Astronomical units

Distance: an astronomical unit (AU or au) is the mean

distance between the Earth and the Sun (technically the
radius of a circular orbit with same period as the Earth).
1 au = 1.496 x 1013 cm
Angles: a circle has 360 degrees or 2p radians
2p
1o = radians = 0.01745K radians
360
1
1 arcminute = degrees
60
1
1 arcsecond = arcminutes = 4.85 ¥10-6 radians
60
Best resolution of optical telescopes (HST) is about 0.1”.
†
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003
 A parsec (pc) is defined as the distance at which a `ruler’
of length 1 au subtends an angle of 1 arcsecond.

1 au 1”
1 pc

" 1 au 1.496 ¥1013 cm 18

1 = fi 1 pc = -6
= 3.086 ¥10 cm
1 pc 4.85 ¥10

1 pc = 3.26 light years - roughly the distance to the nearest

stars. Convenient unit for stellar astronomy.
†
Sizes of galaxies usually measured in kpc (galaxy scales
are 10-100 kpc).
Cosmological distances are 100s of Mpc to Gpc. Observable
Universe is a few Gpc across.
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003
Other common units are the Solar mass, Solar radius, and
Solar luminosity:

M sun = 1.99 ¥10 33 g

Rsun = 6.96 ¥1010 cm
Lsun = 3.86 ¥10 33 erg s-1 = 3.86 ¥10 26 W

Usually use nm as a measure of wavelength, but may show

plots
†
in Angstroms:
o
1 A = 10-10 m = 0.1 nm

ASTR 3730: Fall 2003

 1. Radiation processes

Observer

Source
Intervening gas
a) How is radiation affected as it propagates to the observer?
• In general
• Use results to understand spectra of stars, nebulae.

b) Mechanisms that produce radiation:

• Transitions within atoms (or molecules)
• Acceleration of electrons in a plasma by electric or
magnetic fields.
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003
 Basic properties of radiation
Electromagnetic radiation of frequency n, wavelength l in
free space obeys:
lu = c speed of light

Individual photons have energy:

E = hn h = Planck’s constant
†
Common to measure energies in electron volts, where:

1 eV = 1.6 ¥10-12 erg = 1.6 ¥10-19 J

†c.g.s. units:
In
h = 6.626 ¥10-27 erg s
† c = 3.0 ¥1010 cm s -1
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003
Simplification: astronomical objects are normally much larger
than the wavelength of radiation they emit:
• Diffraction can be neglected
• Light rays travel to us along straight lines

Complexity: at one point, photons can be traveling in several

different directions:

e.g. center of a star, photons are moving

equally in all directions.

radiation from a star seen by a

distant observer is moving
almost exactly radially
Full specification of radiation needs to say how much
radiation is moving in each direction.
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003
 Flux
Consider a small area dA, exposed to radiation for a time dt.
Energy passing through the area is F.dA.dt, where F is the
energy flux (units erg s-1 cm-2).
Unless the radiation is
isotropic (same in all
directions), F will depend
dA on orientation of dA.
Spherically symmetric steady source
of luminosity L. Energy conservation:
L = 4 pr 2 F(r)
r L
F(r) =
4 pr 2
Inverse square law.
F(r)
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003
†
As defined:
• L is the total luminosity emited at all wavelengths
• F is the energy flux likewise integrated over all wavelengths
Hence, L is called the bolometric luminosity (because a
bolometer is a device that measures energy from all
wavelengths).

`Spider-web’ bolometer - mostly

used to detect microwave
radiation.

ASTR 3730: Fall 2003

Real detectors are sensitive to a limited range of wavelengths.
Need to consider how the incident radiation is distributed over
frequency.
Total energy
flux
F= Ú F (n )dn
n
Integral of Fn over all
frequencies

Units erg s-1 cm-2 Hz-1

†
Radio astronomers use this (logical) way of measuring fluxes,
though for convenience they define:
1 Jansky (Jy) = 10-23 erg s-1 cm-2 Hz -1
Fn is often called the `flux density’ - to get the power received
one just multiplies by the area and by the bandwidth of the
receiver
† (or integrates if Fn varies significantly in that range).
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003
 Apparent magnitudes
For historical reasons, fluxes in the optical and infra-red are
instead measured in magnitudes:
m = -2.5log10 F + constant
If F is the total flux (all wavelengths), then m is the bolometric
magnitude. Usually instead consider a range of wavelengths.
†
e.g. in the visible band (V, centered
around 550 nm):
Fn mV = -2.5log10 F + constant

flux integrated over the range

† of wavelengths for this band

ASTR 3730: Fall 2003

Basic properties of magnitudes:
Consider two stars, one of which is a hundred times fainter
than the other in some waveband (say V).
m1 = -2.5log F1 + constant
m2 = -2.5log(0.01F1) + constant
= -2.5log(0.01) - 2.5log F1 + constant
= 5 - 2.5log F1 + constant
= 5 + m1

Source that is 100 times fainter in flux is five magnitudes

fainter (larger number).
†
Faintest objects detectable with HST have magnitudes of
around 28 in red / near infrared bands.

ASTR 3730: Fall 2003

Common wavebands:

U (ultraviolet) 365nm
B (blue) 440nm
V (visible) 550nm
R (red) 641nm
K (infra-red) 2.2mm

These are the central wavelengths of each band, which

extend ~10% in wavelength to either side.
Zero-points (i.e. the constants in the equation for mV etc)
are defined such that the magnitude of a standard star
(Vega) is zero in all wavebands.

ASTR 3730: Fall 2003

 Colors
The color of a star or other object is defined as the difference
in the magnitude in each of two bandpasses:
e.g. the (B-V) color is: B-V = mB-mV
Stars radiate roughly as
blackbodies, so the color
reflects surface temperature.
Vega has T = 9500 K, by
definition color is zero.
Which sense for hotter /
cooler stars?

ASTR 3730: Fall 2003

Color does not reflect temperature for objects with spectra
very different from that of a blackbody.
Still can be useful - e.g. basis of most successful method
for finding very distant (high redshift) galaxies:
Observed galaxy
spectrum shifts to
the right for source
at higher redshift.
Because spectrum
has a sharp `break’,
flux in U band drops
off sharply.

ASTR 3730: Fall 2003

 Absolute magnitude
The absolute magnitude is defined as the apparent magnitude
a source would have if it were at a distance of 10 pc
(1 pc = 3.086 x 1018 cm).

Measure of the luminosity in some waveband.

Difference between the apparent magnitude m and the

absolute magnitude M (any band) is a measure of the
distance to the source:
Ê d ˆ
m - M = 5log10 Á ˜
Ë 10 pc ¯
Distance
modulus
†
ASTR 3730: Fall 2003