Caragan Vincent M

MWF: 9:30-10-30

Astronomy

The branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as
a whole.
In ancient times, observation of the sun, moon, stars, and planets formed
the basis oftimekeeping and navigation. Astronomy was greatly furthered by
the invention of the opticaltelescope, but modern observations are made in all parts of
the spectrum, including X-ray andradio
frequencies, using terrestrial and orbiting instruments and space probes.
The definition of astronomy is the scientific study of matter outside of the atmosphere of
the Earth including stars, planets and what they are made of and how they move.

History of Astronomy
Astronomy is the oldest of the sciences. When Stoneage humans turned to an agrarian way of life
and began to settle into communities, their interest must naturally have turned to the "heavens":
1. The seasons became important; during different times of the year, different stellar
patterns appear in the sky. In the spring, Virgo and her accompanying constellations
signal the time to prepare the earth, to plant crops, and to be wary of floods. In the
fall, Orion rises to indicate time to harvest and to prepare for winter.
2. The approximate equivalence of the human menstrual cycle and the 30 day orbital period
of the Moon which produces lunar phases led to the belief that the heavens, and the Moon
in particular, were related to fertility. (What is the Moon's phase right now?)
3. To early humans facing an uncertain and changeable future, the constancy of the heavens
must have suggested perfection and certainly led to deification in many cultures.
4. We may expect that eclipses would have been especially frightening to early humans.
After predicting the seasons, eclipse prediction may have been one of the earliest
astronomical activities.
Stonehenge, constructed between 3100-2000 BCE on England's Salisbury Plain, may have been
a Stoneage astronomical site (observatory is too strong a word), at least in part. Certainly the
alignment of the "heelstone" with the rising Sun on Midsummer's Day (June 21, the Summer
Solstice) represents a true astronomical alignment, and many other Megalithic sites have similar
alignments. In Stonehenge Decoded, astronomer Gerald Hawkins argued that there exist a large
number of astronomical alignments, though further study suggests that many of these are
fortuitous.

Cosmologist Fred Hoyle has suggested that Stonehenge may have been used to keep track of the
solar-lunar eclipse cycle. Far outside the still partially standing ring of Sarsen Stones is a ring of
56 holes, known as the Aubry holes. Hoyle has noted that movement of a marking stone by 3
positions each time the Sun rose over the heelstone (or by one position three times yearly) would
complete a circle in 18.67 years -- approximately the period for the "nodes", the intercepts of the
lunar and solar paths in the sky, to complete a cycle. Certainlyritual use of Stonehenge would
have been more important that its astronomical functions and much of this interpretation must
remain speculation. We may be certain, however, that Stonehenge was indeed constructed by
Stoneage humans without the assistance of alien astronauts as suggested in some pseudoscientific books. Visit the Complete Stonehenge
Eastern observers, notably the Chinese, kept careful track of events in the skies, particularly the
appearance of "guest stars" -- comets, novae and other transients. Chinese records of the guest
star that we now call Comet Halley can be traced back to 240 BCE and possibly as early as 1059
BCE. One of the most important Chinese records is of a guest star that was bright enough to be
seen during the daytime for nearly a month in the constellation that we call Taurus in July 1054.
We believe this to be the supernova explosion that gave rise to the Crab Nebula, and our
knowledge of the date of the explosion itself is a very important key in understanding the deaths
of massive stars. This event was also chronicled by the Anasazi in Chaco Canyon and by Native
Americans elsewhere, but is curiously absent from European records in the Middle Ages.
Names of Astronomers

18th Century, William Herschel discovered Uranus, a new planet beyond Jupiter.
Barely visible with the unaided eye, Herschel made the observation with his telescope .

Early in the 19th Century Adams (English) & LeVerrier (French) independently
calculated that there must be another planet beyond Uranus that was producing small
gravitational disturbances in Uranus' orbit. First observed in 1846 by Hohan Galle, it was
named Neptune. (It was actually spotted earlier by Challis in Cambridge, but Challis did
not note his discovery until Galle reported his observation.)

1930 Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto.

1910 Harlow Shapley estimated the size of the Milky Way.

W. H.Pickering and Annie J. Cannon calculated the surface temperatures of the stars.

Einstein (1905) developed the Theory of Special Relativity, based upon the idea that light
travels at the same speed in all frames of reference. Modified Newton's Theory of Gravity
by developing the General Theory of Relativity (1916).

Cecilia Payne-Gaposchkin & Henry Norris Russell determined the composition of stars.

1924 Edwin Hubble established that the Andromeda nebula and other "spiral nebulae" are
star systems like the Milky Way at great distances.

1929 Hubble & Milton Humason discovered that the Universe is expanding.

1938 Hans Bethe determined that the Sun's energy comes from thermonuclear fusion
reactions.

1940s Karl Jansky observed that the nucleus of the Milky Way and other celestial objects
are strong sources of Radio Waves in 1931. Based on radar technology developed in
WWII, Radio Astronomy becomes an active field in the late 1940s.

1948 George Gamov developed the Hot Big Bang Theory of the origin of the Universe.

1950's chemical composition of the stars; stars build the heavy elements via nuclear
fusion reactions, mapped out in a famous paper by Burbidge, Burbidge, Fowler & Hoyle.
Instrument of Astronomers

Forty-foot Telescope, was constructed in the early 60s for

the purpose of determining if radio sources are variable. As
far as we know, it was the first completely automated
telescope. After sitting idle for nearly 2 decades, the 40'
was recommissioned in 1987 as an educational telescope.
Students ranging from 5th graders to graduate students use
the telescope to investigate the radio universe. RARE
CATS teachers complete extensive research projects using
the 40', and Chautauqua Short Couse participants have
access as well. In addition, amateur astronomers routinely
make use of this telescope.

Meade ETX-90 is a small 3.5 inch scope which has excellent optics
and an easy-to-use computer controller. Once the telescope is
aligned with one star, so that it knows where it is pointing in the
sky, the computer can be used to find any object in a computer
catalog. For example, when the user simply punches in "GO TO
M33", the telescope automatically moves to the Andromeda
Galaxy. This makes the telescope a perfect option to use in visits to
schools and star parties. The following photograph is courtesy
of Meade.

SBIG ST-6 CCD camera is the instrument used to take

photographs you can find on the StarTeach Pictures page. A CCD
camera, or charge-coupled device, is a detector that uses a photosensitive silicon chip made of an array of pixels that absorb light.
The photons gathered by the pixels during an exposure are
converted into electrons, so that a charge proportional to the
amount of light hitting the detector is recorded and transformed
into a light image on the computer screen. CCD cameras are
much more sensitive to light than cameras with regular film.

Optical Telescopes -- The purpose of a telescope is to

collect light and then to have the image magnified. The
larger the telescope's main light-collecting element,
whether lens or mirror, the more light is collected. It is the
total amount of light collected that ultimately determines
the level of detail. All optical telescopes fall into one of
three classes (see Figure 01). In the refracting telescope,
light is collected by a 2-element objective lens and brought
to a focal plane. By contrast the reflecting telescope uses a
concave mirror for this purpose. The mirror-lens, or
catadioptric, telescope employes a combination of both
mirrors and lenses, resulting in a shorter, more portable
optical tube assembly.

Celestron CG-11 is a big yet portable 11 inch scope that is used by

the University of Nevada, Reno Astronomy Outreach Program. This
telescope offers amazingly detailed views of the planets and faint
nebulae and galaxies. After aligning with the North Star and another
star, the computer control device can be used to find any object in the
sky

QUaD an acronym for QUEST at DASI, is a ground based cosmic

microwave backrground (CMB)polarization experiment located at
the South Pole. QUEST (Q and U Extragalactic Sub-mm Telescope)
was the original name attributed to the bolometer detector
instrument, while DASI is a famous
CMBinterferometry experiment credited with the first detection of
CMB polarization. QUaD uses the existing DASI mechanical
infrastructure but replaces the DASI interferometric array with a
bolometer detector at the end of a cassegrain optical system.

The Planck satellite telescope

That is not to say terrestrial experiments will not have their place.
After Creidhes talk, another member of the Maynooth group,
Stephen Scully, gave a brief overview of the teams work on
the QUBIC experiment. This is a new type of the bolometric
interferometer that will be used in the next generation of terrestrial
measurements at the South Pole.

The Leviathan telescope at Birr castle

There were a great many interesting talks over the two days of the
meeting (see program here), but I was there to catch The Search
for Polarization Fluctuations in the Cosmic Microwave
Background by Creidhe OSullivan of NUI Maynooth. Creidhe
started with a basic overview of the cosmic microwave background
(CMB), explaining its importance as evidence in support of the big
bang model and describing the measurements of temperature
fluctuations in the radiation by the COBE and WMAP satellites.