Astronoomy

• Astronomy


  The scientific study of the universe and of objects that exist naturally in space
• Astronomy


  • Overlaps with physics, chemistry, geology, and other sciences
  • Uses the scientific method
  • Most difficult sciences to do, due to limitation in a lab
  • Uses observation, records, prediction and computer
  • Uses computer as a "lab"
• Astrology


  The study of the movements and positions of the sun, moon, planets, and stars in the belief that they affect the character and live of people
• Astrology is not a science, it is a pseudoscience
• Astrology does not use the scientific method
• Observing the universe


  • Astronomy began with people observing their surroundings
  • Observing the day, seasons, and when to plant
• What we see in the universe

  • Moon
  • Planets (Venus, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn)
  • Stars
  • Meteors (Shooting stars)
  • Aurora
  • Comets
• What's out there in the universe

  • Atmospheric phenomena
  • Solar system
  • Milky way
  • Other galaxies
  • Objects between galaxies
• Atmospheric phenomena


  Observable occurrences of particular physical significance within the atmosphere
• Atmospheric phenomena


  • Auroras
  • Meteor showers
• Solar system objects


  • Sun
  • Eclipses
  • Planets and moon
  • Asteroids
  • Comets
• Stars and star clusters

  • Nebulas
  • Supernova remnants
  • Dead stars
  • White dwarfs
  • Neutron stars
  • Black holes
• Dark matter


  Does not interact with the electromagnetic force
• Dark energy


  An "anti-gravity" force providing a negative pressure that fills the universe and stretches the very fabric of spacetime
• Solar system


  The region of the universe near the sun that includes the sun, the nine known major planets and their moons or satellites, and objects such as asteroids and comets that travel in independent orbits
• Pluto is considered a dwarf planet
• Terrestrial planets


  Small and rocky, composed of Oxygen, Silicon, Aluminum, Calcium, Iron, and Magnesium
• Terrestrial planets


  • Mercury
  • Venus
  • Earth
  • Mars
• Mercury


  • Closest planet to the Sun
  • Has a lunar-like geology
  • Almost tidally locked, like the Moon
  • Smallest planet in our solar system
• Venus


  • Second planet from the Sun
  • Sixth largest planet-similar size to Earth
  • Hottest planet in our solar system
  • Has volcanic plains and rifts
  • Thick atmosphere that traps the heat
• Earth


  • Third planet from the Sun
  • Fifth largest planet
  • The name Earth is at least 1,000 years old
  • 70% water and 78% nitrogen gas and 21% oxygen gas
• Mars


  • Fourth planet from the Sun
  • Seventh largest
  • Rocky planet (thin carbon dioxide atmosphere)
  • Little longer than Earth's time (a year =2yrs on Earth)
  • Iron minerals in the soil (aka rust) which makes the atmosphere to look red
• Moon


  • Earth's closest celestial neighbor
  • Not a star nor planet ("astronomical body")
  • 27% size of the Earth
  • Tidally locked (see the same side of the Moon)
  • Battered Terrain (solid, rocky)
  • No rain/wind but there is weather
• Jovian planets


  Large, gaseous, composed mainly of hydrogen and helium
• Jovian planets


  • Jupiter
  • Saturn
  • Uranus
  • Neptune
• Jupiter


  • Fifth planet from the Sun
  • Largest planet in the solar system more than twice as massive as all the other planets combined
  • Striped and swirls are actually cold, windy clouds of ammonia and water, floating in an atmosphere of hydrogen and helium
  • Great Red Spot
• Ganymede


  • Jupiter's largest moon
  • Largest moon in our solar system
  • Bigger than Mercury, and Pluto
• Callisto


  • Jupiter's second largest moon
  • Third largest moon in our solar system
  • Surface is the most heavily cratered of any object in our solar system
• Io


  • Jupiter's third largest moon
  • The most volcanically active world in our solar system
  • Slightly larger than Earth's moon
• Europa


  • Fourth largest of Jupiter's 95 moons
  • Primarily made of silicate rock and has a water-ice crust and probably an iron-nickel core
  • Europa is a saltwater ocean with about twice as much water as Earth's global ocean
• Saturn


  • Sixth planet from the Sun
  • Second largest planet in our solar system
  • Massive ball made mostly of hydrogen and helium gas-Gas Giant
• Uranus


  • Seventh planet from the Sun
  • Third largest diameter of planets in our solar system
  • Ice giant planet
  • Spin sideways
  • Two sets of rings
  • 1 yr = 84 Earth yrs
• Neptune


  • Eighth, and most distant planet from the Sun
  • Fourth-largest, and the first planet discovered with math
  • More than 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth
  • Not visible to the naked eye
  • In 2011, Neptune completed its first 165-year orbit since its discovery
  • Ice Giant planet
  • Dark, cold and whipped by supersonic winds
  • No life sign
• Pluto


  • Reclassified as a dwarf planet
  • Located in the Kuiper belt
  • A complex world with mountains, valleys, plains, craters, and apparently even glaciers
• Astronomical Unit (AU)


  Defined as the distance from the Sun to the Earth, about 149,597,850km
• Light-year


  Defined as the distance light travels in one year, 9.5 x 10 ^ 12 km
• The South pole to North pole is 20,004 km (12,430 miles), so that is 473,000,000 times longer than a light-year!
• Earth is 12,756 km across
• The distance from Earth to the Moon is 384,400 km
• The distance from Earth to the Sun is 150 million km