Light and Telescopes Astronomy 1 Elementary Astronomy LA Mission College Spring F2015
Quotes & Cartoon of the Day We find them smaller and fainter, in constantly increasing numbers, and we know that we are reaching into space, farther and farther, until, with the faintest nebulae that can be detected with the greatest telescopes, we arrive at the frontier of the known universe. Edwin Powell Hubble
COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS Announcements COLLEGE OF THE CANYONS Canyon Country Campus Join us for a Star Party HW Kepler, Gravity Light posted Due 10/15 CoC Star Party Friday STAR FORMATION: Light Beyond The Visible Presented by Dr. Luisa Rebull Research Scientist, SSC and IRSA, IPAC, Caltech Featuring: Hands-on interactive demonstrations and activities COC student clubs and academic departments highlighting innovative approaches to understanding the science that governs the universe Gaze at the stars through a variety of telescopes Friday, OCT 16 7 9:30 p.m. Carl A Rasmussen Amphitheater College of the Canyons Canyon Country Campus 17200 Sierra Highway, Santa Clarita, CA 91351 Tallest Tower Building Competition Sign-up online! www.canyons.edu/offices/ CCC/Pages/StarParty.aspx Food and beverages will be available for purchase For more information visit www.canyons.edu/ccc CANYON COUNTRY
Last Class LT EM Spectrum Telescopes & Observatories Light and the Atmosphere Multi-wavelength Astronomy
This Class Midterm debrief Multi-wavelength Astronomy Intro to the Solar System
Multiwavelength Astronomy Astronomy 1 Elementary Astronomy LA Mission College Spring F2015
Astronomers observe across the Electromagnetic spectrum Gamma rays X-rays the ultraviolet (UV) visible light the infrared (IR) submillimeter & radio
WHAT WE LEARN ABOUT AT DIFFERENT WAVELENGTHS
Infrared: More than Your Eyes Can See
Xray & Gamma Ray Astronomy Compton Gamma Ray Observatory Image Credit: NASA Hot objects & violent events matter heated to millions of degrees cosmic explosions, high speed collisions, material moving at extremely high speeds. Black Holes Supernovae White dwarfs & pulsars Hottest part of Sun s atmosphere observatories must be in space
Infrared Astronomy Old, cold & dusty objects space based observatories or high-flying aircraft. A few narrow bands from Earth heat radiation from cool objects penetrate thick interstellar dust star-forming regions central areas of our galaxy Cool stars Spitzer Space Telescope NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt (SSC) cold interstellar clouds star-forming galaxies planets
Radio ( & Microwave) Astronomy Very Large Array (VLA) Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI Very cold objects, traces atomic and molecular hydrogen Radiation left over from the Big Bang supernovae quasars interstellar gas and molecules
The Solar System Astronomy 1 Elementary Astronomy LA Mission College Spring F2015
Key Properties of the Solar System Disk shape (mostly) Orbits lie nearly in a plane Dominant common direction of rotation & revolution
Key Properties of the Solar System 2 types of planets Terrestrial/Rocky Dense, inner SS Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Key Properties of the Solar System 2 types of planets Jovian/Gas Giant Low density, outer SS planetary rings, many satellites Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune
Key Properties of the Solar System Lots of small bodies debris moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, kuiper belt objects Asteroid 243 Ida & Dactyl August 28, 1993 Image Credit: NASA
Key Properties of the Solar System Lots of empty space Common age ~4.6 billion years
Lots of Empty Space Asteroid belt in movies
Lots of Empty Space next nearest asteroid to scale is 15 miles away 1 km asteroid~1 in Asteroid belt real life
Neil DeGrasse Tyson on Killer Asteroids
SOLAR SYSTEM SCALE & STRUCTURE
Contents & Scale of the Solar System Unit of distance for SS is Astronomical Unit or AU 1 AU is distance Earth-Sun Overview of Contents 1 AU = about 150 million kilometers, or 93 million miles The Sun Inner SS & Terrestrial planets & Asteroid Belt (0-~5 AU) Outer SS & Jovian Planets (~5-30 AU) Kuiper Belt (30-50 AU) Heliopause (~230 AU) Voyager spacecraft!!!!!! Oort Cloud (hypothetical) (50,000-100,000 AU)
Anatomy of the Solar System 0-5 AU The Sun Inner SS Mercury Venus Earth/Moon Mars Asteroid belt, between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter http://www.cosmosportal.org
Anatomy of the Solar System The Sun Inner SS Outer SS (5-30 AU) Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Anatomy of the Solar System The Sun Inner SS Outer SS Kuiper Belt/Kuiper-belt objects (KBOs) 30-50 AU Pluto & other dwarf planets
Anatomy of the Solar System Heliopause Termination shock can be considered edge of SS Voyager spacecraft now interstellar! Launched in 1977
Video Voyager Goes Interstellar http://www.space.com/22752-voyager-1-goes-interstellar-solar-system- boundary-passed-video.html#ooid=l5ogf5cdp4dtazp2mywjdkkycm- UV7I4
Anatomy of the Solar System Oort Cloud (hypothetical) http://abyss.uoregon.edu
LET S PRACTICE
Rank the following in order of increasing radius: I. The Sun II. Jupiter s orbit around the Sun III. Earth s orbit around the Sun IV. The Heliopause A. I, II, III, IV B. IV, II, III, I C. I, III, II, IV D. I, IV, III, II
Most of the space in the solar system is filled by A. the Sun B. the terrestrial planets C. the Jovian planets D. empty space
WARM-UP QUESTION
The Sun has a diameter of approximately 1.4 million kilometers. Roughly how many Earths would fit across the diameter of the Sun? A. 10 B. 100 C. 1000 D. 10,000 E. 1 million
LT SUN SIZE
The Sun has a diameter of approximately 1.4 million kilometers. Roughly how many Earths would fit across the diameter of the Sun? A. 10 B. 100 C. 1000 D. 10,000 E. 1 million
Let s Practice
The image at right shows a picture of the Sun. The dark spots located on this image are sunspots. How does the size of Earth compare to the size of the sunspot that is identified on the right side of the image of Sun? A. Earth and the sunspot are about the same size. B. The sunspot is much, much larger than Earth. C. The sunspot is much, much smaller than Earth.
Which statement do you think best represents the size comparison between the diameter of the Sun and the distance between the Moon and Earth? The Sun s diameter is A. smaller than the distance between the Moon and Earth. B. approximately equal to the distance between the Moon and Earth. C. larger than the distance between the Moon and Earth.
If you were to construct a scale model of the solar system that used a 2 cm cherry to represent the Moon, how large of a ball would you need to represent the Sun? A. 4cm B. 30cm C. 110 cm D. 440 cm E. 880 cm
WRAP-UP
Topic for Next Class Sun, Earth & Moon
Reading Assignment Astro: 5&7 Astropedia: 5 & 11
Homework Kepler, Gravity & Light due 10/15