PH 2111

INTRODUCTION TO ASTROPHYSICS
AND ASTRONOMY
 Chapter I. INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS ASTRONOMY? The oldest of all
sciences is perhaps also the most beautiful.
No artificial light show can rival the splendor
of the heavens on a clear night. The world
which surrounds us is called the Universe.
Astronomy – a science about the Universe.
 Astronomy is the science in which we consider
the entire Universe as our subject.
It is the science in which we derive the
properties of celestial objects and from these
properties deduce the law by which the universe
operates. It is the science of everything. The
word "astronomy" occurs from the Greek words
"astro" - a star; "nomos" - the law
 ASTROPHYSICS;
Astrophysics is a
science that employs
the methods and
principles of physics
and chemistry in the
study of
astronomical objects
and phenomena.
 Observations and Observables
• Astronomy involves the observation of distant
objects beyond Earth: from low-orbit spy
satellites to our own Solar System to our Milky
Way galaxy to other distant galaxies and out to
the observable edge of the universe
A non-exhaustive list of some of the types of
objects that are observed includes:
1. Planets and moons in our own Solar System 2.
Stars (including our Sun)
3. Planets orbiting other stars
4. Remnants of ‘dead’ stars: white dwarfs,
neutron stars, and black holes
5. Giant, cool clouds of gas and dust
6. Other galaxies beyond our Milky Way
7. Diffuse, hot gas: between stars, and between
galaxies 8. The overall structure of the universe
Black holes
galaxy
Dead star
Astronomy measures the positions(angles and
distances), luminosities, speeds, motions and
other characteristics of celestial objects.
But we can't directly interact with distant cosmic
objects, but we can observe the radiation they
emit, and much of astrophysics has to do with
studying this radiation and working to explain
the mechanisms behind it.
 Size and scales
The following are some of distance scales
• Astronomers use distance scales related to
familiar objects, such as the Earth. The Earth's
radius makes a convenient unit for measuring
the size of the other planets. Likewise, the
Earths distance from the Sun makes a good
unit for measuring the scale of the Solar
System. The following are some of units used
to measure distance of celestial objects.
i.ASTRONOMICAL UNIT; abbreviated as AU, is
defined by the distance from the Earth to the
Sun.
1 AU=1.49599x km≈150 millions km

ii. LIGHT YEAR; is the distance light travels in a

year at its speed of 300,000 km per second.
• iii. Parsec; A unit of distance that gives a
parallax angle of 1 second of an arc (of a
degree), using the radius of the Earth’s orbit (1
AU) as the baseline of a right–angled triangle.
• 1 pc = 3.1 × 1016 m

Mathematically;
 Mathematically….

1arcsecond = 1/3600 degree

1 arcminute = 60 arcseconds
Therefore, 1 degree = 60 x 60 = 3600 arcseconds
1 arcsecond = 1/3600 degree
 Introduction to Newtonian cosmology
Cosmology is the study of the structure and evolution
of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek answers
to questions such as, How big is the Universe?
What shape is I it?
How old is it? How did it form? What will happen to it
in the future
 THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE
The Universes enormous temperature in its youth, about K,
implies that it may have had a very simple structure. At such a
temperature, the Universe was gaseous with its matter and
radiation mingled in a manner unlike their sharp distinction
today.

Einstein's equation, E = mc 2 equates an amount of energy, E, to

an amount of mass, m, times the speed of light, c, squared. It
tells us that stars can obtain their energy from mass lost when,
for example, hydrogen is converted to helium. In the early
Universe, the implication of this energy-mass relation was
reversed
Big Bang theory confirms:
• The Universe was born from a point, in which
one a volume and pressure were very great
(singular);
• The moment of birth called Big Bang;
• The laws of physics are applicable for the
description of evolution of the Universe from so-
called Planck‘s length
• PLANCK LENGTH
• The Planck length is the fundamental unit of length in the
system of Planck units. It has the value:
• lP = 1.62 × 10-35m

Planck time, defines the scale at which the currently

accepted theory of gravity fails. On this scale, the entire
geometry of spacetime as predicted by general relativity
breaks down.
 The universe is expanding
•The Hubble’s law: the more distance a galaxy, the greater its
redshift and the more rapidly it is receding from us.

v = H0 d

V: velocity in unit of (km/s)

D: distance in init of Mpc
H0, Hubble constant, ~ 71 km/s/Mpc, but not certain
 The universe is expanding
•The receding motion of galaxies is due to the expansion of the
universe; the galaxies are locked into the space fabric
 The universe is expanding
•Expansion is not an explosion; there is no center, and there is
no surrounding space
•Expansion involves all space
 Cosmologic redshift
•Cosmologic redshift is caused by the expansion of space itself
•Normal Doppler redshift is caused by the motion of objects
through space
 Cosmologic redshit
•For example, observed redshift Z=1
z = (λ – λ0)/λ0
λ = 2 λ0
the wavelength is doubled

•It means that the universe has expanded by a factor of 2 during the
period that takes light to travel from the emitting galaxy to the Earth

•The larger the redshift, the greater the distance, and the greater the
travel time

•Lookback time: cosmological redshift is also an indicator of the

lookback time
e.g., Z=1, distance=5 billion light-year, lookback 5 billion years
 Big Bang
• The universe is created by the Big Bang
• Big Bang is a cataclysmic event originated from a cosmic
singularity with infinite density
• The universe started its expansion after the Big Bang
• The Big Bang marks the beginning of time

• Before the Big Bang, the law of physics we know can not apply
• After the Big Bang, space and time began to behave in the
laws of physics we know
 The age of the Universe
• The age of the Universe is measured from the Big Bang
• It is approximately the time taking all galaxies back to the
singularity point at the expansion velocity, that is

– T=d/v
– Hubble law says v = H0 d
– T = d / H0 d or simply
– T = 1 / H0
T = 1 / 71 (km/s/Mpc) = 3.09 X 1019 / 71 = 4.4 X 1017 s
and 1 year = 3.16 X 107 s

• The age of our universe is 13.7 (+- 0.2) billion years

 Cosmic Light Horizon
•We cannot see objects whose distance is beyond 13.7 light-years because light from
these objects has not had enough time to reach us
•Cosmic light horizon is the surface of the sphere with a radius of 13.7 light-years
•It defines the size of the observable universe, even the universe itself may be even
bigger, or infinite
 Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation
•There is a background radiation in microwave in all directions
from the sky; the peak of radiation is about 1 mm
•Cosmic background radiation is virtually a blackbody with a
temperature of 2.7 K (or more accurately, 2.725 K)
 Evolution of Densities
• As the universe expands, the
volume gets bigger. As a
result, both density of matter
and density of radiation
decrease with time
• At 2500 years after the Big
Bang (redshift Z=25000), the
two densities are equal
• Before 2500 years, the
universe is dominated by
radiation
• After the 2500 years, the
universe is dominated by
matter
Epoch 380000 years: era of recombination
Epoch 380000 years: era of recombination
 Critical density of the Universe
The Hubble constant (H) is important in predicting the
ultimate fate of our universe, related to the concept of
its critical density.

The velocity of recession of a galaxy can be considered

as its escape velocity from the rest of the Universe

By Hubble's formula:
Velocity of recession (v) = HR where R is the distance
of the galaxy.

But the escape velocity is given by the formula:

Escape velocity (v) =
[2GM/R]1/2 so v2 = 2GM/R

where G is the
gravitational constant
(see Gravitation section)

Therefore:
v2 = 2GM/R =
[2Gr4/3]pR3]/R =
8/3[GrpR2]

But from the first

equation v2= H2R2 and so:
 density of universe
To find the density of the Universe, astronomers
choose a volume of space and count the galaxies
in it. Next, they measure the mass of each
galaxy, add them up to find the total mass, and
divide by the volume.
• To determine whether the Universe is open or
closed, astronomers compare the observed
density (as deduced above) with a
theoretically calculated critical density. If the
actual density of the Universe is greater than
the critical density, the Universe is closed; if it
is less, the Universe is open. The critical
density,
 Flat Universe
•Flat universe: parallel light beams remains parallel forever
converge
•Flat geometry
•Curvature of space is zero
•The sum of the three angles is equal 180 degree
•The combined density equals the critical density
•Density parameter equals 1
 Closed Universe
•Closed universe: parallel light beams converge; if travel in a
straight line, you will return to your starting point
•Spherical geometry
•Curvature of space is positive
•The sum of the three angles is more than 180 degree
•Combined density larger than the critical density
•Density parameter is more than 1
 Open Universe
•Open universe: parallel light beams diverge
•Hyperbolic geometry
•Curvature of space is negative
•The sum of the three angles is less than 180 degree
•Combined density less than the critical density
•Density parameter is less than 1
Astronomers use the terms "open" and "closed"
to describe these two different outcomes.
An open universe expands forever.
A closed universe stops expanding and
collapses again.
But there is a third possibility as well: the
expansion may be so precisely tuned that the
expansion speed becomes zero when the
Universe has reached infinite size – a case
called a flat universe.
Cosmic background radiation reveals the type of
our universe
•Cosmic microwave background radiation shows very small (1
over 10000) variations in the temperature across the entire sky
•It has hot spots and cooler temperature regions
 Our Universe is flat
•The theoretically predicted hot spot size (about 1 degree) is very
close to what is observed
•Therefore, our universe is flat, or density parameter is 1.0
 Dark Energy
•The combined mass density should be equal to critical density
ρc = 9.5 X 10-27 kg/m3

•The observed mass density of matter in our universe is

ρm = 2.6 X 10-27 kg/m3

• The matter density parameter is 0.27

•The energy density parameter should be 0.73 in order to keep

the universe flat.

•However, the mass density of radiation is almost negligible

•Therefore, 73% of the universe is made of dark energy

 THE SIZE OF THE UNIVERSE
• Because the cosmic horizon defines the size of the
visible Universe, astronomers sometimes use the
distance to the horizon as a rough measure of the
radius of the Universe. As we saw above, the distance
to the cosmic horizon is related to the distance light
travels in the age of the Universe. It is much easier to
make use of the principle that, by definition, light
travels one light year in one year. Therefore in the 13.6-
billionyear age of the Universe, it travels 13.6 billion
light years. Thus the size of the visible Universe is
approximately 13.6 billion light years.