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Welcome to AY 204

Welcome to AY 204. Solar System Astronomy. Prof: Dr. Jimmy Irwin Meeting Room: Gallalee 338 Class time: TR 9:30-10:45 AM Course website: http://pages.astronomy.ua.edu/jairwin/AY204/AY204.html. Office Hours. Tuesday: 3:00 PM-4:30 PM Friday 10:00 PM-11:30 PM

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Welcome to AY 204

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  1. Welcome to AY 204 Solar System Astronomy Prof: Dr. Jimmy Irwin Meeting Room: Gallalee 338 Class time: TR 9:30-10:45 AM Course website: http://pages.astronomy.ua.edu/jairwin/AY204/AY204.html

  2. Office Hours • Tuesday: 3:00 PM-4:30 PM • Friday 10:00 PM-11:30 PM • Other hours by appointment • Room 311C (go ahead and enter Room 311 without knocking)

  3. Textbook: The Cosmic Perspective: The Solar Systemby Bennett, Donahue, Schneider, & Voit(8th Edition) Online version can be purchased via RedShelf through link on the Blackboard page for this course. Textbook is highly recommended, but not absolutely required.

  4. Course grade • ~7 Homeworks 25% • 2 Regular Exams 14% each • 3 Quizzes 4% each • Presentation 10% • Final Exam 25%

  5. Class Notes • Class notes will be posted online after each class (http://pages.astronomy.ua.edu/jairwin/AY204/AY204.html), which can be reached through a link on Blackboard. • The lectures will be recorded on Tegrity, so you can listen to the lecture again on your own.

  6. Tegrity Go to Blackboard, click on Tegrity tab Can skip through slide-by-slide to reach the material you want to hear about. Tegrity lectures are made on a best-effort policy. Give this a try today to see if you can see/listen to the lectures

  7. Attendance • Attendance will not be taken… BUT… • Material will be presented (sometimes on the chalkboard) that is not in the book • Skip class at your own peril……..

  8. Extra Credit • In general, there will be no extra credit • Occasionally, an extra credit problem might appear on a test • Points can also be earned while playing AstroJeopardy during exam review sessions.

  9. Homework • ~7 assignments • ~1 week to work on each set • Mostly mathematical in nature • Show your work – I can’t assign partial credit if you miss a problem but do not show how you arrived at an answer

  10. Presentation • Choose an astronomy press release from 2017/2018 • Present a 5 minute discussion of that press release to your classmates • Ask questions of your fellow classmates • Topic can be either about the solar system/extrasolar planets or about other aspects in astronomy

  11. Course FAQs • What won’t be covered in this course: - stars (other than the Sun), the Milky Way, galaxies, cosmology, the Big Bang (AY206) - how to use a telescope (AY203) - where is Mars? How do I find the constellations? - astrology

  12. Course FAQs • Math level in this course? • Algebra, geometry • Metric system: • Length: meters --- 1000 mm = 100 cm = 1 m 1000 m = 1 km • You are 1.5-2 m tall. • Distance to sun is 150 million kilometers. • Wavelength of visible light: 500 nm = 500x10-9 m • Will generally use cgs and MKS system • Scientific notation 0.001= 10-3 Distance to sun 15,000,000,000,000 cm= 1.5x1013 cm (You need a calculator with scientific notation) • Base-10 logarithms log10 10 = 1 log10 100 = 2 log10 1000 = 3

  13. Notes & Reminders Physics Major Tracks There are four tracks leading to the B.S. degree in physics: - the graduate school track, for students considering graduate work in physics; - the astrophysics track, for students interested in astronomy or space science; - the biophysics track, for students planning a career in a health profession; - the physics education track, for students who want to teach in grades K–12. We also have a second major curriculum for engineering majors. For example, Electrical and Computer Engineering majors need only 4 additional hours beyond their normal program to complete a second major in Physics. This combination of fundamental and applied physics can be highly advantageous when the graduate enters the job market. More information on these tracks can be found at the page of our website and at the Major/Minor Requirements page of our website and at the Engineering/Physics double major webpage at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering website.

  14. Astronomical Objects: Star ~106 km diameter light crossing time: 3 seconds

  15. Planet A moderately large object which orbits a star; it shines by reflected light. Planets may be rocky, icy, or gaseous in composition (or demoted).

  16. Moon An object which orbits a planet. Can be larger than a planet.

  17. Asteroid A relatively small and rocky object which orbits a star.

  18. Comet A relatively small and icy/rocky object which orbits a star.

  19. Meteoroid/Meteor/Meteorite Meteoroid: a space rock in interplanetary space Meteor: flash of light as rock burns up in the atmosphere Meteorite: space rock that survives the trip to the Earth’s surface.

  20. Solar (Star) System 1010 km Light crossing time: 10 hours (Earth-Sun: 8.3 minutes)

  21. Galaxy A great island of stars and gas, all held together by gravity and orbiting a common center 100,000 light years = 1018 km

  22. Galaxy or Group Clusters A collection of tens to thousands of galaxies gravitationally bound. 106 light years = 1019 km

  23. Universe All matter and energy. Everything within and between galaxies. 1010 light years = 1023 km

  24. Where does Earth fit into the Universe?

  25. How big is the universe? • The Milky Way is one of about 100 billion galaxies. • 1011 stars/galaxy x 1011 galaxies = 1022 stars There are as many stars as grains of (dry) sand on all Earth’s beaches.

  26. Our Very, Very Ordinary Location Earth – an average size planet in an average-sized orbit The Sun – a slightly above-average size star Our location in the Milky Way Galaxy – neither near the center nor near the outskirts Our Galaxy – neither unusually big nor small

  27. Chapter 1Our Place in the Universe

  28. The Length Scale of the Universe

  29. How large is the solar system? Pluto 590m Neptune 450m Uranus 287m Saturn 143m Jupiter 78m Mars 23m Earth 15m Venus 11m Mercury 6m 1:10 billion scale - the Sun is the size of a grapefruit or softball

  30. How large is the Solar System? How far away is the nearest star?

  31. Nearest Star at Distance of San Francisco!

  32. How large is the Galaxy? Sun Pluto 590m Neptune 450m Uranus 287m Earth 15m Venus 11m Mercury 6m How far from Sun to nearest star? 1:1019 scale – equivalent to the Galaxy being as big as a football field.

  33. How large is the Galaxy? Sun Pluto 590m Neptune 450m Uranus 287m Earth 15m Venus 11m Mercury 6m How far from Sun to nearest star? 4 mm! (half the width of your pinky) 1:1019 scale – equivalent to the Galaxy being as big as a football field.

  34. How large is the Observable Universe? Sun Pluto 590m Neptune 450m Uranus 287m Earth 15m Venus 11m Mercury 6m If the Milky Way is the size of a football stadium how big is the observable Universe? 1:1019 scale

  35. How large is the Observable Universe? Sun Pluto 590m Neptune 450m Uranus 287m Earth 15m Venus 11m Mercury 6m If the Milky Way is the size of a football stadium how big is the observable Universe? Larger than the Pacific Ocean! 1:1019 scale

  36. The Time Scale of the Universe

  37. Current Age ~ 13.8 billion years • Sun's Age ~ 4.5 billion years

  38. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • The cosmic calendar: a scale on which we compress the history of the universe into 1 year (1 day = 37 million years.

  39. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • The Big Bang occurred on January 1 on this calendar, ~14 billion years ago.

  40. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Matter condenses, and galaxies form about a billion years later – early February (or even earlier).

  41. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Sun, Earth, solar system form about 4.5 billion years ago – early September.

  42. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Simple single cell organisms appear on Earth in late September.

  43. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Life on Earth greatly increases in variety during the Cambrian Period in mid-December

  44. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Dinosaurs begin to dominate Earth shortly after Christmas.

  45. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Dinosaurs go extinct 4 days later.

  46. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Early human ancestors evolve when the New Year’s party gets started.

  47. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Modern humans (Homo Sapiens) arrive as the Ball begins to drop in Times Square.

  48. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Humans begin farming 25 seconds before midnight.

  49. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Egyptians built the pyramids 11 seconds before midnight.

  50. How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the universe? • Our modern view of the solar system was established by Kepler and Galileo 1 second before midnight.

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