Astronomy
Study of the universe beyond the earth.
Solar Systems
Stars
Formation
Hydrogen Gas + Dust (Nebulae)
Protostar
At 1x10^7°C, Nuclear Fusion occurs
Nuclear Fusion = Fusion of 2 or more atomic Nuclei
H -> He (It goes on Depending on the mass of the star)
Forces Balance (Gravity Inward, Fusion Outward)
Balance = Stable Star
Types of Stars
White Dwarf
Dense, hot, small
Main Sequence
90% of all stars
Giants
Cool, large, bright
Supergiants
Cooler, extremely large, extremely bright
Life Cycle (After protostar and star formation)
Ms = Solar Mass (Relative to Sun's Mass)
<1Ms
Red Dwarf
White Dwarf
Heats up due to nuclear fusion (becomes white dwarf)
Black Dwarf (Cools Down)
H -> He
(1x10^12 years of lifetime, Long life )
1-8Ms
Yellow Star
(1x10^10 years of lifetime, Average life)
Red Giant
Planetary Nebula (Outer layers of star expel into space)
Core compresses
White Dwarf
Black Dwarf
Chemical Composition: To C
>8Ms
Blue Giant
Chemical Composition: To Fe
(1x10^9 years of lifetime, Short life)
Red Supergiant
>10Ms
Supernova (No more nuclear fusion, Gravity collapses core, chemical composition: To U)
Neutron Star (Dense, small, rotates incredibly fast)
(If >20Ms)
Black Hole (Gravity pulls in on itself, so dense that light can't even escape its gravitational pull)
Stars radiate the entire electromagnetic (EM) spectrum which tells us about them
Gamma rays
X-rays
Ultraviolets
Visible
Infrared
Microwave
Radio
Our Sun
Photosphere (Surface layer of the Sun)
Sunspots (Charged Particles disturb the photosphere and appear darker due to the difference in temperature and create strong magnetic fields)
Solar Flares (Ejections of intense steam of charged particles into space, these steams are known as "Solar Wind", upon the interaction of solar winds and our Earth we get auroras which are just the charged particles passing through our magnetic fields, generating electric current that flows to our poles and charges gases, creating light
Planets
Formation
Protostar (Gravitational Center)
Swirling dust and Hydrogen gas
Planetesimals
Planets
Planets in our solar system
Terrestrial
Mercury
No atmosphere, From Extremely hot to freezing cold, smallest planet
Venus
Acid Rain (Sulfuric Acid), Dense atmosphere trapping heat, Hottest planet, Earth's sister, Similar to earth in size and composition
Earth
Only discovery of life, water in 3 forms, perfect atmosphere, temperature, etc.
Mars
Red Planet due to high concentration of Fe in its rocks, 2 polar ice caps, thin atmosphere
Jovian (Gaseous)
Jupiter
Gas Giant, Largest planet, Massive Red Storm
Saturn
Main composition of atmosphere: H & He, Rings
Uranus
Rotates on its side, rings, methane gas atmosphere
Neptune
Furthest planet from sun, similar to Uranus
Comets, Asteroids, Meteoroids, Moons
Moons
Satelites (Celestial object orbiting another celestial object)
Phases of the moon
Moon phases are created by the reflection of sunlight on its surface (always half-luminated, what we see is based on where the moon is relative to Earth
New Moon
Waxing Crescent
First Quarter
Waxing Gibbous
Full Moon
Waning Gibbous
Third Quarter
Waning Crescent
Eclipses
When a celestial object moves directly in front of another celestial object
Penumbra and umbra are the inner and outer shadow of the Earth
Solar Eclipse
Can only occur during a new moon, the Moon's shadow falls on the Earth's surface and is in between the Sun and the Earth, on average only twice a year however, due to the shadow's size being smaller, you often have to be in a remote or specific place to see the solar eclipse, it is not safe to look at the solar eclipse with just your eyes as the radiation can damage them
Lunar Eclipse
Can only occur during a full moon, the Earth passes in between the Sun and the moon and can result in a partial lunar eclipse (penumbra shadow) or a total lunar eclipse (umbra shadow), the moon's orbit is tilting resulting in only 2 lunar eclipses on average per year, the moon can appear reddish during a lunar eclipse and is completely safe to watch
Tides
Tides occur due to the gravitational difference of the Moon and the Earth
Meteors, Meteoroids, Meteorites
Meteoroids (Pieces of rocks moving through space, thought to be broken parts of asteroids and planets)
Meteors (Meteoroids that enter the Earth's atmosphere and begin to burn up due to atmospheric friction)
Meteor Showers are what people also call "Shooting Stars", though they aren't stars and are in fact meteors, when the Earth passes through an area filled with these meteors, a meteor shower occurs
Meteorites are the surviving meteors (ones that reached the ground without fully burning up)
Asteroids
Asteroids are thought to be debris left over from the formation of the Solar System, non-spherical, small, some have moons
The Asteroid Belt is a band of asteroids that orbit the sun in between Mars and Jupiter
Comets
Trans-Neptunian Objects (Objects beyond the orbit of Neptune
Oort Cloud (Spherical, Icy cloud of small debris)
Kuiper Belt (Disk shaped group of millions of small objects orbiting the Sun and are thought to be from the formation of the Solar System
Units and Measure
AU
1 AU = 1.5x10^8 km (Distance between our Earth and Sun)
Used for distances within our Solar System
Light Years
approx. 9.46x10^12 km (Distance light travels in a Earth year)
Used for interstellar distances
Galaxies
Types of Galaxies
Spiral
Barred-Spiral
Lenticular
Irregular
Elliptical
Formation of Galaxies
Hydrogen Gas + Dust (Nebulae)
Protostar
Star
Swirl of Dust (Protoplanetary Disk)
Planetesimals
Planets
Beyond the Solar System
Exoplanets (Planets beyond our solar system)
History of Astronomy
Antiquity (Time, Date, Navigation)
Egyptians (4200 BCE, 365 day calendar) (Before Common Era)
Chinese (2000 BCE, Observatories)
Babylonians (1000 BCE, Predicts Lunar Eclipses)
Greeks (150 BCE, Star map magnitude 1-6, reject supernatural)
Miletus (585 BCE, Predicted Solar Eclipse)
Pythagoras (540 BCE, Triangulation, quantified abstract ideas, c² = a² + b², Parallax = change in apparent position relative to a distant background when observing 2 different points)
Aristotle (322 BCE, Geocentric Theory, Crystals hold stars)
Ptolemy (140 BCE, Math Models of epicycles to describe the retrograde motion of mars)
Dark Ages (476-1500, No major science except Astronomy for Easter)
Renaissance (1300-1400, return of the arts and international trade)
The Press (1400, information available to the public)
Scientific Revolution (1500, Copernicus - Newton)
Copernicus (1543, Heliocentric Solar System, Afraid of the Church
Tycho (1588, Observations and Supernova)
Bacon (Early 1600's, Scientific Method)
Lippershey (1608, Telescope)
Kepler (1609, assistant to Tycho, 3 laws of planetary motion
3. The longer a planet's orbital radius, the slower it orbits
2. Equal area in equal time (Planets move faster near the Sun)
1. All planetary motion is elliptical
Galileo (1610, Jupiter's moons orbit Jupiter, objects can orbit something other than Earth, proved the geocentric theory wrong, put on house arrest by the Church)
Newton (1665, Explained Kepler's laws with the concept of gravity, type of orbit depends on the mass and speed of the object, gravitational attraction and speed opposes it
Elliptical: Small mass or low speed
Circular: Speed doesn't create eccentricity (perfect conditions)
Hyperbolic: Great speed or distance
Spiral: Low mass or speed
Halley (1682, Predicted that the same comet returns, Halley's comet)
Bradley (1729, Speed of light = 3x10^5 km/s, "c", used a star parallax)
Einstein (1905, Special and general theory of relativity, gravitational lensing, predicted black holes 1916, proven 1971)
Gravitational lensing: Magnifying light through distorted space and galaxies
General Theory of Relativity: Gravity distorts space and time.
Special Theory of Relativity: Time dilation, All movement is relative and speed of light has a limit, time slows down as we speed up
Henrietta Leavitt (1908, Measures distances according to the rhythm of the Cepheid supergiant signal)
Slipher (1919, The gap in the spectrum, red light = receding, blue light = approaching)
Hubble (1929, Expansion of the universe, observed red light)