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But Newton’s solution doesn’t work: But Newton’s solution doesn’t work:
¾Newton’s infinite universe would be in an unstable ALSO
equilibrium – any small perturbation to the distribution would ¾Would not an infinite universe, with an infinite number of
cause the universe to collapse. stars produce a night sky much like that we see during the
¾T accountt for
¾To f this
thi problem,
bl Ei
Einstein
t i proposedd the
th so- day?
called “cosmological constant,” an antigravity force that
maintained a static equilibrium in the universe
¾Einstein is said to have called this proposal his ¾Perhaps not if there were clouds in
“greatest
g mistake.” deepp space
p that intercepted
p or blocked
the light from more distant stars.
¾This doesn
doesn’tt work because this scenario requires that we see a slow
transition in the light coming from local and distant stars
¾Medium range stars should appear “foggy” like the sun shining
through a thin cloud.
cloud
¾Absorption of light by clouds would eventually cause them to
glow
Big Bang Theory
The Four Pillars of the Big Bang Theory
In 1927, the Belgian priest and
scientist Georges Lemaître was the • Expansion of the Universe
first to propose that the universe – Hubble
b
began with
ith the
th explosion
l i off a • Origin
O i i Of Th
The Cosmic
C i Background
B k d Radiation
R di ti
primeval atom (Cosmic Egg). His – Penzias and Wilson
proposal came after observing the • Nucleosynthesis of the light elements
red shift in distant nebulas by • Formation of galaxies and large-scale structure
astronomers and comparing
p g to a http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html
model of the universe based on In this lecture we will explore and examine the
relativity. The reason the stars are observations that led Hubble to demonstrate that the
not falling
f lli together:
h Theyh are still
ill universe is expanding. We will discuss the other
moving apart as a result of the three in detail later in the course.
explosion.
explosion
http://www.damtp.cam.ac.uk/user/gr/public/bb_pillars.html
How far is a light year? 9.47 x 1015 m. (You should be able to calculate this for yourself.)
The first step: Measuring ¾Initially astronomers used a “trigonometric or parallax
the distance of stars approach1” to measure the distance to nearby stars (i.e., those
in our galaxy).
¾A variety of methods are
¾To understand let’s review some basic trigonometry
used
¾increasing complexity Have trouble remembering
sines and cosines?
as distance from earth Use SohCahToa
grows
¾We will discuss two θ
of these methods
¾Parallax (10 - 100 ly)
¾Cepheid variable If we can measure the side B, and the angle theta (θ), then we can use
the equation
stars (500 – 10 ly) 8
L = B/[tan(θ)] 1Also referred to as the surveyor’s method
A giant leap for humankind? Knowing the size of the Earth's orbit around the sun enables parallax measurements to
reveal the distances of the nearest stars. Successive steps up the "ladder" are required, in turn, to reach nearby star
to calculate L. or triangulation.
clusters, bright variable stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters.
Adapted from The Cosmological Ladder by Michael Rowan-Robinson.
θ
θ/2
We can use the same method for a situation in which there are two such
triangles, back-to-back:
L = ½ (2B)/tan{ ½(θ)} Distance of star = L = R/{tan(θ/2)}
= (half
(h lf the
th total
t t l baseline)/tan(half
b li )/t (h lf the th total
t t l angle)
l )
Limitation of parallax method: only useful for More on parallax method:
nearbyy stars ¾For small angles
¾tan(θ/2) ~ θ/2 = R/L We are using the script
¾Why? Consider some nearby stars:
¾So in these cases: θ/2 = R/L (in radians)
“L” to represent the
distance in units of ly’s.
Our nearest neighbors are ~ 4 or θ/2 = [[R/L]] x 180/π ((in degrees)
g )
¾Substituting for R = 1.5 x 1011m, and L = (9.46 x 1015 m/ly) x L
light years away = 4 ly
How far is a light year?
θ/2 = 9.08 x 10-4 /L (in degrees)
9.47 x 1015 m. (You should be ¾Now define
able to calculate this for
yourself.) ¾1 degree=1 arcdegree=60 arcminutes=(60x60) arcseconds
¾So θ/2 = [9.08 x 10-4] [3600]/L (in arcsec’s)
What is the pparallax angle
g
observed from the earth for a In other words: = 3.26/L(ly)
3 26/ (l ) (in
(i arcsecs))
star only 1 ly away? ¾For Proxima Centauri
¾L = 4.2 ly
tan(θ/2)
( ) = R/L ¾then θ/2 = 33.26/4.2
26/4 2
= 1.5x1011m/[9.47x1015m] = 0.8 arcsecs
~ 1.59 x 10-5 (Radians) ¾For stars outside our galaxy, ~ 106
ly away, the parallax is simply too
So small to measure
How is the change from
radians to degrees done? ¾An alternate method is needed to
θ/2 = arctan(1.59x10-5) 10-5
= 1.59 x radians = 9.17 x10-4 degrees measure distance
--- this is a small angle and it gets smaller as the stars get more distant! ¾By the way: our galaxy has a size of about 30,000 ly
lo
Red-shift:
Red shift: λ = λo (1 + ν/c) > λo for objects moving away
Blue-shift: λ = λo (1 – ν/c) < λo , for objects converging
Distance ((106 p
parsec’s = 3.26x 106 ly’s)
y )
The debate over the value for Ho is vigorous The scientific community’s interpretation:
¾The universe is expanding
¾At some earlier time (~ 10 – 20 bya), all matter was
contained at a single point and was ejected outward by an
explosive
l i eventt (i.e.,
(i the
th Big
Bi Bang).
B )
As we’ll learn in the next lecture, the picture has become even more complicated in recent
years… it appears that the rate of recession is increasing with time!