The Astronomy Masterclass.
141
An Introduction to Practical Astronomy
- Use a telescope
- Be able to aim a telescope
- Be able to set up a telescope
- Understand how it works
So what can we expect to see?
What will we realistically be able to see?
So how do you know where to look?
It's full of stars – Session 1
The Past
Want to have fun? Come over to my house. You stand in the back yard, I'll stand in the front, you throw a tennis ball over my roof and I'll try to hit it with a rock as it comes sailing over. That's what we're going to have to do.
Whoopee! Man, that may have been a small one for Neil, but it's a long one for me
From the Earth to the Moon – Session 2
Celestial Wanderers – Session 3
The gas giant planets are not as interesting as the smaller rocky bodies of the solar system.
"Recreating" the Big Bang - Session 4
Why won't we be able to see most of the pretty stuff?
Why are we not blinded by the light from all the stars??!
Hubble's data proved that the universe was expanding - and an expanding finite universe must have a beginning.
As far as physics is concerned there is no difference between Light, Heat, Tables, Books, Cars and Energy
To find out what it was like at the start of the universe - we need to replicate the extremely high energy/mass densities.
The standard model
88 Miles per Hour! - Session 5
Why don’t we understand everything? I thought scientists were clever.
So why don’t we understand everything yet?
Follow the sequence
2
4
6
8
11
Our best theories are only approximations to the truth…
For example in chemistry…
According to current models - the Universe should not exist.
To understand why we need rewind to 1880…
There is nothing new to be discovered in physics now. All that remains is more and more precise measurement
X-rays will prove to be a hoax
Radio has no future
I can state flatly that heavier than air flying machines are impossible
Relativity - The story of the BIG and FAST
As you watch someone move fast you see time go slowly for them
The same is also true of gravity – if you see someone in a strong gravity field then you will see time appear to move slowly for them.
Black Holes
In the universe the concept of TIME as we understand it means very little at all!
Quantum Mechanics The Story of the SMALL
QM is vitally important for the smallest things as sometimes the "fuzziness" is about the size of the object itself.
The current laws which we, the human race, have pieced together do NOT fully describe the universe!
They are a very close fit in most circumstances – but in some they don’t work at all.
Close is often good enough
But sometimes it just doesn't cut it
When looking at the big bang (which was very heavy and very small) we are forced to use both theories - and the result is meaningless.
Our best theories seem to be poor guesses at a much deeper truth.
Our law of Gravity looks like just a rough stab at the true law!
In the 130 years since Lord Kelvin's amazingly arrogant statement we have come a long way and most of physics has been re-written.
Who is to say this wont continue…
Alien Life – Session 6
According to a Gallup poll done at the end of the twentieth century, about one-third of Americans believe aliens have visited us, an increase of 5% over the previous decade.
Results 1 - 10 of about 1,680,000 for alien abduction
The human mind is not a perfect recorder of events…
"...despite the fact that we humans are great collectors of souvenirs, not one of these persons [claiming to have been aboard a flying saucer] has brought back so much as an extraterrestrial tool or artefact, which could, once and for all, resolve the UFO mystery."
Within our solar system astronomers are pretty much certain there are NO other intelligent civilizations other than our own – in fact there probably has never been life elsewhere than on our own planet.
- Aliens Don’t Exist
- Aliens Do exist but decide to steer well clear of us
- Aliens Do exist but don’t have the capability to communicate with us
- Aliens Do exist but we are not advanced enough to detect them
S.E.T.I.
In this room are hidden 8 pieces of RED card – find them all and put them together to reassemble the full piece.
How long would you have to seach before you decided it wasnt there?
Within your lifetimes it is likely that if Aliens exist in our galaxy we will find them…
Astronomy Masterclass
Written by Andrew Jackson
a.j@cantab.net
7 x 7 = 50
2 + 2 = 5
1000 bazillion years
4y x 3y = -1
1 hour
10 hours
1 second
5 hours
10 hours
Clive Anderson talks back - Channel 4 - 1993
Roswell - 1947
- Pioneers 10 and 11
- Launched late 70’s
- Now a very long way from the sun
- Something is pulling them back towards the sun and no-one knows what it is.
The Elegant Universe - PBS - 2003
10
War of the worlds – by HG wells –
Book, 1898
Radio, 1938
Feature film 1953/2005
Black Holes
General Relativity
Time Travel
Niels Bohr
String Theory
Space-Time
Quantum Mechanics
Mimas - Saturnian System
Mercury
Neptune
Models are used in cosmology too, and sometimes we find things that our current models cant explain.
Venus
Popular culture views of aliens have changed dramatically over the last 50 years
Ranger 7 - 1964
Venus
Saturn
Io
Luna 9 - 1966
Titan - Saturnian System
Gemini - 1962-6
Rendezvous
Duration
Re-Entry
Friday, 27 January 1967
Canada - Earth
Europa – outside the habitable zone but still a possible place for life
Apollo 1
Gus Grissom
Ed White
Roger Chaffee
Apollo 8 - Dec 1968
Apollo 7
Apollo 9
Apollo 10
Charlie Brown and Snoopy
Jupiter
Europa
Apollo 12
Intrepid and
Yankee Clipper
The far side of the moon
Only 12 people have stood on the surface of the moon.
The last footprints were left many decades ago.
BBC - The Planets - Episode 8
Betty Hill - 1961
Uranus
Olympus Mons - Mars
Tycho Crater
Carl Sagan
Albert Einstein
From the Earth to the Moon - HBO 1998
The Big Bang Theory - Warner Bros.
Deep underground near the city of Geneva there is a very very big experiment aimed at solving some of the biggest questions in physics.
The Big Bang Theory - Warner Bros.
C.E.R.N.
The Moon
(1928-1997)
Eugene Shoemaker
Saturn
Aristarchus
Heinrich Olbers
The Future
The telescopes are VERY delicate and expensive pieces of equipment.
So please be careful when using them!
- Invented by Hans Lippershey
- He got no credit for it – Galileo Galilei “invented” it 1 year later and got the credit for it.
- Worked on the basis of two lenses.
Stonehenge
Stars
Back to the Future - Universal Pictures 1985
Stuff IS Energy
Middle Ages
The Pyramids of Egypt
The big bang is often misunderstood...
Edwin Hubble
Energy IS Mass
Lord Kelvin
Mythbusters - Discovery Channel 2010
What was it like
at the start?
Tau
Electron
Every Particle has an Anti Particle
Heinrich Olbers
Neutrinos
Muon
Neutron
Toy Story 2 - Walt Disney Pictures 1999