Earth Science Light and Astronomical Observations Important Astronomical

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 v. Electromagnetic radiation • All forms of radiation travel at 300, 000 kilometers (186, 000 miles) per second v. Light (electromagnetic radiation) can be described in two ways A continuum depicting the range of v. Wave model v. Wavelengths of radiation vary electromagnetic radiation, with the longest wavelength at one end and the shortest at the other. v. Radio waves measure up to several kilometers long v. Gamma ray waves are less than a billionth of a centimeter long v. White light consists of several wavelengths corresponding to the colors of the rainbow

v. 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 v. 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 v. 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 Absorption Spectrum A spectrum consisting of individual lines at characteristic wavelengths produced when light passes through an incandescent gas; a bright-line spectrum. A continuous spectrum crossed by dark lines produced when light passes through a nonincandescent gas. Absorption Spectrum of Hydrogen

The study of light v. 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 – wavelength is longer ("stretches") • Decreasing distance – makes wavelength shorter ("compresses") • Velocity – larger Doppler shifts indicate higher velocities

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

Astronomical tools v. 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 v. 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 v. 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 v. 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 = mc 2 Early universe was full of particles and radiation because of its high temperature

The Big Band Theory • Evidence for Big Bang • This is 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.

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

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 Lemaître 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 Lemaître'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.

Hubble’s 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 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.