A105 Stars and Galaxies : A105 Stars and Galaxies Homework due TODAY
2nd Exam on Thursday, Nov. 2 Today’s APOD
Announcements… : Announcements… Kirkwood Obs. open Weds night 8-10 PM
Rooftop Session, TONIGHT, 8 PM (weather permitting)
EXAM ON THURSDAY : EXAM ON THURSDAY UNITS 49-69
IN CLASS, MULTIPLE CHOICE
REVIEW GUIDE: Oncourse
REVIEW SESSIONS IN CLASS ON TUESDAY – Bring questions
Compact Objects : Compact Objects White Dwarfs
Formed from the cores of stars less than 8 times the mass of the Sun
up to 1.4 solar masses
made of compressed He, C, or Fe
about the size of the Earth
One cc would weigh about 3 tons Neutron Stars
Formed in supernova explosions
from 1.4 to about 3 solar masses
Made of pure neutrons – a giant atomic nucleus
About 20 km in diameter
One cc would weigh about a million tons Black Holes
Formed in Supernova explosions
Usually a few times the mass of the Sun
A solar mass black hole is about 3 km in diameter
Density is infinite
Key Ideas – Black Holes : Key Ideas – Black Holes What is a black hole?
A singularity?
An event horizon?
A Schwarzschild radius?
Properties of black holes
Relativity
What is a Black Hole? : What is a Black Hole? Black holes are objects with such strong gravity that not even light can escape
Since nothing can travel faster than light, nothing can escape from inside a black hole
Objects of any mass can (in principle) become black holes if sufficiently compressed
How compressed? – depends on mass
radius = 3 km x mass (in solar masses)
The Sun would become a black hole if compressed to a radius of 3 kilometers
What is a Black Hole? : What is a Black Hole?
Since nothing can travel faster than light, nothing can escape from inside a black hole
Even in Isaac Newton’s time, scientists speculated that such objects could exist
Space and time near a black hole become so warped that time practically stops (from Theory of Relativity)
Defining Terms : Defining Terms Singularity – The place at the center of a black hole where, in principle, gravity crushes all matter to an infinitely tiny and dense point.
Event Horizon – The boundary that marks the “point of no return” between a black hole and the outside universe. Events that occur within the event horizon can have no influence on our observable universe.
Schwarzschild Radius – A measure of the size of the event horizon of a black hole.
Forming Black Holes : Forming Black Holes Matter must be compressed to a high density
This happens in supernova explosions of massive stars when the iron core implodes
Black holes can have mass, angular momentum, and electric charge. : Black holes can have mass, angular momentum, and electric charge. MASS: At a distance a black hole exerts the same gravitational force on something as any other object of the same mass would. Black holes form spinning rapidly.
Their fast rotation distorts space and
time near the boundary of the black
hole.
Exploring the Schwarzschild Radius : Exploring the Schwarzschild Radius The size of a black hole depends on mass
A black hole can have any mass, from billions of times the mass of the Sun to very small (even your mass!) Any object with mass can become a black hole if it can be crushed to a small enough radius! The graph shows the radius at which a given mass (in solar masses) will become a black hole if all of the mass is compressed into a sphere that size or smaller.
What evidence do astronomers use to infer the presence of a black hole? : What evidence do astronomers use to infer the presence of a black hole? GRAVITY!!! Matter flowing into a black hole emits X-rays before it crosses the event horizon
Astronomers look for black holes in X-ray binaries
Compact objects in binary systems with masses greater than about 3 solar masses can’t be neutron stars
They must be black holes
An Example: Cygnus X-1 : An Example: Cygnus X-1 8000 light years from Earth
X-ray source orbits a hot, blue supergiant every 5.9 days
Supergiant’s mass is about 30 x solar mass
X-ray source mass exceeds 6 x solar mass
What would you see if you went right up to a Black Hole? : What would you see if you went right up to a Black Hole? The black hole has such strong gravity that light is noticeably bent towards it - causing some very unusual visual distortions.
In the distorted frame, every star in the normal frame has at least two bright images - one on each side of the black hole.
Near the blackhole, you can see the whole sky - light from every direction is bent around and comes back to you. Approaching a Black Hole Two computer generated images:
left: normal star field (find Orion’s belt)
right: a black hole has been added at the center of the field
Slide15 : Falling into a Black Hole spagettification! Space ship orbiting 10 solar mass black hole
black hole diameter = 30 km
you are 15,000 km above the surface TIDES: you can feel the gravity is stronger on your feet than on your head. It feels like you are being stretched. The space ship’s orbit spirals in to 3000 km.
Now the tide is VERY uncomfortable.
Head back out into space! Try a much more massive black hole!
one million solar masses
about the size of the Solar System
tides are weaker As you cross the event horizon, a distant observer will see your clocks slow down (so slow that it will appear as if you never cross into the black hole), your color will appear reddish, and you will look stretched out.
Black holes change the paths of light rays : Black holes change the paths of light rays Researchers at Humboldt State University have figured out how images of landscapes and planets would be distorted by having a black hole sitting in the foreground. (Ignoring, of course, the effect on Earth!)
And what do you see if you fall into a black hole’s event horizon? : And what do you see if you fall into a black hole’s event horizon? …the black void is suddenly replaced by an unimaginable array of views.
We don’t know what you may see inside the black hole and, unfortunately, you can never tell us about your discoveries. Any signal you send to us is sucked into the black hole with you.
You are lost to our universe forever.
And within a few seconds, you are swept into the massive singularity at the center of the black hole!
Black Hole Concepts to Think About: : Black Hole Concepts to Think About: Why would an isolated black hole in space be difficult to detect?
Why is Cygnus X-1 thought to be a black hole?
How big is a black hole with twice the mass of the Sun?
How would the period of the Earth’s orbit around the Sun change if the Sun suddenly collapsed into a black hole? (Note that this can never happen!)
Slide19 : In what ways does matter in white dwarfs, neutron stars, and black holes differ from the matter in the Sun?
How does a white dwarf form?
Why are pulsars observed to emit regular bursts of radio light?
Professor X just announced the discovery of a neutron star with a mass of 7.6 times the mass of the Sun. Do you think Professor X is right? Why?
The Evolution of Stars : The Evolution of Stars
The Composition of Stars : The Composition of Stars everything
else 90% hydrogen atoms 10% helium atoms Less than 1%
everything else
(and everything
else is made in stars!)
Slide22 : Mike Stanfill, Private Hand - Flash Animation - The Elements, by Tom Lehrer
Slide23 : Abundance of Elements in the Galaxy Goals:
Know how chemical elements are created
in the Early Universe
in Stars
in Supernovae
Know how the Galaxy is enriched in chemical elements
The Origin of Elements : The Origin of Elements The process by which elements (nuclei) are created (synthesized) is called nucleosynthesis
Nucleosynthesis has occurred since the creation of the universe and will essentially go on forever
The elements created come together to form everything material we know, including us
Slide25 : Hydrogen and helium were created during the Big
Bang while the Universe was cooling from its initial
hot, dense state.
About 10% of the lithium in the Universe today was
also created in the Big Bang. We’re still not sure
where the rest comes from.
The first stars formed from this material. Primordial
Nucleosynthesis
Slide26 : Hydrogen
Burning Stars burn hydrogen in their interiors to
produce helium.
Hydrogen burning also rearranges carbon,
nitrogen, and oxygen.
Slide27 : Helium
Burning Three helium atoms
combine to form carbon
Slide28 : Light
Elements
Slide29 : The Iron
Peak Metals In the cores of massive stars just before
supernova explosions, atomic nuclei
exchange protons and neutrons to form
the iron peak metals.
Making Elements Up to Iron : Making Elements Up to Iron Hydrogen – from big bang nucleosynthesis.
Helium – from big bang and from hydrogen burning via the p-p chain and CNO cycle.
Nitrogen – from CNO cycle.
Carbon, Oxygen – from helium burning.
Light elements (Neon, Magnesium, Calcium – from carbon and oxygen burning.
Iron metals – from the final burning
Slide31 : Heavy Metals
All heavier elements are formed
when iron peak elements capture
neutrons
Elements Heavier than Iron … : Elements Heavier than Iron … Once iron is formed, it is no longer possible to create energy via fusion.
Elements heavier than iron require a different process (Iron is atomic number 26.)
The heaviest naturally occurring nucleus is uranium (atomic number 92). How do we get to uranium then? Elements heavier than iron are created by
neutron capture
The neutron is converted into a proton and added to the nucleus, increasing the atomic number to make the next element in the periodic table.
Making Heavy Metals in Stars : Making Heavy Metals in Stars In low mass stars like the Sun, heavy metals are created when the star is a giant
Massive stars make heavy metals when they become supernovae
Stellar Nucleosynthesis : Stellar Nucleosynthesis We know now that all chemical elements heavier than atomic number 5 (Boron) were produced in stars.
The light elements are essentially ashes of nuclear burning during the normal stellar evolution process.
The heavier elements are produced in the envelopes of giants and during explosive nucleosynthesis that occurs during supernovae.
Chemical Enrichment of the Universe : Chemical Enrichment of the Universe We know now that massive stars act as factories for creating heavy elements
Massive stars end their lives in supernova explosions
The explosion scatters the new elements into interstellar space
Elements synthesized inside stars are also brought to the surface and expelled via stellar winds
A new generation of stars recycle this material, enriching it further
The Galaxy (and the universe) is gradually enriched in heavy elements : The Galaxy (and the universe) is gradually enriched in heavy elements Despite all the nucleosynthesis that has occurred since the creation of the universe, only 2% of the ordinary matter in the universe is now in the form of heavy elements. Most is still hydrogen and helium
Slide37 : Unit 69
News Quiz on Tuesday
Homework Due EACH THURS. EXAM NEXT THURSDAY