Constellations & Stars

I. Constellations
Group of stars
that appear to
form a pattern in
the sky.
88 recognized by
International
Astronomy Union

A. Zodiac
Band of 12 constellations
along the ecliptic.

B. Ecliptic
the plane of the Earths orbit
around the sun
The apparent path that the sun
(and planets) appear to move
along against the star
background.

Ecliptic

C. Circumpolar Constellations
Can be seen all year long
Never fully set below the horizon
Appear to move counter
clockwise around Polaris
Caused by Earths Rotation

Circumpolar Constellations

Star Trails

Examples of Circumpolar
Constellations
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Ursa Major The Big Bear

Ursa Minor The Little Bear
Cassiopeia Queen on Her Throne
Draco- The Dragon
Cepheus- The King

 # of stars seen as circumpolar

depends on the observers latitude
Further North the observer lives,
the more stars will appear
circumpolar
Earth turns west to east
Sky appears to turn east to west

D. Ursa Major

Best known constellation

Common name is Big Dipper
Pointer stars- front 2 stars of the
Big Dipper which point to Polaris
(North Star)

II. Seasonal Changes in

Constellations
Big Dipper
In Fall: Low over northern horizon
Spring: High overhead

Cassiopeia
In Fall: Straight overhead
Spring: Low over northern horizon

Seasonal Change & Nightly

change of the Dippers

III. Summer Constellations

1st 3 bright stars that rise form
the Summer Triangle
1. Vega- in Lyra the Harp
2. Altair- in Aquilla the Eagle
3. Deneb in Cygnus the Swan
(Northern Cross)

Summer Triangle

IV. Most Famous Winter

Contellation
Orion Contains:
1. Betelgeuse (Bet el
jooz) a bright red
super giant star found
forming Orions right
shoulder
2. Rigel a blue super
giant: 7th brightest star
in the nighttime sky

3 Stars of Orions Belt

Can be used to find 2
other constellations & a
star cluster
1. Canis Major- (Big Dog)
follow the line made by
the 3 stars of Orions
belt down to the left

Sirius- the brightest star in the

nighttime sky is found in Canis Major

2. Taurus (the Bull)

Follow the line made by Orions
belt up & to the right
Aldebaran- Red star that is the eye
of the bull is the 13th brightest in
the nighttime sky

3. Pleiades Star Cluster (7

sisters)
Follow the line made by Orions
belt up to the right, go through
Taurus to a clump of stars to the
right.
Called Subaru in Japan means
Unite

V. Kinds of Stars
A. Red Giant - large red
star at least 10x
diameter of the sun
Old Stars
Ex. Aldebaran
The sun will swell
into a Red Giant
when it is old

B. Super Giant
Largest of all stars 100x more
luminous
Explode as a Super Nova
Can form Black Holes
Ex. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Polaris

C. Dwarf Stars
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Less luminous
Very dense, mostly carbon
Tightly packed nuclei
Remains of a red giant that ran out of fuel
1 cup full of star =20 tons or 5 elephants.
Most are red/orange/yellow
White dwarf is the exception to the color
Sun is a yellow dwarf

Size Comparison of Various

Stars

VI. Variable Stars

Change in brightness over regular
periods of time
Ex. Cepheid Variables/Pulsating
Stars Binary Stars & Eclipsing
Binary Stars

A. Cepheid Variables/
Pulsating Stars
Change in brightness as they
expand & contract
Unequal balance between gravity &
nuclear fusion
Ex. Polaris, Betelgeuse

B. Binary Star Systems

Two stars of unequal brightness
revolving around a center point
Ex. Algol & its companion star in
Perseus

C. Eclipsing Binary Stars

Two close stars that appear to be a
single star varying in brightness.
The variation in brightness is due
to one star moving in front of or
behind the other star.
Occurs because we see
the system on edge
instead of from above or
below

VII. Pulsars or Neutron stars

A. Discovered in 1967 (LGM)
B. A distant heavenly object that emits
rapid pulses of light & radio waves
C. Formed when a Super Giant
collapses; Protons & Electrons are
forced so close together that they
fuse and form only neutrons

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

"Twinkling Stars" are

due to Earth's
atmosphere

VIII. Life Cycle of a Medium Mass

Star
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Nebula
Protostar
New/Stable State Star
Red Giant
Planetary Nebula
White Dwarf
Black Dwarf

1. Nebulae (Plural of Nebula)

Space gas seen as faint glowing clouds
Mostly hydrogen
Star dust is extremely small, smaller
than a particle of smoke & widely
separated, with more than 300
ft.between individual particles.
Nebulae still hinder star gazing
because they absorb light which
passes through them.

Types of Nebulae
Diffuse Nebula - gases glow from
stars w/in them
Ex. Nebula
found in
Sagittarius

Types of Nebulae
Dark Nebula nebula not near a
bright star
Ex. Horse Head
Nebula in Orion

2. Protostar
Shrinking gas balls, caused by a swirl
of gas forming dense areas.
The gravity of the dense swirl in turn
attracts nearby gases so a ball forms.
Nuclear fusion occurs & Helium is
formed from Hydrogen
A new star is born in our galaxy every
18 days

3. Stable State Star

Star that releases energy in enough
force to counter balance gravity
Star stops contracting
Also known as a main sequence
star
Ex. Sun

4. Planetary Nebula
The outer layers of the Red Giant
puff out more and more.
The star loses gravitational hold on
its outer layers and they get
pushed away by the pressure
exerted from solar winds

Planetary Nebula

5. White Dwarf
Fuel is used up
No nuclear fusion
occurring
Remaining heat
radiates into space

IX. Life Cycle of a Massive

Star
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

1st three steps are similar

Super Giant
Super Nova
Neutron Star / Pulsar
Black Hole

1. Super Giant
Rare stars, largest of all
100x more luminous
Only stars with a lot of mass can
become super giants
Some are almost as large as our
entire solar system
Ex. Betelgeuse & Rigel

2. Super Nova
Explosion from a massive Super Giant
Outer layer blasts away at end of Life
Cycle
Emits light, heat, X-rays, & neutrinos
Leaves behind a neutron
star or black hole

3. Neutron Star/ Pulsar

The remains of a super nova
Very small, super-dense star which
is composed mostly of tightlypacked neutrons
Rapidly spinning leftovers of a star
Emits energy in pulses

4. Black Hole
Occurs when a star's
remaining mass is
greater than three
times the mass
of the Sun
Star contracts tremendously
Incredibly dense with a gravitational field
so strong that even light cannot escape.

Life Cycle of a Massive Star

X. Distance to stars
A. The Sun is closest star to Earth
B. Takes light 8 minutes to reach
Earth
C. Avg. distance:150,000,000Km = 1
AU distance from Earth to the Sun
D.Next nearest star is Proxima
Centauri 4.2 light years away; it
can only be seen in the southern
hemisphere

E. Light year
The distance light has traveled
in a year
9.5 x 1012 Km/yr
Speed of light 300,000 Km /sec

XI. Physical Properties of

Stars
A. Nuclear fusion supplies the
energy for stars
Huge size & mass of a star means
outer layers press inward w/
tremendous pressure
Hydrogen ignites
Star becomes a huge nuclear bomb
Hydrogen nuclei combine to form
Helium

B. Color of star depends on surface

temp.
1. Blue - hottest stars
Ex. Rigel in Orion; Vega in Lyra;
Sirius in Canis Major
2. Yellow - medium stars ex. Sun
3. Red - coolest stars
Ex. Betelgeuse in Orion, Antares
the heart of Scorpio, Aldebaran
in Taurus

C. Star size
-Varies, large range
Smallest can be
smaller than Earth
Largest may be 600,000,000 x
Earth.

D. The Sun
is an average star
yellow in color
300,000 x the
mass of Earth

XII. Luminosity
Brightness of a star
Depends on size & temperature
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
graphs Absolute Magnitude (or
Luminosity) vs. Temperature of
stars
Shows the life cycle of stars

Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

A. Absolute Magnitude
Measure of the amount of light it actually
gives off if all stars were placed a distance
of 32.6 light years away
Lower # means brighter star
Negative #s are the brightest
Ex. Sun = 4.75 Sirius = 1.4 Rigel = 7.0
Rigels the Brightest of the 3 listed if all were
lined up next to each other.

B. Apparent Magnitude
A measure of the amount of light received on
Earth
Stars below 0 are brightest
Each magnitude differs by 2.5
1st magnitude is 100 x brighter than 6th
magnitude
Ex. Sun = 26.8 Sirius = 1.45
Full Moon 12 .6 Rigel = .11
Sun is the brightest in our sky.

XIII. Galaxies
Systems containing millions or
billions of stars, gas, & dust held
together by gravity
Ex. Milky Way
There are great distances between
galaxies
The Milky Way belongs to a group
or cluster of galaxies called the
local group

Spiral Galaxy Like the Milky Way

Three major classes of

galaxies:
1. Elliptical - shaped like large
ovals or football shape
2. Spiral - pinwheel shaped; our
sun is on a spiral arm of the
Milky Way
3. Irregular - many different
shapes that aren't like the
other two

XIV. Quasar
Quasi stellar radio source
Galaxies, very far away, with bright
centers
Thought to have a super massive black
hole at center
Most luminous objects known to man

XV. Electromagnetic
Spectrum
The arrangement of
electromagnetic radiation from
Radio waves to Gamma waves

Stars Emit:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Visible light
X-rays
Radio waves
Infrared waves
Ultraviolet waves

Venus & Saturn by E-spectrum

Ultra violet

Ultra violet

Visible

Visible

Infrared

Infrared

Radio

Radio

X-ray & Ultra Violet Image of Sun

Visible, Infrared & Radio Images of

Sun

A. Electromagnetic waves:
Differ in wavelength & frequency
All electromagnetic waves travel at
the speed of light; 300,000 km/sec

Parts of a Wave

 a has a longer wavelength

(distance from one crest to
another) but lower frequency ( # of
waves that pass by a point in a
second)

 b has a shorter wavelength but a

higher frequency

B. Spectroscope
Instrument that separates
light into its colors.
Contains:
Prism at one end
Slit at opposite end
which lines up with the
light source

C. 3 Types of Spectra
1. Continuous Spectrum
2. Brightline Spectrum
3. Darkline Spectrum

How Spectra are Produced

1. Continuous Spectrum
Produced by a glowing solid
Example a Tungsten white light
bulb, & white sunlight.

Continuous Spectrum Cont

Continuous set of emission lines
forming an unbroken band of
colors from red to violet.
Shows the source is sending out
light of all visible wavelengths.

Visible Spectrum
red orange yellow

green

ROY G BIV
All the colors
of the rainbow
A continuous
spectrum

blue

indigo

violet

2. Dark-Line Spectrum /
Absorption Spectrum
Produced when a cooler gas lies
between the observer and an object
emitting a continuous spectrum
Example:
1. The atmosphere of planets
2.Outer layers of a star

Absorption Spectrum Cont

The cooler gas absorbs specific

wavelengths of radiation passing
through it.
This spectrum appears as a
continuous spectrum of all colors
with a number of gaps or dark lines
throughout it.

3. Bright-Line Spectrum /
Emission Spectrum
Produced by a glowing gas which
radiates energy at specific wavelengths
characteristic of the element or
elements composing the gas
Example Neon signs, black lights, LEDs

Emission Spectrum Cont

This spectrum consists of a
number of bright lines against a
dark background.
Each elements has its own
distinctive spectra much like a
fingerprint
http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab/elements/Elements.html

XVI. The Doppler Effect

as sound approaches the
wavelength is compressed so the
pitch is higher
as sound leaves the wavelength is
stretched out so the pitch is lower
The same thing happens with light

Doppler Effect

http://hea-www.harvard.edu/~efortin/thesis/html/Doppler.shtml

Red Shift
If a star is moving away from
Earth there is a red shift, of its line
spectra; if the star is moving
toward the Earth there is a blue
shift of its line spectra

Red Shift
Red shift is evidence the universe is
expanding.