Download The Invisible Universe

The Invisible Universe
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
All Electromagnetic Waves
1.
Are waves that are both electric and magnetic in
nature
2.
Carries energy
3.
that can travel through a vacuum
4.
Travel the speed of light
(186,000 miles/second).
A light year
• The distance that an electromagnetic
wave (including visible light) will travel in a
year
• Equal to about 6 trillion miles
• Equal to about 63,240 AU
Radiation
• The transport of energy through
electromagnetic waves.
• Objects in the universe radiate different
kinds of electrometric waves based on the
amount of energy they are releasing.
Radio waves and Infrared Waves
• Radiate from low
energy /cold
objects in space
• Planets and dust
clouds produce
this kind of
electromagnetic
wave
Visible and Ultraviolet Waves
• Radiate from higher energy/hotter objects
in space
• Stars like our sun
• Nebulae- gas or dust
clouds
Nebula- emits visible light and radio waves
X-rays
• Radiated from
even higher
energy/hotter
objects
• Pulsarscollapsed cores
of stars
An artists impression of the
'luminescent' magnetosphere
surrounding a pulsar. The
pulsar itself is invisible in this
view.
X-rays
• Black holes
– gravitational pull is so strong even light can’t escape
it.
– Created when a star 20X the size of our sun
collapses on its self
– Outer reaches is called the event horizon
– Inner depths said to be infinitely dense point known
as a ‘singularity’
Gamma Rays
• Radiated by something Incredibly
Energetic
• Pulsars with intense magnetic fields
• Strong magnetic energy of large solar
flares
• Twisted magnetic energy from a black hole
Gamma Ray Bursts
• Focused jets of gamma rays
• Nuclear detonations
• Hypernovas- when stars 50-100 times the
size of our sun explode
• Binary Neutron Stars- two stars collapse
near each other creating a super black
hole
Artist’s impression of a super black whole in the
center of the Milky Way Galaxy.