Download 1: The scientific name for my field is astronomy

By Alex Chen
Science/Period 5
9-30-2002
1: The scientific name for my field is Astronomy.
2: Chapters 20-22 in Earth Science deal with my field.
3: None of the chapters in the Science Interactions brown book are based on Astronomy.
4: Chapters 19-20 in the Science Interactions blue book are based on Astronomy.
5: Astronomers study anything outside the Earth’s exosphere, where the atmosphere of the Earth
disappears. There are many types of Astronomy. Some astronomers like to study about the planets, while
others may be specialized to study the stars and anything else that is light years away. There are also people
whom study astrophysics, which is where the laws of physics meet up with Astronomy. Stephen Hawkings
is one famous example of a person whom studies astrophysics. They don’t really observe the sky or take
detailed accounts of pictures taken from telescopes or space probes, but they do try to unravel some secrets
of the cosmos by working on hefty calculations.
Astronomy is truly a vast science, and there is no science can even be remotely close to the volume of
information that Astronomy could offer. Earth is a microscopic object in this universe, and our knowledge
of the universe is extremely low, considering the vast size of the universe. So hence, it is very difficult to
summarize about the science of Astronomy. Currently, much of our research has been on the solar system
that is centered at our sun, which is a yellow main sequence star. As we work on research on our own solar
system, we uncover the questions that may have been asked before we even started thinking about
exploring the cosmos. Quite a lot of our research has also gone into distant objects, which usually are
somewhat related to stars. If we are to compare the entire solar system to other stars, the amount of
information about the solar system will definitely be microscopic compared to the amount of information
we can retrieve by studying about distant objects, like the stars. However, researching about the stars is
more difficult than to work on research on the planets, as stars are so much farther away.
6: Astronomers can use…
o 1: Electromagnetic radiation telescopes: These telescopes are basically designed to view and take
pictures of objects in the cosmos. They can view distant objects in any type of electromagnetic
radiation the objects emit, whether it’s visible light, gamma rays, x-rays, or others, and can even
take pictures in the form of electromagnetic rays not visible in visible light. All electromagnetic
radiation travels at the speed of light.
o 2: Spectrograph: This is an object that can measure the spectrum of stars, and a spectrum is a
rainbow-like assortment of light. It can be from violet to red, and usually, the shorter the
wavelengths of the spectrum, the warmer the surface of the star is. Red stars are relatively cool for
a star, while blue stars are immensely hot.
o 3: Space probes: Space probes are basically probes that are launched into space, that collect data
from the objects that they pass by, and send it to Earth, where scientists collect the information.
There are many types of space probes, and most have been sent to observe the planets, although a
few orbit the Earth to view stars. Among the most effective space probes were the Voyager
probes, which passed by Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, although Voyager 1 didn’t pass by
the latter two in support of coming to Titan.
o 4: Star charts: Astronomers use star charts to find the location of the stars and objects that they
seek.
o 5: Star clock: This object can measure the location of any object in the sky, especially a star.
o 6: Quadrant: This is another instrument that helps you calculate the exact location of an object in a
sky. It is an ancient invention, but still very useful.
o 7: Your eyes: These are obviously the most important of all of the tools, and without them, you
can’t really be an astronomer anymore, unless you want to become a person whom studies
astrophysics.
7: Biography: Johannes Kepler (1571-1630): Johannes Kepler was a German, pro Copernican theorist
whom continued on the teaching that the Earth was not at the center of the universe, while the sun was.
Unfortunately, he lived in a time when new ideas were not welcome to the church, and even making a new
theory would be enough to land a person in life-long imprisonment, like it did for Galileo. However, he
also made a new law according to his mathematical calculations. Firstly, a planet moves in an elliptical
orbit, unlike the perfect circle that Copernicus was teaching about. A planet has a point of its orbit in which
it is at its closest to the sun, and a point in which its at the farther from the sun. He also stated a new law
that a planet will move more rapidly if it’s closer to the sun, and slowly when it’s father from the sun.
These two laws became known as Kepler’s Laws.
8: 5 vocabulary words:
o A: Emission Nebula: Nebula that is brightened by nearby protostars.
o B: Doppler Effect: The length in light wavelengths that occurs when an object is moving towards
or away from us. A red shift occurs when the light wavelengths are shifted to the red, and longer
end of the spectrum, which means that the object is moving away from us. To us, nearly all
galaxies have a red shift, which means that those galaxies are moving away from us. It seems like
all of the galaxies are moving away from all of the galaxies, which signals that the universe is
expanding.
o C: Nova: (Not to be confused with supernovae.) Occurs in binary star systems, in which the gas of
one star strikes the surface of another. A huge explosion results, which is a nova.
o D: Black Dwarf: The remains of a white dwarf star which “died,” or the remains of a red dwarf
star which ran out of hydrogen, and does not have the mass to fuse helium, so it runs out of energy
and dies. A white dwarf star is the remains of a sun-like star that was a red giant. The red giant ran
out of helium in its core, and didn’t have the necessary mass to fuse carbon into heavier elements,
which then collapsed in a planetary nebula. The sun will become a red giant in 7 billion years, and
it is now a main sequence star.
o E: Quasar: A star-like object that gives off immense amounts of radio and x-rays. They are among
the brightest and farthest objects in our universe, and could as well be the first step in galaxy
formation. Typically, quasars are billions of light years away.