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PHYS 1510H �Introductory Astronomy I

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Today’s Lecture

!  Review of syllabus and course websites!  Introduction to astronomy!  Break (10 minutes)!  Slide show overview of course!  Distances in astronomy

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Who Can Take PHYS 1510H?

!  All Trent students are eligible to take PHYS 1510H!  there are no pre-requisites!  no background in math or science is expected

!  This is an accessible elective for non-science students!  Science majors are also encouraged to take this course

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Instructor Information

!  Instructor: Prof. Dave Patton!  phone: ext. 7462!  office: SC 320 (Physics Building)!  office hours: Tue. 13:00-13:50, Thu. 11:00-11:50 or by

appointment!  email: dpatton@trentu.ca

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LearningSystem (Blackboard)!  We will use Trent’s LearningSystem (Blackboard) for some

online content, including:!  syllabus!  lecture notes!  lecture webcasts!  announcements!  discussion board!  signup for observing sessions

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Lectures!  Location: Thursdays 14:00-15:50 in Wenjack Theatre

!  regular attendance is expected!  Lecture notes

!  available on LearningSystem soon after each lecture

This webpage is available within LearningSystem. 6

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Webcasts

!  The lectures in this course will be recorded on video and made available to you online!  these webcasts will be available on LearningSystem

shortly after each lecture!  Webcasts include:

!  a video feed of the lecture (including audio)!  a screen recording of the content shown in class

!  Webcasts are intended to be a useful resource for!  reviewing lecture material after class!  completing term work!  preparing for the final exam

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Webcasts

Webcasts are available within LearningSystem. 8

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Observing Sessions

!  Observing sessions are optional hands-on opportunities to get to know the night sky, using Trent’s telescopes

!  They will take place on Thursday evenings (9-10 p.m.) when skies are clear and the moon is not too bright

!  The first observing session is scheduled for Thu. Sept. 22 (weather permitting)!  you will be able to sign up on

LearningSystem during the preceding 24 hours

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Required Textbook

!  Discovering the Universe by Comins & Kaufmann (10th edition)

!  Available in the bookstore in three formats:!  regular bound textbook!  unbound loose-leaf!  e-book

!  All three formats include access to the e-book and LaunchPad

!  The same textbook will be used for PHYS 1520H next term!  your e-book and LaunchPad

access covers next term as well

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LaunchPad

!  Complete e-book (with highlighting and note-taking)!  Self study plans!  Animations, videos, and interactive tutorials!  Astronomy news stories!  Assignments and quizzes

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Use of LaunchPad in PHYS 1510H

http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/dtu10e/3614028

We will be using a Trent-specific version of LaunchPad in this course. You are required to use LaunchPad in this course, as all quizzes and assignments will be done in this online setting.

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Accessing LaunchPad for the First Time

!  Go to http://www.macmillanhighered.com/launchpad/dtu10e/3614028/!  a) If you already have an access code, select “I have a student

access code”!  new textbooks come packaged with an access code!  don’t throw away your code until you’ve registered!

!  b) If you would like to purchase an access code online, select “I want to purchase access”

!  c) If you would like temporary access to LaunchPad, select “I need to pay later” (temporary access will last for 21 days)

!  After this procedure, you will have a username and password which you can use to access LaunchPad throughout the fall term (and the winter term too if you are taking PHYS 1520H)

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LaunchPad Technical Support

!  There are several options available if you need technical support for LaunchPad

!  You can call toll-free 1-800-936-6899!  See the Help Menu in the top right hand corner of

LaunchPad for chat and email support options!  Technical support is available 7 days a week, from 9

a.m. to 3 a.m.

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LaunchPad Assigned Work

!  There will be three online submissions for you to complete every week!  LearningCurve!  Assignments!  Quizzes

!  This online work will make up 55% of your final grade, so LaunchPad work is an important required component of this course

!  The first LaunchPad deadline is one week from today (Sep. 15), so please be sure to access LaunchPad within the next few days

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LearningCurve Activities!  LearningCurve is an adaptive, formative quizzing facility

which is designed to help you solidify your understanding of the required reading material from the textbook!  it adapts to your level of understanding, giving you more

questions on material that you have trouble understanding!  it is primarily geared towards helping you to understand the

material, rather than testing you!  you will receive full marks upon completion of each

LearningCurve activity (and no marks if you don’t complete it)!  LearningCurve activities are to be completed before class

!  this will help to ensure that when you come to class, you will have already read the relevant chapter in the textbook, and will have received helpful feedback from LearningCurve

!  The first LearningCurve is due on Thu. Sep. 15 at noon!  it is called “LearningCurve: Discovering the Night Sky”!  it covers material from Chapter 1 in the textbook

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LaunchPad Assignments and Quizzes!  LaunchPad Assignments will typically consist of

!  an interactive online tutorial (with a brief quiz at the end)!  image map exercises!  additional interactive activities!  please try out the Practice Assignment to familiarize yourself with

how this works (it doesn’t count towards your grade in the course)!  LaunchPad Quizzes will consist of 15 multiple choice questions

!  questions are randomly drawn from a much larger set of questions!  you are allowed up to 3 attempts on each quiz (only your highest

mark will be counted)!  please try the Practice Quiz to see how this works

!  you can try the Practice Quiz as many times as you like!  it doesn’t count toward your grade in the course

!  I will provide more info about LaunchPad next week!  The first assignment and quiz will be available one week from

today (Sep. 15), and due on Tue. Sep. 20 at 2 p.m.

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Grading Scheme

!  LearningCurve activities (10%)!  Assignments (15%)!  Quizzes (30%)!  Final exam in December (45%)

Note: a minimum mark of 35% on the final exam is required in order to pass this course.

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Any Questions?

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What is Astronomy?

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The Realm of Astronomy

!  Astronomy began with the study of the night sky by ancient civilizations

!  Astronomy has since evolved into a branch of modern science

Galileo Galilei 21

The Scientific Approach

!  Astronomers make hypotheses, design experiments, and collect and analyze data

!  They then see how their results fit in with our current understanding of the universe

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Collecting Astronomical Data

!  Astronomers are usually unable to touch or manipulate the objects they study

!  Instead, they gather radiation (light) from distant objects

!  This normally involves collecting light through a telescope, and storing the information on a detector

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The Hubble Space Telescope

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Some Questions We Can Address

!  How old is the Earth? !  How do planets, stars and galaxies form?!  What makes the Sun shine?!  Do black holes exist?!  How big is the Universe? How old is it?!  Is there life elsewhere, or are we alone?

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Main Areas of Study

!  Foundations of Astronomy!  the night sky, gravity, telescopes, light

!  The Solar System!  planets, comets, asteroids, and the Sun

!  Stars!  especially their births, evolution, and deaths

!  Galaxies !  including our own, the Milky Way

!  Cosmology!  the origin and nature of the universe itself

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Constellations

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A Solar Eclipse

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Newton and Einstein

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Telescopes

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The Solar System

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Earth From Apollo 11

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Mars

Gale Crater

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The View From Curiosity’s Landing Spot

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Saturn As Seen By Cassini

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Saturn’s Moon Titan

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Our Most Detailed View of Pluto � (as of 2014)

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Recent Image of Pluto from New Horizons

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Icy Plains, Mountains and Sand Dunes on Pluto

Artist’s Rendition of Kepler Exoplanets

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The Sun

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Globular Cluster NGC 6752

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Star Formation in the Eagle Nebula

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A Dying Star

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The Cat’s Eye Planetary Nebula

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The Crab Supernova Remnant

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Artist’s Rendition of a Black Hole

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The Milky Way Galaxy

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The Milky Way

You are here

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Andromeda: A Spiral Galaxy

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Colliding Galaxies

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The Hubble Ultra Deep Field

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Distances in Astronomy

!  In this course, we will encounter distances which are much larger than we are used to in everyday life

!  Familiar units of measurement (e.g., km) will be awkward to use

!  We will therefore introduce more convenient units of distance measurement!  Astronomical Units (AU)!  light years (LY)

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The Astronomical Unit (AU)

!  The Astronomical Unit (AU) is defined as the average distance between the Earth and the Sun

!  1 AU = 150 million km!  AU are very useful for

describing distances within our Solar System!  or within other solar systems!

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Distances Within the Solar System

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The Light Year (LY)

!  While an AU is huge by everyday standards, it is not very useful for describing distances beyond the Solar System!  even the nearest star (Proxima Centauri) is 270,000 AU

away!!  We therefore introduce a larger distance unit called the

Light Year (LY)!  A light year is the distance that light travels in 1 year!  Light travels at 300,000 km/s!  1 LY = 9.46 x 1012 km!  A LY is about 63,000 times larger than an AU

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Aside: Scientific Notation

!  Numbers which are very large or small can be expressed using scientific notation!  1,000,000 = 106 (1 million)!  6,000,000,000 = 6 x 109 (6 billion)!  1 AU = 1.5 x 108 km

!  This notation will be used throughout the course!  See text (Appendix A) for more details

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Distances Within our Solar System!  The Moon is 384,000 km away

!  0.0026 AU!  1.3 light seconds

!  The Sun is 150 million km away!  1 AU!  8 light minutes

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Distances Within our Galaxy!  The nearest star (Proxima

Centauri) is 4.2 LY away!  The centre of the Milky Way is

about 26,000 LY away

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Distances to Other Galaxies!  The nearest large galaxy

(Andromeda) is 2.5 million LY away

!  The most distant galaxies observed (so far) are about 13 billion LY away

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Looking Back in Time

!  While light years are units of distance, they also tell us how far back in time we are looking

!  When we look at the Sun, we are seeing it as it was 8 minutes ago

!  We see Proxima Centauri as it was 4.2 years ago!  The further away you look, the further back in time

you are seeing

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Watching the Universe Evolve!  These effects imply that the universe should look

younger as we look out to larger distances!  It does!!!  We can even see the glow of the Big Bang, in all

directions …

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Visualizing the Observable Universe

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The Edge of the �Observable Universe

!  Recent measurements show that the universe is 13.8 billion years old (+/- 0.04 billion years)!  this means that we can (in principle) see objects as far

away as about 13.8 billion LY!  the most distant galaxy seen (so far) is about 13.2 billion

LY away!  It is not possible for us to see anything beyond about

13.8 billion light years!  there has not yet been enough time for light to reach us

from that part of the universe

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Outside the Observable Universe

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Before Next Class

!  Login to this course’s LearningSystem!  tonight’s lecture notes and webcast will be available

!  Get a textbook (including access to LaunchPad)!  Familiarize yourself with LaunchPad

!  try out the Practice Quiz and Practice Assignment!  Read Chapter 1 from the textbook!  Complete the first LearningCurve activity

!  it must be completed by Thu. Sep. 15 at noon

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