FDC Astro Resumen

Download as pdf or txt
Download as pdf or txt
You are on page 1of 19

(Basic principles of) Astronomy

Fsica del Cosmos. Academic year 2017-2018.


Prof. Nstor Snchez

(1) General description. Astronomical objects.


(2) Photometry. Magnitudes. Colours.
(3) Stellar spectroscopy. Spectral classification.
(4) HR diagram. Star evolution.

Recommended lectures:
Frank Shu, The Physical Universe: An Introduction to Astronomy (University
Science Books, 1982)
Hannu Kartunnen et al., Fundamental Astronomy (Springer, 1996)
Astronomical objects (branches)

Stars: main sequence stars (like the Sun), giants and supergiants, white
dwarfs, brown dwarfs.
Compact stars: neutron stars and black holes.
Binary or multiple systems. Variable stars.
Open clusters. Globular clusters.
Solar system: Sun, planets (dwarf planets, asteroids), satellites, small or
minor bodies (comets, meteoroids, interplanetary dust, solar wind).
Interstellar medium (gas and dust). Interstellar clouds (different types).
Galaxies (like our Milky Way). Ellipticals. Spirals. Irregulars. Interacting.
Active galaxies (AGN). Quasars. Extragalactic Astronomy.
Clusters of galaxies (like the Local group). Superclusters.
Large-scale structure of the Universe Cosmology.
Photometric concepts

Specific intensity:
the energy flowing across an element
of area dA, in time dt, within the solid
angle d, in the frequency interval
+d

d E =I cos dA d d dt
( W m2 Hz1 sr 1 )
( erg cm2 s1 Hz1 sr 1 )

c
I =I
2
( I :erg cm2 s1 A1 sr1 )

Total intensity (integrating over all frequencies):



I =0 I d ( erg cm2 s1 sr 1 )
Monochromatic flux density (integrating over all possible directions):
F =all directions I cos d ( erg cm2 s1 Hz1 )

Total flux density (all frequencies and directions):


F =all directions I cos d ( erg cm2 s1 )

In Astronomy, terms such as specific intensity or flux density are almost


never used.
Monochromatic flux density is usually called intensity.
Total flux density Flux (erg cm-2 s-1).

For isotropic radiation: F =0


but the radiation leaving the surface is F = I

Luminosity: total amount of energy per unit time (emitted by an object)


Luminosity at a frequency : L ( erg s1 )
For a source radiating isotropically (for example, a normal star):
L=4 r 2 F

The monochromatic specific intensity emitted by a black body (Plancks law):


2 hc 2 1
B (T )= 5
exp(hc / k B T )1

in this case (StefanBoltzmann law): F BB= T 4

Astronomers use black body radiation to estimate the effective temperature of


stars:
L=4 R 2 T 4e
being R the stellar radius.

In this case the Wiens displacement law is also valid:


max T =0.29(cm K )
Apparent magnitude:
Astronomers dont use the observed flux density (F) but the magnitude (m) to
measure the brightness of a star.

Hipparchos:
m=1 (the brightest stars)
m=6 (the faintest ones, visible to the naked eye)

Current definition: lets define m=0 for some preselected flux F0:
F
m=2.5 log
F0

So, if two stars have magnitudes m1 and m2:


F1
m1m2=2.5 log
F2

Important note:
The brighter an object appears, the lower its magnitude value (inverse relation!).
Some examples:
Sirius, the brightest star: m=-1.5
The (full) moon: m=-12.5
The Sun: m=-26.8
The faintest observed magnitude: m~30

If we were able to measure the total m over all the wavelengths we would get the
bolometric magnitude mbol. In practice, astronomers use photometric systems
(set of well-defined filters), as the Johnson-Morgan UBVRI photometric system or
the Stromgrens four-colour or uvby system.

Then, instead of m we have, for instance, mV


or mB (in this case can be just V or B) or, in general, m
Colour index (or colour): difference of two magnitudes.
For instance, B-V or u-g.

Absolute magnitude.

Apparent magnitudes do not tell us anything about the true brightness of stars.
Absolute magnitude does measure the intrinsic brightness of a star: it is defined
as the apparent magnitude at a distance of 10 parsecs from the star.

Parallax: the apparent displacement of an object because of a change in the


observer's point of view.

If the parallax of a star is one arcsec, then it is at one parsec from us!
Parsec comes from parallax and arcsec (easy to remember)

If the distance D is in pc and the parallax is in arcsec: D=1/

For example: Alpha Centauri has a parallax of 0.742 arcsec D=1.35 pc.
Smallest parallax from ground: 0.01 arcsec (100 pc) Galactic center ~ 8 kpc
Hipparcos satellite (1989): 0.001 arcsec (1000 pc)
GAIA mission (2013): <200 as (?) >5000 pc (to be confirmed)

Distances in Astronomy are (almost always) in parsecs (pc).


1 pc = 3.26 light-years = 2.6x105 AU.
At larger scales: kpc, Mpc, Gpc.

Back to the absolute magnitude:


The absolute magnitude M of a star with apparent magnitude m is:
r
M=m5 log
10 pc
(note capital and non-capital letters)

The quantity m-M is called the distance modulus, it gives (or it is related to) the
star distance:
r
mM =5 log
10 pc
ISM produces extinction and reddening of the light coming from stars.

Extinction.

Extinction is the absorption and scattering of electromagnetic radiation by dust


and gas between an emitting astronomical object and the observer.
r
In a completely empty space we would have mM =5 log ,
10 pc
but the ISM is not empty and part of the radiation will be lost. Then, we re-write:
r
mM =5 log +A
10 pc
being A the total extinction in magnitudes due to the ISM.

This holds both for the bolometric magnitude and for the magnitude in a given
photometric band, for instance:
r
V M V =5 log + AV
10 pc
here AV is the extinction in the V band.
Reddening (colour excess).

Blue light is scattered and absorbed more than red by the ISM: this implies a
reddening of the light, i.e., B-V increases (and other colours).
r r
BM B =5 log + A B and V M V =5 log + AV
10 pc 10 pc

Thus, the observed B-V color index is:


BV =M B M V + A B A V BV =(BV )0 + E BV
or, in other words,
E BV =(BV )( BV )0
is the colour excess, that is the difference between the observed colour and the
intrinsic colour.

It has been shown that, on average for our Galaxy, A V 3.0 E BV .

Important note: observed total extinction includes local extinction from the
source, ISM extinction and atmospheric extinction!!!
Stellar spectral classification

Spectroscopy:
Star light (point) objective prism or slit spectrograph spectrum (spread)

Stellar spectroscopy is the most powerful tool for understanding the physics of
stars.

Hot and dense lower photosphere of a


star produces a continuous spectrum, but
the thinner upper atmosphere generates
absorption lines. Different lines come
from different elements in the stellar
atmosphere.
Stellar spectra can be used to distinguish among different types of stars!
Spectral classification of stars.

Spectral Sequence: O B A F G K M (and L T for brown dwarfs) and it includes


subtypes (0-9).
Example (Vega spectrum): ST=A0V, B-V=0
Important: the spectral sequence is a temperature sequence!!
Stellar spectroscopy give us:
Temperature, colour, luminosity, reddening, absolute magnitude (distance),
from the spectral type.
Photospheric chemical abundances (metallicity), from spectral lines.
Radial velocity, from the Doppler shift.
Stellar rotation, from line broadening.
Etc
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

The HertzsprungRussell diagram (HR diagram or HRD) shows the relationship


between stars absolute magnitudes (or luminosities) versus their spectral types
(or effective temperatures, or colours).

Luminosity classes
Main sequence stellar parameters:
HRD traces the evolution of stars.

ISM: diffuse (HII)


neutral (HI)
molecular (H2)

ISM GMC
(Giant Molecular Cloud Complexs)

(1) Cloud collapse


- If Mc > MJ (Jean mass).
- Cloud fragmentation:
because Jean mass is ~1/density
- Formation of dense cores

(2) Star formation


Cores protostars
Protostars Pre-main-sequence (PMS) stars
PMS stars Mass Accretion Stars
(3) Main sequence
phase.

L ~ M3.8 ~ M4
T(life) = E/L ~ M-3

(4) Post-main sequence phase.


HR diagram of star clusters.

Open (galactic) clusters: ~102 stars, irregular, confined to galactic plane, young
Globular clusters: ~102-6 stars, spherical, in the galactic halo, old
Stellar associations: gravitationally unbound (similar proper motions).

HRD Colour magnitude diagram (CMD).

Example of open cluster: Pleiades, Hyades

Turn-off point indicates the age!

D(Hyades)~150 ly < D(Pleiades)~440 ly


T(Hyades)~600 Myr > T(Pleiades)~100 Myr

NS.

You might also like