castor A 105. YZ Canis Minoris 106. Pollux 107. Alpha Chamaeleontis 108. LHS 253 109. Delta Velorum A 110. GI 323 A 111. Iota Ursae Majoris A 112. Alpha Volantis 113. Sigma-2 Ursae Majoris A 114. K Velorum 115. Psi Velorum A 116. BD+70-565 117. Theta Antliae A 118. AD Leonis 119. I Carinae 120. GI 400 A Table 2: A list of the stars from the Star Search game 121. GI 409 122. Beta Crateris 123. Delta Leonis 124. SZ Crateris A 125. LHS 2407 A 126. GI 433.1 127. GI 434 128. Denebola 129. Beta Virginis 130. Eta Crucis 131. Alpha Corvi 132. GI 460 133. BD+32-2241 134. GI 468 135. Eta Corvi 136. FL Virginis A 137. GI 474 138. Gamma Virginis A 139. CD-39-7893 140. DT Virginis 141. FS Comae Berenices 142. 42 Alpha Comae Berenices 143. GI 503 A 144. BD-19-3653 145. Ross 1007 146. Iota Centauri 147. BD-15-3668 148. EQ Virginis 149. CD-32-9603 150. Tau Bootis A 151. Eta Bootis 152. Pi Hydrae 153. Theta Centauri 154. HD 124206 155. Arcturus 156. Theta Bootis A 157. Phi Virginis A 158. Proxima Centauri 159. Sigma Bootis 160. Alpha Centauri A 161. Alpha Circini A 162. BD-15-3965 163. BD-15-3966 164. Xi Bootis A 165. 44 I Boootis A 166. HD 134987 167. Beta Circini 168. Nu-2 Lupi 169. Psi Serpentis 170. Alpha Serpentis 171. Lambda Serpentis 172. L 153-157 A 173. Chi Herculis 174. Gamma Serpentis 175. HD 147513 A 176. Eta Draconis A 177. Gamma Apodis 178. Zeta Herculis A 179. Eta Ophiuchi A 180. Eta Scorpii 181. Xi Ophiuchi A 182. Alpha Ophiuchi 183. Pi Arae 184. Lambda Arae 185. Mu Arae 186. Psi Draconis A 187. Mu Herculis A 188. Barnard s Star 189. Zeta Serpentis 190. Tau Ophiuchi A 191. Iota Pavonis 192. Eta Serpentis 193. Lambda Sagittarii 194. V774 Herculis 195. Vega 196. GI 744 197. GI 755.1 198. Delta Aquilae 199. BD+31-3618 200. Sigma Draconis 201. Theta Cygni A 202. Altair 203. Omicron Aquilae A 204. Beta Aquilae A 205. BD+25-4085 206. Delta Pavonis 207. BD+76-785 208. Rho Capricorni A 209. HU Delphini 210. Wolf 1346 211. Alpha Indi 212. Phi-2 Pavonis 213. AT Microscopii A 214. AU Microscopii 215. Psi Capricorni 216. Epsilon Cygni A 217. Eta Cephei 218. Iota Microscopii 219. Eta Capricorni A 220. 61 Cygni A 221. Delta Equulei A 222. Tau Cygni A 223. Alpha Cephei 224. Gamma Pavonis 225. Nu Octantis 226. Mu-1 Cygni A 227. Delta Capricorni 228. Mu Capricorni 229. Epsilon Indi 230. Iota Pegasi 231. Alpha Gruis 232. BD-08-5818 233. Nu Indi A 234. Do Cephei A 235. Upsilon Aquarii 236. FK Aquarii A 237. Xi Pegasi A 238. Psi-1 Aquarii A 239. BD-14-6448 A 240. ZZ Piscium 241. EQ Pegasi A 242. Gamma Cephei 243. Iota Piscium 244. Wolf 10 245. Iota Ceti 246. LHS 224 247. Ross 987 248. Steph 852 249. LHS 2270 250. Steph 922 251. Steph 928 252. Steph 932 253. Omicron Virginis 254. Steph 1021 255. Ross 991 256. Ross 1021 257. Ross 992 258. Lambda Bootis 259. HD 144197 260. Eta Ursae Minoris 261. Wolf 937 262. Wolf 939 263. Wolf 944 264. Wolf 953 265. Wolf 983 266. Wolf 990 267. L1003-48 268. BD-11-352 A 269. BD-04-426 270. Wo 9124 271. Wo 9125 272. Wo 9127 273. BD-14-933 A 274. Wo 9188 275. Wo 9303 276. Wo 9428 277. BD+25-2737 278. HD 146686 279. BD-22-4915 280. V775 Herculis 281. BD-21-5237 282. BD-21-5933 283. Wolf 1014 284. Wo 9791 285. Wo 9809
Characteristics of Additional Stars Number Star Name Brightness Diameter Mass Temperature ( Celcius) Colour 286. Sirius A 21.48 2.02 2.4 9750 White 287. Sirius B 0.01 0.01 0.97 25200 White 288. Alpha Centauri A 1.47 1.09 1.12 5780 Yellow 289. Alpha Centauri B 0.43 0.83 0.79 4900 Orange 290. Sun 1.00 1 1 5780 Yellow 291. Achernar 3311.00 10 7 14510 Blue 292. Vega 37.00 2.78 2.14 9600 White 293. Procyon A 7.73 2.05 1.42 6530 White 294. Altair 10.60 1.83 1.79 7600 White 295. Bellatrix 4000.00 5.7 8.5 21500 Blue 296. Tau Ceti 0.52 0.79 0.78 5344 Yellow 297. 61 Cygni A 0.22 0.67 0.7 4526 Orange 298. 61 Cygni B 0.15 0.6 0.63 4077 Orange 299. Gliese 725 A 0.04 0.55 0.36 3500 Red 300. Barnards Star 0.01 0.15 0.15 3134 Red 301. Wolf 359 0.01 0.16 0.09 2800 Red 302. Arcturus 210.00 25.7 1.1 4300 Red 303. Pollux 32.00 8 1.86 4865 Orange 304. Deneb 54000.00 200 20 8525 White 305. Rigel 66000.00 78 17 11000 Blue 306. Betelgeuse 140000.00 1180 18 2500 Red 307. Antares 65000.00 800 15.5 2850 Red 308. Procyon B 0.01 0.01 0.6 9000 White Table 3: Characteristics of Additional Stars
Part 2: Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram Activity 1. You will perform this activity in groups of 5-6 students. 2. You will receive a blank Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram, like the one shown in Figure 1. A Hertzsprung-Russell diagram shows the relationship between a star s brightness and its temperature on a map. Figure 1: An HR diagram shows the relationship between a star s brightness and its temperature. The temperature scale increases from right to left on the x-axis, whereas the brightness scale increases from bottom to top on the y-axis. 3. Based on the information collected for each of the stars from Table 1 and the provided star characteristics in Table 3, choose a sticker that represents the colour and mass of the star to identify its position on the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram provided by your teacher according to Table 4, Fig. 2, and Fig. 3 below. Mass of the star (relative Type of star Sticker to choose to the sun s mass) <5 Small to Medium Small 10-30 Large Small x 3 (bunch 3 stickers together to make a large star) Table 4: Masses of stars relative to the solar mass Figure 2: Small-sized white stickers (1/4 ) Figure 3: Small-sized coloured stickers (1/4 ) 4. Use the temperature and brightness of the star to locate its location on the HR diagram. 5. Using the appropriate colour and size of the sticker, place the sticker at the chosen location for each star on the HR diagram. 6. Once all the stickers have been appropriately located, compare it with the HR diagram provided to you by your teacher.
Post Activity Questions (adapted from Oxnard School District) Based on the Star Characteristics Table and the HR diagram you constructed, answer the questions below: 1. What factor affects the colour of a star? 2. What factor affects the luminosity of a star? 3. What is the approximate surface temperature of the Sun? 4. Is the surface temperature of white dwarf stars higher or lower than red super giants? 5. What is the colour of the stars with the highest surface temperature? 6. What is the colour of the stars with the lowest surface temperature? 7. List the colour of the stars from hottest to coldest: 8. Most of the stars on the HR diagram are classified as what type of star? 9. What type of star has a high temperature but a low brightness? 10. What type of star has a low temperature but a high brightness? 11. What type of star has a low temperature and a low brightness?
Figure 4: Full size H-R Diagram to be provided to the student groups for the sticker activity.