Messier Marathon

Admin:
• Assignment 15 complete (10% penalty/day if you're late)

• Second mid-term
• Wednesday April 23rd
• Covers chapters 5, 10 and 11
• Revise!
• NOTE: today I will mainly go through math - but
most of the points on the exam come from the
multiple choice sections - re-read these Chapters!!!
• extra office hours 2pm - 4pm tomorrow (Tuesday)

• Lab as usual this week

• Honours section meet after this lecture
Unacceptable answers
Unacceptable answers
 Review: powers of 10

• 101=10
• 102=10×10=100
• 103=10×10×10=1000
• 104=10×10×10×10=10000
 powers of 10

• 101=10
• 100=10/10=1
• 10-1=10/10/10=0.1
• 10-2=10/10/10/10=0.01
 An example: powers of 10

• To multiply, add the exponents

• 103×104=107
• To divide, subtract the exponents
• 103 / 104=10-1
• To raise to a power, multiply exponents
• (103)4 = 1012
• sqrt(x) = x1/2
 Scientific notation

• 3000=
3×1000=3×103
• 0.0002 =
2×0.0001=2×10-4
• 2×10-4 × 3×103
= 2 × 3 × 10-4 × 103 = 6 × 10-1
• (3 × 108)2
= 9 × 1016
 Finding a ratio
(See Appendix C.5)
• What if you want to compare two quantities?
• e.g. The average density of Earth is 5.52 g/cm3,
that of Jupiter is 1.33 g/cm3. How much more
dense is Earth than Jupiter?
• 5.52/1.33=4.15 times as dense.
 Finding a ratio

• What if the two quantities involve an equation?

• e.g. the mass-energy of a 1kg mass m1, is 9×1016
Joules. What is the mass-energy of a 3kg mass?

Em 2 m2 c 2
=
Em1 m1c 2
Em 2 3
= does it make sense?
Em1 1
• Earth is about 150 million kilometers from the Sun, and the
apparent brightness of the Sun in our sky is about 1300 watts/m2 .
Using these two facts and the inverse square law for light,
determine the apparent brightness that we would measure for the
Sun if we were located at 1/2 the distance?

L
b= d1=1
4πd 2 d2=0.5
L 1 2
bd 2 4πd 2
d 2
1 d  d1  2
= = 2
= 2×2
=   1
bd 1 L 1 2 d2 1  d2 
4πd12
d1
often don't need to memorize
2 2
bd 2  d1   1  equations!!!
=   =   = 2 2 =4 does it make sense???
bd 1  d 2   0.5 
What if it were located 7 times the distance?
Ch. 5 Summary of Mathematics I
λ × f = c
λ = wavelength, f = frequency
c = 3.00 × 108 m/s = speed of light

E = h × f = photon energy
h = 6.626 × 10−34 joule × s

Given any one of E, f, or λ you should be able to calculate

the others

example: what is the energy of a photon with a wavelength

of 300nm ?
E=h × c/λ
(1eV=1.6×10-19J)
 Properties of Thermal Radiation
• Hotter objects emit more light at all frequencies per
unit area.
• Hotter objects emit photons with a higher average
energy (shorter wavelength).
 Ch.5 Summary of Mathematics II
• Hotter objects emit more light at all frequencies per
unit area.
emitted power/unit area = σT 4
σ = 5.7 ×10 −8 watt/(m 2 Kelvin 4 )

• Hotter objects emit photons with a higher average

energy. 2,900,000
λmax ≈ nm
T (Kelvin)

Given the temperature of an object, you should be able to calculate

the emitted power/unit area and the peak wavelength (see "cosmic
calculations 5.1"). Given the peak wavelength, you should be able
to calculate the temperature. E.g. Sun~6000K
 Ch. 5 Summary of Mathematics III
• Doppler shift

v λshift − λrest
=
c λrest

Given the wavelength of spectral lines, you should be able to tell

if an object is moving away or towards you, and at what speed
(see "cosmic calculations 5.2").
 Math question
• In hydrogen, the transition from level 1 to level 2 has a rest
wavelength of 121.6 nm. Suppose you see this line at a
wavelength of 120.5nm in Star A and at 121.3nm in Star B.

• Calculate speed of Star A.

• 2710 km/s
• Is it moving toward or away from us
• toward us
• Calculate speed of star B
• 740 km/s
• toward us
 Features of a Spectrum

• By carefully studying the features in a

spectrum, we can learn a great deal about
the object that created it.
 What is this object?

Reflected Sunlight:
Continuous spectrum of
visible light is like the
Sun’s except that some of
the blue light has been
absorbed—object must
look red
What is this object?

Thermal Radiation:
Infrared spectrum peaks
at a wavelength
corresponding to a
temperature of 225 K
What is this object?

Carbon Dioxide:
Absorption lines are the
fingerprint of CO2 in the
atmosphere
 What is this object?

Ultraviolet Emission Lines:

Indicate a hot upper
atmosphere
What is this object?

Mars!
Ch. 11 Summary of Mathematics I
The relationship between apparent brightness
and luminosity depends on distance:
Luminosity
Brightness =
4π (distance)2

We can determine a star’s luminosity if we can

measure its distance and apparent brightness:

Luminosity = 4π (distance)2 × (Brightness)

 Thought Question
How would the apparent brightness of Alpha
Centauri change if it were three times farther away?

A. It would be only 1/3 as bright.

B. It would be only 1/6 as bright.
C. It would be only 1/9 as bright.
D. It would be three times as bright.
 Thought Question
How would the apparent brightness of Alpha
Centauri change if it were three times farther away?

A. It would be only 1/3 as bright.

B. It would be only 1/6 as bright.
C. It would be only 1/9 as bright.
D. It would be three times as bright.
 Math Question
The sun's measured apparent brightness is 1.36×103 W/m2 at Earth's
distance from the sun (1 AU = 1.5×1011m). What is the Sun's Luminosity?

L
b=
4πd 2
 Math Question
The sun's measured apparent brightness is 1.36×103 W/m2 at Earth's
distance from the sun (1 AU = 1.5×1011m). What is the Sun's Luminosity?

L
b=
4πd 2

= 3.8×1026 W
Ch. 11 Summary of Mathematics II
Parallax and Distance
p = parallax angle

1
d  (in parsecs) = 
p (in arcseconds)
(by definition)
1
d  (in light­years) = 3.26  ×
p (in arcseconds)
 Ch. 11 Summary of Mathematics II
Parallax and Distance
What's the distance of a star with a parallax angle of 1 arcsecond?

d= 1parsec =3.26 light years

What's the distance of a star with a parallax angle of 2 arcseconds?

d= 0.5parsecs =1.63 light years

NOTE: bigger angle means star is closer

Alpha Centauri: parallax angle 0.7420.

 Ch. 11 Summary of Mathematics II
Sirius A has a luminosity of 26LSun and a surface temperature of about
9400K. What is its radius?

LSun=3.8×1026W

L = 4πr 2 × σT 4
L
r=
4πσT 4
26 × 3.8 ×10 26 9.9 × 10 27
r= −8
=
4 × 3.14 × 5.7 × 10 × 9400 4
7.2 × 10 −7 × 7.8 × 1015
r = 1.30 × 109
 Ch. 11 Summary of Mathematics III
The Magnitude Scale
m = apparent magnitude M = absolute magnitude
related to apparent brightness related to luminosity
apparent brightness of Star 1 1/5 m1 − m2
= (100 )
apparent brightness of Star 2

luminosity of Star 1 M −M
= (1001/5 ) 1 2
luminosity of Star 2
5 magnitudes difference = a factor of 100 in brightness
Note that a lower number means a brighter star
 The Magnitude Scale
How much brighter is a 3rd magnitude star than an 8th magnitude star?

m1=8, m2=3
m1− m 2
b1  
1
= 100 5 

b2  

Note that a lower number means a brighter star