Astronomy 421 Concepts of Astrophysics I

Course Logistics
Goals:
- Improve knowledge of astrophysics
- develop research skills

Main Areas of Study:

- Orbital Mechanics
- Radiation and Matter
- Relativity
- Stars
- Stellar Remnants (including Black Holes)

• Lecture topics and reading can be found on the syllabus

• Problem solving (homeworks and in class)
G.B. Taylor Fall 2013 • Peer review exercise
• Term paper (and presentation) will be a significant part of the course (see handout)
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Astrophysics Talks at UNM

•  Thursdays 2-3PM in room 190 (see schedule on dept web pages)
Please review material in Ch 1 of Carroll +Ostlie (The Celestial Sphere) Astronomy specific seminars
but it won’t be in lectures, homeworks or tests.
Great opportunity to learn more about a wide range of topics in astrophysics
HW 1 due Thursday, Aug 29. Free Donuts!

•  Fridays 11am – Noon NRAO Colloquium Series by Video from Room 190
Astronomy specific Colloquia

•  Friday 4-5pm Colloquia a PandA (see schedule on dept web pages)

Physics and Astronomy Colloquia

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Other Opportunities Backgrounds

UNM runs a University Radio Observatory – The Long Wavelength Array Prof. Greg Taylor, PhD UCLA 1991 “Cluster Magnetic Fields”
- You can get telescope time on this world-class facility
Employment: NRAO predoctoral Fellow
ASTRON/JIVE summer student program 2014 Postdocs at Arcetri and Caltech
- graduate and advanced undergrads NRAO Socorro staff scientist
- 10-12 weeks in the Netherlands UNM Professor and Director of the LWA
- Application deadline is Feb. 1
Research Areas: Galactic and Extragalactic Astronomy, Cosmic Explosions,
NRAO Summer Student program 2014 Radio Interferometry Instrumentation and Techniques
- undergrads and grads
- 10-12 weeks in Socorro (!!!), Green Bank, or Charlottesville
- Application deadline Feb. 1 Your Background?

NRAO Synthesis Imaging Workshop in June 2014

8 days of Aperture Synthesis Techniques

See me for more details

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 Mechanics - Outline
Celestial Mechanics – (C+O Chapter 2)
•  Kepler’s Laws
Kepler's laws:

•  Newtonian Mechanics 1.  A planet orbits the Sun in an ellipse, with the Sun at one focus of the ellipse.

•  Energy, Potential Energy, Kinetic Energy, Escape Velocity 2.  A line connecting a planet to the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal time
intervals.
•  Newtonian Explanation of Kepler’s Laws
3.  The square of the orbital periods of a planet is proportional to the cube of the semi-
major axis of its elliptical orbit.
•  Virial Theorem

•  Tidal Force, Roche Limit

These are kinematical relations - describe the motions without reference to the
dynamical forces. We shall see that they can be derived and refined from Newton's
•  Collision Physics law of gravitation.

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Kepler's first and second laws illustrated Kepler's third law illustrated
•  P2 ∝ a3

Semiminor axis
Semimajor axis

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Bode’s Law Modern View

a = 0.4 + 0.3 * 2m where m = 0, 1, 2, ... 9

Devised by Bode in 1772, no longer accepted

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2
•   
More generally, orbital motions follow conic sections, depending on total energy. A conic
section is the surface formed by cutting a cone with a plane.

(see C+O 2.1)

Compare closed and open curves.

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Example 2.1.1
Curves with e = 1 are parabolas

•  Determine the variation in distance of Mars from the focus through its orbit.

where p is the distance of closest approach to the •  Semimajor axis of Mars's orbit = 1.5237 AU
focus (at angle 0).
•  e=0.0934

Curves with e >1 are hyperbolas

Curves with 0 ≤ e < 1 are ellipses

Curves with e = 0 are circles

Furthest distance from focus is a + ae = a(1 + e) = 1.67 AU. Closest distance is a – ae =
a(1 - e) = 1.38 AU.

Now, let's move onto Newton's description!

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Newtonian Mechanics Newtonian Mechanics

•   

   

 
 

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 Newtonian Mechanics
Linear momentum
Newton's laws:

 
1.  An object at rest will remain at rest and an object in motion will remain in motion in a
straight line at a constant speed unless acted upon by an external force.

=> Conservation of linear momentum in absence of unbalanced force.

Angular momentum

 
 

   
The law of inertia
θ
    plane
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3. The law of action-reaction, or conservation of total linear momentum. In any

2.  Force is the change of momentum with time. interaction, of e.g., two particles, the changes in momentum obey

If time interval of interaction is , then the rate of momentum change is

First law is thus a special case of second.

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  Newton's Law of Gravitation

  . r

m
  (see C+O 2.2 for derivation, from
M
Kepler III and centripetal force)
{
{

= 0 = 0 for central forces. Why? For point masses, this attractive force is a central force. Still true for spherically symmetric
bodies (see C&O example 2.2.1).

 
.
When a torque exists
Gravitational acceleration
 
Note that g is independent of m.

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4
  
Gravitational potential energy: For

 
r In 3-D, generally

M m
Kinetic energy
Energy (or work) necessary to raise an object against a gravitational force is given by: Likewise we can use Newton 2 and integrate the RHS,

    rf

ri

Only changes in U relate to F. Zero point of U arbitrary. So define U to be zero at infinity.  

Then plug in in for F, and integrating, we find U at any other r to be:

which is change in kinetic energy between the times t1 and t0. Call these the
kinetic energies K1 and K0 respectively.
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Summarizing:
Total energy r
From definitions of KE and U, any change in U is balanced by opposite change in KE:

M m

and thus the total energy E is constant:

Gravitational potential energy

Kinetic energy

If we consider the mass M to be fixed, then the only KE is due

to the mass, m. This is fine for, e.g. satellites orbiting the Earth, but
Total energy
we will generalize this later.
Any change in U balanced by opposite change in KE: total energy of m

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A consequence of energy conservation: Escape velocity

Exercise
Escape Velocity problem: What velocity is needed for a rocket to escape the gravitational
If mass m moves to and slows to v=0 (i.e. "escapes"), then influence of the Earth?
KE = U = 0, so E = 0 at . Then
MEarth = 5.976 x 1024 kg
rearth = 6378 km
everywhere.

In this case, v=vescape

Note: independent of m.

What is r physically? Does it

have to be the radius of a
planet?
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