A Cosmic Perspective Scott Fisher, Ph.D. - Director of Undergraduate Studies - UO Department of Physics
Presentation Overview Let s talk about 3 (or 4) important and relevant topics: Me You and your place in the Universe Perhaps the biggest discovery of our time Stump the Astronomer!
Goal: To Give You A Scientific View into/of your Universe
Credentials and Background Product of state schools Lake Sumter CC Exchange student for 1 year University of Florida (BS, PhD) Gemini Staff Astronomer Hilo, Hawaii (La Serena, Chile) Outreach Scientist Hybrid research EPO position Science/public/media 15+ years (> 500 nights) observing at large aperture, front-line facilities Gemini N/S, Keck, GTC, NASA IRTF 1 st, 2 nd, and 4 th largest optical telescopes on Earth Program Director, National Science Foundation, Wash. DC Professional Astronomer, Researcher, and Outreach Specialist turned Professor
Credentials and Background Product of state schools Lake Sumter CC University of Florida (BS, PhD) University of Oregon (faculty) 15+ years observing at the 1 st, 2 nd, and 4 th largest optical telescopes on Earth Awarded $40 million in federal grants in 3 years at NSF Professional Astronomer, Researcher, and Outreach Specialist turned Faculty Gemini Staff Astronomer NSF Program Director Appointed as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in UO Physics (advisor)
Fishergroup observing the sky at Pine Mountain
Pine Mountain Observatory Info UO owned and operated 9 acre UO campus in the Deschutes National Forest PMO is open to the public on Friday and Saturday nights during the summer Undergraduate projects started this summer First telescope built in 1968, fourth telescope built in 2015 ~25 miles east of Bend Support programs for broader student body coming soon Gen-ed student engagement Astro ARC COME VISIT US FOR A VIP TOUR!
Students, staff, and faculty analyzing data!
M66 in Leo 3 images were combined into this stacked image Data obtained by undergraduates using the Robbins Initial analysis done hours after the photons were collected!
Planet A moderately large object that orbits a star; it shines by reflected light. Planets may be rocky, icy, or gaseous in composition. Mars Uranus
Saturn and Titan (false color)
Saturn backlit by the Sun from Cassini, in orbit around Saturn
Our first cosmic perspective (check) of the term. This is the Sun and the planets to scale 109 Earths will fit across the diameter of the Sun
Solar Facts Diameter of the Sun = 109 Earths Diameter of Autzen Stadium = (approx.) 109 of you The temperature of the surface is 5800 K The mass of the Sun is roughly 330,000 Earths The distance to the Sun is 93,000,000 miles This is equal to 8 light-minutes This is also called 1 astronomical unit
Size of the Moon vs. the USA Diameter of the Moon = 2100 miles Diameter of the Earth = 7900 miles Earth is roughly 4x bigger than the Moon Distance to the Moon: ~250,000 miles ~ 1 light-second
A Scaled Solar System The idea is. Take the entire Solar System and shrink it by a HUGE factor. In this thought experiment, it is 10 Billion times smaller than in reality Let s reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of 10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit.
How big is Earth compared to our solar system? Let s reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of 10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit. How big is Earth on this scale? 1. an atom 2. a tip of a ballpoint pen 3. a marble 4. a golf ball
How big is Earth compared to our solar system? Let s reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of 10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit. How big is Earth on this scale? 1. an atom 2. a tip of a ballpoint pen 3. a marble 4. a golf ball
How big is Earth compared to our solar system? Let s reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of 10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit. How far is the Earth from the Sun on this scale? 1. 5 feet 2. 50 feet 3. 500 feet 4. 5 miles
How big is Earth compared to our solar system? Let s reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of 10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit. How far is the Earth from the Sun on this scale? 1. 5 feet 2. 50 feet 3. 500 feet 4. 5 miles
How far away are the stars? On our 1-to-10 billion scale, it s about 50 feet from the Sun to the Earth. How far would you have to walk to reach Alpha Centauri (the NEAREST star to the Sun)? 1. 1 mile 2. 10 miles 3. 100 miles 4. 2500 miles
How far away are the stars? On our 1-to-10 billion scale, it s about 50 feet from the Sun to the Earth. How far would you have to walk to reach Alpha Centauri (the NEAREST star to the Sun)? 1. 1 mile 2. 10 miles 3. 100 miles 4. the distance across the United States (2500 miles)
Galaxy A great island of stars in space, all held together by gravity and orbiting a common center 100,000 light-years M31, the M31, Great the Galaxy great galaxy in in Andromeda Andromeda
Galactic Fact Galaxies the largest single objects in all the Universe. A galaxy like the Milky Way contains around: 100 Billion stars (And probably at least that many planets)
Hubble Ultra Deep Field Roughly 10,000 galaxies Area of sky is 1/10 the size of the Full Moon Took HST about 11 days to observe this deep Selected to be the emptiest part of the sky
The Milky Way is one of about 100 billion galaxies in the observable Universe. 100,000,000,000 (= 10 11 ) stars/galaxy 100,000,000,000 (= 10 11 ) galaxies Multiply those number to get an idea of how many stars there are in the observable universe: 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars ( = 10 22 ) The Universe has as many stars as grains of dry sand on all Earth s beaches.
What is our place in the universe? What is your cosmic address? Your normal address + the rest of the places that you live in the Universe!
Exo-Planet (or exoplanet) A moderately large object that orbits a star THAT IS NOT THE SUN. Exoplanets may be rocky, icy, or gaseous in composition. The first exoplanets were discovered in the 1990 s 3312 as of October 3493475 as of as October of April 1800 2017 2016 We now know of about 1000 planets around other stars Current theories suggest that approximately 100% of stars in our galaxy have planets (probably we are still learning about this!)
Exo-Planet (or exoplanet) A moderately large object that orbits a star THAT IS NOT THE SUN. Exoplanets may be rocky, icy, or gaseous in composition. The first exoplanets were discovered in the 1990 s We have discovered and CONFIRMED about 3500 exoplanets Current theories suggest that approximately 100% of stars in our galaxy have planets (probably we are still learning about this!)
Pictures of Exoplanets Beta Pictoris B 1RSX J160929.1-210524 HR 8799 system HR 8799 system Movie! https://commons.wikimedi a.org/w/index.php?title=fil e%3ahr_8799_orbiting_ex oplanets.webm
Exo-Planet (or exoplanet) All exoplanets are too far away to see any detail. Means only dots on images for now. The discovery of exoplanets completely changes our place in the Universe again. We now know that the Solar System is one of many, many planetary systems. This will be one of the defining discoveries of our time. It was our generations that did it. We should be proud.
Are Earth-like planets rare or common?
Recall our scale model solar system: Finding them will be hard Looking for an Earth-like planet around a nearby star is like standing on the East Coast of the United States and looking for a pinhead on the West Coast with a VERY bright grapefruit nearby. But new technologies (like adaptive optics and 30-meter telescopes) should soon show the way.
NASA s Kepler and K2 Missions: NASA s first mission to detect Earth-size planets orbiting in the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. Launched: March 6, 2009 1030 confirmed exoplanets (as of July 2015)
Kepler detects transits! Size of Jupiter: 1% area of the Sun (1/100) Size of Earth or Venus: 0.01% area of the Sun (1/10,000)
Stars are far away Stars are very far away. We cannot see the planet as it crosses in front of the star.
Detecting planets by transits The Kepler Mission detects the slight dimming of the star when an Earth-size planet crosses between us and the star.
Kepler Satellite Observing Region This part of the sky is visible in the summer! LOOK UP and check this out this summer!
Kepler Satellite Observing Region We ve only searched a TINY part of the Milky Way for exoplanets!
How big an area is that? Imagine, if you shrunk our solar system to a little larger than a quarter: Our whole Solar System Our Milky Way Galaxy Kepler Search Area would be an area about the size of Connecticut. would be this big would span North America.
Habitable Planets Definition: A habitable world contains the basic necessities for life as we know it, including liquid water. It does not necessarily have life.
Habitable Zone the region around a star where the temperatures would allow liquid water to exist. The more massive the star, the larger the habitable zone higher probability of a planet in this zone
Earth (and you) as seen through the rings of Saturn by Cassini