welcome to ast 2002

Welcome to AST 2002

I. Hard class, but also fun. Lots of resources:a) Attend class b) Keep up with lectures, quizzes, online resources c) Office hours d) Einstein Club (more on this later) e) SARC tutors and workshopsf) [email protected]

II. Online ResourcesMastering Astronomy comes with the new book. Specific instructions from publisher. If questions about Mastering Astronomy: [email protected]

AST 2002 General Comments

Mastering Astronomy: Course ID: AST2002004S11

Free help available for Mastering Astronomy: "virtual" office hours (times will be announced soon) with AIM Screen Name ast2002help. Additionally, students may use this email address: ([email protected]), appointments to see students in person are also available.

AST 2002 General Comments

IV. Class Mechanics:

AST 2002 General Comments (Cont.)

• Syllabus has all the relevant information, READ IT!• The Essential Cosmic Perspective (5th edition) by

Bennett . – The Mastering Astronomy code comes with the book at the

UCF bookstore. MAKE SURE you get this code if you buy the book elsewhere.

• 4 Exams: 3 in-class (Thursday Feb. 8, Thursday March17,

and Tuesday April 19), and a cumulative final (on Tuesday

April 26 at 1:00 PM)• Grades: 100% exams, plus extra credit (see below)

• Participate in the Einstein Club– To get extra credit you MUST complete 85% of the

assigned quizzes (you can miss no more than 2 quizzes).• If at end of semester the quiz requirement is

fulfilled, extra credit will be earned for several activities:– Attending a workshop at UCF's Student Academic

Resource Center (SARC, Phillips Hall Room 113) BEFORE SPRING BREAK, can add 1%.

– Attending BEFORE SPRING BREAK a session with a SARC astronomy tutor can add 1% extra credit.

– The total extra credit that can be earned is 3%, i.e., 1% from the quizzes, 1% from the SARC workshop and 1% from meeting with a SARC tutor (If you fulfill the requirement of completing 85% of quizzes).

IV. Class Mechanics: EXTRA CREDIT

V. Other:a. Please turn off cell phones, never answer them in classb. Do not be shy about asking questions in class, it makes the lecture much more interestingc. Seek help outside class (office hours, tutor at SARC)d. Attendance is very important. Unannounced in-class quizzes. Exams will be based on material covered in classe. Read chapters BEFORE CLASS, review and study THAT DAY after classf. Not a stargazing class, more like physics of the universeg. Course gets harder: get a good grade on the first exam because its hard to recover later

Who cares about astronomy anyway?

1.1 Our modern View of the UniverseSurvey of the universe and powers of ten

1.2 The scale of the UniverseAstronomical distances

1.3 Spaceship EarthMotions of Earth, Sun, Galaxies

Outline of lecture 1 (Ch 1)

1.1 Our Modern View of the Universe

• What is our place in the universe?• How did we come to be?• How can we know what the universe was like in the

past?• Can we see the entire universe?

Our goals for learning:

DISTANCE SCALES

• ASTRONOMICAL UNIT (AU):– The average distance between the Earth and the

Sun.• About 150 million km or 93 million miles

1 AUSun.

Earth

A TOUR OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

NOT TO SCALE!!!!M

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DISTANCE SCALES

• LIGHT-YEAR (LY):

WRITING NUMBERS IN SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

CONVENTIONAL SCIENTIFIC NOTATION

341,000 3.41 X 105

0.0000049 4.90 X 10-6

234,000,000 2.34 X 108

0.0134 1.34 X 10-2


• What is our place in the universe?

We are on a planet, orbiting a star, in a galaxy (which is a member of the Local Group of galaxies in the Local Supercluster)

• How did we come to be?• How can we know what the universe was like in the past?• Can we see the entire universe?


PLANET

What about Pluto?What about objects larger than Pluto that

have been discovered? What about asteroids?

The definition of a planet is not so clear(it was much easier for the ancient

Greeks….for them a planet was a star that moved and there were 5 of them)

PLANET

.

ASTEROID

A star and all the material which orbits it, including its planets and moons

SOLAR (STAR) SYSTEM

NEBULA

GALAXY

The sum total of all matter and energy; that is, everything within and between

all galaxies

THE UNIVERSE

Age of Universe:

Age of Solar System:

Cosmic Calendar:

AGE OF UNIVERSE



• How did we come to be?

• How can we know what the universe was like in the past?

• Can we see the entire universe?


Where do we come from?• The first (and simplest) atoms were created during

the Big Bang.• More complex atoms were created in stars.• When the star dies, they are expelled into space….

to form new stars and planets!

Most of the atoms in our bodies were created in the core of a star!

SPEED OF LIGHT

• The speed of light in the vacuum of space is constant! All light travels the same speed!

c = speed of light

= 290,000,000 m/sec

= 2.9 x 108 m/sec

= 290,000 km/sec

Looking back in time• Light, although fast, travels at a finite speed.• It takes:

– 8 minutes to reach us from the Sun– 8 years to reach us from Sirius (8 light-years away)– 1,500 years to reach us from the Orion Nebula

• The farther out we look into the Universe, the farther back in time we see!



• How did we come to be?

• How can we know what the universe was like in the past?

• Can we see the entire universe?


What have we learned?

• How is Earth moving in our solar system?• How is our solar system moving in the Milky

Way Galaxy?

What have we learned?

• How do galaxies move within the universe?• Are we ever sitting still?

welcome to ast 2002

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