Astronomy 1010

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Astronomy 1010

• Survey of Astronomy
• Prof. Jon BjorkmanFall 2004

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The Golden Age of Astronomy is Now

• New Technology
• Much larger telescopes
• More sensitive detectors
• Major New Discoveries
• New findings in all areas
• Prompting revisions of our view of the Universe

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Gemini South
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InsideGemini South
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Space Based Observatories

• Opening up new wavelengths for astronomy
• Infrared, ultraviolet, x-ray, gamma-ray
• Outstanding detail can be seen above atmosphere
• Spacecraft make better observations of planets
  and solar system objects

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Hubble Space Telescope
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Solar System Exploration

• Major missions to planets
• Galileo (Jupiter), Cassini (Saturn)
• MGS, Pathfinder, Odyssey, Mars Rovers (Mars)
• Solar Observatories
• SOHO, Yohkoh, TRACE
• Smaller objects visited
• Asteroids, comets

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Mars Expedition Rover - Spirit
NASA/JPL
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Jupiters Moon Io
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The Birth of Stars

• Seeing how clouds of gas collapse
• Stars form in dense knots
• Planets form in the leftovers

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M16 The Eagle Nebula
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M16
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The Deaths of Stars

• Watching how stars end their lives
• Some (like our sun) end as planetary nebulae
• Leave behind a white dwarf star
• Some (massive stars) end as supernova explosions
• End up as neutron stars or black holes

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Ring Nebula
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Cosmic Recycling
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