Lesson 01: Intro to Astronomy (2024)

Lesson #01: Introduction to Astronomy! The study of the universe and everything in it Al Biruni (973B.C.– 1043 A.D.), Iranian polymath, astronomer etc.  Learning Goals: - know major components of the universe  How Big is Stuff??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaGEjr ADGP...

Lesson #01: Introduction to Astronomy! The study of the universe and everything in it Al Biruni (973B.C.– 1043 A.D.), Iranian polymath, astronomer etc.  Learning Goals: - know major components of the universe  How Big is Stuff??? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaGEjr ADGPA Scale of the universe: 3:24 Note scientific notation in the bottom right corner!  I. Definitions Astronomy – Study of the universe Astronomer – person who studies astronomy Universe – Everything that exists (stars, dust, galaxies…) – made of up the elements found on the periodic table  II. Parts of the Universe Universe contains galaxies  galaxies contain billions of stars and planets  Cigar Galaxy Sombrero galaxy Sunflower galaxy Cartwheel galaxy  Andromeda Galaxy--the next closest galaxy to ours!  Which galaxy is our solar system found in? The Milky Way Galaxy: Perspective  Our galaxy is spiral shaped Milky Way has Sagittarius A* (a black hole) in the middle black holes have so much gravity that not even light can escape  spiral shape can become distorted when they collide or get too close to one another merging galaxies can create supermassive black holes as they collide and feed  galaxies have billions of stars in them stars have solar systems orbiting them = heliocentric (sun in middle) – planets, asteroids, dust found in solar systems  II. Gathering Data a. Space Probes – unpiloted device – sent from Earth out into space – can land on objects or float in space – most transmit information by radio Space Probes – must be able to handle extreme environments – started in 1950s – gather temperature, light, elemental composition and other data https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiQpudokpz c Coolest Active Space Probes, 2018 (10 min) Ex. Voyager 1 and 2 –launched 1977 – mission supposed to last four years but is still going! – both crafts have exited the heliosphere--region where sun still influences our solar system – takes up to 19 hours for data to reach Earth (Mars rovers takes 20 min) – recently entered interstellar space (2021) – hoping can still communicate up until 2030 - has golden record on board - to try to communicate with whomever may find Voyager  Voyager’s Data Jupiter - One of the last photos Voyager 1 took was of Earth seen from 3.8 billion miles - dubbed the “Pale Blue Dot” by Voyager scientist, Carl Sagan… b. Satellites – orbit a planet – gathers climate data & weather patterns – cloud formation – military information - sensors send out radio waves (radar) - also send out laser light (lidar) seen below… - bounce off surfaces of planet and sends back information to the satellite – satellites detect: air quality  light pollution  vegetation cover - deforestation and illegal clear cutting - many avocado farms in Mexico illegally cut forests – coral presence less coral now due to climate change - tracing volcanic eruptions - affects flight patterns for travel – ozone amount ozone (O3)protects living things from ultraviolet radiation (UV rays) less ozone around the poles, esp. Antarctica - effects of irrigation or drought - Aral Sea has been nearly destroyed due to irrigation for cotton crops (Kazakhstan) – loss of land due to climate change increase in flooding along coastlines - Jezero Crater on Mars shows river delta - Can be compared to Mississippi Delta on Earth (right picture) - proves both planets have similar natural phenomena - This is why Mars rovers are looking for more signs of life here - Can use data about Earth to make predictions about other planets and vice versa - Satellites show Mars has flowing salt water rivers - Satellites can be useful, however, they do - create a lot of “space junk”! - about 6500 satellites around Earth (2020) - only 3400 of them are active  Hubble Telescope (1990) – satellite that orbits Earth to gather data on other galaxies  James Webb Telescope (2021) – Has a gold mirror that’s 21 feet! – Hubble’s successor Telescope Image Comparison:  Webb uses infrared light vs. optical/visible light to detect different phenomena allows oldest galaxies to be visualized (more on this in later lessons…)  Scientists are already working on the design for the next telescope: the High Definition Space Telescope – It will have a mirror almost twice the size as the James Webb Telescope! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUcVfax3DxQ (13 min) James W Footage  IV. Dark Matter matter in the universe that is invisible. It does not emit or absorb light or any other kind of radiation (x-ray, infrared…) so cannot be directly seen with telescope.  Dark matter makes up about 25 percent of the universe. Celestial objects in space make up less than 10 percent of the total matter in space! Most of the gravity in the universe is thought to be produced by dark matter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOWcet TCNg0 How slime molds are being used to map the cosmic web and find dark matter… (4:06)  Practice Questions: 1. organize the following vocabulary from largest size to smallest: a. solar system b. dust c. galaxy d. universe e. star f. planets 2. What do satellites do? 3. Use a Venn diagram to compare and contrast the Hubble and James Webb telescopes 4. What is dark matter? How do we know it exists? 5. Why is infrared light so important to astronomy?  Space Summative: Begin summarizing your notes for the summative that will be due the day of the unit test. Space Probes Satellites Hubble Telescope James Webb Telescope Milky Way Black Holes Dark Matter