Astrophysics

By A. Rafay Zafar
Content
1. The structure of the universe
 Galaxy, Star, Planet, Moon

2. The development of a star

 Sun

3. Other bodies in the universe

 Comets, Meteorites and meteors, binary stars, supernovae
und neutron stars, black holes, Quasars
The structure of the universe
Galaxy

Stars

Planet

Moon
Galaxy
A galaxy is a cluster of many billions of stars rotating around its
own centre of gravity
Galaxies usually have a nucleus where the concentration of stars
is the greatest. Near the nucleus, there is a bulge in the galaxy.
All the stars in the galaxy rotate around its nucleus. The stars
further away from nucleus take longer to complete one orbit
than those near to the core.
The sun takes about 230 million years to complete one
revolution.
In the universe, there are thought to be at least 100 million
galaxies
Stars
The stars are the powerhouses of the universe and emit
electromagnetic radiation.
Their energy supply comes from fusion
There are many different types of stars and are
categorised by their brightness and colour.
BUT brightness can be misleading an extremely bright
star further away may appear much fainter than a star
less bright but closer to the earth
Planet
In general a planet is a relatively cold object in a nearly
circular orbit than a star, the sun
A planet can be detected by a slight wobble of some
stars, as a result of planets rotating around them.
Planets are not hot enough to radiate any visible
radiation
Moon
A moon is a satellite of a planet. It does not radiate any
visible radiation.
From the earth when a moon is visible it is seen by
reflected radiation from a star.
The phase of the Moon depends on how much of the
Moon’s illuminated surface is visible from the Earth, as
the Moon rotates around the Earth each month
The development of a star
The formation of a star

The formation of the Sun

The eventual fate of the Sun

The formation of the Sun
The sun and its planets were formed from a dust cloud around 5000
million years ago.
The sun has a core temperature of about 100 million Kelvin, in
comparison with a surface temperature of 6000 Kelvin
During the last 4500 million years it will have been a main sequence
star because of its thermal equilibrium.
It radiates electromagnetic energy out into space at a rate at which
fusion reactions occur.
The approximate power is 4x10^26 W. The power is reducing the
mass of the sun only by 6x10^-8 every million years. So as a result
the sun will therefore stay as a main sequence star for at least
another 5000 million year
The eventual fate of the Sun
– Red giant
Eventually the rate of hydrogen fusion will decrease in the core of the sun as
much of it will then be fusion products -> Helium
Some of the hydrogen will continue in a shell around the core but it will
contract.
The loss of potential energy will mean a gain in kinetic energy, hence the
increase in temperature and therefore pressure of the core -> will also mean
the sun will expand it will gradually absorb Mercury, Venus and the Earth.
The temperature of this massive star will be much lower then now -> it will
become a red giant.
The red giant stage where fusion of helium will take place in very high
temperature will last about 15% of the time it spends as a sequence star.
the star becomes unstable and much of its mass is radiated outwards in ion sprays.
the horsehead nebula becomes visible
The eventual fate of the Sun
- White dwarf
The rest of the sun will shrink to become a white dwarf
the diameter will then be only 1% of its present diameter and
its density will increase from 1400kg/m^3 to c.a. 700 million
kg/m^3 as a result of potential energy.
As a result of loss of potential energy, its surface will rise
again, perhaps to as high as 20000 Kelvin.
After the white dwarf stage, the sun will gradually cool down.
The sun is not big enough to become a neutron star, black
hole or a supernova. It will just fade away to a lump of cold,
very dense, matter
Other bodies in the universe
Comets

Meteorites and meteors

Supernovae and neutron stars

Black Holes

Quasars
Comets
Comets are fragmented bodies consisting of ice and rock with
a cloud of gas.
Some comets travel around the Sun along an elliptical path
others in a hyperbolic path.
-> Those in an hyperbolic path are appear once and then
never again
The faint tail of a comet appears only when it is near the Sun.
The solar wind, an emissions of ions from the Sun’s surface,
causes the gases associated with the comet to spread out, to
become ionised and hence to glow.
Meteorites and Meteors
They are tiny fragments of rock from interplanetary space
that happen to enter the Earth’s atmosphere and heat up
as a result of friction with the atmosphere.
They are visible for a second, most of them vaporise ->
they never reach the ground but a large meteor
occasionally collides with the Earth.
Supernovae and neutron stars
if a star is big enough, it reaches a stage at the end of its
red-giant phase when further nuclear fusion reactions in
its core can occur at temperature rising in stages, as it
collapse to billions of Kelvin.
The collapse produces intense heating followed by an
explosive blowing out of the outer shell and compression
of the core.
The huge release of energy is known as the supernova
Neutron stars
Under certain conditions the nucleus of a supernova explosion
can remain intact. This is a neutron star.
Its density will be such that a neutron star will have the same
mass as the sun but would have a diameter of 30 km.
These stars rotate rapidly and emit electromagnetic radiation
from gamma rays to radio waves with a spin frequency of 30.2
Hz.
The magnetic field of a neutron star must be large and it is
assumed that the pulses of radiation are emitted is the same
rate at which the star rotates.
Such stars are known as pulsars
Black holes
Theoretically the core of the neutron star would become
so large that it would collapse to a point at which the
density would become infinite
The gravitational field in a region around that point will
be so large that nothing, not even light, can escape it.
Quasars
Quasars are very distant objects with phenomenal
brightness
Perhaps as much power output as a trillion Suns
They have black holes at their centre and are probably
forming galaxies