Download ASTRONOMY WORKSHOP

Astronomy
Workshop
Ch 11-15
From: Astro
By: Backman/Seeds
& Other Science Sources
Prepared by: Miss Julia Germann
EINSTEIN’S
SPECIAL THEORY
OF RELATIVITY
Time Slows
Down
MASS INCREASES
Energy equals mass
times the speed of light
squared!
Mass is related to the
speed of light!
*Travelling Near
the Speed of Light
EINSTEIN’S
General Theory
of Relativity
Photons travel
through Space/Time
& the Universe
expands quicker
than the
speed of light
CMBR & COBE

Who:
◦ Arno Penzias
and Robert Wilson

What:
◦ Cosmic Microwave
Background Radiation (CMBR)

When:
◦ MB's discovery:1964
◦ findings of work
 by Gamow (1940s)
 Dicke’s radiometer and
hypothesis.

Why:
◦ explains radiation left from
 the Big Bang Theory
•Explains jumpiness of the MBR.
Shapes of Space Time
Open Model-
expand forever to infinity
(infinite)
d<dc *Negative Curvature
*Saddle-shaped
Flat Model-
expand forever to a limit &
not to critical density
(infite) d=dc
*Flat
Closed Model-
collapse (finite)
d>dc
*Positive-curvature
*RADIATION> ELECTRONS>
PROTONS> H+H=HE>
PLASMA (OPAQUE AND ELECTRICALLY CHARGED)>
ATOMS>
MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION
Steady State Theory

new particles fill in the space of the
expanding galaxy

universe looks the same daily
Big Bang Theory

Hubble discovered the redshift is
proportional to its distance. This
means there was an initial high
density and high temperature state.

galaxies move/recede from each
other since they have no center

CMBR is spread over entire sky and
is evidence for this theory
Big Bang Theory
Dark ENERGY

Explains:

* why the universe is
expanding out of control
at an accelerated rate

*cosmological constant

*quintessence (new force)

*outcome:
big rip or big crunch
Terrestrial vs. Jovial Planets
*Jovial Planets:




*Terrestrial Planets:
 formed slowly from accretion
disks
 high density
 inner four planets
 smaller, rocky
 no rings, few moons

formed by gravitational
collapse
low density
outer four planets
larger, gaseous
ring systems, lots of moons
FORMATION OF:

Solar system:
◦ Must describe why moons/planets are cratered

Condensation and Accretion disks:
◦ *Condensation, in a solar nebula, converts gasses  solids,
which accretes to form billions of planetesimals.
◦ *planets> protoplanets> protoplanet at 15+earth masses=
gravitational collapse
EARTH’s
Structure
ABOUT THE EARTH

Global warming:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.


excessive CO2
green house effect
the temperature rising
polar ice caps melt
causes coastal cities to flood
endangering certain species.
Differentiation:
◦ separation of material by density

Ozone Layer:
◦ man-made clorofluorcarbons(CFC’s) cause
the increase of UV Rays which cause skin
cancers and gentic mutations
Continental drift:
◦ *Wegner found that continents
were one body due to rock
specimen similarities.
◦
*Glomar Challenger mapped
the ridges of the earth and
found samples of the core that
showed seafloor spreading.
THE MOON
DARK SIDE OF THE MOON?
NO SUCH THING AS THE DARK SIDE! WHAT?
*NEAR SIDE (FACES US):
IMPACTS THIN THE CRUST FOR VOLCANIC FLOW
*FAR SIDE (AWAY FROM US):
NO SEAS, HAS CRATERS, ORIENTALIS (IMPACT BASIN)
Surface Features of the Near Side
(Side Facing Us)
crateringcaused by impacts of
celestial bodies like
meteorites
lunar lowlandsdark seas that are
smooth such as maria, or
mare
Labeled Map of the Moon
highlandsbright mountainous areas
which are rough
ROCKS FOUND
ON THE MOON
•Breccia

• vesicular basalt

•pumice stone

(Volcanic rocks indicates presence of volcanoes)
•Anorthosite

Messed-Up Mercury
Surfaces Features:
*lobate scarps, or long curved ridges
FACTS:
•size:1/3 of earth
•orbit:~88 days
•rotation:~58 days
*Weird Terrain:
caused by the impact
&
formation of the Caloris Basin on the other side:
1. It took a lot of energy to be weird [terrain].
2. Calories are a unit of energy.
3. The Caloris Basin created the Weird Terrain!
VENUS: THE GODDESS
PLANET
(a) as seen through a telescope from the earth; white dot
(b ) as seen in photographs using ultraviolet light; cloud patterns
(c) as seen in photographs taken by the Russian Venera landers; fresh rocks
YOU JUST WON A
TRIP TO VENUS!
CLOUDY, THICK WINDS,
900 DEGREES F,
SULFURIC ACID RAIN
*corona- group of round cracks
*arachnoids- spiderlike corona
*volcanoes- lava flow
*craters-wind streaks
SI GHTS:
I SHTAR MOUNTAI NS
LAKSHMI PLAI NS
Welcome to the new
Martian Madness
Theme Park
located on
MARS!
Check out the view of Earth
from Mars!
Surface Features
MOONS OF MARS
*belts- dark bands
*zones- bright bands of clouds
*Giant Red Spot-giant -circulating hurricane
Magnetic Field: holds back solar winds,
high energy particles for giant belts 
1 1 x
t h e
s i z e
o f
E a r
t h
Moons of Jupiter
Titan
ONTO SATURN’s
Moons!
Moons Shown Above Saturn:
Phoebe, Hyperion, Iapetus, Mimas, Enceladus, and more.
Uranus
*size: 4x the size of earth
*composition: H, He
*appearance: Blue-green
*rotation:17hours 14 mins
*Atmosphere: 100 degrees
cooler than Jupiter; cloudy
*Magnetic Field: none
How were the rings
discovered?
*Uranus passed in front of a star
*There were dips in the
brightness of the star before and
after it passed behind the body
of Uranus.
MOONS
NEPTUNE
BREAKING NEWS:
GREAT DARK SPOT disappeared
~13 moons and rings
 Moon: Triton


(not to be confused with
Disney’s King Triton, but
Neptune us blue like the sea)
PLUTO’S NOT A PLANET!
There’s Sneezy, Sleepy, Dopey, Doc, Happy, Bashful, Grumpy and Pluto.
“Hey, stop calling me a dwarf! I’m a real planet.”
That’s silly. Dwarf planets don’t talk.
On August 24, 2006, the International
Astronomical Union (IAU) defined what
it means to be a "planet" within the
Solar System.
This definition excluded Pluto as a
planet and added it as a member of the
new category "dwarf planet" along with
Eris and Ceres.
EPIC BATTLE:
COMETS versus
ASTEROIDS
Comets
Asteroids
COMETS
*icy bodies around an elliptical orbit
*they develop tails which point away from the sun
*comets leave behind meteors creating meteor showers
*Located around Kuiper Belt
(which extends beyond Neptune)
Asteroids
•
•
•
•
•
Vs.
Small, irregular bodies
located between Mars and Jupiter
In the asteroid belt
The further away, the colder
located roughly between
the orbits of the planets Mars and Jupiter
METEORS:
METEOR Meteor: visible streak of light (from a meteoroid)

Meteor-oid: a meteor which falls into the earth’s
orbit and is usually vaporized

Meteor-ite: a meteoroid which survives and
reaches the ground
*Carbon is on our bodies is formed in the core of a Red Giant star
Darwin’s theory of the evolution
*All life is related and has descended from a common ancestor
Miller-Urey experiment and life on other planets:
*tested for the occurrence of chemical origins of life.
4DNA, and how it relates to mutations.
* DNA is gentetic coding,
eventually, there is a sequence which goes wrong and genes mutate
Drake equation
*focuses on the factors which determine
how many intelligent, communicating civilizations
there are in our galaxy.
SETI Tactics:
*look for new planets
*send signals
*search for electromagnetic signals