scales in space and time in the cosmos by dr. harold williams of montgomery college planetarium
TRANSCRIPT
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Scales in Space and Timein the Cosmos
By Dr. Harold Williams
of Montgomery College Planetariumhttp://montgomerycollege.edu/Departments/planet/
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The Scale of the Cosmos• Astronomy deals with objects on a vast range of
size scales and time scales.
• Most of these size and time scales are way beyond our every-day experience.
• Humans, the Earth, and even the solar system are tiny and insignificant on cosmic scales.
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16 x 16 m16 x 16 m
A Campus Scene
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1 mile x 1 mile1 mile x 1 mile
A City View
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100 miles x 100 miles100 miles x 100 miles
The Landscape of Pennsylvania
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Diameter of the Earth: 12,756 kmDiameter of the Earth: 12,756 km
Earth
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Distance Earth – Moon: 384,000 kmDistance Earth – Moon: 384,000 km
Earth and Moon
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Distance Sun – Earth = 150,000,000 kmDistance Sun – Earth = 150,000,000 km
Earth orbiting around the Sun
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Approx. 100 AUApprox. 100 AU
The Solar System
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Approx. 10,000 AUApprox. 10,000 AU
(Almost) Empty Space Around our Solar System
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Approx. 17 light yearsApprox. 17 light years
The Solar Neighborhood
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The Solar NeighborhoodNew distance scale:
1 light year (ly) =
Distance traveled by light in 1 year
= 63,000 AU = 1013 km
= 10,000,000,000,000 km
(= 1 + 13 zeros)
= 10 trillion km
Nearest star to the Sun:
Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 4.2 light yearsApprox. 17 light yearsApprox. 17 light years
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Approx. 1,700 light yearsApprox. 1,700 light years
The Extended Solar Neighborhood
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Diameter of the Milky Way: ~ 75,000 lyDiameter of the Milky Way: ~ 75,000 ly
The Milky Way Galaxy
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Distance to the nearest large galaxies: several million light Distance to the nearest large galaxies: several million light
yearsyears
The Local Group of Galaxies
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Large-Scale Structure
Distribution of bright galaxies in the Virgo region indicates the Virgo cluster and presence of more distant, larger scale structure
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Clusters of galaxies are grouped into superclusters.Clusters of galaxies are grouped into superclusters.Superclusters form filaments and walls around voids.Superclusters form filaments and walls around voids.
The Universe on Very Large Scales
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Large-Scale Structure A large survey of distant galaxies shows
the largest structures in the universe:
Filaments and walls of galaxy superclusters, and
voids, basically empty space.
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Cosmology with the Cosmic Microwave Background
If the universe was perfectly homogeneous on all scales at the time of reionization (z = 1000), then the CMB
should be perfectly isotropic over the sky.
Instead, it shows small-scale fluctuations:
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Measuring the “Deceleration” of the Universe …
By observing type Ia supernovae,
astronomers can measure the Hubble
relation at large distances
Distance recession speed
Size scale of the universe rate
of expansion
It was expected that this would measure the deceleration of the universe, but …
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The Accelerating Universe
Red Shift z
Ap
pare
nt M
ag
nitu
de o
f T
ype
Ia S
upe
rno
vae
Flat decelerating universe
Flat accelerating universe
In fact, SN Ia measurements showed that the
universe is accelerating!
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The Evolution and Ultimate Fate of the Universe
Until ~ 6 billion years ago,
gravity of matter was stronger
than acceleration
Today, acceleration due to dark
energy dominates.