www.astro.yale.edu/astro120 Prof. Jeff Kenney Class 2 September 2, 2016
likely image of extrasolar planet
CVSO 30 1200 light years away – planet would be larger than Jupiter VLT telescope Chile Schmidt etal 2016
star
planet
today we know about thousands of exoplanets… …not by imaging, but through other means …. how do we know?
Scientific idea (hypothesis)
• one which can be verified by an experiment (real or imagined)
• one which makes specific predictions that be tested in objective way
scientific method
way to study nature systematically 1. propose idea 2. test idea (this is hard part! objective tests!)
scientific method
way to study nature systematically 1. propose idea 2. test idea (this is hard part! objective tests!) 3. accept idea (this is rare!) or reject or revise idea
scientific method
way to study nature systematically 1. propose idea 2. test idea (this is hard part! objective tests!) 3. accept idea (this is rare!) or reject or revise idea [return to #1]
Which of the following is a non-scientific idea
A. The earth orbits the sun
B. The sun orbits the earth
C. The moon is made of green cheese
D. The universe is large E. The universe is
expanding
Scientific theory
a body of related hypotheses pieced together to form a self-consistent description of nature
Which of the following would cause a scientific theory to be rejected?
A. It does not agree with previous theories
B. It does not correctly predict experimental observations
C. Most scientists consider the theory to be wrong
D. The technology has not yet been developed to make the observations that would test the theory
E. It is not supported by religious beliefs
Newtonian mechanics, which describes the motion of objects when forces are exerted on them, was accepted as a scientific theory that describes nature approximately
400 years ago. It was accepted because it
A. was proposed by someone we now know to be a genius
B. was derived from fundamental mathematical principles
C. was handed down to us by the Greeks
D. predicted how objects move under the action of a force
E. was supported by the religious authorities
theories of motion & gravity Kepler’s law of planetary motion
Newton’s laws of gravity and motion
Einstein’s law of gravity
(good) theories of motion & gravity Kepler’s law of planetary motion Works very well describing a couple of things about orbits in our solar system
Newton’s laws of gravity and motion Works very well describing many things about motion at low speeds and with weak gravitational fields (including outside our solar system) Einstein’s law of gravity Works very well in all known circumstances (including at high speeds and in strong gravitational fields)
(good) theories of motion & gravity Kepler’s law of planetary motion Works very well describing a couple of things about orbits in our solar system
Newton’s laws of gravity and motion Works very well describing many things about motion at low speeds and with weak gravitational fields (including outside our solar system) Einstein’s law of gravity Works very well in all known circumstances (including at high speeds and in strong gravitational fields)
Increasingly general & powerful
Examples of BAD scientific theories
• geocentric model of solar system • astrology (or non-scientific idea) • creationism these have been shown to be wrong
Newton’s First Law of Motion
Body continues in state of rest or uniform motion in straight line unless made to change state by forces acting on it
Newton’s First Law of Motion
Body continues in state of rest or uniform motion in straight line unless made to change state by forces acting on it (i.e., body does not accelerate unless forces act on it)
Newton’s Second Law of Motion Amount of acceleration a that a force F can produce depends directly on mass m of object being accelerated
F=ma
Newton’s Second Law of Motion Amount of acceleration a that a force F can produce depends directly on mass m of object being accelerated F=ma
Fb = Ft
mbab = mtat
mb > mt
à ab < at tennis ball receives larger acceleration if same force applied to both since it has smaller mass
basketball mb
tennis ball mt
Newton’s Third Law of Motion
When 2 bodies interact, they create equal and opposite forces on each other
Newton’s Third Law of Motion
can call this force Fbt (force on b due to t) or Fb (force on b)
Fb Ft
When 2 bodies interact, they create equal and opposite forces on each other
can call this force Ftb (force on t due to b) or Ft (force on t)
Fb = mbab (N2) Ft = mtat (N2)
Ft = Fb (N3) mtat = mbab
at = (mb/mt) ab
mb
if mb = 10 mt then at = 10 ab
Fb Ft
ab at
mt
If you’re standing in a train moving on level ground at a constant velocity of
200mph and leap straight up A. You will land in the same place B. You will land slightly behind
your starting point C. You will land far behind your
starting point D. You will land slightly in front of
your starting point E. Where you land depends on
whether the train is moving forwards or backwards
Newton’s Law of Gravity Every mass exerts a force of attraction on every other mass
F = force m1 = mass of body 1 m2 = mass of body 2 R = distance between m1 and m2
G = 6.67x10-11 Nt m2 kg-2 Gravitational constant
Newton’s Form of Kepler’s 3rd Law follows directly from Newton’s Laws of motion and gravity
M1 = mass of body 1 M2 = mass of body 2 P = orbital period (time) a = semi-major axis of elliptical orbit (distance) = average distance between masses = radius if circular orbit
describes orbits of 2 bodies about their center of mass
Newton’s Form of Kepler’s 3rd Law follows directly from Newton’s Laws of motion and gravity derivation on class website…
M1 = mass of body 1 M2 = mass of body 2 P = orbital period (time) a = semi-major axis of elliptical orbit (distance) = average distance between masses = radius if circular orbit NOTE!! THIS “a” IS DIFFERENT FROM “a” FOR ACCELERATION!! sorry…
describes orbits of 2 bodies about their center of mass
Newton’s Form of Kepler’s 3rd
Law
for special case of planets in our solar system: M1 = 1 Msun = 2x1033 gm M2 = Mplanet << 1 Msun e.g. Mearth = 6x1027 gm if M2 << M1 then (M1+M2) ≈ M1 = 1 Msun
à P2 ≈ a3 iff P in years, a in AU Kepler’s 3rd Law of Planetary Motion
in many cases this assumption OK but NOT for one of the HW problems!!
An earth-sized extrasolar planet orbits 1 AU from a star of 1 solar mass. What is the
approx period of the star’s wobble?
A. 4 yrs B. 0.25 yr C. 1 yr D. 0.5 yr E. Not enough information
given
An earth-sized extrasolar planet orbits 1 AU from a star of 4 solar masses. What is the
approx period of the star’s wobble?
A. 4 yrs B. 0.25 yr C. 1 yr D. 0.5 yr E. just hurry up and finish
class!
Astronomy 120 Lec 1-5: intro, physics review Lec 6-8: stars Lec 9-14: galaxies, clusters & dark matter Lec 15-18: active galaxies & black holes Lec 19-25: cosmology & the universe For full syllabus see website www.astro.yale.edu/astro120
Remote polling & peer instruction • More discussion & learning in class àAttendance important! àClicker responses will be used to track attendance!
(starting 3rd week) • Less material covered in class àImportant to read textbook before class! àOn-line Reading quizzes Must complete by 9am the day of the class! -> Starts next week (for class 3), but will start to
count 3rd week (for class 4) Accessed from Canvas, “reading quiz”
Clicker distribution • Everyone gets their own registered
clickers for the semester
• Need only one clicker for all Yale clicker classes (don’t need one for each class)
• Sign them out of Bass Library (but you
may want to wait until you are sure you are taking the class)
• then register clicker on canvas
textbook
• Universe (Freedman, Geller, Kaufmann) 10th edition
• E-book recommended (LaunchPad) • website has link • “hardcopies” (used, looseleaf) at Yale
bookstore or through Amazon (10th or 9th or 8th editions are OK)
Discussion Sections
• Optional but strongly encouraged • Goals: help with homework assignments & class
concepts • Starts end of next (2nd) week • possible section times (3 or 4 sections total?): Fri 11:35am Mon 8pm Tues 4pm, 7pm
Grading 25% Midterm exam 30% Final exam 25% Weekly Homework 8% Reading quizzes 5% Attendance 5% Observing & Planetarium assignment 2% QR Assessments
Please take QR Assessment! See Canvas, ASTR 120 01 (F16) Quizzes “Astro QR I Fall 2016 (start of semester)”
Introductory Astro courses this semester (FALL 2016) all count for Sc; no Yale prereqs
Astro 030 Search for Extraterrestrial Life (Faison) TT 4:00 not QR; Freshman seminar Astro 105 Earth in the Cosmic Context (Laughlin) TT 1:00 not QR; not intended for Science majors Astro 120 Galaxies & the Universe (Kenney) MW 1:00 QR; not intended for Science majors Astro 130 Origins & Search for Life in the Universe (Fischer) MWF 10:30 not QR; not intended for Science majors Astro 155 Introduction to Astronomical Observing (Faison) M 7:00 ½ credit lab, not QR, OK for Science majors, counts for Astro major Astro 255 Research Methods in Astrophysics (Geha) MWF 3:30 QR, OK for Science majors, counts for Astro major