Astronomy Hey there-- you with the stars in your eyes…

Why bother?

…Moon river, wider than a mile …Blue moon, You saw me standing alone …there’s a bad moon on the rise …Fly me to the moon and let me sing among the stars …Shine on harvest moon …if you want to write a song about the moon …I would fly you to the moon and back …The moon begins to rise upon my fallen eyes …I was on the moon when you were born …till, I'm hanging on the moon …watched the moon, the blue light of the moon... …Dancing with the moon, mooning moonstruck

Why bother? …Moon river, wider than a mile …Blue moon, You saw me standing alone …there’s a bad moon on the rise …Fly me to the moon and let me sing among the stars …Shine on harvest moon …if you want to write a song about the moon …I would fly you to the moon and back …The moon begins to rise upon my fallen eyes …I was on the moon when you were born …till, I'm hanging on the moon …watched the moon, the blue light of the moon... …Dancing with the moon, mooning moonstruck A Google search turned up 23,000,000 hits for a search of “moon song lyrics”

Why bother? …Moon river, wider than a mile …Blue moon, You saw me standing alone …there’s a bad moon on the rise …Fly me to the moon and let me sing among the stars …Shine on harvest moon …if you want to write a song about the moon …I would fly you to the moon and back …The moon begins to rise upon my fallen eyes …I was on the moon when you were born …till, I'm hanging on the moon …watched the moon, the blue light of the moon... …Dancing with the moon, mooning moonstruck Don’t even get me started about stars!

Why bother?

1.The things we see in the sky inspire us 2.Light and heat come from the Sun 3.A major impact event will ruin your whole day 4.The moon (and sun) cause the tides 5.The orbit of the Earth around the sun causes the seasons 6.The sun and moon are used for calendars 7.To see what’s out there.

What’s out there? From near to far, from here to there, funny things are everywhere (TSG 1960) 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7)

What’s out there? From near to far:. 1) the Moon 2) Sun 3) Planets 4) Other stuff in the Solar system 5) and other stars 6) Nebulas 7) Galaxies

What’s out there? From near to far:. 1) the Moon 2) Sun 3) Planets 4) Other stuff in the Solar system 5) and other stars 6) Nebulas 7) Galaxies The Universe

Earth-Moon system The moon and the Earth are both about 4.5 billion years old. The moon is made of rock—it may have a partly molten layer inside. It has no standing water or atmosphere Most moon rocks resemble basalt, but some very special types have been found

Earth and Moon Which pair shows their relative sizes?

Diameter: Earth 12.7 Mm vs Moon 3.5 Mm Mass:Earth 6000Yg vs Moon 74 Yg

Earth and Moon Which pair shows their relative distance?

The moon is 400,000 km from the Earth, about 32 times the diameter of the Earth

Earth and Moon Which pair shows their relative distance? The moon is 400,000 km from the Earth, about 32 times the diameter of the Earth

How does the moon affect us? aka: Why bother? Part 2

How does the moon affect us?

1) 2) 3) 4) How does the moon affect us?

1)Tides 2)Light after sunset (depends on the phase) 3)Eclipses frighten weak minds. 4)Basis for some calendars 5)Inspiration How does the moon affect us?

Tides No moon

Tides With a moon

Tides The moon’s gravity attracts the Earth and the oceans. It makes the oceans bulge up on opposite sides of the earth. The sun does this too, but it’s too far away to do much.

Tides With a moon This makes two high tides every day as the Earth rotates.

Tides vs. phase of the moon

Tides If the sun and moon are lined up, high tides are higher.

Tides If the sun and moon are lined up, high tides are higher. ……..

Tides If the sun and moon are not lined up, high tides aren’t as high.

Tides If the sun and moon are not lined up, high tides aren’t as high.

Phases of the moon The sun illuminates the half of the moon facing the sun. The rest is too dark to see

Phases of the moon What will you see?

Phases of the moon What will you see?

Phases of the moon What will you see?

Phases of the moon What will you see?

Phases of the moon animations/lps.swf

Phases of the moon January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb

We saw a full moon Jan. 30 January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb

We will see a full moon Feb. 28 January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full

We saw a half moon Feb. 5 January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full

You won’t see the moon Feb. 14 January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full

We will see a half moon Feb. 22 January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full

In between? January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full

Finish it. January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full

These are called: January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full Waning Gibbous Waning Crescent Waxing Crescent Waxing Gibbous

These are called: January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full Waning Gibbous Waning Crescent Waxing Crescent Waxing Gibbous Full Moon Last quarter New moon First quarter

phases.net/calendar/index.php January Jan. 31- Feb. 6 Feb. 7- Feb. 13 Feb. 14- Feb. 20 Feb Full Waning Gibbous Waning Crescent Waxing Crescent Waxing Gibbous Full Moon Last quarter New moon First quarter

Eclipses The moon can throw a shadow on the Earth at a new moon The sun is blocked out. This is a solar eclipse—only parts of the Earth are affected.

Solar Eclipse

Partial solar eclipse

Annular

Time-Lapse

Africa

Eclipses The Earth can throw a shadow on the moon at a full moon The moon is blocked out. This is a lunar eclipse—far more common, can be seen from half of the Earth

Lunar eclipse beginning

Lunar calendars Solar calendars: days per year --Requires very careful measurements to determine the date --Every 4 th year is a leap year Lunar calendars: months per year --Anyone can see the phase of the moon --Every 5 th year is a leap year

One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

In 1961, President Kennedy announced the plan to put a man on the moon. June 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong made the first step onto the moon Twelve men have walked on the moon—the last, in 1972

Gravity Law of universal gravitation (Newton 1686) F=G*m 1 *m 2 /d 2 The force of gravity is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them

Gravity Law of universal gravitation (Newton 1686) F=G*m 1 *m 2 /d 2 The force of gravity is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them If you’re twice as big, you’ll weigh twice as much

Gravity Law of universal gravitation (Newton 1686) F=G*m 1 *m 2 /d 2 The force of gravity is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them If you’re on a planet twice as big as the Earth, you’ll weigh twice as much

Gravity Law of universal gravitation (Newton 1686) F=G*m 1 *m 2 /d 2 The force of gravity is proportional to the product of the two masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them If you’re twice as far away, you’ll weigh one- fourth as much

Orbits Orbits are ellipses Ellipses can be very eccentric (like comets) or nearly circular (like planets)

Orbits Kepler’s laws One focus holds the primary, the other is empty Objects move faster when they’re closer to the primary The period squared is proportional to the width of the orbit cubed

Special Orbits LEO: GEO: Transfer orbits:

Special Orbits LEO: low Earth orbits GEO: geosynchronous orbits Transfer orbits:

Special Orbits LEO: low Earth orbits—good for landsats GEO: geosynchronous orbits—satellite stays over one point on the equator—good for communication satellites Transfer orbits: intersect with another orbit

Special Orbits LEO: low Earth orbits—good for landsats ( miles high) GEO: geosynchronous orbits—satellite stays over one point on the equator—good for communication satellites (26,000 miles high) Transfer orbits: intersect with another orbit (any height, very eccentric)

Solar System Planets, moons, dwarf planets and comets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Solar System Planets, moons, dwarf planets and comets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune Terrestrial Gas giants

Solar System Planets, moons, dwarf planets and comets Moons Mercury Venus Earth Mars Gas giants have many (usually small) moons

Solar System Planets, moons, dwarf planets and comets Dwarf planets include Pluto and the asteroids

Solar System Planets, moons, dwarf planets and comets Comets are ice, rock, and dust in eccentric orbits. They make a tail when they get closer to the Sun.

The Planets (scaled for size)

Mercury

Venus (in infrared)

Do you need a label?

Mars

Jupiter

Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto (dwarf planet) and its moon, Charon

A comet (notice the two tails)

Towards the Sun Direction of the comet

Diameter Distance (Mm) (AU) Mercury Venus12.72 Earth131 Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus5119 Neptune5030 Pluto2.239

Diameter Distance (Mm) (AU) Mercury Venus12.72 Earth131 Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus5119 Neptune5030 Pluto2.239

Diameter Distance (Mm) (AU) Mercury Venus12.72 Earth131 Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus5119 Neptune5030 Pluto2.239

There’s a reason for the seasons

The Earth’s axis is tilted! Summer in the northern hemisphere Summer in the southern hemisphere

Other stellar systems? As of Jan. 2010, 429 planets have been discovered around other stars.

Stars Nuclear fusion

…there are kinds of stars? Size Temperature Age Herzsprung-Russel Diagram

red (less than 3500oC) orange( oC) yellow ( oC) white( oC) blue(over 7500oC)

Special stars White and brown dwarfs Red and blue giants Neutron stars Black holes Binary stars Variable stars

Constellations Historical Mapping Astrology The Zodiac / the ecliptic

Galaxies Spiral Barred Irregular Groups and superclusters

Other stuff--Nebulas Light and dark—a cloud of dust and gas A dark nebula blocks the light of stars behind it. A light nebula is lit by stars in front of it.

Other stuff-- Nebulas

Telescopes Refractors Reflectors Observatories Non-visible spectrum