Constellations

& Stars

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S9ES -IIIj - 35
Show which
constellations may be
observed at different
times of the year
using models
 I. Constellations
 Group of stars that
appear to form a
pattern in the sky.

 88 recognized by
International
Astronomy Union
A. Zodiac
 Band of 12 constellations along the
ecliptic.
B. Ecliptic

• The plane of the Earth’s orbit around

the sun

• The apparent path that the sun (and

planets) appear to move along
against the star background.
Ecliptic
 C. Circumpolar
Constellations
 Can be seen all year long

 Never fully set below the horizon

 Appear to move counter clockwise around

Polaris

 Caused by Earth’s Rotation

Circumpolar Constellations
Star Trails
Examples of Circumpolar
Constellations

1. Ursa Major – The Big Bear

2. Ursa Minor – The Little Bear
3. Cassiopeia – Queen on Her
Throne
4. Draco- The Dragon
5. Cepheus- The King
 # of stars seen as circumpolar depends on the
observers latitude

 Further North the observer lives, the more

stars will appear circumpolar

 Earth turns west to east

 Sky appears to turn east to west

D. Ursa Major

 Best known constellation

 Common name is Big Dipper
 Pointer stars- front 2 stars of the Big Dipper
which point to Polaris (North Star)
II. Seasonal Changes in
Constellations
 Big Dipper
 In Fall: Low over northern horizon
 Spring: High overhead
 Cassiopeia
 In Fall: Straight overhead
 Spring: Low over northern horizon
Seasonal Change & Nightly
change of the Dippers
 III. Summer
Constellations
• 1st 3 bright stars that rise form the Summer
Triangle

1. Vega- in Lyra the Harp

2. Altair- in Aquilla the Eagle
3. Deneb – in Cygnus the Swan (Northern
Cross)
Summer Triangle
 IV. Most Famous Winter
Contellation
 Orion Contains:
1. Betelgeuse (Bet el jooz) a
bright red super giant star
found forming Orion’s
right shoulder
2. Rigel – a blue super giant:
7th brightest star in the
nighttime sky
 3 Stars of Orion’s Belt
 Can be used to find 2 other
constellations & a star cluster
1. Canis Major- (Big Dog)
follow the line made by the
3 stars of Orion’s belt down
to the left

–Sirius- the brightest star in the

nighttime sky is found in Canis Major
2. Taurus (the Bull)
 Follow the line made by Orion’s belt up & to
the right
 Aldebaran- Red star that is the eye of the bull
is the 13th brightest in the nighttime sky
3. Pleiades Star Cluster (7
sisters)
 Follow the line made by Orion’s belt up to
the right, go through Taurus to a clump of
stars to the right.
 Called Subaru in Japan – means “Unite”
V. Kinds of Stars

A. Red Giant - large red star at

least 10x diameter of the sun
 Old Stars
 Ex. Aldebaran
 The sun will swell into a
Red Giant when it is old
 B. Super Giant

 Largest of all stars 100x more luminous

 Explode as a Super Nova
 Can form Black Holes
 Ex. Betelgeuse, Rigel, Polaris
 C. Dwarf Stars

1. Less luminous
2. Very dense, mostly carbon
3. Tightly packed nuclei
4. Remains of a red giant that ran out of fuel
5. 1 cup full of star =20 tons or 5 elephants.
6. Most are red/orange/yellow
7. White dwarf is the exception to the color
8. Sun is a yellow dwarf
Size Comparison of Various
Stars
 VI. Variable Stars

 Change in brightness over regular periods of

time

 Ex. Cepheid Variables/Pulsating Stars Binary

Stars & Eclipsing Binary Stars
 A. Cepheid Variables/
Pulsating Stars
 Change in brightness as they expand &
contract

 Unequal balance between gravity & nuclear

fusion

 Ex. Polaris, Betelgeuse

 B. Binary Star Systems

 Two stars of unequal brightness revolving

around a center point
 Ex. Algol & its companion star in Perseus
 C. Eclipsing Binary Stars

 Two close stars that appear to be a single star

varying in brightness.
 The variation in brightness is due to one star
moving in front of or behind the other star.

Occurs because we see

the system on edge
instead of from above or
below
VII. Pulsars or Neutron
stars
A. Discovered in 1967 (LGM)
B. A distant heavenly object that emits rapid
pulses of light & radio waves
C. Formed when a Super Giant collapses;
Protons & Electrons are forced so close
together that they fuse and form only
neutrons
Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

"Twinkling Stars" are due to

Earth's atmosphere
 VIII. Life Cycle of a
Medium Mass Star

1. Nebula
2. Protostar
3. New/Stable State Star
4. Red Giant
5. Planetary Nebula
6. White Dwarf
7. Black Dwarf
 1. Nebulae (Plural of
Nebula)
 Space gas seen as faint glowing clouds
 Mostly hydrogen
 Star dust is extremely small, smaller than a
particle of smoke & widely separated, with
more than 300 ft. between individual
particles.
 Nebulae still hinder star gazing because they
absorb light which passes through them.
 Types of Nebulae

 Diffuse Nebula - gases glow from stars w/in

them

Ex. Nebula
found in
Sagittarius
 Types of Nebulae

 Dark Nebula - nebula

not near a bright star

 Ex. Horse Head Nebula

in Orion
 2. Protostar

 Shrinking gas balls, caused by a swirl of gas

forming dense areas.
 The gravity of the dense swirl in turn attracts
nearby gases so a ball forms.
 Nuclear fusion occurs & Helium is formed from
Hydrogen
 A new star is born in our galaxy every 18 days
3. Stable State Star
 Star that releases energy in enough force to
counter balance gravity
 Star stops contracting
 Also known as a main sequence star
 Ex. Sun
 4. Planetary Nebula

 The outer layers of the Red Giant puff out

more and more.
 The star loses gravitational hold on its outer
layers and they get pushed away by the
pressure exerted from solar winds
Planetary Nebula
5. White Dwarf

 Fuel is used up
 No nuclear fusion
occurring
 Remaining heat radiates
into space
 IX. Life Cycle of a Massive
Star

1. 1st three steps are

similar
2. Super Giant
3. Super Nova
4. Neutron Star / Pulsar
5. Black Hole
1. Super Giant

 Rare stars, largest of all

 100x more luminous
 Only stars with a lot of mass can become
super giants
 Some are almost as large as our entire solar
system
 Ex. Betelgeuse & Rigel
 2. Super Nova

 Explosion from a massive Super Giant

 Outer layer blasts away at end of Life Cycle
 Emits light, heat, X-rays, & neutrinos

 Leaves behind a neutron

star or black hole
 3. Neutron Star/ Pulsar

 The remains of a super nova

 Very small, super-dense star which is
composed mostly of tightly-packed neutrons
 Rapidly spinning leftovers of a star
 Emits energy in pulses
 4. Black Hole

 Occurs when a star's

remaining mass is
greater than three
times the mass
of the Sun
 Star contracts tremendously
 Incredibly dense with a gravitational field so
strong that even light cannot escape.
Life Cycle of a Massive
Star
 X. Distance to stars
A. The Sun is closest star to Earth
B. Takes light 8 minutes to reach Earth
C. Avg. distance:150,000,000Km = 1 AU
distance from Earth to the Sun
D. Next nearest star is Proxima Centauri
4.2 light years away; it can only be seen
in the southern hemisphere
E. Light year

• The distance light has traveled in a

year

• 9.5 x 1012 Km/yr

• Speed of light 300,000 Km /sec

 XI. Physical Properties of
Stars

A. Nuclear fusion supplies the energy for

stars
 Huge size & mass of a star means outer
layers press inward w/ tremendous
pressure
 Hydrogen ignites
 Star becomes a huge nuclear bomb
 Hydrogen nuclei combine to form Helium
B. Color of star depends on
surface temp.
1. Blue - hottest stars
Ex. Rigel in Orion; Vega in Lyra; Sirius
in Canis Major

2. Yellow - medium stars ex. Sun

3. Red - coolest stars

Ex. Betelgeuse in Orion, Antares the
heart of Scorpio, Aldebaran in Taurus
 C. Star size

-Varies, large range

Smallest can be
smaller than Earth

Largest may be 600,000,000 x Earth.

D. The Sun

• is an average star

• yellow in color

• 300,000 x the mass

of Earth
 XII. Luminosity

 Brightness of a star
 Depends on size & temperature
 Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram graphs
Absolute Magnitude (or Luminosity) vs.
Temperature of stars
 Shows the life cycle of stars
Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
A. Absolute Magnitude
• Measure of the amount of light it actually
gives off if all stars were placed a distance
of 32.6 light years away
• Lower # means brighter star
• Negative #’s are the brightest
• Ex. Sun = 4.75 Sirius = 1.4 Rigel = –7.0
Rigel’s the Brightest of the 3 listed if all were
lined up next to each other.
B. Apparent Magnitude
 A measure of the amount of light received on
Earth
 Stars below 0 are brightest
 Each magnitude differs by 2.5
 1st magnitude is 100 x brighter than 6th
magnitude
 Ex. Sun = – 26.8 Sirius = – 1.45
Full Moon –12 .6 Rigel = .11
 Sun is the brightest in our sky.
 XIII. Galaxies
 Systems containing millions or billions of
stars, gas, & dust held together by gravity
Ex. Milky Way
 There are great distances between galaxies
 The Milky Way belongs to a group or cluster
of galaxies called the local group
Spiral Galaxy Like the
Milky Way
Three major classes of
galaxies:
1. Elliptical - shaped like large ovals or
football shape
2. Spiral - pinwheel shaped; our sun is
on a spiral arm of the Milky Way
3. Irregular - many different shapes
that aren't like the other two
 XIV. Quasar

 Quasi stellar radio source

 Galaxies, very far away, with bright centers
 Thought to have a super massive black hole at
center
 Most luminous objects known to man
XV. Electromagnetic
Spectrum

 The arrangement of electromagnetic

radiation from Radio waves to Gamma waves
 Stars Emit:

1. Visible light
2. X-rays
3. Radio waves
4. Infrared waves
5. Ultraviolet waves
 Venus & Saturn by E-
spectrum

Ultra violet Visible Infrared Radio

Ultra violet Visible Infrared Radio

X-ray & Ultra Violet Image of
Sun
Visible, Infrared & Radio
Images of Sun
 A. Electromagnetic waves:

 Differ in wavelength & frequency

 All electromagnetic waves travel at the speed

of light; 300,000 km/sec
Parts of a Wave
 a has a longer wavelength (distance from one
crest to another) but lower frequency ( # of
waves that pass by a point in a second)
 b has a shorter wavelength but a higher
frequency
B.
Spectroscope
 Instrument that separates light
into its colors.
 Contains:
 Prism at one end
 Slit at opposite end which lines
up with the light source
C. 3 Types of Spectra
1. Continuous Spectrum
2. Brightline Spectrum
3. Darkline Spectrum
How Spectra are Produced
1. Continuous Spectrum

 Produced by a glowing solid

 Example a Tungsten white light bulb, & white

sunlight.
Continuous Spectrum Cont’

 Continuous set of emission lines forming an

unbroken band of colors from red to violet.

 Shows the source is sending out light of all

visible wavelengths.
 Visible Spectrum

red orange yellow green blue indigo violet

 ROY G BIV

 All the colors of

the rainbow

 A continuous
spectrum
2. Dark-Line Spectrum /
Absorption Spectrum
 Produced when a cooler gas lies between
the observer and an object emitting a
continuous spectrum
 Example:
1. The atmosphere of planets
2.Outer layers of a star
Absorption Spectrum Cont’

 The cooler gas absorbs specific wavelengths

of radiation passing through it.
 This spectrum appears as a continuous
spectrum of all colors with a number of gaps
or dark lines throughout it.
3. Bright-Line Spectrum /
Emission Spectrum
 Produced by a glowing gas which radiates
energy at specific wavelengths characteristic
of the element or elements composing the
gas

 Example Neon signs, black lights, LED’s

 Emission Spectrum Cont’

 This spectrum consists of a number of bright

lines against a dark background.
 Each elements has its own distinctive spectra
much like a fingerprint

http://jersey.uoregon.edu/vlab/elements/Elements.html
 XVI. The Doppler Effect

 as sound approaches the wavelength is

compressed so the pitch is higher
 as sound leaves the wavelength is stretched
out so the pitch is lower
 The same thing happens with light
Doppler Effect
Red Shift

 If a star is moving away from Earth there is a

red shift, of its line spectra; if the star is
moving toward the Earth there is a blue shift
of its line spectra
 Red Shift

 Red shift is evidence the universe is expanding.

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