What is Astrophysics?

How is it different from Astronomy?

–  Importance of Astronomy
–  Methods of Astronomy and Astrophysics
–  Scope of Astronomy
 The Constellations
•  88 constellations in the sky. Those in the northern celestial
hemisphere named by the Greeks. Constellations in the
extreme southern sky were named in modern times.

•  Subsets of constellations are called asterisms. For example,

the “Big Dipper” is an asterism of the constellation Ursa
Major (the big bear).
•  While constellations were named by the Greeks, Arabic names
have been mostly adopted for individual stars. Stars within a
constellation are assigned Greek letters in accordance with
their brightest. For example, the brightest star in Orion has
the Arabic name Betelgeuse, but it is also known as α Orionis.
Orion’s second brightest star, Rigel, is also called β Orionis.

•  The twelve constellations lying along the projection of the

Earth’s orbit onto the sky (the ecliptic) comprise the zodiac.
Winter Sky – Facing North
Winter Sky – Facing South
Spring Sky – Facing North
Spring Sky – Facing South
 Celestial Motions

•  The rotation of the Earth about its spin axis once every
24 hours causes diurnal effects including day and night
and the rising and setting of celestial objects.
•  The revolution of the Earth about the sun once every
365.2422… days produces annual effects such as the
sun appearing to move with respect to the stars along a
path in the sky called the ecliptic. The twelve
constellations lying along the ecliptic comprise the
zodiac.
•  The apparent motions of celestial objects on the sky are
the combined result of diurnal and annual motions
and, in the case of the planets their own orbital motions
around the sun.
Terrestrial Coordinates

* Greenwich
*
Bangalore
latitude Equator
longitude

For Bangalore:
latitude = 12° 58' N
longitude = 77° 38' E
 Longitude and Latitude
•  Latitude: Your north-south position on Earth.
The equator is defined to have a latitude of
0o. The north pole is at 90oN and the south
o
pole at 90 S.
•  Longitude: Your east-west position on Earth.
An arbitrary point, the Prime Meridian in
Greenwich, England marks a longitude of 0o.
 The Celestial Sphere
The celestial sphere is an imaginary sphere on which all the celestial objects are
located. However, the location of a celestial object on the celestial sphere only tells
us about the orientation of the objects, but not the distant. Two stars located very
close together in the sky may in fact very far apart because their distance to Earth
are very different.
Celestial sphere
The Celestial Sphere
The Celestial Sphere
 The Celestial Sphere
•  North Celestial Pole: The point directly over
the Earth’s true north pole.
–  The north star, Polaris, is near the North Celestial
Pole, but not exactly at the pole. It is currently
about 1 degree away from the pole.
•  South Celestial Pole: The point directly over
the Earth’s true south pole.
•  Celestial Equator: The equator of the Earth
projected onto the celestial sphere.
•  Meridian: A line from due north to due south
that passes straight overhead.
 Ecliptic
•  Ecliptic – “road of the sun”
– imaginary path that the Sun follows on the
celestial sphere over the course of a year
 The Motion of the Stars
Just like the Sun and Moon the stars rise and set due to
the rotation of the Earth.
They rise in the east and set in the west because Earth
rotates from west to east.
Stars near the celestial poles do not rise or set. Instead
they circle the poles and are called circumpolar.In the
northern hemisphere, the stars circle the pole in a
counterclockwise direction.
 North Celestial Pole

Photo by Wei-Ho Wang

http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/%7Ewang/
Rotation of the
Earth
The stars move from east to west because the earth rotates
from west to east.
Diurnal Paths of Stars
 Daily
(Diurnal)
Motion of the
Stars
Circumpolar
Stars
 Measuring Angles
– Angles in astronomy are measured in
degrees, arc minutes and arc seconds.
1 degree = 60 arc minutes
1 arc minute = 60 arc seconds
1 degree = 3600 arc seconds
Measuring Angles in the Sky
 Measuring Angles
– The Sun and Moon appear to be about ½
degree in size.
– Your finger held at arms length is about one
degree across.
– Your fist at arms length is about 10 degrees.
– Your outstretched hand at arms length is
about 20 degrees across.
 Horizon and Zenith
It is sometimes useful to think of the sky as
a great dome over our heads.
The horizon is where the dome meets the Earth.
The zenith is the point directly overhead.
As the Earth turns, this dome turns over our
heads. It appears as if the sky is a large hollow
sphere centered on the Earth.
Horizon and Zenith
 Altitude and Azimuth
•  The height of a star above the horizon is called
the altitude.
•  The direction to the star as measured from true
north is called the azimuth.
–  Note: True north is not the same as magnetic north.
The magnetic north pole is not located in the same
place as the true north pole.
•  On maps, the legend will show you how to correct from
magnetic north, as measured by a compass, to true north.
 Celestial coordinate systems
1. Horizontal coordinate system
(Horizon or Altazimuth System)‫‏‬

2. Universal Equatorial System

3. The Ecliptic System

4. Galactic System
Horizontal Coordinate System (Alt/
Az coordinate system)‫‏‬
•  The horizontal coordinates are:
•  altitude (Alt), that is the angle between the object
and the observer's local horizon.
•  azimuth (Az), that is the angle of the object
around the horizon (measured from the North
point, toward the East).
•  The horizontal coordinate system is fixed to the
Earth, not the stars
•  Used for determining the rise and set times of an
object in the sky.
•  When an object's altitude is 0°, it is rising (if its
azimuth<180°) and setting (if its azimuth >180°)
Altitude and Azimuth
 FGC is the local horizon
two vertical circles passing through the North and south poles define
the celestial meridian

Co ordinates: altitude (Alt), & azimuth (Az),

•  The altitude and azimuth of a star change
during the course of night as the star rises
and sets.
•  Angles are measured using degrees,
minutes of arc, and seconds of arc.
Angular Sizes and Distances
 Universal Equatorial System

Coordinates
Declination (dec): The north-south position of
a star on the celestial sphere. Declination is
measured in degrees, arc minutes, and arc
seconds. The celestial equator is defined to
o
have a declination of 0 .
Right Ascension (RA): The east-west
coordinates of an object on the celestial
sphere. R.A. is measured in hours, minutes,
and seconds of time. The vernal equinox is
h
defined to be 0 .
RA and Dec
Celestial Coordinates
 Celestial Coordinates

Vega
RA 18h35m
o
DEC +38 44’
 Summary of Celestial Coordinates for Positional
Astronomy

•  Altitude varies from 0 to 90°. Vertical position of

object
•  Azimuth varies from 0° to 360°. Due N = 0°, due
E = 90°, due S = 180°, due W = 270°. Horizontal
position of object
•  Right ascension varies from 0 to 24 hours.
Horizontal position of object.
•  Declination varies from -90° (at SCP) to +90° (at
NCP). Celestial equator declination = 0°
•  Meridian altitude of any object = 90 - (observer's
latitude) + declination degrees. If declination is
negative, then addition of declination becomes a
subtraction
 The Ecliptic System
Ecliptic is the Fundamental great circlre of the system
Coordinates: celestial latitude & celestail longitude
Galactic coordinate system
 Galactic coordinate system

To the structure of our Galaxy it is more convenient to define the

positions of stars in the galactic coordinate system rather than the
equatorial system

The reference plane of the galactic coordinate system is the disc of our
Galaxy (i.e. the Milky Way) and the intersection of this plane with the
celestial sphere is known as the galactic equator, which is inclined by
about 63° to the celestial equator.

Galactic latitude, b, is analogous to declination but measures distance

north or south of the galactic equator, attaining +90° at the north galactic
pole (NGP) and -90° at the south galactic pole (SGP). The galactic latitude
of the star X in fig is arc YX and is north.

Galactic longitude, l, is analogous to right ascension and is measured

along the galactic equator in the same direction as right ascension.

The zero-point of galactic longitude is in the direction of the Galactic

Centre (GC), in the constellation of Sagittarius; it is defined by taking the
galactic longitude of the north celestial pole to be exactly 123°. The
galactic longitude of the star X in fig is given by the angle between GC and
Y.