Modern Astrophysics I
Chapter 1. The Celestial Sphere
Lecturer: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Kadir Saygın
Department of Astronautical Engineering
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Lecture textbook
Main textbook: Bradley W. Carroll
and Dale A. Ostlie, An Introduction to
Modern Astrophysics, Second edition,
Cambridge University Press, 2017
Supplementary textbooks:
Barbara Ryden and Bradley M.
Peterson, Foundations of Astrophysics,
First edition, Pearson Education, 2010.
Erika Bohm-Vitense, Introduction to
Stellar Astrophysics. 3 vols. New York,
NY: Cambridge University Press, 1989
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.1. The Greek Tradition
Observation of motions of celestial bodies including
stars (stellar motion) and planets (planetary motion)
First documented records of systematic astronomical
observations → Assyro-Babylonians around 1000 B.C.
Ancient Greek natural philosophy of the universe
Pythagoras (550 B.C.) via mathematical formulation
Plato (followed by Aristotle, 350 B.C) proposed the
geocentric universe in which celestial objects
following circular paths, move around the earth which
is located at the center
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.1. The Greek Tradition
Retrograde motion: backward motion of planets
relative to background stars (such as constellations)
The Greek astronomer Hipparchus (c. 150 B.C.)
proposed a system of circles to explain retrograde
motion by placing a planet on a small, rotating
epicycle that also moves on a larger deferent, where
he was able to reproduce the behavior of the stars
Claudius Ptolemy (c. A.D.100) introduced
refinements to the epicycle/deferent by adding
equants
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
Constellations
Constellations based on Greece-Roman Mythology
The entire sky is broken up into 88 regions (48
original)
Stars within each region create arbitrary patterns
Resulting myths from human imagination
These projected patterns change over time because
stars move
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.2. The Copernican Revolution
Heliocentric universe: Sun-centered model of
planetary motion by Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-
1543)
Planets are treated to follow circular paths
Planets are brought into orbital orders
Inferior planets: Mercury and Venus
Superior planets: Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.2. The Copernican Revolution
Retrograde motion revisited by the Copernican
model
Superior planets move more slowly in their orbits than
inferior planets that are closer to the sun center
Planets differ in amount of time in which they complete
one circular orbit
Orbits of all of the planets are not in the same plane!
Synodic period of time (S) with respect to each other
Sidereal period of time (P) with respect to background stars,
P⊕ is the sidereal period of Earth’s orbit=365.256308 days
(assuming perfectly circular orbits)
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
The Copernican model was not successful in
predicting planetary positions more accurately than the
Ptolemaic model → Copernicus later adapted the
concept of epicycles to improve his model
Determination of positions of celestial objects
requires fixed coordinate system
The altitude-azimuth (h-A) (or horizon)
coordinate system
Celestial objects constantly move, the Sun moves
through an ecliptic plane
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
Solar day vs. Sidereal day
Solar time is defined as an 24 hours between
meridian crossings of the Sun, and sidereal
time is based on consecutive meridian
crossings of a star
Two Types of Local Solar Time:
Apparent Solar Time (AST):
AST = 12 hrs + (Hour angle of the Sun / 15
degree/hr)
Length varies because of the elliptical orbit
Mean Solar Time (MST):
Duration defined as the average length of a
solar day (this is the 24 hours we use daily)
Tracks a theoretical mean Sun with a uniform
motion along the celestial equator
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
Idea is to consider the earth geocentrically for a
fixed coordinate system definition
Stars appear to be fixed on the imaginary
celestial sphere
Whereas the Sun, the Moon, and other solar
system objects move across the celestial sphere
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
The sun intersects the celestial equator twice a year,
named as vernal equinox (when spring begins) and
autumnal equinox (when fall begins)
Diurnal motion is the apparent daily revolution of
the celestial bodies around the Earth due to rotation of
the Earth around its axis
Annual motion is the apparent yearly movement of
the celestial bodies as observed from Earth as a direct
effect of the Earth’s revolution around the sun
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
Diurnal (daily) motion of stars:
As the Earth rotates, the sky appears to us to rotate in
the opposite direction.
Imagine you are at the North pole, which direction do
stars rotate? CW or CCW? What about the South pole?
At intermediate altitudes, one celestial pole is always
above the horizon
Some stars are circumpolar (never sets)
Some stars rise and set
Some stars are never visible
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
The Equatorial Coordinate System → based on the
celestial equator and the vernal equinox
Exploit two angles: right ascension α and declination δ
Right ascension and declination are similar to longitude
and latitude
The Sun and other solar system objects have time-varying
coordinates
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
The Zodiac
The Sun’s motion on the celestial
sphere reflects Earth’s orbit around the
Sun
At different time, the Sun is seen
against different constellations → the
zodiac
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
Precession
The slow wobble of Earth’s rotation axis due to our
planet’s unperfect spherical shape and its gravitational
interaction with the sun and the moon
Effects of precession first noticed by Hipparchus
Changes slowly right ascension α and declination δ of
celestial objects
Polaris (north star within 1°) will be 47° away from the
NCP in 13,000 years due to precession
Vernal equinox will be altered along the ecliptic
See Equations 1.2, 1.3, and 1.4 (and Example 1.3.1) in
the textbook to see calculation of procession for α and δ
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
Gravitational perturbations from other planets
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
Measurement of time
Common units of time are ultimately astronomical in origin.
The Babylonians used a sexagesimal number system (base
60) rather than a decimal system (base 10); it is thereby due to
the Babylonians that there are 360 (6 × 60) degrees in a full
circle, 60 arcminutes in a degree, and 60 arcseconds in an
arcminute
Commonly used civic calendar is the Gregorian calendar,
introduced in 1582, accounts for leap years
The zero time universally used is noon on January 1, 4713 B.C., designated
Reading from the textbook: A merger of as JD 0.0, where JD indicates Julian Date
archaeology and astronomy: Archaeoastronomy J2000.0 = JD 2451545.0, where Julian time 1 J=365.25 days
Modified Julian Date (MJD), defined as MJD≡JD-2400000.5
High-precision time measurements: Heliocentric Julian Date (HJD) and Terrestrial
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Time (TT)
Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
Δd
The effects of motion through the heavens
Intrinsic velocities of celestial objects that also result in
r changes in equatorial coordinates
Proper motion (μ): motion that leads to small change in
equatorial coordinates as a result of transverse (tangential)
velocity vθ component:
tanΔθ≈Δθ (small-angle approximation)
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
1.3. Positions on the Celestial Sphere
An application of spherical trigonometry
See your textbook for the details!
Reading: Ch1.4 Physics and Astronomy in the textbook!
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Ch1. The Celestial Sphere
Obliquity & Seasons
Obliquity
Seasonal climatic variations due to the orbital motion of
Earth, coupled with the approximately 23.5º angular offset
(tilt) between its rotation axis and the Sun’s ecliptic plane
The effects of the obliquity on Earth:
Summer Winter The angle of sunlight is more direct in summer, thus solar
energy is higher per unit area.
The sun stays above the longer in the summer, the shorter in
the winter
Southern Hemisphere experiences the opposite situation of the
Northern Hemisphere
The ellipticity of the Earth’s orbit has negligible effect
on the seasons we experience!
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Thank You!
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