A History of Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology - Malcolm Longair
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Astronomy 241: Foundations of Astrophysics I. the Solar System
Astronomy 241: Foundations of Astrophysics I. The Solar System Astronomy 241 is the first part of a year-long Prerequisites: Physics 170, Physics 272 introduction to astrophysics. It uses basic (or concurrent), and Math 242 or 252A. classical mechanics and thermodynamics to Contact: Professor Joshua Barnes analyze the structure and evolution of the ([email protected]; 956-8138) Solar System. www.ifa.hawaii.edu/~barnes/ast241 Tuesday, August 21, 2012 Astrophysics BS Degree Proposal in ASTR PHYS MATH CHEM preparation FALL 241 251A 161, 171 or 181 year 1 161L, 171L, or 181L SPRING 170 242 252A 162 year 1 170L 162L Foundations of Astrophysics I: FALL 241 272 243 253A The Solar System year 2 272L Foundations of Astrophysics II: SPRING 242 274 244 Galaxies & Stars year 2 274L Observational Astronomy & FALL 300 310 311 (or 307?) Laboratory year 3 300L 350 SPRING 301 311 Observational Project year 3 450 FALL 423 480 Stellar Astrophysics year 4 495 SPRING 496 481 Senior Project I, II year4 485 1 of: ASTR 320, 426, or 430 Tuesday, August 21, 2012 Units Text uses MKS units (meter, kilo-gram, second); e.g. G ≃ 6.674 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2 (gravitational constant). Astronomers also use non-standard units: AU ≃ 1.496 × 1011 m (“average” Earth-Sun distance) 30 M⊙ ≃ 1.989 × 10 kg (Sun’s mass) yr ≃ 3.156 × 107 s (Earth’s orbital period) Tuesday, August 21, 2012 Order of Magnitude & Dimensional Analysis: An Example Given that Jupiter’s average density is slightly greater than water, estimate the orbital period of a satellite circling just above the planet. -
Practical Calculations for Designing a Newtonian Telescope
Practical Calculations for Designing a Newtonian Telescope Jeff Beish (Rev. 07 February 2019) INTRODUCTION A Newtonian reflecting telescope can be designed to perform more efficiently than any other type of optical system, if one is careful to follow the laws of nature. One must have optics made from precision Pyrex or a similar material and figured to a high quality. The mounting hardware must be well planned out and properly constructed using highest quality materials. The Newtonian can be used for visual or photographic work, for "deep sky" or "planetary" observing, or a combination of all these. They are easy to layout and to construct using simple household tools. The design mathematics is simple and can be easily accomplished by hand calculator. The Newtonian reflector can be easily modified for other types of observing such a photometry, photography, CCD imaging, micrometer work, and more. Since a reflecting telescope does not suffer for chromatic aberration we don't have to worry about focusing each color while observing or photographing with filters as we would in a single or double lens refractor. This is a problem especially associated with photography. Since the introduction of the relatively low cost Apochromatic refractors (APO) in the past few years these problems no longer hamper the astrophotographer as much. However, the cost of large APO's for those requiring large apertures is prohibitive to most of us who require instruments above 12 or so inches. Remember, even with the highest quality optics a Newtonian can be rendered nearly useless by tube currents, misaligned components, mirror stain, and a secondary mirror too large for the application of the instrument. -
A Philosophical and Historical Analysis of Cosmology from Copernicus to Newton
University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2017 Scientific transformations: a philosophical and historical analysis of cosmology from Copernicus to Newton Manuel-Albert Castillo University of Central Florida Part of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Castillo, Manuel-Albert, "Scientific transformations: a philosophical and historical analysis of cosmology from Copernicus to Newton" (2017). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 5694. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/5694 SCIENTIFIC TRANSFORMATIONS: A PHILOSOPHICAL AND HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF COSMOLOGY FROM COPERNICUS TO NEWTON by MANUEL-ALBERT F. CASTILLO A.A., Valencia College, 2013 B.A., University of Central Florida, 2015 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the department of Interdisciplinary Studies in the College of Graduate Studies at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Fall Term 2017 Major Professor: Donald E. Jones ©2017 Manuel-Albert F. Castillo ii ABSTRACT The purpose of this thesis is to show a transformation around the scientific revolution from the sixteenth to seventeenth centuries against a Whig approach in which it still lingers in the history of science. I find the transformations of modern science through the cosmological models of Nicholas Copernicus, Johannes Kepler, Galileo Galilei and Isaac Newton. -
European Astroparticle Physics Strategy 2017-2026 Astroparticle Physics European Consortium
European Astroparticle Physics Strategy 2017-2026 Astroparticle Physics European Consortium August 2017 European Astroparticle Physics Strategy 2017-2026 www.appec.org Executive Summary Astroparticle physics is the fascinating field of research long-standing mysteries such as the true nature of Dark at the intersection of astronomy, particle physics and Matter and Dark Energy, the intricacies of neutrinos cosmology. It simultaneously addresses challenging and the occurrence (or non-occurrence) of proton questions relating to the micro-cosmos (the world decay. of elementary particles and their fundamental interactions) and the macro-cosmos (the world of The field of astroparticle physics has quickly celestial objects and their evolution) and, as a result, established itself as an extremely successful endeavour. is well-placed to advance our understanding of the Since 2001 four Nobel Prizes (2002, 2006, 2011 and Universe beyond the Standard Model of particle physics 2015) have been awarded to astroparticle physics and and the Big Bang Model of cosmology. the recent – revolutionary – first direct detections of gravitational waves is literally opening an entirely new One of its paths is targeted at a better understanding and exhilarating window onto our Universe. We look of cataclysmic events such as: supernovas – the titanic forward to an equally exciting and productive future. explosions marking the final evolutionary stage of massive stars; mergers of multi-solar-mass black-hole Many of the next generation of astroparticle physics or neutron-star binaries; and, most compelling of all, research infrastructures require substantial capital the violent birth and subsequent evolution of our infant investment and, for Europe to remain competitive Universe. -
Physics of the Atom
Physics of the Atom Ernest The Nobel Prize in Chemistry 1908 Rutherford "for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances" Niels Bohr The Nobel Prize in Physics 1922 "for his services in the investigation of the structure of atoms and of the radiation emanating from them" W. Ubachs – Lectures MNW-1 Early models of the atom atoms : electrically neutral they can become charged positive and negative charges are around and some can be removed. popular atomic model “plum-pudding” model: W. Ubachs – Lectures MNW-1 Rutherford scattering Rutherford did an experiment that showed that the positively charged nucleus must be extremely small compared to the rest of the atom. Result from Rutherford scattering 2 dσ ⎛ 1 Zze2 ⎞ 1 = ⎜ ⎟ ⎜ ⎟ 4 dΩ ⎝ 4πε0 4K ⎠ sin ()θ / 2 Applet for doing the experiment: http://www.physics.upenn.edu/courses/gladney/phys351/classes/Scattering/Rutherford_Scattering.html W. Ubachs – Lectures MNW-1 Rutherford scattering the smallness of the nucleus the radius of the nucleus is 1/10,000 that of the atom. the atom is mostly empty space Rutherford’s atomic model W. Ubachs – Lectures MNW-1 Atomic Spectra: Key to the Structure of the Atom A very thin gas heated in a discharge tube emits light only at characteristic frequencies. W. Ubachs – Lectures MNW-1 Atomic Spectra: Key to the Structure of the Atom Line spectra: absorption and emission W. Ubachs – Lectures MNW-1 The Balmer series in atomic hydrogen The wavelengths of electrons emitted from hydrogen have a regular pattern: Johann Jakob Balmer W. Ubachs – Lectures MNW-1 Lyman, Paschen and Rydberg series the Lyman series: the Paschen series: W. -
An Overview of New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics About the National Academies
2020 VISION An Overview of New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics About the National Academies The National Academies—comprising the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine, and the National Research Council—work together to enlist the nation’s top scientists, engineers, health professionals, and other experts to study specific issues in science, technology, and medicine that underlie many questions of national importance. The results of their deliberations have inspired some of the nation’s most significant and lasting efforts to improve the health, education, and welfare of the United States and have provided independent advice on issues that affect people’s lives worldwide. To learn more about the Academies’ activities, check the website at www.nationalacademies.org. Copyright 2011 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America This study was supported by Contract NNX08AN97G between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Contract AST-0743899 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Science Foundation, and Contract DE-FG02-08ER41542 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Energy. Support for this study was also provided by the Vesto Slipher Fund. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the agencies that provided support for the project. 2020 VISION An Overview of New Worlds, New Horizons in Astronomy and Astrophysics Committee for a Decadal Survey of Astronomy and Astrophysics ROGER D. -
The Copernican Revolution (1957) Is a Decidedly Non-Revolutionary Astronomer Who Unwittingly Ignited a Conceptual Revolution in the European Worldview
Journal of Applied Cultural Studies vol. 1/2015 Stephen Dersley The Copernican Hypotheses Part 1 Summary. The Copernicus constructed by Thomas S. Kuhn in The Copernican Revolution (1957) is a decidedly non-revolutionary astronomer who unwittingly ignited a conceptual revolution in the European worldview. Kuhn’s reading of Copernicus was crucial for his model of science as a deeply conservative discourse, which presented in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (1962). This essay argues that Kuhn’s construction of Copernicus and depends on the suppression of the most radical aspects of Copernicus’ thinking, such as the assumptions of the Commentariolus (1509-14) and the conception of hypothesis of De Revolutionibus (1543). After comparing hypo- thetical thinking in the writings of Aristotle and Ptolemy, it is suggested that Copernicus’ concep- tual breakthrough was enabled by his rigorous use of hypothetical thinking. Keywords: N. Copernicus hypothesis, T. S. Kuhn, philosophy of science Stephen Dersley, University of Warwick, Faculty of Social Sciences Alumni, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom, e-mail: [email protected] Kuhn’s Paradigm n The Copernican Revolution, Thomas Kuhn was at pains to construct an image of ICopernicus as a decidedly non-revolutionary astronomer. Kuhn’s model of scientific revolutions, first embodied in The Copernican Revolution and then generalised to the status of a theory in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, conceives of science as be- 100 Stephen Dersley ing, for the majority of the time, a deeply conservative activity. In Kuhn’s model, scien- tists who are engaged in the business of doing every day scientific work do so at the behest of of a reigning paradigm that completely dictates their field of enquiry and functions as an imperceptible intellectual strait-jacket. -
Telescopes and Binoculars
Continuing Education Course Approved by the American Board of Opticianry Telescopes and Binoculars National Academy of Opticianry 8401 Corporate Drive #605 Landover, MD 20785 800-229-4828 phone 301-577-3880 fax www.nao.org Copyright© 2015 by the National Academy of Opticianry. All rights reserved. No part of this text may be reproduced without permission in writing from the publisher. 2 National Academy of Opticianry PREFACE: This continuing education course was prepared under the auspices of the National Academy of Opticianry and is designed to be convenient, cost effective and practical for the Optician. The skills and knowledge required to practice the profession of Opticianry will continue to change in the future as advances in technology are applied to the eye care specialty. Higher rates of obsolescence will result in an increased tempo of change as well as knowledge to meet these changes. The National Academy of Opticianry recognizes the need to provide a Continuing Education Program for all Opticians. This course has been developed as a part of the overall program to enable Opticians to develop and improve their technical knowledge and skills in their chosen profession. The National Academy of Opticianry INSTRUCTIONS: Read and study the material. After you feel that you understand the material thoroughly take the test following the instructions given at the beginning of the test. Upon completion of the test, mail the answer sheet to the National Academy of Opticianry, 8401 Corporate Drive, Suite 605, Landover, Maryland 20785 or fax it to 301-577-3880. Be sure you complete the evaluation form on the answer sheet. -
BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMY* by W.M. O'neil Though the Modern Western
o BABYLONIAN ASTRONOMY* By W.M. O'Neil Though the modern western world had heard of the Chaldaeans in the Old Testament as soothsayers and astrologers and students of Hellenistic astronomy knew of references to Babylonian observations of eclipses and the like, it is only during the last three quarters of a century but especially during the last half century that modern scholars, following the decipherment of the cuneiform writing on clay tablets, have begun to reveal the richness of Babylonian astronomy. They have, however, a long way yet to go. First, only a fraction of the materials scattered throughout the western world have been studied and interpreted. Fragments of the one tablet are sometimes in different museums; this adds to the difficulty. Second, the materials are usually fragmentary: a few pages torn from a book as it were or even only a few parts of pages (See Plate 1). Otto Neugebauer, perhaps the greatest scholar recently working on Babylonian astronomy, says that it is impossible yet to write an adequate history of Babylonian astronomy and suggests that it may never be possible. How many of the needed basic texts have crumbled into dust after acquisition by small museums unable to give them the needed care? , how many are lying unstudied in the multitudinous collections in the Middle East, in Europe and in North America? or are still lying in the ground?, are questions to which the answers are unknown. Nevertheless, through the work of Neugebauer, his predecessors and younger scholars taking over from him, some outlines of the history and the methods of Babylonian astronomy are becoming clearer. -
Bohr's Theory and Spectra of Hydrogen And
____________________________________________________________________________________________________ Subject Chemistry Paper No and Title 8 and Physical Spectroscopy Module No and Title 7 and Bohr’s theory and spectra of hydrogen and hydrogen- like ions. Module Tag CHE_P8_M7 CHEMISTRY PAPER No. : 8 (PHYSICAL SPECTROSCOPY) MODULE No. : 7 (BOHR’S THEORY AND SPECTRA OF HYDROGEN AND HYDROGEN-LIKE IONS) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Learning Outcomes 2. What is a Spectrum? 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Atomic Spectra 2.3 Hydrogen Spectrum 2.4 Balmer Series 2.5 The Rydberg Formula 3. Bohr’s Theory 3.1 Bohr Model 3.2 Line Spectra 3.3 Multi-electron Atoms 4. Summary CHEMISTRY PAPER No. : 8 (PHYSICAL SPECTROSCOPY) MODULE No. : 7 (BOHR’S THEORY AND SPECTRA OF HYDROGEN AND HYDROGEN-LIKE IONS) ____________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1. Learning Outcomes After studying this module, you should be able to grasp the important ideas of Bohr’s Theory of the structure of atomic hydrogen. We will first review the experimental observations of the atomic spectrum of hydrogen, which led to the birth of quantum mechanics. 2. What is a Spectrum? 2.1 Introduction In spectroscopy, we are interested in the absorption and emission of radiation by matter and its consequences. A spectrum is the distribution of photon energies coming from a light source: • How many photons of each energy are emitted by the light source? Spectra are observed by passing light through a spectrograph: • Breaks the light into its component wavelengths and spreads them apart (dispersion). • Uses either prisms or diffraction gratings. The absorption and emission of photons are governed by the Bohr condition ΔE = hν. -
The Copernican Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, and The
The Copernican Revolution, the Scientific Revolution, and the Mechanical Philosophy Conor Mayo-Wilson University of Washington Phil. 401 January 19th, 2017 2 Prediction and Explanation, in particular, the role of mathematics, causation, primary and secondary qualities, microsctructure in prediction and explanation, and 3 Empirical Theories, in particular, the place of the earth in the solar system, the composition of matter, and the causes of terrestial and celestial motion. We're on our way to meeting goal three, but we've got two more to go ::: Course Goals By the end of the quarter, students should be able to explain in what ways the mechanical philosophers agreed and disagreed with Aristotle and scholastics about 1 Epistemology, in particular, the role of testimony, authority, experiment, and logic as sources of knowledge, 3 Empirical Theories, in particular, the place of the earth in the solar system, the composition of matter, and the causes of terrestial and celestial motion. We're on our way to meeting goal three, but we've got two more to go ::: Course Goals By the end of the quarter, students should be able to explain in what ways the mechanical philosophers agreed and disagreed with Aristotle and scholastics about 1 Epistemology, in particular, the role of testimony, authority, experiment, and logic as sources of knowledge, 2 Prediction and Explanation, in particular, the role of mathematics, causation, primary and secondary qualities, microsctructure in prediction and explanation, and Course Goals By the end of the quarter, -
Chapter 2: the Copernican Revolution
1 Name________________________ Unit 2: The Copernican Revolution Vocabulary: Define each term below in a complete sentence on a separate sheet of paper. (Terms that are *, please illustrate) Cosmology Retrograde Motion* Geocentric* Epicycle* Deferent* Ptolemaic Model* Heliocentric* Copernican Revolution Ellipse* Focus* Semi-major axis* Eccentricity Perihelion* Aphelion* Sidereal orbital period Escape Velocity* Inertia Mass Newtonian Mechanics Gravitational Field Stonehenge* Acceleration Gravity* A. Ancient Astronomy 1.Where is Stonehenge? When and who built it? -Salisbury Plain, _______________ -Began 2800-finished __________ B.C. -took 1700 years 2.What was Stonehenge’s purpose? -3-dimensional ____________________, for religious and agriculture purposes -brought in large boulders (up to 50 tons) from miles away 3. What ancient cultures were accomplished in ancient astronomy? -Mayans- ____________Temple in Mexico- used for human sacrifices when the planet Venus appeared -Plains Indians- Big Horn Medicine Wheel, ____________________ -Chinese- 12th century, kept accurate records of comets, and a ‘guest star’ later known as a supernova, visible during the __________ -Muslims- a vital link between ancient Greece and the Renaissance (dark ages), saved astronomical data, developed trigonometry, names stars such as Rigel, _____________ and Vega B. The Geocentric Universe 1.What Greek word is the word planet derived from, why did they get this name? -________________—meandering wanderer, stay close to ecliptic, why? 2. Explain the difference between retrograde and prograde motion: -Prograde motion- ___________________ -Retrograde motion- _____________________ 3. What did Aristotle mean by a geocentric universe? -Geo= Earth -___________________________ 4. How was the geocentric Earth explained by epicycle and deferent? -_____________- small orbits -______________- larger orbits C. Model of the Solar System 1.Who was Nicholas Copernicus? -______________________- rediscovered heliocentric model from ancient Greece-Aristarchus 2.