● Summer solstice=most sun in a year

● winter solstice=least sun in a year

● Equinox=day where nights and days are same length
○ 2 in a year: fall and spring
● Models of Planetary Movement
○ Geocentric Model
■ 2000 years ago, the Greek philosopher Aristotle proposed a geocentric,
or Earth-centred, model to explain planetary motion. In the model, he
showed Earth at the centre, surrounded by a series of concentric spheres
that represented the paths of the Sun, Moon, and five planets known at
the time
● allowed early astronomers to forecast such events as the phases
of the Moon, but it still could not explain many other observations.
For example, why did Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn sometimes seem
to loop back opposite to their usual movement across the sky
○ Heliocentric Model
■ in 1530, Polish astronomer Nicholas Copernicus proposed a dramatically
different model, one that explained planetary motion much more simply
than did the complicated geocentric model. Copernicus suggested that
the Sun was at the centre and Earth and the other planets revolved in
orbits around it.
■ Telescope provided solid evidence for Copernicus’s theory. Notable
among these scientists was the renowned Galileo Galilei
○ Kepler Model
■ Using detailed observations of the movement of the planets, Kepler
discovered what was missing from the Copernican ideas. The orbits of
the planets, he realized, were ellipses and not circles. Today, the Sun-
centred model of our solar system is used as a guide when we study
other solar systems.
● Measuring Distance in Space
○ Astronomical Unit (AU)
■ used for measuring “local” distances, those inside our solar system. One
AU is equal to the average distance from the centre of Earth to the centre
of the Sun (149 599 000 km)
○ Light-years
■ vast distances beyond the solar system, out to stars and galaxies, are so
great that even astronomical units are too tiny as measures. Instead, the
light-year is used. It equals the distance that light travels in one year.
Light travels at a speed of 300 000 km/s. In a year, that adds up to about
9.5 trillion km
● Star Formation
○ star is a hot, glowing ball of gas (mainly hydrogen) that gives off tremendous light
energy
○ Stars form in regions of space where there are huge accumulations of gas and
dust called nebulae. Each nebula is composed of about 75% hydrogen and 23%
helium. The other 2% is oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, and silicate dust. Some of this
interstellar matter came from exploding stars
○ attraction of gravity acting between the atoms of gas and grains of dust can
cause a small area of the nebula to start collapsing into a smaller, rotating cloud
of gas and dust
○ As more material is drawn into the spinning ball, the mass at its core increases
and the temperature climbs. If the core gets hot enough, it will start to glow. This
is a protostar, the first stage in a star’s formation. As the process of “star-
building” continues, the interior of the protostar gets hotter and hotter. When the
core reaches 10 000 000°C, hydrogen starts to change to helium. This process,
known as fusion, releases great quantities of energy and radiation. A star is born.
○ Depending on the mass of the star formed from a particular nebula, the star will
be Sun-like (in terms of mass) or massive. Both types of stars spend most of
their lives in this main sequence, converting hydrogen to helium in their cores.
The outward pressure of radiation on the stellar material is counteracted by
gravity, so the stars are in a stable state. All stars remain in this state for millions
to even billions of years
○ When the hydrogen in the core has been used up, the stable state star shrinks in
size, heating the helium core so that it first starts fusing to carbon, then to other
elements. As gravity causes the star to contract, further nuclear reactions occur,
leading to expansion of the outer layers. In this way, the star becomes larger,
turning into a red giant if it is a Sun-like star, or a red supergiant if it is a massive
star
■ Sun will become a red giant in about 5 billion years. At that time, the
Sun’s diameter may extend out past the present orbit of Mars
○ final stage in a star’s life occurs when the fusion reaction stops. For a Sun-like
star, fusion ends when the core temperature in the star is no longer hot enough
to keep the reaction going. With no heat input from fusion, the decreasing
pressure is unable to prevent gravity from causing the star to collapse slowly on
itself. The Sun-like star continues to shrink, gradually becoming a white dwarf, no
larger than Earth. Eventually, the star will fade completely until it evolves into a
cold, dark black dwarf
○ In a massive star, the fusion reaction stops when the star runs out of fuel. The
lack of heat input into the core from fusion enables gravity to get the upper hand.
In this case, gravity causes the star’s core to collapse rapidly on itself. The
collapse ends suddenly with an outgoing shock wave. This in turn causes the
outer part of the star to explode in a catastrophic event known as a supernova. If
the star is not destroyed entirely by the explosion, the core is left as a neutron
star or a black hole
■ A neutron star is a rapidly spinning object only about 30 km in diameter
 ■ A black hole is a highly dense remnant of a star in which gravity is so
strong that not even light from the radiation going on inside the remnant
can escape
● Proto-Planet Theory
○ “protoplanet hypothesis” is a model for explaining the birth of solar systems. The
process can be described in three steps:
■ 1. A cloud of gas and dust in space begins swirling.
■ 2. Most of the material (more than 90%) accumulates in the centre,
forming the Sun.
■ 3. The remaining material accumulates in smaller clumps circling the
centre. These form the planets.
● Our Solar System
○ 8 planets
■ Can be divided into 2 groups
● Inner (terrestrial): Earth, Mars, Mercury and Venus
○ terrestrial planets tend to be smaller, rockier in
composition, and closer to the Sun than the Jovian planets
● Outer (jovian): Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
○ Jovian planets are large and gaseous and are located
great distances from the Sun
● Asteroids
○ Between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter lies a narrow belt of small, rocky or
metallic bodies travelling in space. These are called asteroids. They can range in
size from a few metres to several hundred kilometres across. The largest
asteroid, called Ceres, is over 1000 km wide. Scientists aren’t certain where the
asteroids came from
● Comets
○ objects made up of dust and ice that travel through space. Their long tails and
bright glow only appear when they get close to the Sun. When that happens, the
Sun heats the materials on the comet and gases are released
○ spend most of their time slowly orbiting in the outer reaches of the solar system
● Meteors
○ When one gets pulled into the atmosphere by Earth’s gravity, the heat of
atmospheric friction causes it to give off light and it is known as a meteor. These
are the so-called “shooting stars” that can often be seen streaking across the
night sky
● Meteorites
○ If a meteor lasts long enough to hit Earth’s surface, it is called a meteorite
● Meteoroids
○ Small pieces of rocks flying through space with no particular path are called
meteoroids
● Coordinates
○ The first is the compass direction, called the azimuth. With due north as 0° and
going clockwise, the azimuth will tell you which direction to point. For example,
 180° from 0° would have you pointing due south; 270° would have you pointing
west. The second measurement shows how high the object is in the sky. This is
called altitude. The altitude ranges from 0 at the horizon to 90° straight up. With
these two measurements, stargazers can pinpoint objects in space. Zenith refers
to the highest point directly overhead.
● Space Transport
○ Rocketry relies on a fundamental law of physics: for every action, there is an
equal and opposite reaction
○ three basic parts to a rocket
■ structural and mechanical elements
● everything from the rocket itself to engines, storage tanks, and the
fins on the outside
■ Fuel
● can be any number of materials, including liquid oxygen, gasoline,
and liquid hydrogen. The mixture is ignited in a combustion
chamber, causing the gases to expand and leave as exhaust
■ Payload
● refers to the materials needed for the flight, including crew cabins,
food, water, air, and people
○ Engines:
■ Ion Drives
● engines that use xenon gas instead of chemical fuels. In the
spacecraft engine, the xenon is electrically charged, accelerated,
and then emitted as exhaust. This action pushes the spacecraft in
the direction opposite to the emission.
● Generated thrust is 10k times weaker than thrust achieved by
today’s chemically fuelled rocket engines
● However, the thrust from an ion drive lasts an extremely long time.
In space, that little bit of force applied over a long period of time
results in a very fast vehicle. For great distances, the amount of
fuel required is about 1/10 of what would be used by a typical
spacecraft
● “Fuel efficient”
■ Solar Sails
● solar sails would use the Sun’s light. The Sun emits
electromagnetic energy in the form of photons. The solar sails
being tested are made of carbon fibre. When the photons hit the
sail, the energy transmitted causes the spacecraft to move.
Proposals for solar sails suggest that they might be made from
material that could be spread as thin as plastic wrap and extend
over 400 m2
○ Exhaust Velocity = velocity at which exhaust gases leave the nozzle of the
rocket's engine
 ○ Staging = combination of several rocket sections, or stages, that fire in a specific
order and then detach, so a ship can penetrate Earth's atmosphere and reach
space
■ Know Multi-Stage Rocket
● Hazards of Living in Space
○ Environmental Hazards
■ Is a vacuum with no air or water
■ no atmosphere so temperatures can range from unimaginably cold in
shadows to extremely hot
■ gases in the atmosphere that keep us alive on Earth do not exist in
space. Neither does the pressure of the atmosphere, which helps
regulate our heartbeats.
○ Psychological Hazards
■ Long trips in a confined living space may also lead to psychological
problems
○ Technology
■ Once astronauts leave their spacecraft, everything they need to survive
must be brought with them: air, water, a heating system, a cooling system
—even a portable toilet.
● suit must be flexible as well
■ Use electrolysis to produce oxygen
■ Making ISS water 100% recyclable allowing crew to live without trouble
for several months on end
● Satellites
○ 2 Types
■ Natural refers to any small body that orbits a larger body, such as a moon
orbiting a planet
■ Artificial refers to man made object which orbits a celestial body
● objects that are built and sent into Earth’s orbit by humans
○ Play major role in our lives
■ help us communicate, observe and forecast weather, predict magnetic
storms, and even find our location on the planet
■ Allow us to watch tv and make long distance phone calls
● Different types of orbit:
○ Low Earth Orbit: main purpose of satellites in low Earth orbit (at 200 to 1000 km
altitude) is to carry out remote sensing. Remote sensing is a process in which
imaging devices in a satellite make observations of Earth’s surface and send this
information back to Earth
○ Geosynchronous: means that the satellite moves at the same rate as Earth
spins. In this way the satellite can observe the same area at all times. The result
is 24-hour-a-day monitoring of weather conditions
● Telescopes
○ Optical
 ■ their series of lenses and mirrors do: gather and focus the light from stars
so that we can see it. The larger the area of the lenses or mirrors in a
telescope, the greater the ability of the telescope to see the faint light of
objects that are very distant
■ first telescope ever designed was a simple refracting telescope.
Refracting telescopes use two lenses to gather and focus starlight
● use mirrors instead of lenses to gather and focus the light from
stars. At one end of a reflecting telescope is a large concave
mirror, which is made from glass-like material that is coated with a
thin layer of metal
■ Reflecting telescopes use 2 lenses which bring object into focus
● Objective+ocular (eyepiece)
● The resolution of the images seen with optical telescopes can be further
improved when two or more of the telescopes are used together. This
technique of using telescopes in combination is known as interferometry
○ Connected using computers
● Should know combination telescopes as well
● Clouds, humidity (moisture in the air), and even high winds, light pollution, and air
pollution can impact telescopes ability
○ Solutions to this include radio telescopes (detect radio waves which aren’t
impacted by atmosphere) and putting the telescope in space (hubble telescope)
○ Radio waves are not affected by weather and can be detected during the day
and at night. They are also not distorted by clouds, pollution, or the atmosphere
as are light waves. Furthermore, by focussing their radio telescopes on areas of
space that appear empty, astronomers have discovered much about the
composition and distribution of matter in space
■ just as several reflecting telescopes can be combined for optical
interferometry, so several small radio telescopes can be combined to
achieve greater resolving power than one large radio telescope can
achieve. This technique, referred to as interferometry, improves the
performance and accuracy of radio images
● Adaptive optics = technique of precisely deforming a mirror in order to compensate for
light distortion.
● radio waves, infrared (heat) waves, and X-rays are also emitted by stars, along with light
○ All are examples of electromagnetic energy
■ Wavelength is a measurement of the distance from one point on a wave
(such as the crest) to the same point on the next wave. Frequency is the
number of waves that pass a single point in one second
● visible light we see all around us occupies a small section of the entire electromagnetic
spectrum, which covers the whole range of electromagnetic energy
 ● Red has largest wavelength, violet is smallest
● Measuring Distance from space
○ Triangulation is based on the geometry of a triangle. By measuring the angles
between a baseline and the target object
○ Parallax is the apparent shift in position of a nearby object when the object is
viewed from two different places
● REVIEW SPECTROSCOPY BOOKLET
○ Composition - spectral lines
○ Red shift/Blue shift
● Study environmental impacts if there is time
Notes Taken In Class:
Telescopes

● used to magnify objects at a great distance

● simplest telescopes have 2 basic lenses
○ objective lens: large lens near front of telescope
○ Ocular lens: eyepiece through which astronomers view magnified objects
● Resolving Power is a telescopes ability to focus on fine details of the object in view
○ dependent on diameter of objective lens
○ larger the diameter of the objective lens, the higher the telescope's resolving
power
● Refracting telescopes have lenses in their objective tubes
● reflecting telescopes have objective mirrors
● combination telescopes use a combination of mirrors and lenses
● combining telescopes - interferometry
○ using computers it is now possible to combine images from two different
telescopes
○ this creates the equivalent of one telescope equal to the total distance between
the two
■ eg: twin keck telescopes
● Adaptive Optics
○ stars twinkle because earths atmosphere causes it to refract randomly
○ makes it difficult for astronomerrs to get clear view
○ to fix problem, telescopes are now connected to computers which use mirrors to
adjust movement of the earths atmosphere
○ this is called 'adaptive optics' because the computer controls the image seen and
a mirror to adapt to change caused by refraction
● telescopes in space
○ atmosphere still prevents astronomers from getting a clear view of the universe
○ astronomers place their telescopes in orbit above earths atmosphere
■ eg: hubble space telescope, james webb telescope
● EMR
○ light isnt only type of radiation coming from stars
○ light is just one form of electromagnetic radiation
■ other forms include radio waves, infrared waves, xreays, gamma rays, uv
waves
○ spectrum of emr
● Radio Telescopes
○ recall that the resolving power in a telescope relates to the fineness in detail it
can image
○ smaller the wavelength of light, the better the resolving power
○ radio waves have wavelengths that are millions of times longer than light waves
○ thus images have less resolution than light waves
○ however, radio waves penetrate atmosphere better (dust clouds)
○ therefore, astronomers have info about universe that they would've never had
before
● Connecting radio telescopes
○ if 2 radio telescopes are separated by some distance, but connected
electronically, their signals can be connected using a computer
 ○ Interferometry is a technology that connects two or more separate telescopes to
combine their images
● Radio Telescopes Bigger Than Earth
○ improvements in computers and precision of modern clocks have anabled radio
astronomers to connect their telescopes without wires
■ this is called very long baseline interferometry
○ vlbi produces images 100 times more delated than largest optical telescope that
exists today
● Spectral Lines
○ Isaac Newton passed a beam of light through a prism which produced a
spectrum of colours-like a rainbow
○ is scientists pass a beam of light through a slit before passing it through a prism,
the spectrum appears in much finer detail due to the bending of light
○ a spectroscope is a device that produces a focused spectrum
● Spectroscopy for Astronomers
○ vapours of different elements give of when heated to incandescense (hot enough
to glow)
○ incandescence is viewed with a spectroscope, different spectral lines can be
seen, like a fingerprint unique to the element
○ astronomers can match spectral lines emitted from starts with knows spectral
lines from elements and determine the composition of the star or its atmosphere
○ spectroscopy also provides info on star movement based on doppler effect stuff
(??)
● Doppler Effect
○ since light travels in waves, spectroscopes also give astronomers information
about how fast a celestial body is moving toward or away from us
○ "doppler effect is the apparent change in the frequency of a wave causeed by
relative motion between the dource of the wave and the observer"
● Red Shift/Blue Shift
○ if star is moving towards you, the lught wavelengths become compressed
resulting in a shifting of the dark lines towards the shorter wavelength end of the
spectrum (the blue end)
■ this is called blue shifted
○ if a star is moving away from you, the light wavelengths become longer, resulting
in a shifting of the spectral lines towards the longer wavelength end of the
spectrum (the red end)
■ this is called red shifted
○ if there is no apparent shift, then the star is likely moving at the same speed in
the same direction as you-the universe is expanding so nothing is stationary - it
may only appear that way from ur frame of reference
● Rockets
○ a tube that contains combustible material on one end
○ on the other end of the rocket is the payload which is a device or material that the
rocket carries
■ payload may be an explosive, a measuring device, or a person
● Rocket Fuel
○ rockets need a combustible fuel to make them fly
○ all fuels create exhaust
○ the speed at which the exhaust leaves the rocket is called exhaust velocity
○ the exhaust velocity determines how high or how far a rocket travels
 ○ staged rocket has more than one section that drops off once its fuel is used up
making the rocket lighter
○ staged rockets fly faster and higher
● Escaping Gravity
○ to travel to space a huge amount of energy is required to travel there and stay
there
○ to escape the earth's gravitational pull, objects must reach a speed of 8km/s (29
000 lm/h)
○ rocket power is incredible and puts people at great risk; the tiniest problem can
cause shuttle to crash or explode
○ even when shuttle is in orbit, a cracked windshield, misfire control, or other
problems could be fatal
● Travel in Space
○ rockets can blast space crafts into orbit but do not have enough power to go on
long journeys throughout space
○ gravitational assistance helps space craft accelerate throughout space and travel
around planets
○ gravitational field acts upon the space craft thus propelling it throughout space
around various planets
○ ion drives provide low thrust generated by xenon gas allowing fast travel lasting
long periods of time
● Life-support compatability
○ different space shuttles support lives in different ways
○ this made linking space structures together difficult because they needed to be
compatible
○ since humans needed a similar atmosphere as to earth (21% oxygen, trace water
vapour and co2) shuttles need to supply it
○ done using chemical reactions-electrolysis, etc.
● Clarifying Images
○ computer tech has also improved our ability to look at the stars
○ large telescopes use charge couple devices to record images
○ in a CCD, light is converted into electrical signals in a digital image
○ images are then processed by computer software
● Satellites
○ artificial satellites look into space as well as observe the earth
○ an artificial satellite is a device made by humans
■ used for communications
■ observations/monitoring
■ remote sensing (measurements, watching landforms such as vegetation,
clear-cut forests, water pollution, etc.)
■ navigating and mapping
● Low Earth Orbit
○ main purpose is to carry out remote sensing
○ placed 200-800 km above the ground
○ orbit Earth every 1.5 hours
○ will move across the sky in a matter of minutes
● Geosynchronous Orbit
○ placed 36 000 km above earth directly over equator
○ synchronized with earths orbit
○ appear motionless
○ take 24 hours to orbit
 ● Global positioning system
○ can be used to find out where something is on earth
○ satellites are placed about 20,000 km above the surface of the Earth and take 12
hours to orbit the earth
○ send out radio signals announcing position at any given time
○ based on this, satellite can tell how far away you are from the satellite and
pinpoint your location using triangulation and time it takes to radio signals to
return

Ayaan Notes from Class I missed (shitty)

proto-Planet hypothesis

● Model for explaining the formation of a solar system

○ Cloud of gas and dust in space begins swirling
○ Most material goes to center
○ The remaining material forms into chunk and makes plants
● Star formation
○ Stellar nebula proto star
○ Mass determines a stars life
○ average=sun
○ Main sequence=core is making helium - stable - lasts long
○ When hydrogen is used up red giant is formed
■ Helium to carbon
○ Fusion stops with no heat
○ Collapses in on itself
○ Average star become white dwarf
○ Massive star becomes a black hole or neutron star
● Hertzsprung-russell diagram
○ Shows heat and temp
○ Giants have low heat
○ White dwarfs have high heat
● Solar bodies
○ Asteroids and in a belt and small rock
○ Comets are ice
○ Meteoroids
■ Rock in space no path
○ Meteors
■ Meteoroid in atmosphere
○ Meteorites is if it hits
● Units
○ AU is astronomical units is the distance between earth and sun
■ Usable and very big
○ Light year speed light moves in one year
■ Mostly for things to big for AU like distance between
● Sky coords
○ Azimuth=compass direct
 ○ altitude= angle above the horizon
○ No azimuth and 90º altitude is zenith
● Everything is relative
○ Astrolabe is used to measure altitude of an object
○ Compass is used to measure azimuth of an object
● Triangulation
○ Uses geometry to measure distance between distance objects
○ Given the length of a baseline and angle location can be calculated
○ Long baseline= more accurate
● Parallax
○ Shift in location of an object to measure distance of another object