Transcript Document
Welcome to Starry Monday at Otterbein Astronomy Lecture Series -every first Monday of the monthNovember 5, 2007 Dr. Uwe Trittmann Today’s Topics • Recent Advances in Astronomy Introduction • The Night Sky in November Feedback! • Please write down suggestions/your interests on the note pads provided • If you would like to hear from us, please leave your email / address • To learn more about astronomy and physics at Otterbein, please visit – http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/weitkamp.asp (Obs.) – http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/ (Physics Dept.) Recent Advances in Astronomy • • • • • Data Theory Instruments Space Flight Space probes Introduction • In the last 15 years cosmology has become a (very) exact science – 1970ies: Age of the universe is 10-20 billion yrs – Now: the universe is 13.7±0.1 billion years old • Eagerly anticipated results have been obtained – “Temperature” of the universe is 2.725 K, isotropic 1 part in 100,000 • Unexpected discoveries occurred – Acceleration of cosmological expansion – The universe contains strange & unknown stuff • Changing of space exploration agencies – Commercial spaceflight – China, Japan, India – Bush’s Moon-Mars initiative changes NASA’s objectives • Instrumentation has improved dramatically – CCD cameras – Adaptive optics • New “Astronomies” – Neutrino, X-ray, IR, ... Recent Advances in Astronomy: Space Probes • • • • • • • • Cassini / Huygens Chandra Mars Rovers WMAP Galileo Hayabusa Deep Impact Many more … Deep Impact – The Comet Crasher Comet Impact: July 4, 2005 Impact Velocity: 23,000 mph Spacecraft Size: Flyby spacecraft - nearly as large as a Volkswagen Beetle automobile. Impactor spacecraft - about the same dimensions as a typical living room coffee table. Comets - Traveling Dirty Snowballs • Small icy bodies, “dirty snowballs” • Develops a “tail” as it approaches the Sun Comet Anatomy • Tail may be up to 1 A.U. long Halley’s Comet – Now and then • Halley’s Comet in 1910 • Top: May 10, 30° tail • Bottom May 12, 40° tail • Halley’s Comet in 1986 • March 14, 1986 Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 • HST image (1994); Earth added to show scale Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 Headed for Jupiter… Impact on Jupiter Deep Impact – The Comet Crasher Comet Impact: July 4, 2005 Impact Velocity: 23,000 mph Spacecraft Size: Flyby spacecraft - nearly as large as a Volkswagen Beetle automobile. Impactor spacecraft - about the same dimensions as a typical living room coffee table. Temple 1 Coordinate System “Deep Impact” crashes into comet Temple 1 This is how a comet looks like! Viewed from the flyby spacecraft from Hubble Space Telescope • Spirit at Gusev Crater – Sol: 1365 Time: 21:18 – Sols past warranty: 1275 • Opportunity at Meridiani Sinus – Sol: 1345 Time: 9:17 – Sols past warranty: 1255 Martian Surface Iron gives the characteristic Mars color: rusty red! View of Viking 1 1 m rock Sojourner Martian Panorama Note: the sky is not black as on the moon, but pale pink of the dust in the atmosphere! “Twin Peaks” – about 1-2 km away Mars Panorama: Opportunity has landed! Landing Sites A couple of 1000 miles apart! Meteorite ALH 84001 • Discovered in Antarctica in 1984 – 2 kg, 17 cm across • Chemical analysis indicates it came from Mars • In 1996, a team of scientists argued that it contains fossilized evidence of bacteria that came from Mars Cassini/ Huygens • Spectacular data from Saturn, Titan, and the Rings Titan • Titan is the only moon in the solar system known to have an atmosphere Infrared picture shows surface details Titan from Cassini Haze and Atmosphere Methane Clouds False Colored Image Map of Titan Methane Rain & Lakes Huygens sees Shoreline descending SOHO The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) monitors the Sun (launched 1995). It provides crucial early warnings of impending space weather that can destroy satellites and knock out power grids. Scientists credit SOHO with allowing forecasts that prevent damage and losses that might otherwise occur. Erupting prominence Hubble Space Telescope • Launched 1993 • Above the atmosphere • 2.4m Mirror HST: Planets Hubble Ultra Deep Field HST: M51 Spiral Galaxy The Night Sky in November • The sun is past autumn equinox -> longer nights! • Autumn constellations are coming up: Cassiopeia, Pegasus, Perseus, Andromeda, Pisces lots of open star clusters! • Mars is visible later at night Moon Phases • Today (Waning Crescent) • 11/ 9 (New Moon) • 11 / 17 (First Quarter Moon) • 11 / 24 (Full Moon) • (Last Quarter Moon) Today at Noon Sun at meridian, i.e. exactly south 10 PM Typical observing hour, early October Mars Uranus Neptune Star Maps Celestial North Pole – everything turns around this point Zenith – the point right above you & the middle of the map 40º 90º West The summer triangle lingers on … Due North Big Dipper points to the north pole High up – the Autumn Constellations • W of Cassiopeia • Big Square of Pegasus • Andromeda Galaxy Andromeda Galaxy • “PR” Foto • Actual look SouthEast Perseus, Auriga & Taurus with Plejades and the Double Cluster SouthWest – 2006 • Planets – Uranus – Neptune • Zodiac: – Capricorn – Aquarius SouthWest – 2007 • Planets – Uranus – Neptune • Zodiac: – Capricorn – Aquarius Mark your Calendars! • Next Starry Monday: February 4, 2008, 7 pm (this is a Monday • Observing at Prairie Oaks Metro Park: – Friday, November 16, 6:30 pm – Friday, January 11, 6:00 pm – Friday, February 15, 6:30 pm • Web pages: – http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/weitkamp.asp (Obs.) – http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/ (Physics Dept.) ) Mark your Calendars II • • • • Physics Coffee is every Wednesday, 3:30 pm Open to the public, everyone welcome! Location: across the hall, Science 256 Free coffee, cookies, etc.