Astronomy 101: The Takehome Messages

Lecture 1: The Takehome Message

The Universe is, evidently, a very big place.!
When we look OUT into space, we look BACK in!
time.!

Lecture 2: The Takehome Message

The Sun and stars move in the sky throughout!
the course of a day. This apparent motion can!
be explained by postulating either a moving Earth!
(e.g., Earth rotates once per day) or a moving!
celestial sphere (i.e., Sun and stars revolve around!
Earth once per day).!

Stars are distant suns.!

Stars evolve: they are born, they live, and then!
they die, sometimes by exploding.!

Lecture 3: The Takehome Message

Humans developed two competing !

cosmologies to explain the observed!
annual motion of the Sun: One with!
Earth at the center (geocentric)!
and one with the Sun at the !
center (heliocentric).!

Lecture 4: The Takehome Message

Both the geocentric and heliocentric!

cosmologies are capable of !
explaining the basic observations of!
the sky available to the naked-eye!
observer.!

Lecture 5: The Takehome Message

The essence of modern science !

is its ability to make testable!
predictions.!

Lecture 7: The Takehome Message

Isaac Newton discovered that the same !

force that causes an apple to fall to the !
Earth keeps the moon in its orbit around !
the Earth. He called this universal force !

gravity

.!

Lecture 6: The Takehome Message

The foundation upon which modern physical!

science is built was established during the
16th and 17th centuries by the work of!
Kepler, Galileo, and Newton.!

Lecture 8: The Takehome Message

To determine the MASS of an astronomical!

object, find something that orbits it,!
study that orbit, and then apply !

Newtons version of Keplers Third Law.!

Lecture 9: The Takehome Message

Lecture 10: The Takehome Message

The Solar System formed about 4.5!

billion years ago, and presently !
contains 8 planets in addition to!
a wide assortment of other objects,!
including moons, asteroids, dwarf!
planets and comets.!

(Nearly) everything that we know!

about astronomical objects has come!
from the careful study of the light!
they emit or reflect.!

(Note: Lecture 11 was Midterm Exam #1!)

Lecture 12: The Takehome Message

We know what types of atoms !

make up an astronomical !
object by studying the !
emission lines (bright lines)!
and/or absorption lines (dark lines)!
in its spectrum.!

Lecture 13: The Takehome Message

Visible light, the kind of light that !

we can detect with our eyes,!
makes up only a small part of the !
entire electromagnetic spectrum. !

Lecture 14: The Takehome Message

Lecture 15: The Takehome Message

The radial velocity of an !

astronomical object can be !
determined by analyzing the!
Doppler Shift exhibited by its!
spectral lines. !

Atoms interact with light by!

absorbing and emitting photons.!

Lecture 16: The Takehome Message

Lecture 17: The Takehome Message

A star produces energy by fusing!

lighter nuclei into heavier nuclei!
in its core, thereby converting!
some mass into energy according to:!
E = mc2.!

A star lives by fusing lighter !

atomic nuclei into heavier ones,!
and dies when its fuel!
runs out.!

Lecture 18: The Takehome Message

Stars lose a lot of material during!

their lives, casting it off into!
interstellar space through the!
process known as mass loss.!

Lecture 20: The Takehome Message

Having a companion star can!

dramatically alter a stars!
evolution and, ultimately, how it !
may end its life.!

Lecture 19: The Takehome Message

When a high-mass star dies, it!

explodes as a supernova, and leaves!
behind an exotic object: Either a!
neutron star or a black hole.!

Lecture 21: The Takehome Message

Black holes have been convincingly!

demonstrated to exist in nature,!
by examining the gravitational!
effects they have on their !
surroundings.!
(Note: Lecture 22 was Midterm Exam #2!)

Lecture 23: The Takehome Message

To study black holes in detail, we!

need a new theory of gravity: !
Einsteins General Theory of !
Relativity.!

Lecture 25: The Takehome Message

The great nebulae are, in fact,!

galaxies: Vast collections of!
millions to billions of stars each.!

Lecture 27: The Takehome Message

Galaxies are separating due to the!

expansion OF the space between!
them.!

Lecture 24: The Takehome Message

It would be cool, but ultimately!

unpleasant, to fall into a !
black hole.!

Lecture 26: The Takehome Message

Over 90% of the mass of the!

Universe is in some form that we!
have yet to identify.!

Lecture 28: The Takehome Message

Contrary to expectations, our Universe !

is presently accelerating in its rate of !
expansion. !
The cause of the acceleration is,!
at present, not known.!