Astronomy 1021 Lecture 15: Nov 1 - Astronomy (Beginning of Term Two) ** LOTS OF GRAPHICS
1 Nov 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Constellation of the week: cepheus: (cid:862)house(cid:863) shape, greek mythology: King of ancient aethiopia, husband of cassiopeia and father of. Solar system & telescopes: all three techniques used in study of solar system: Timing: major focus in last year or so. Measuring distance: kepler gave us relative distances, transit of venus helped give absolute distances, today use spacecraft data and radar. Measuring sizes: telescopes: can measure the angular diameter or planets, with distance + angular size, we can know the actual size of planets. Measuring masses: observe moons going around planet, measure angular distances, orbits and periods, this information gives you pla(cid:374)et(cid:859)s (cid:373)ass, with the mass and radius, we can calculate average density. Figure 1: note that saturn would float in water! or earth orbit) Cheaper, can be used long-term and upgraded. Lots of new objects still to find. Can get closer to solar system objects: Take a long time to build, launch, travel.
