Galaxy generation and astronomy basic knowledge training

Introduction

Some time ago I decided at home to see what was new on the topic of space lately. In this case, I was caught by my 7 year old son, having shown great interest in this subject. While I was puzzled, how simple and intelligible, and also how much to give the child information on space, I came across an article stating that it was decided to return the subject of Astronomy to Russian schools in the 2017-2018 school year, but only from grade 11. This was the event that prompted me to write this article to help familiarize children with the 11th grade in astronomy.

In fact, a 7-year-old child is a representative of a certain sample of users who are either interested in astronomy right now or interested in it in the future. It is for them, as well as for those who will give knowledge of the stars, I propose to try the following method. The main idea is the generation of the Galaxy using real data (I take this part on myself), and the subsequent use of the result of generation either in games or as a teaching tool for those who would like to make studying astronomy more interesting ...

Theory

The main and most complete information describing the stars are currently:
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• The main (Harvard) spectral classification of stars.
• Yerkes Classification with regard to luminosity (ICC).
• The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram (see figure below).

Hertzsprung-Russell Chart

The Harvard Classification determines the abscissa of the Hertzsprung – Russell diagram, and the Yerkeskaya diagram determines the position of the star in this diagram.

The main information that can be drawn from these sources is that all stars are divided into classes according to their color, that they come in different sizes and that class and size depend on each other. In order not to be confused in size, you can additionally enter into everyone an understandable gradation of size from 1 (any dwarfs) to 5 (any giants), where sizes from 2 to 4 fall into the stars of the main sequence.

Now a fairly large amount of information can be reduced to a very simple system “Class, Color, MIN size, MAX size”:

• O, Blue, 2, 4
• B, White and Blue, 1, 4
• A, White, 1, 4
• F, Yellow White, 1, 5
• G, Yellow, 1, 5
• K, Orange, 1, 5
• M, Red, 2, 5

Now that we know what stars are, it remains to take into account some of the most common or simply interesting features of stars:

• A supernova is a star, ending its evolution in a catastrophic explosive process. The flash may be several orders of magnitude greater than in the case of a new star. Such a powerful explosion is a consequence of the processes occurring in a star at the last stage of evolution.
  
  
• A double star is two gravitationally bound stars orbiting a common center of mass. Sometimes there are systems of three or more stars, in which case the system is generally called a multiple star. In cases where such a star system is not too far from Earth, it is possible to distinguish individual stars through a telescope. If the distance is significant, then understand that before astronomers a double star succeeds only by indirect signs - the brightness fluctuations caused by periodic eclipses of one star by another and some others.
  
  
• Pulsars are cosmic sources of electromagnetic radiation arriving on Earth in the form of periodic bursts (pulses). According to the dominant astrophysical model, pulsars are rotating neutron stars with a magnetic field that is inclined to the axis of rotation. When the Earth enters the cone formed by this radiation, it is possible to fix the radiation pulse, which repeats at intervals equal to the period of the star's revolution. Some neutron stars make up to 600 revolutions per second.
  
  
• Black holes are among the most strange and attractive objects of outer space. They are extremely dense formations, the force of attraction of which is so great that even the light is not able to avoid these embraces. When a star uses its last fuel, the process of its dying begins. In smaller bodies (about one third the mass of the Sun) a new nucleus is gaining the shape of a neutron star or a white dwarf. But when a big star dies, it collapses into itself, thus creating a star black hole.

Generation requirements

Now, armed with theory, you can estimate what you really want and what general requirements should be taken into account when generating:

• The size of the Galaxy by the number of stars should vary from less than a hundred to several thousand.
• The sizes, spectral classes and features of stars should be taken from modern classifications.
• For the names of stars should be used the names of real stars and constellations. In this case, it is desirable that, in addition to the name, its class, size and peculiarity coincide with reality.
• For star names outside constellations, names must be generated as a number.
• The galaxy must have a nebula.

In the best way, the knowledge is remembered during the game, for this to the Galaxy you need to add a bit of what is in almost all modern games on a space theme.
Let's imagine that there is a certain hypothetical game “Deep Deep Space” in which all the stars in the galaxy are connected by star paths to each other, where there is a Wormhole and many other interesting things. Then the following requirements will be added to the above requirements:

• The galaxy should be flat, with a uniform distribution of stars in all areas, or filling only a certain area defined by the pattern.
• On a map of any size, all possible types of stars must be present (without taking into account the actual percentage ratio between the classes)
• All the stars of the galaxy should be connected by star paths with each other.
• The number of paths for the star should be from 1 to 5.
• The paths between the stars should not intersect or cross other stars.
• In the Galaxy there must be several Wormholes that can cross the star paths, but cannot cross each other or cross other stars.
• Star path and Wormhole colors should be different.

It remains to add the requirements for the result:

• The result of the generation should be presented in the form of a map of the Galaxy in graphical form (or another format that can be simply visualized) for visual control and selection for further use.
• On the map in graphical form, sizes, spectral classes and features of stars should be clearly visible and uniquely identified.
• The map in a graphical form must have the notation (legend) for all sizes, spectral classes and features of stars that may occur on the map.
• It should be possible to adjust and view the map graphically without using proprietary software on any computer configuration that is installed in schools and at home.
• The result of the generation should be presented in XML for further use by developers.

Generation

I will not focus on this point, after all, the article is not about that. I can only say that after some reflection, I came to the conclusion that the generation of the Galaxy consists of the following steps:

• Generation of the nebula layer.
• The installation of stars in groups of 3x3 sectors, in each of which one star is added for each class and several black holes - a total of 65 stars. This will fulfill the requirement for uniformity.
• Installation of constellations in which the stars are assigned the names and attributes of real stars.
• Setting features in a certain number of non-constellation stars.
• Adding star paths and wormholes.
• Formation of the result in graphic form.
• Formation of the result in XML format.

As a result, we get just such a random map for the size of 1x1:



Map sizes can be any from 1x1 (65 stars) to 10x10 (6500 stars).

Use of the result in practical exercises

When Master Yoda said in a famous movie: “May the Force be with you!”, He probably meant, in particular, the power of the SVG format. This is a text vector format that is supported by all modern browsers. The map above is almost completely drawn in it (except for the nebulae and the background).

The idea of ​​using the result is that in the classroom the child himself draws a sector of the galaxy or a constellation. For this you will need:

• Computer.
• Procurement of a text SVG file with an empty Galaxy card.
• Card with the coordinates and attributes of stars (or another version of the task)

Next, participants insert stars from the card at the coordinates that are described in the card or simply within their sector. An example of describing one star is given below:



Here, the 1st line displays the name of the star, the 2nd one - a ring around the star, imitating radiation, and the third - the star itself. Thus it is necessary to change the coordinates of the objects, for the “circle” set the radii and the number “fill: url”, which corresponds to the class. If necessary, the stars are connected by lines. An example of a line description is shown below:



The beauty is that the result can be viewed immediately on any computer. It is a good idea to give the child an opportunity to add an additional star, calling it with his name and independently deciding where it will be located, as well as what size and class it will be. At the end, someone who leads a lesson easily with a simple copy-past can combine the sectors drawn by the group into one map. Or, the finished result will be obtained immediately if one participant draws one constellation, for example, of any sign of the zodiac (see figure below).



The result of these activities will be that children will get solid basic knowledge on the classification of stars, will be able to perfectly navigate the constellations and never confuse the White-Blue Rigel with the red Betelgeuse, shocking adults with unexpectedly deep knowledge of constellations, stars and their features. That's all - the original ideas and interesting lessons for you!