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Astronomy 101 The Solar System Tuesday, Thursday 2:30-3:45 pm Hasbrouck 20 Tom Burbine tomburbine@astro.umass.edu
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Course Course Website: –http://blogs.umass.edu/astron101-tburbine/http://blogs.umass.edu/astron101-tburbine/ Textbook: –Pathways to Astronomy (2nd Edition) by Stephen Schneider and Thomas Arny. You also will need a calculator.
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Office Hours Mine Tuesday, Thursday - 1:15-2:15pm Lederle Graduate Research Tower C 632 Neil Tuesday, Thursday - 11 am-noon Lederle Graduate Research Tower B 619-O
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Homework We will use Spark https://spark.oit.umass.edu/webct/logonDisplay.d owebcthttps://spark.oit.umass.edu/webct/logonDisplay.d owebct Homework will be due approximately twice a week
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Astronomy Information Astronomy Help Desk Mon-Thurs 7-9pm Hasbrouck 205 The Observatory should be open on clear Thursdays Students should check the observatory website at: http://www.astro.umass.edu/~orchardhill for updated information http://www.astro.umass.edu/~orchardhill There's a map to the observatory on the website.
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Final Monday - 12/14 4:00 pm Hasbrouck 20
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HW #9 Due today
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HW #10 Due Oct. 29
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Exam #2 Average was a 75 Grades from 100s to a 27.5 http://web.mit.edu/thb/www/exam2a.answers.doc Average (80% exams, 20% HW) for people who took both exams is ~81
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32 Extrasolar planets were just announced The new alien planets, which bring the known count beyond 400, were found with the HARPS spectrograph on the European Southern Observatory's 3.6-m telescope in La Silla, Chile. Some just five times the mass of Earth Others five times heftier than giant Jupiter http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33379852/ns/technology _and_science-space/
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Radioactive Decay
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http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/geology/leveson/core/topics/time/graphics/radio1.gif
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What are the assumptions to get an age?
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What are the assumptions? No loss of parent atoms –Loss will increase the apparent age of the sample. No loss of daughter atoms –Loss will decrease the apparent age of the sample. No addition of daughter atoms or if daughter atoms was present when the sample formed –If there was, the age of the sample will be inflated These can possibly be all corrected for
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Basic Formula Number of daughter atoms formed = number of parent atoms consumed If there were daughter atoms originally there D – D o = n o - n Remember: n = n o e -λt so n o = n e λt D- D o = n e λt – n D = D o + n (e λt – 1)
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Commonly Used Long-Lived Isotopes in Geochronology Radioactive Parent (P) Radiogenic Daughter (D) Stable Reference (S) Half-life, t½ (10 9 y) Decay constant, l (y -1 ) 40K40Ar 36Ar1.250.58x10 -10 87Rb87Sr86Sr48.81.42x10 -11 147Sm143Nd144Nd1066.54x10 -12 232Th208Pb204Pb14.014.95x10 -11 235U207Pb204Pb0.7049.85x10 -10 238U206Pb204Pb4.4681.55x10 -10
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How do you determine isotopic values?
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Mass Spectrometer
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It is easier To determine ratios of isotopic values than actual abundances
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Example 87 Rb 87 Sr + electron + antineutrino + energy Half-life is 48.8 billion years 87 Sr = 87 Sr initial + 87 Rb (e λt – 1) Divide by stable isotope 87 Sr = 87 Sr initial + 87 Rb (e λt – 1) 86 Sr 86 Sr 86 Sr
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Example Formula for line 87 Sr = 87 Sr initial + (e λt – 1) 87 Rb 86 Sr 86 Sr 86 Sr y = b + m x
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http://www.asa3.org/aSA/resources/wiens2002_images/wiensFig4.gif
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= (e λt – 1)
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Carbon-14 99% of the carbon is Carbon-12 1% is Carbon-13 0.0000000001% is Carbon-14 The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730±40 years. It decays into nitrogen-14 through beta-decay (electron and an anti-neutrino are emitted).
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Due to Carbon-14’s short half-life, can only date objects up to 60,000 years old
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Plants take up atmospheric carbon through photosynthesis http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/cardat.html
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When something dies, it stops being equilibrium with the atmosphere http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/cardat.html
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Why is Carbon-14 still present if it has such a short half-life?
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Cosmic rays impact Nitrogen-14 and create Carbon-14 Cosmic rays are energetic particles (90% are protons) originating from space. From the Sun (solar cosmic rays) or outside the solar system (galactic cosmic rays) n + 14 N → 14 C + p
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Radiocarbon_ bomb_spike.svghttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Radiocarbon_ bomb_spike.svg
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Composition of the Planets
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Different bodies have different densities Density = Mass/Volume M = 4 2 d 3 /GP 2 V =4/3 R 3
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Life of a Star A star-forming cloud is called a molecular cloud because low temperatures allow Hydrogen to form Hydrogen molecules (H 2 ) Temperatures like 10-50 K
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Region is approximately 50 light years across
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Condensing Interstellar clouds tends to be lumpy These lumps tend to condense into stars That is why stars tend to be found in clusters
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Protostar The dense cloud fragment gets hotter as it contracts The cloud becomes denser and radiation cannot escape The thermal pressure and gas temperature start to rise and rise The dense cloud fragment becomes a protostar
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When does a protostar become a star When the core temperatures reaches 10 million K, hydrogen fusion can start occurring
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Formation of Solar System Solar Nebula Theory (18 th century) – Solar System originated from a rotating, disk-shaped cloud of gas and dust Modern theory is that the Solar System was born from an interstellar cloud (an enormous rotating cloud of gas and dust)
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Composition ~71% is Hydrogen ~27% is Helium ~2% are other elements (Fe, Si, O) in the form of interstellar grains
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Show animation
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Dust grains collide and stick to form larger and larger bodies. When the bodies reach sizes of approximately one kilometer, then they can attract each other directly through their mutual gravity, becoming protoplanets Protoplanets collide to form planets –Asteroids such as Ceres and Pallas are thought to be leftover protoplanets
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Condensation – conversion of free gas atoms or molecules into a liquid or solid Volatile – Elements or compounds that vaporize at low temperatures
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Show animation
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Form atmosphere and oceans Show animation
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Any Questions?
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