Astronomy Notes Part 1

Spring 2006, PflugervilleISD

Astronomy Notes Part 1

Chapter 20 Section 1 Spring 2006, PflugervilleISD

An astronomical unit is the average distance between the sun and Earth.

Spring 2006, PflugervilleISD

A Solar Family

• A light year is the distance traveled in one years time.


Rotation is the spin of an object in space.

Revolution is the motion of a body as it travels around another body in space.


The earth travels around the sun in a path called an orbit.

Cite:http://www.cs.duke.edu/courses/cps124/fall02/projects/solar/ss.jpg


The corona forms the outer atmosphere.

The chromosphere is the thin region below the corona.

The photosphere is what we know as the visible surface of the sun.


The convective zone is where gas circulates.

The radiative zone is a dense region where atoms are packed tightly.

The core is where energy is produced.

http://observe.arc.nasa.gov/nasa/exhibits/sun/graphics/sun8.jpg


The sun gets it’s energy from nuclear fusion. This is a process by which 2 or more low mass nuclei join together to form a massive nucleus.


Solar activity is when thermal energy moves from the sun’s interior by the circulation of gases in the convection zone causing gas in the photosphere to boil and churn.

Cite :http://www.noaanews.noaa.gov/stories/images/solaranim092501b.gif:


Sun spots are formed when magnetic fields slow down in the convective zone causing areas on the sun to becomecooler.

Cite: http://www.celestialimage.com/steve%20lee%20sun.jpg


Solar flares are giant storms on the sun’s

surface that send huge streams of electrically

charged particles into the solar system.

Solar flares cause light shows in the sky called auroras.

Click to see a picture of auroras.


The Eight Planets+ One Planetoid


In 1610, Galileo

Galilei realized that

planets are not just

points of light – they

are spherical bodies

like the Earth.Cite: http://www.star.ucl.ac.uk/~idh/apod/image/0110/galileo_sustermans.jpg


The solar system is divided into two main parts:

Inner planets and the outer planets.

Cite: http://www.astro.uiuc.edu/projects/data/KeplersLaws/images/planets.jpg:


The inner planets are called terrestrial planets because they are small, dense, and rocky like the Earth .

The inner planets are Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars.

Cite: http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/palmasola/inner2.jpg


The outer planets are much larger and are made mostly of gasses thus are called Gas Giants.

The gas giants are Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.

Cite: http://www.motivate.maths.org/conferences/conf42/Talk_images/outer_planets_small_2.jpg


Some planets rotate clockwise (retrograde rotation) while others rotate counterclockwise (prograde rotation).

The planets that have a retrograde rotation are Venus, Uranus, and Pluto.


Mercury is the closest planet

to the sun.

A day = 59 Earth days

(because of slow rotation)

A year = 88 Earth days

Mercury has the biggest range in surface

temperatures.


Venus is more like Earth

than any other planet.

One way it differs,

however, is that Venus

has a retrograde

rotation.


The only planet that is known to support life is Earth.

Earth is warm enough to keep water from freezing and cool enough to keep it from boiling.

Liquid water is a vital resource for life on Earth.


Cite: http://www.lunaroutpost.com/gallery/earth/images/earth_full_hires%20copy.jpg


Mars, the red planet, is the fourth planet from the sun. There is strong evidence that water once existed here.


Mars has the

largest mountain in the solar system. The name of the mountain is Olympus Mons and it is an extinct shield volcano. Citehttp://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/mars/olympus_mons.jpg:


Mar's surfacePicture taken by the Viking lander

Cite: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/planetary/mars/vikinglander2-2.jpg


Jupiter is the largest gas giant.Jupiter radiates much more energy into space than it receives from the sun.


Saturn is the second largest planet.

Saturn is made mostly of hydrogen and helium.

Saturn has the largest rings, which are made of icy particles.


Uranus is a small gas giant. It may have been tipped over on its side when it was hit by a massive object.It has a blue-green color due to methane.


Neptune has a great dark spot. It’s atmosphere contains belts of visible clouds.


Pluto is the farthest planetoid from the sun.

It is covered by frozen nitrogen and

it’s moon is more than half its size.

Cite: http://www.xtec.es/centres/b7001413/imatges/pluto.jpg


Astronomy Notes Part II Moons and Other Bodies


Moons and Other Bodies

Our moon’s name is Luna. It is about4.6 billion years old and has numerous impact craters.The dark areas or lava plains on the moon are called marias.

Cite:http://www.astrosurf.com/cidadao/moon_99_03_01.jpg


Satellites are natural or artificial bodies that revolve around a larger body.

Moons are natural bodies that revolve around a larger body.




Asteroids are small, rocky bodies that revolve around the sun = stony or metallicMany asteroids are found in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

Cite: http://www.astronomynotes.com/solarsys/asteroids-label.jpg


Ceres is the largest known asteroid.


Cites: http://www.maiaw.com/dimetra/Dabout/Ceres.jpg


Meteoroids are like asteroids but smaller.

Meteorites are meteoroids that hit the ground.

Meteors are the bright streaks of light in the sky.


Cite: http://www.lvaas.org/gallery/2001/bus-trip/willamette-meteorite.jpg


Stony made of rock material.

Metallic made of iron and nickel.

Stony-iron made of rocky material with

iron and nickel.

Open you textbook to page 561 to look

some pictures of these types of meteorites.




Comets are small body of ice, rock and cosmic dust.

Comets are also known as “snowy dirtballs”.

Cite:http://www.mpe.mpg.de/Pictures/x-comets.jpg


– Nucleus is the solid center.

– Ion tail is made of electrically charged particles.

– Dust tail is dust debris due to the sun’s radiation.




Comets orbit is elongated.

The tail always blows away from the sun due to solar winds.

Cite: http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/ion/past/90s/thumbs/t-borrelly.jpg


Animation of a CometMoons and Other Bodies

Cite: http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov/en/kids/comet_diagram.gif


Space Exploration Astronomy Notes Part III


Space Exploration

A rocket is a vehicle or device that contains all the substances needed to burn fuel, and uses escaping gas from the burning of fuel to move.

Cite: http://www.colman-egan.k12.sd.us/school/clipart/animation%20by%20students%202000/rocket.gif


Konstantin Tsiolkovsky (kahn stan teen tsee uhl hahv skee) believed that rockets were the key to space exploration. He is known as the “Father of Rocket Theory”

Space Exploration

Cite:http://www.allstar.fiu.edu/aero/images/Tsiolkovsky.jpg

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=www.spacefame.org/tsiolkovsky.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.spacefame.org/tsiolkovsky.html&h=433&w=377&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkonstantin%2Btsiolkovsky%26svnum%3D30%26hl%3Den%26lr%3Dlang_en%7Clang_sk%26ie%3DUTF-8


Robert Goddard is considered the “Father of modern rocketry”.

He tested numerous rockets between 1915 and 1930.

Space Exploration

Cite: http://cyberquebec.ca/spoutnik/goddard.jpg


History: During WWII Germany made V-2 rocket to use as a bomb. Wernher von Braun developed the V-2 rocket but he wasn’t happy that it was used as bomb.

At the end of WWII, Wernher von Braun and his team surrendered to the USA.

Space Exploration


V-2 Rocket

Space Exploration

Cite: http://www.daviddarling.info/images/V-2.jpg


At the end of WWII, the cold war (arms race) began with the Soviet Union.

NASA or the National Aeronautics and Space Administration formed as a result to the alarm Americans felt over Soviet advances in space.

Space Exploration

Cite: http://cgi.cnn.com/TECH/space/9901/04/space.trio/story.nasa.jpg


Saturn V

Space Exploration

Cite: http://www.wilhelm-aerospace.org/Photos/spring-break-03/saturn-v-composite.jpg

Click for information on the Saturn V.


The Saturn V, developed at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center under the direction of Wernher von Braun, was the largest in a family of liquid-propellant rockets that solved the problem of getting to the Moon. In all, 32 Saturns were launched; not one failed.The Saturn V was flight-tested twice without a crew. The first manned Saturn V sent the Apollo 8 astronauts into orbit around the Moon in December 1968. After two more missions to test the lunar landing vehicle, in July 1969 a Saturn V launched the crew of Apollo 11 to the first manned landing on the Moon.

Space Exploration


How does a rocket work? Rockets use Newton’s Third Law of Motion: every action there is an equal reaction in the opposite direction. Turn to page 574 in your textbook to read about how rockets work.

Cite: http://www.astro.psu.edu/xray/rockets/launch_animation.gif

Space Exploration


Rockets must reach orbital velocity in order to orbit the Earth. The lowest speed is 8km/s. Speeds less then this are suborbital.

Space Exploration


Escape velocity is the speed and direction a rocket must move in order to completely break away from the planet’s gravitational pull. This speed is 11km/s.

Space Exploration


Suborbital less than 8km/s.

Orbital Velocityabout 8km/s.

Escape Velocity is about 11km.s.


Rockets need more than just fuel to propel them into space. They also need oxygen.

Rockets that go into space must carry oxygen with them to burn their fuel.

Space Exploration


Living and Working in SpaceAstronomy Notes Part IV

Cite: http://www.harcourtschool.com/explorations/activity/space_station/images/iss_living_in_space.jpg


Yuri Gagarin first Soviet cosmonaut to orbit the Earth on April 12,1961.

Allan Shepard first American in space on May 5, 1961.

Living and Working in Space


John F. Kennedy’s Speech to send Americans into space.


Because the Soviets were first in space, they appeared to be winning the Cold War. President John F. Kennedy made a speech on May 25, 1961 that challenged Americans to go to the moon.

http://www1.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/jfk_speech.html

Click on the following website to read part of Kennedy’s speech:

http://www1.nasa.gov/vision/space/features/jfk_speech.html



The Apollo missions were set into motion to get America to the moon.Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the moon.

Cite: http://www.neatherd.org/astronomy/Apollo%2011%20Moon%20Orbit.jpg


Kennedy’s challenge was met on July 20, 1969. The Apollo 11 landing module landed on the moon. “The Eagle has landed”.


Cite: http://edition.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/05/25/kennedy.moon/story.kennedy.moon.jpg



The space shuttle is a reusable vehicle that takes off like a rocket and lands like an airplane.First launched in April 12, 1981.Tragedy struck twice- January 28, 1986 and February 1, 2003.

Cite: http://content.honeywell.com/dses/assets/product_images/space_shuttle_launch.jpg


On April 19, 1971 Soviets became the first to place a manned space station in space.

A space station is a long-term orbiting platform from which other vehicles can be launched or research carried out.



Skylab was America’s first space station. Skylab began to decay in 1979 and fell to the Earth.

In 1986, Soviets began building the Mir which many countries visited.




March 20, 2001 end of Mir.1979 end of Skylab.

Cite: http://www.cosmoworld.ru/mirstation/photos/Mir-v-81.jpgCite: http://www.nationmaster.com/images/enc/S/Skylab.jpg


In 1993, Russia , the U.S. and many other countries began building the ISS or the International Space Station.

International Space Station.The purpose of the ISS is to conduct experiments, test new technology and promote cooperation.



Cite:http://www.lunaroutpost.com/gallery/iss/images/iss-gal08.jpg


ISS

Spring 2006, PflugervilleISD 66

Gravity: A Force of Attraction

Astronomy Notes Part VI


Gravity

• Is the force of attraction between objects that is due to their masses.

• Gravity can effect the position of an object or the direction of an object.

Property of NASA


All Matter is Affected by Gravity• Because all matter has mass.

• Gravitational force pulls objects toward each other.

• Earth’s gravitational force is large thus you must apply force to overcome its gravity.


Earth’s Gravity is different around the world.

Earth’s Gravity


The Law of Universal Gravitation

• Unbalanced forces are needed to move objects.

• There is a relationship between gravitation force, mass, and distance.


****The Law States

• 1. Gravitational force increases as mass increases.

• 2. Gravitational force decreases as distance increases

Moon has less gravity

Moon has more gravityMass large

Mass small

Distance is large

Sun has a huge gravitational pull


Weight is a Measure of Gravitational Force

• Weight is a measure of the gravitational force exerted on an object.

• 100 grams = 1N


What is the difference???

• Mass

–Amount of matter in an object – doesn’t change

• Weight

–Changes when gravitational force changes

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Astronomy Notes Part 1