TWF 257
This weeks finds, number 257 is out and is loaded with gems from astrophysics to number theory.
Yesterday morning when it appeared in my reader, G came up, sat on my lap, and I read him the story of stellar evolution, nuclear fusion, and cosmic dust. He really liked the luminosity/temperature plot that illustrates the main sequence and asymptotic giant branch stars. He was sketching it in his notebook later and telling us what was going to happen to the sun.
This ties in really well with a lesson I plan to give some time down the road on the cosmic distance ladder, because the close relationship between temperature, color, and luminosity lets us estimate how far away stars are up to about 300,000 light years. Actually, we could spend years measuring the universe, not just one lesson.
