1 / 81

Astronomy 101: The Solar System

Join us for a comprehensive course on the Solar System, covering the Sun, planets, moons, dwarf planets, asteroids, and comets. Learn how to determine the composition of astronomical bodies and explore their physical properties. Office hours and homework assignments available.

rothman
Download Presentation

Astronomy 101: The Solar System

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Astronomy 101The Solar SystemTuesday, Thursday2:30-3:45 pmHasbrouck 20Tom Burbinetomburbine@astro.umass.edu

  2. Course • Course Website: • http://blogs.umass.edu/astron101-tburbine/ • Textbook: • Pathways to Astronomy (2nd Edition) by Stephen Schneider and Thomas Arny. • You also will need a calculator.

  3. Office Hours • Mine • Tuesday, Thursday - 1:15-2:15pm • Lederle Graduate Research Tower C 632 • Neil • Tuesday, Thursday - 11 am-noon • Lederle Graduate Research Tower B 619-O

  4. Homework • We will use Spark • https://spark.oit.umass.edu/webct/logonDisplay.dowebct • Homework will be due approximately twice a week

  5. Astronomy Information • Astronomy Help Desk • Mon-Thurs 7-9pm • Hasbrouck 205 • The Observatory should be open on clear Thursdays • Students should check the observatory website at: http://www.astro.umass.edu/~orchardhill for updated information • There's a map to the observatory on the website.

  6. Final • Monday - 12/14 • 4:00 pm • Hasbrouck 20

  7. HW #7 • Due today

  8. HW #8 • Due today

  9. HW #9 • Due October 27

  10. Exam #2 • Next Thursday • Bring a calculator and a pencil • No cell phones, Blackberries, iPhones • Covers material from September 22 through October 8 (Units 14-31)

  11. Formulas you need to know • F = GMm/r2 • F = ma • a = GM/r2 • Escape velocity = sqrt(2GM/r) • T (K) = T (oC) + 273.15 • c = f* • E = h*f • KE = 1/2mv2 • E = mc2

  12. More Formulas • Power emitted per unit surface area = σT4 • λmax (nm) = (2,900,000 nm*K)/T • Apparent brightness = Luminosity 4 x (distance)2

  13. LCROSS Impact • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVYKjR1sJY4 • http://dsc.discovery.com/videos/news-lcross-smashes-into-the-moon.html

  14. Solar System • Sun • Eight Planets • Their moons • Dwarf Planets • Asteroids • Comets

  15. Sun

  16. Sun • 74% H • 25% He • Traces of everything else

  17. Mercury

  18. Venus

  19. Earth

  20. Earth’s crust • 46.6% O • 27.7% Si • 8.1% Al • 5.0% Fe • 3.6% Ca • 2.8% Na • 2.6% K • 2.1% Mg

  21. Moon

  22. Comet

  23. Mars

  24. Asteroid

  25. http://spaceguard.esa.int Hiroshima

  26. Meteorites chondrite Pallasite – mixtures of olivine and metal Iron

  27. Jupiter

  28. Jupiter • 90% H • 10% He • Traces of everything else

  29. Io

  30. Europa

  31. Saturn

  32. Saturn • 75% H • 25% He • Traces of everything else

  33. Uranus

  34. Neptune

  35. Pluto

  36. How do we determine what astronomical bodies are made of?

  37. How do we determine what astronomical bodies are made of? • Measure how they emit or reflect light • Tells you about their surfaces • Measure their physical properties • Tells you about their interiors

  38. Planetary densities mass Units are g/cm3 or kg/m3 1 g/cm3 = 1,000 kg/m3 But how do we determine mass?

  39. Use Newton’s Laws of motion… Where P is the period of a planet’s orbit a is the distance from the planet to the Sun G is Newton’s constant M is the mass of the Sun This assumes that orbits are circles, and that the mass of a planet is tiny compared to the mass of the Sun. Use this relation with P and a for the Earth, and you’ll get the mass of the Sun: MSun = 1.98892 x 1030 kg

  40. But we want to know the mass of a planet! and F = ma Where F is the gravitational force G is the constant of proportionality M and m are the two masses exerting forces r is the radius of the planet a is its acceleration due to gravity

  41. Re-arrange to get Solve for M, the mass of the Earth, by using a = 9.8 m/sec2 r = 6.4 x 106 m G = 6.67 x 10-11 m3/(kg sec2) MEarth = 5.9736 x 1024 kg VEarth = 1.0832 x 1021 m3 DEarth = 5515 kg/m3 = 5.515 g/cm3

  42. Volume • If you assume a planet is a sphere: • Volume = 4/3πr3

  43. Density = ρ = Mass/VolumeρEarth = 5.515 g/cm3 Liquid Hydrogen 0.07

  44. Density of water • Density of water is 1 g/cm3 • Density of water is 1,000kg/m3

  45. What do these densities tell us? Density

More Related