Lecture 1

Introduction

SCIENTIFIC NOTATION:

UIF#1 scale CCs

UIF#9 star properties CCs
2:11 is start point for distances

Way to express numbers. Uses powers of 10

Examples:

5.91 107

2.1 10-24

Left part has one digit to left (but not zero)

Right part is a power of 10

Powers of 10:
103
102
101
100
10-1
10-2
10-3
10-4

=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=

10 10 10 = 1000
10 10
= 100
10
= 10
_______
Pay attention to that one!
0.1
= 1/10
0.01
= 1/100
0.001
= 1/1000
0.0001
= 1/10000 or 1/104

Scientific Notation (Continued):

Easily expresses extreme numbers in shorthand:
28575900000000000000000

.000000000000000000091348

1022
becomes 9.1 10-20
becomes 2.86

Correct power of 10 is from counting digits.

Negative power of 10 to expresses tiny numbers
Some rounding is done
Practice in your reading and homework

SCALE OF THE UNIVERSE - EXTREMES

Electron = Less than 1 trillionth of the size of a
fingernail (1012 narrower)
Known universe = Billion billion billion larger
than a fingernail (1027 wider)

Earth is in the middle range of size

One of many planets
Circling the Sun in an orbit

93 million miles from Sun

30,000 further than from
New York to California
1 AU or astronomical unit

Mars is 1.6 AU from the Sun

Solar System: Includes Sun, planets like Earth, and more.

Planets are large. Pluto too small to be one.
How Big Is The Solar System? Fcain 3:49 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLKtG6sy13o

SOLAR SYSTEM ORBITS:

Paths planets follow, same direction around Sun

Pluto averages 39 AU from the Sun

So how many times further is it from the Sun
than Earth is? __________
What is the furthest true planet away from
the Sun? ________________
How many planets in solar system FCAIN 3:37
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SCQTKX2jF20

What is the largest planet? __________

318 heavier than Earth. 1400 the volume!
Ignore sci-fi: Stars are 80 to 150,000 heavier

PAUSE FOR A MOMENT:

What other objects or events in the universe
would you all like to learn about?

What are stars?

Giant ball of gas

Gravity holds it together
Colors match temperatures
The Sun is closest star
Next nearest star is 6700 further than Pluto
Most stars have planets around them
exoplanets

http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/asset/lsps07_vid_lightyears/ 3:38 light year CCs

Stars are so far away that

We need larger units
1 Light Year (LY) = Distance light travels in 1 year
6 trillion miles

Nearest star is 4.2 LY away

Light Years 3:38 video above. 8 min sun-earth time, hours to Saturn, on up.
This video segment adapted from Shedding Light on Science describes how astronomical distances can be measured in units of lightyears, and how the finite speed of light allows astronomers to study how the universe looked long ago.

Solar Neighborhood

The Milky Way: Our solar system is just one star

system of over 500 billion in the Milky Way galaxy.

The Andromeda Galaxy: Next nearest big galaxy,

500,000 further than the nearest star!
How many galaxies do you think are out there?

Answer for your notes:

At least 125 billion more galaxies

..perhaps even infinity!

The Universe or Cosmos

All things which are connected by space and time

How do we measure the universe?

Distances are key. Without knowing them
Cant judge sizes
Cant judge brightness

Solution: Tricks of geometry

since ancient times

The distance ladder

Short distances first
Step by step
Longer distances later

UIF#9 star properties CCs

2:11 is start point for distances

Parallax: A shift when view an object from 2 angles.

Example: Blink eyes while looking at thumb, notice shift

 Greater distance ________ of a shift

Example: Mountain vs. blades of grass
So, we tell distance by how much shift

What is a parsec? CCs 3:48 (FCain) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1up3thBSPc

more

So try that with planets

Make planet seem to shift (viewing it from 2 angles)
Parallax of Mars in 1672
Giovanni Cassini
Paris and S. America

STELLAR PARALLAX. View a star in July

Then again 6 months later. What month? ___.
It shifts. Smaller shift means star at a _______ distance.

6 months later

Stellar Distances from Parallax

First star 61 Cygni in 1838 at 10.4 LY
Better data today 11.36 LY, 718,000 Sun!

Photography greatly helped

HIPPARCOS satellite
100,000+ stars til 1993

GAIA mission
1 billion objects thru 2018

SCIENTIFIC METHOD
Central to science
Step 1: An initial stab at it. Not a theory, until its been
tested, but a ___________. (Begins with h)
Step 2: Forecasts lead to experiments.
Step 3: Compare, revise, retest
Lets see whats important about it?

KEYS OF THE METHOD

Always repeatable
Its not proof (only Math has proofs), its our best model
Always forwards, not backwards
Example: Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) and round Earth