Lecture 1 Practical Task Introduction to Astronomy and Astrophysics

o Lectures
o Find Venus, Mars and Jupiter just before sunrise in East. What can you see after sunrise?
Planets
1. Astronomy and Observational Science

2. The Sun

Moon on Oct 8 3. Planets of the Solar System

Cluster of Stars
4. Extra-solar Planets

Moon on Oct 9 5. Observing the Universe

6. Properties of Stars
Moon on Oct 10 Cluster of Galaxies
7. Life and Death of Stars

8. Galaxies and Large Scale Structure of the Universe

9. Cosmology Origin and Evolution of the Universe

o Find out more at www.jb.man.ac.uk/astronomy/nightsky/

Lecture 2: Our Solar System The Sun General Properties

o The Sun is one of 200 billion (2 x 1011) stars in the Milky Way
o Overview:
o Diameter: 1.4 million km (1.4 x 106 km)
o Mass: 2 x 1030 kg
o General Properties o Contains 99.8% of mass of Solar System.

o Solar Interior o Chemical composition:

o Hydrogen: 92.1%
o Helium: 7.8%
o Solar Surface o Rest of the elements: 0.1% Pleiades cluster

o Solar Atmosphere o Temperatures: 5,780 K at surface and 16 million K (1.6 x 107 K) in the core
NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory

o Luminosity: 3.8 x 1026 watts

o Chapter 2 of Introduction to Astronomy and Cosmology
o Rotation: ~Monthly. Not as solid body; equator rotates more quickly than near poles.
 General Properties: Diameter General Properties: Mass

o Consider Earth (m) in circular orbit about Sun (M) at velocity (v) and distance (R).
o The Sun subtends an angular size ( ) of ~ 0.5 degrees on the sky.
GMm
o From Newtons Law of Gravity, planet held in orbit by force F=
o Its mean distance (r) from the Earth is 1.49 x 1011 m R2
v2
o For centripetal forces, F = ma = m
o Diameter is therefore: D=R R
o Therefore, v 2 GMm
if in radians and R is Earth-Sun distance. m =
~0.5 degrees R R2
v2 R
o 0.5 degrees in radians = 0.5 x 2 / 360 => M =
~1.39 million km G
o Therefore, D = 1.49 x 1011 m x (0.5 x 2 / 360) o But, v = dist = 2 R where P is period of Earths orbit.
= 1.3 x 109 m time P
o Therefore, 4 2 R 3
o Precise value is 1,391,978 km M=
GP 2
= 1.99 10 30 kg

The Solar Interior The Solar Core

o ~99% of the Suns energy is produced by the proton-proton (p-p) cycle.

o Core
o Energy generated by o The p-p cycle occurs in three main steps.
nuclear fusion - the
proton-proton chain. Step 1: 1H + 1H -> 2H + e+ + e

Step 2: 2H + 1H -> 3He +

o Radiative Zone
o Energy transport by 3He
Step 3: + 3He -> 4He + 21H
radiation.

o Convective Zone o Net result is: 4 1H -> 4He + 2e+ + 2 + 2e

o Energy transport by
o Mass of 4 1H (4.0331 amu) is greater than 4He (4.0026 amu) => Mass converted to energy
convection. via E = mc2

o Mass is burned to give solar luminosity of 3.8 x 1026 W.

 The Solar Core The Solar Neutrino Problem Solved!

o Solar models based on proton-proton chain predicted more neutrinos that were measured.

Step 1: o Called solar neutrino problem. Has been resolved by new understanding of neutrino physics.

o Nobel Prize in Physics 2015 awarded to Takaaki Kajita and Arthur B. McDonald "for the
discovery of neutrino oscillations, which shows that neutrinos have mass.

Step 2:
o Neutrinos can change flavour on way from Sun to Earth.

Step 3:

Solar Surface: The Photosphere Solar Surface:

The Photosphere

o T ~ 5,780 K o Sunspots are dark areas in

the photosphere.
o Photosphere is the visible surface of the Sun.
o Formed by the
concentration of large
o At photosphere, density drops abruptly, and magnetic fields.
gas becomes transparent.
o Sunspots appear dark
o Photons can escape from Sun. because they are cooler
(~4,300 K).
o Photosphere contains many features:

o Granules o Granulation is a small scale

o Sunspots pattern of convective cells
 Solar Surface Temperature Solar Luminosity

o The Sun emits a blackbody spectrum with peak ~ 510 nm

o Stefan-Boltzman Law for blackbodies states luminosity is:

L = AT4 watts

o A is area, T is temperature, is Stefan-Boltzman constant (5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4).

peak
o Solar luminosity is therefore:
L = 4r2 T4
peak

peak = 3.8 x 1026 W

o Sun therefore emits ~380 yotta-watts (YW).

o Weins Law for blackbodies:

2.8978 10 3 2.8978 10 -3
T= K => Tsun =
peak 510 10 -9
= 5700 K

Solar Atmosphere: The Corona

Photosphere Chromosphere Corona

o Corona = crown.
CME
o Hot (> 1MK), low density
plasma (i.e. an ionized gas).

o Emits X-rays.
Active regions
o Very dynamic.

o Source of solar activity, such as

flares, coronal mass ejections Coronal
(CMEs). hole

Extreme ultraviolet image of the Sun taken by

NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory
 The Corona in Past 48-Hours Solar Wind

o Stream of hot solar gas into interplanetary space.

o Mainly protons.

o Speeds of 300-3000 km/s.

o Can take several days to <1 day to

reach Earth.
Aurora from Co Waterford on Oct 8, 2015

o Can produce northern lights.

o Reaches interstellar medium at ~100 AU.

Lecture 2 Practical Task

o Use the shadow of a ruler to calculate the elevation of the Sun at some time today.

o When will the Sun reach its minimum elevation during the year? Calculate this elevation for
Dublin (~53o North).