1955 Cosmic Times
This poster is the third edition of Cosmic Times, with the
publication date chosen to coincide with Einstein's death. By the
mid-1950s a number of astronomers had worked on fundamental questions
about the universe, and there was no clear answer which was correct.
In addition, the size of the universe got bigger, and we started to
explore the universe with more than just optical light.
1955 Article Overview
| Article |
Thread |
Summary |
| 'Yardsticks' in Neighbor Galaxy Double Universe's Size |
Size of the Universe |
Observations by Walter Baade, under dark skies offered by
wartime blackouts in Los Angeles, lead to a new calibration of
the Cepheids, resulting in new distances to far away galaxies. |
| Origin of Everything: Hot Big Bang or Ageless Universe? |
Expanding Universe |
The debate rages between two theories for the universe: Steady State vs Evolutionary. |
| Sidebar: Hoyle Scoffs at "Big Bang" Universe Theory |
Expanding Universe |
Ironically, the name "Big Bang" came from its biggest detractor! |
| Death of a Genius: Albert Einstein 1879 - 1955 |
-- |
The world marks the passing of Albert Einstein. |
| It's a Star! It's a Nova! It's Super-nova! |
Supernova |
Astronomers discover there are novae and supernovae, and
that there are two types of supernovae. |
| Radio 'Ear' on the Universe Being Built |
-- |
Radio astronomy was in its infancy and opening up a whole
new set of objects not visible to optical telescopes.
Astronomers were building the next big radio telescope. |
1955 Lesson Overview
| Activity |
Summary |
Grade |
Discipline |
| |
|
MS |
HS |
|
| 1. The Evidence is Clear |
Considering Observations and Inference In Support For Two Theories On The Origin Of The Universe |
|
x |
Physics, Astronomy, Nature of Science |
| 2. Cosmic Jeopardy |
Students will play Jeopardy! based on the articles in the 1955 Cosmic Times. |
x |
x |
Physics, Astronomy |
| 3. Big Bang Science Fiction |
The students will create a fictional narrative on the beginning of time. |
x |
x |
Multi-disciplinary |
| 4. Discovering 'Yardsticks' are 'Metersticks' |
This lesson uses a simple discrepant event to demonstrate the underlying cause for early miscalculation of the size of the Milky Way galaxy. |
|
x |
Physical Science, Astronomy |
| 5. Hubble's Law Mis-calibration Extension |
This lesson is an extension of the Cosmic Times
1929 lesson to reproduce a plot of Hubble's Law. |
|
x |
Physics, Astronomy |
|
