Origin of Modern Astronomy

Early Astronomy
Ancient Greeks
 Astronomy is the science that studies the universe. It includes the observation and interpretation of celestial bodies and phenomena.  The Greeks used philosophical arguments to explain natural phenomena.  The Greeks also used some observational data.

Early Astronomy
Ancient Greeks
 Geocentric Model = Ptolemy Greek Astronomer
In the ancient Greeks geocentric model, the moon, sun, and the known planetsMercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiterorbit Earth.

 Heliocentric Model = Nicolaus Copernicus

In the heliocentric model, Earth and the other planets orbit the sun.

Early Astronomy
Ancient Greeks
 Ptolemaic System
Ptolemy created a model of the universe that accounted for the movement of the planets. Retrograde motion is the apparent westward motion of the planets with respect to the stars.
March Sept. April Feb. May Aug. July Jan. June Dec.

Retrograde motion of Mars

West

East

Retrograde Motion

99 Years of Astronomy

Early Astronomy
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
 Nicolaus Copernicus
Copernicus concluded that Earth is a planet. He proposed a model of the solar system with the sun at the center. Heliocentric Model

This model explained the retrograde motion of planets better than the geocentric model.

Early Astronomy
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
 Tycho Brahe
Tycho Brahe designed and built instruments to measure the locations of the heavenly bodies. Brahes observations, especially of Mars, were far more precise than any made previously.

 Johannes Kepler
Kepler discovered three laws of planetary motion: 1. Orbits of the planets are elliptical. 2. Planets revolve around the sun at varying speed. 3. There is a proportional relationship between a planets orbital period and its distance to the sun.

Early Astronomy
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
German astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630) helped establish the era of modern astronomy by deriving three laws of planetary motion.

Johannes Kepler
1599 Kepler hired by Tycho Brahe
Work on the orbit of Mars

1609 Keplers 1st and 2nd Laws

Planets move on ellipses with the Sun at one focus The radius vector sweeps out equal areas in equal times

1618 Keplers 3rd Law

The square of a planets orbital period P is proportional to the cube of its semi-major axis R. semiR

Early Astronomy
Johannes Kepler used Tycho Brahes data to develop three laws that explained the motions of the planets.
Earths orbit Equal areas January 15th

June 15th (30 days) July 15th

(30 days) Sun December 15th

KEPLERS EQUAL AREA LAW states that a line connecting Earth to the sun will pass over equal areas of space in equal times. Because Earths orbit is elliptical, Earth moves faster when it is nearer to the sun.

Early Astronomy
Equal areas law
KEPLERS EQUAL AREA LAW states that a line connecting Earth to the sun will pass over equal areas of space in equal times. Because Earths orbit is elliptical, Earth moves faster when it is nearer to the sun.

Faster

Slower

Early Astronomy
 Galileo Galilei Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (15641642) used a new invention, the telescope, to observe the Sun, Moon, and planets in more detail than ever before.

Early Astronomy
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
 Galileo Galilei
Galileos most important contributions were his descriptions of the behavior of moving objects. He developed his own telescope and made important discoveries: 1. Four satellites, or moons, orbit Jupiter. 2. Planets are circular disks, not just points of light. 3. Venus has phases just like the moon.
4. The moons surface is not smooth. 5. The sun has sunspots, or dark regions.

Early Astronomy
 Sir Isaac Newton

English scientist Sir Isaac Newton (16421727) explained gravity as the force that holds planets in orbit around the Sun.

Early Astronomy
The Birth of Modern Astronomy
 Sir Isaac Newton
Although others had theorized the existence of gravitational force, Newton was the first to formulate and test the law of universal gravitation. The universal law of gravitation, helped explain the motions of planets in the solar system.

 Universal Gravitation
Gravitational force decreases with distance. The greater the mass of an object, the greater is its gravitational force.

Gravity s Influence on Orbits

Newtons Laws of Motion

1st Law
A body at rest, or in uniform motion, will remain so unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. force

2nd Law
acceleration) The change in motion (acceleration is proportional to the unbalanced force

3rd Law
For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction

Gravity
Gravity is the force that
holds us to the Earth causes a rock to fall towards the ground causes the Earth to go around the Sun causes the Sun to be pulled towards the center of the Milky Way galaxy

Gravity acts between any two objects even if they are far apart.
action at a distance action distance

Observing the Solar System: A History

A. The Movements of Planets and Stars B. Ptolemy s Geocentric Model C. Copernicus s Heliocentric Model D. Tycho, Kepler, and Planetary Motion E. Isaac Newton and the Law of Gravitation

VOCABULARY geocentric heliocentric gravitation retrograde

Summary
Keplers and Galileos Laws provided Newton with important clues that helped him formulate his laws of motion Newton arrived at 3 laws that govern the motion of objects
The law of inertia The law of force The law of action and reaction

Newton also arrived at a law of gravity

But it seemed to require action at a distance!

Earth Science

Light and Astronomical Observations

Important Astronomical Measurements

An ellipse is an oval-shaped path. An astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance between Earth and the sun; it is about 150 million kilometers. Light-year The distance that light travels in one year,

about 9.5 trillion kilometers.

Parsec: A unit of measurement used to describe

distances between celestial objects, equal to 3.258 lightyears.

The study of light

Electromagnetic radiation
Visible light is only one small part of an array of energy Electromagnetic radiation includes
Gamma rays X-rays Ultraviolet light Visible light Infrared light Radio waves *Energy radiated in the form of a wave, resulting from the motion of electric charges and the magnetic fields they produce.

The study of light

Electromagnetic radiation
All forms of radiation travel at 300,000 kilometers (186,000 miles) per second Light (electromagnetic radiation) can be described in two ways
A continuum depicting the range of electromagnetic radiation, with the longest wavelength at one end and the shortest at the other.

Wave model
Wavelengths of radiation vary

Radio waves measure up to several kilometers long Gamma ray waves are less than a billionth of a centimeter long White light consists of several wavelengths corresponding to the colors of the rainbow

Light (electromagnetic radiation) can be described in two ways

Particle model
Particles called photons Exert a pressure, called radiation pressure, on matter Shorter wavelengths correspond to more energetic photons

The study of light

Spectroscopy
The study of the properties of light that depend on wavelength The light pattern produced by passing light through a prism, which spreads out the various wavelengths, is called a spectrum (plural: spectra)

The study of light

A spectrum is produced when white light passes through a prism

The study of light

Spectroscopy
Types of spectra
Continuous spectrum: A spectrum that contains all
colors or wavelengths.

Produced by an incandescent solid, liquid, or high pressure gas Uninterrupted band of color Dark-line (absorption) spectrum Produced when white light is passed through a comparatively cool, low pressure gas Appears as a continuous spectrum but with dark lines running through it

Formation of the three types of spectra

Emission spectrum of hydrogen

Emission Spectrum
A spectrum consisting of individual lines at characteristic wavelengths produced when light passes through an incandescent gas; a bright-line spectrum.

Absorption Spectrum
A continuous spectrum crossed by dark lines produced when light passes through a nonincandescent gas.

Absorption Spectrum of Hydrogen

The study of light

Doppler effect
The apparent change in wavelength of radiation caused by the relative motions of the source and observer Used to determine
Direction of motion Increasing distance ("stretches") Decreasing distance ("compresses") Velocity velocities wavelength is longer makes wavelength shorter

larger Doppler shifts indicate higher

The Doppler effect

Originally discovered by the Austrian mathematician and physicist, Christian Doppler (1803-53), this change in pitch results from a shift in the frequency of the sound waves.

The Doppler effect

The electromagnetic radiation emitted by a moving object also exhibits the Doppler effect.

Redshift, a phenomenon of electromagnetic waves such as light in which spectral lines are shifted to the red end of the spectrum.

The Doppler effect

Blueshift: This spectrum shows hydrogen shifted to the blue end of the spectrum. This star is moving toward Earth.

The radiation emitted by an object moving toward an observer is squeezed; its frequency appears to increase and is therefore said to be blueshifted. In contrast, the radiation emitted by an object moving away is stretched or redshifted. Blueshifts and redshifts exhibited by stars, galaxies and gas clouds also indicate their motions with respect to the observer.
Redshift: This spectrum shows hydrogen shifted to the red end of the spectrum. This star is moving away from Earth.

Astronomical tools
Optical (visible light) telescopes
Two basic types (1) Refracting telescope
Uses a lens (called the objective) to bend (refract) the light to produce an image Light converges at an area called the focus Distance between the lens and the focus is called the focal length The eyepiece is a second lens used to examine the image directly Have an optical defect called chromatic aberration (color distortion)

A simple refracting telescope

Astronomical tools
Optical (visible light) telescopes
Two basic types (2) Reflecting telescope
Uses a concave mirror to gather the light No color distortion Nearly all large telescopes are of this type

A prime focus reflecting telescope

Cassegrain focus reflecting telescope

Newtonian focus reflecting telescope

The 200" (5m) Hale Reflector of Palomar Observatory is shown above. Until recently it was the world's largest optical/infrared telescope.

Astronomical tools
Optical (visible light) telescopes
Properties of optical telescopes
Light-gathering power Larger lens (or mirror) intercepts more light Determines the brightness Resolving power The ability to separate close objects Allows for a sharper image and finer detail

Astronomical tools
Optical (visible light) telescopes
Properties of optical telescopes
Magnifying power The ability to make an image larger Calculated by dividing the focal length of the objective by the focal length of the eyepiece Can be changed by changing the eyepiece Limited by atmospheric conditions and the resolving power of the telescope Even with the largest telescopes, stars (other than the Sun) appear only as points of light

Astronomical tools
Detecting invisible radiation
Radio radiation
Gathered by "big dishes" called radio telescopes Large because radio waves are about 100,000 times longer than visible radiation Often made of a wire mesh Have rather poor resolution Can be wired together into a network called a radio interferometer

Radio Telescope
A steerable radio telescope at Green Bank, West Virginia

Astronomical tools
Detecting invisible radiation
Radio radiation
Gathered by "big dishes" called radio telescopes Advantages over optical telescopes Less affected by weather Less expensive Can be used 24 hours a day Detects material that does not emit visible radiation Can "see" through interstellar dust clouds

Radio Telescope
The 300-meter radio telescope at Arecibo, Puerto Rico

The Big Bang Theory

The theory holding that the universe originated from the instant expansion of an extremely small agglomeration of matter of extremely high density and temperature.

Photons converted into particleantiparticle pairs and vice-versa

E = mc2
Early universe was full of particles and radiation because of its high temperature

The Big Band Theory

Evidence for Big Bang
This is the theory of the universe s earliest moments. It presumes that the universe began from a tiny, hot, and dense collection of matter and radiation. It describes how expansion and cooling of particles could have led to the present universe of stars and galaxies. It explains several aspects of today s universe with a very good accuracy.

The Big Band Theory

The Big Bang theory is a model, which explains some facts (observations). It should be able to make predictions that can be verified through observations or experiments. Two important predictions: 1. Cosmic microwave background radiation. 2. Fusion of original hydrogen into helium.

Evidence for the Big Bang

The Cosmic Background Radiation (Microwaves)
Penzias & Wilson (1962) discovered an isotropic background microwave signal during testing a microwave antenna at Bell Labs in 1965. The noise was found to be coming from every direction. At the same time, physicists from Princeton calculated the expected radiation from the initially hot universe.They suggested that this radiation could be detected with a microwave antenna.

The result was a Nobel Prize in physics for 1978.

The Cosmic Microwave Background

The Cosmic Background Radiation (Microwaves)

Background radiation from Big Bang has been freely streaming across universe since atoms formed at temperature ~ 3,000 K: visible/IR

The Cosmic Microwave Background

The background consists of photons (radiation) arriving at Earth directly from the end of the era of nuclei (when the Universe was about 380,000 years old). Neutral atoms captured most of the electrons. Photons were released and have flown freely through the universe ever since.
This background radiation can be detected with a small TV antenna as part (1%) of static snow . The redshifted spectrum of the background radiation has now a temperature of 2.73 K.

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Cosmic Background Explorer

The first satellite built dedicated to cosmology. Its goals were to investigate the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB) of the universe and provide measurements that would help shape our understanding of the cosmos.

Cosmic Background Explorer

This work helped cement the big-bang theory of the universe. According to the Nobel Prize committee, "the COBE-project can also be regarded as the starting point for cosmology as a precision science". Two of COBE's principal investigators, George Smoot and John Mather, received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2006.

Cosmic Background Explorer

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Cosmic Background Explorer

The "famous" map of the CMB anisotropy formed from data taken by the COBE spacecraft.

Evidence for the Big Bang

In 1927, the Belgian priest Georges Lematre was the first to propose that the universe began with the explosion of a primeval atom.

Evidence for the Big Bang

Edwin Hubble found experimental evidence to help justify Lematre's theory. He found that distant galaxies in every direction are going away from us with speeds proportional to their distance (the redshift).
The big bang was initially suggested because it explains why distant galaxies are traveling away from us at great speeds. The theory also predicts the existence of cosmic background radiation (the glow left over from the explosion itself). The Big Bang Theory received its strongest confirmation when this radiation was discovered in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who later won the Nobel Prize for this discovery.

Hubbles Evidence
Doppler shifting - wavelength emitted by something moving away from us is shifted to a lower frequency Sound of a fire truck siren - pitch of the siren is higher as the fire truck moves towards you, and lower as it moves away from you Visible wavelengths emitted by objects moving away from us are shifted towards the red part of the visible spectrum The faster they move away from us, the more they are redshifted. Thus, redshift is a reasonable way to measure the speed of an object (this, by the way, is the principal by which radar guns measure the speed of a car or baseball) When we observe the redshift of galaxies outside our local group, every galaxy appears to be moving away from us - universe is expanding.

Expansion of universe has redshifted thermal radiation from that time to ~1000 times longer wavelength: microwaves

Evidence for the Big Bang

Big Bang Theory - Evidence for the Theory What are the major evidences which support the Big Bang theory?

First of all, we are reasonably certain that the universe had a beginning. Second, galaxies appear to be moving away from us at speeds proportional to their distance. This is called "Hubble's Law," named after Edwin Hubble (18891953) who discovered this phenomenon in 1929. This observation supports the expansion of the universe and suggests that the universe was once compacted.

Evidence for the Big Bang

Third, if the universe was initially very, very hot as the Big Bang suggests, we should be able to find some remnant of this heat. In 1965, Radioastronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered a 2.725 degree Kelvin (-454.765 degree Fahrenheit, -270.425 degree Celsius) Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) which pervades the observable universe. This is thought to be the remnant which scientists were looking for. Penzias and Wilson shared in the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery.

Evidence for the Big Bang

Finally, the abundance of the "light elements" Hydrogen and Helium found in the observable universe are thought to support the Big Bang model of origins.

Synthesis of Helium
The current CMB temperature tells us precisely how hot the universe was when it appeared. It tells us how much helium was initially produced. A helium nucleus contains 2 protons and 2 neutrons. At T > 1011 K, nuclear reactions converted protons into neutrons and back, keeping their numbers nearly equal. Between 1010 and 1011 K, neutron proton reactions favor protons, because neutrons are heavier than protons.

Synthesis of Helium
Energy is required to convert protons to neutrons. At T < 1010 K, only neutrons can be changed into protons. However, fusion continued to operate and protons and neutrons combined into deuterium. Then deuterium fused into helium. During the early era of nucleosynthesis, helium nuclei were being destroyed by gamma-rays. At ~1 minute, gamma-rays were gone and the proton neutron ratio was set to 7:1.

Synthesis of Helium
Big Bang theory prediction: 75% H, 25% He (by mass) Matches observations of nearly primordial gases

Synthesis of Helium
Abundances of other light elements agree with Big Bang model having 4.4% normal matter more evidence for WIMPS!

Nebular Hypothesis of Solar System Formation.