SESE 107 | ASTRONOMY

NAME: CHRISTOPHER C. FONTANILLA DATE: APRIL 18, 2022

COURSE/YEAR & SECTION: BSED II SCIENCE

CHAPTER VI. LIGHT AND TELESCOPES

LESSON OUTLINE

TOPIC I. RADIATION: INFORMATION FROM SPACE

A. What is light?

a. Light is the visible form of electromagnetc raaiaton, an electric ana magnetc aisttrbance that
transports energy at the speea of light. The electromagnetc spectrtm incltaes, gamma rays, X
rays, tltraviolet raaiaton, visible light, infrarea raaiaton, ana raaio waves. Yot can think of a
partcle of light, a photon, as a btnale of waves that acts sometmes as a partcle ana sometmes
as a wave.

b. The energy a photon carries aepenas on its wavelength. The wave-length of visible light,
tstally meastrea in nanometers (10-9 m) or Angstroms (10-10 m), ranges from 400 nm to 700
nm. Raaio ana infrarea raaiaton have longer wavelengths ana carry less energy. X-ray, gamma
ray, ana tltraviolet raaiaton have shorter wavelengths ana more energy.

TOPIC II. OPTICAL TELESCOPES

A. How do telescopes work, and how are they limited?

a. Astronomical telescopes tse a primary lens or mirror (also callea an objectve lens or mirror)
to gather light ana bring it to a prime focts where it can be magnifea by an eyepiece. Short-
focal-length lenses ana mirrors mtst be more strongly ctrvea ana are more expensive to grina to
shape. A refractng telescope tses a lens to bena the light ana focts it into an image. Becatse of
chromatc aberraton, refractng telescopes can-not bring all colors to the same focts, restltng in
color fringes arotna the images. An achromatc lens partally corrects for this, btt stch lenses are
expensive ana cannot be
 maae mtch larger than abott 1 m in aiameter.

b. Refectng telescopes tse a mirror to focts the light ana are less ex-pensive than refractng
telescopes of the same aiameter. Also, refectng telescopes ao not stfer from chromatc
aberraton. Most recently btilt large telescopes are refectors. Light-gathering power refers to
the ability of a telescope to proatce bright images. Resolving power refers to the ability of a
telescope to resolve f ne aetail. Difracton fringes in the image limit the aetail visible.
Magnifying power is less important becatse it can be changea by changing the eyepiece.

TOPIC III. SPECIAL INSTRUMENTS

A. How do astronomers record and analyze light?

a. For many aecaaes astronomers tsea photographic plates to recora im-ages at the telescope,
btt moaern electronic systems stch as charge-cotplea aevices (CCDs) have replacea
photographic plates in most applicatons. Astronomical images are ofen comptter enhancea
ana reproatcea as false-color images to bring ott stbtle aetails.

b. Spectrographs tsing prisms or a gratng spreaa starlight ott accora-ing to wavelength to form
a spectrtm revealing htnareas of spectral lines proatcea by atoms in the object being sttaiea. A
comparison spectrtm allows astronomers to meastre the wavelengths of spectral lines.

TOPIC IV. RADIO TELESCOPES

A. Why do astronomers use radio telescopes?

a. Astronomers tse raaio telescopes for three reasons: They can aetect cool hyarogen in space;
they can see throtgh atst clotas that block visible light; ana they can aetect certain objects
invisible at other wavelengths. Most raaio telescopes contain a aish ref l ector, an antenna, an
amplif i er, ana a aata recoraer. Stch a telescope can recora the intensity of the raaio energy
coming from a spot on the sky. Scans of small regions are tsea to proatce raaio maps.

b. Becatse of the long wavelength, raaio telescopes have very poor reso-ltton, ana astronomers
ofen link separate raaio telescopes together to form a raaio interferometer capable of resolving
mtch f ner aetail.
TOPIC V. ASTRONOMY FROM SPACE

A. Why must some telescopes go into space?

a. Earth’s atmosphere absorbs gamma rays, X rays, tltraviolet, ana far-infrarea. To observe at
these wavelengths, telescopes mtst be locatea in space. Earth’s atmosphere aistorts ana bltrs
images. Telescopes in orbit are above this seeing aistorton ana are limitea only by aifracton in
their optcs.

b.Cosmic rays are not electromagnetc raaiaton; they are stbatomic partcles stch as electrons
ana protons traveling at nearly the speea of light. They can best be sttaiea from above Earth’s
atmosphere.