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Astronomy

Astronomy. Introduction. What is Astronomy?. The scientific study of celestial (sky/space) objects like stars, comets, planets, and galaxies Astronomy is NOT astrology. Why study astronomy?. The Sun provides our energy to live. Radiation from the Sun powers our atmosphere and weather.

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Astronomy

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  1. Astronomy Introduction

  2. What is Astronomy? The scientific study of celestial (sky/space) objects like stars, comets, planets, and galaxies Astronomy is NOT astrology

  3. Why study astronomy? • The Sun provides our energy to live. • Radiation from the Sun powers our atmosphere and weather. • Earth's spin gives us day and night. • Axial tilt gives us the seasons. • The Sun and Moon cause the tides. • The Moon causes eclipses. • The constellations are used for navigation. • Earth's orbit provides our annual calendar. • The phase of the Moon fixes the date of Easter Sunday. • Ultra violet radiation from the Sun gives us a suntan. • Solar Flares cause the auroras and affect our radio transmissions. • New worlds to explore and colonize

  4. LIFE ON OTHER WORLDS??

  5. Scientific Theory and the Scientific Method • Scientific theories: • Must be testable • Must be continually tested • Should be simple

  6. What can we Observe in the Night Sky? • Stars • large spheres of incandescent (glowing) gas • Energy comes from nuclear fusion • H + H → He + energy (e=mc2) • E.g. Polaris, Sun, Betelgeuse, Procyon, Regulus

  7. Constellations • Regions of space • 88 regions • E.g. Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, Pegasus • Gemini, Leo, Capricornus, Scorpius

  8. Asterism • Aster = star • Group of stars that make a pattern • Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Great Square, Orion’s Belt, Summer Triangle

  9. Galaxy • Cluster of billions of stars • Milky Way- our galaxy • Andromeda Galaxy (M31)

  10. Spiral Galaxy NGC 4414 -

  11. Nebula • Cloud of gas and dust in space • M42: Great Nebula in Orion (nursery for stars) • Eagle Nebula

  12. Eagle Nebula (M16) • These eerie, dark pillar-like structures are actually columns of cool interstellar hydrogen gas and dust that are also incubators for new stars. They are part of the "Eagle Nebula", a nearby star-forming region 7,000 light-years away in the constellation Serpens. • The picture was taken on April 1, 1995 with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. • Dr. Jeff J. Hester, Dr. Paul A. Scowen, Arizona State University, STScI/AURA, NASA (1995)

  13. North American Nebula(NGC 7000)

  14. In Cygnus close to Deneb • Emission nebula • Discovered in 1700s by William Herschel • 50 ly across • About 1500 ly away

  15. Horsehead Nebula (Barnard 33) • In Orion • Dark nebula • 1500 ly away • 3.5 ly across • Discovered 1888

  16. Ring Nebula (M57) • In Lyra • Planetary nebula • 2000-2500 ly away

  17. Forms when star blows off gas- white dwarf star left behind

  18. Crab Nebula (M1, NGC 1952) • In Taurus • Remnant of supernova observed by Chinese in 1054 • Hubble Space Telescope image of the Crab Nebula. High-energy particles accelerated by the Crab pulsar, a neutron star spinning with a period of 33 ms at the center of the remnant, cause the bluish glow of the interior. The outer filaments are the tattered remains of the star and consist mostly of hydrogen. http://www.mpa-garching.mpg.de/~thj/popular/Crab_Nebula.jpg

  19. Planets • Bodies that revolve around the Sun • Have enough gravity to make themselves round • Cleared out the region in their orbit

  20. Eight planets • Mercury • Venus • Earth • Mars • Jupiter • Saturn • Uranus • Neptune

  21. Could there be more planets that we cannot see?

  22. Dwarf Planets • Pluto • Far from the Sun • Not round • ‘Kuiper Belt objects’

  23. Comets • Orbit the Sun in eccentric paths • ‘dirty snowballs’ • E.g. Halley (1910, 1986, 2061)

  24. Asteroids • Large chunks of rock • Live between Mars and Jupiter • Largest: Ceres

  25. Moons • Satellites of a planet • (the planet is the ‘primary’- it goes around the Sun)

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