Other heavenly

bodies
Two main branches of
ASTRONOMY
OPTICAL ASTRONOMY
A study of celestial objects in a visible
band

Hubble Space Telescope

Non-OPTICAL ASTRONOMY
Which uses instrument other than the telescope to
study objects in the radio through gamma ray
wavelengths.

Infrared, X-ray, ultraviolet and radio telescope

Astronomy is divided into
subfields
Planetary Astronomy- focuses on the study of
planets both within and beyond our solar
system as well as objects like asteroids and
comets.
Stellar Astronomy- is the study of stars
including their creation, evolution and death.
Galactic Astronomy- studies the complex
systems of stars,nebulae and dust that
composed the milky way.
Extragalactic Astronomy- is the study of all
astronomical objects which are not covered
by galactic astronomy.
 How does the
astronomers are able
to investigate space?
 SOLAR NEBULA

The cloud was disturbed and collapsed under

its own gravity. After the burst, the cloud
heated up and compressed at the center.
SOLAR NEBULA THEORY
The accumulation of the dust at the center of the
cloud continued until it produced a protostar
while the rest of the gas orbits around it.
Hydrogen atoms fused to form helium and
released a huge amount of energy in vigorous
burst.

The solar nebula become the hottest near the

center where much of the mass was collected.
The protostar is the cloud of gas that became
the Sun.

The planets and other terrestrial objects

formed in the flat plane of spinning disc of
dust
As a result of collision , the flakes stuck
together and allowed larger particles to
attract larger particles.

Mutual gravity caused these rocks to come

together and eventually forms the planets.
The coming together of materials that formed
the heavenly bodies called accretion and the
objects formed by accretion re called
planetisimals.
THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
It is the Gravity of the sun that influences the
revolution of the planets in elliptical orbits.

The sun contains the 99.8% of the total mass

of the solar system.

The sun is the richest source of electromagnetic

energy- heat and light – that makes life possible in
Earth and possibly elsewhere.
The sun composed mainly of hydrogen that
turns into helium through nuclear fusion.

The sun is 1,390,000 km in diameter and has

a mass of 2 x kg.

It would take 109 Earths to fit across the sun’s disk

while its interior could hold over 1.3 M earths.
The sun also rotates in its axis. The surface at
the equator rotates once every 25.4 days
while rotation near the poles is completed
within 36 days.
Coronograph – used to further study the
features of the sun

The Coronograph is attached to the

telescope and it operates in the same manner
as an Eclipse-
 Photosphere
It has a spotted appearance due to the
turbulent eruptions of energy in its
surface, its temperature is 6000⁰C

Sunspots are cool regions whose

temperature is only about 3500 ⁰C
 chromosphere
It glows faintly relative to the photosphere.

This region is 2000-3000 km thick and it edge is

made up of spicules, which are narrow columns of
materials that ascend to corona.
The rarefied region above the chromosphere
is the Corona. It is a collection of immediate
gases around the sun.

The temperature of this region is about

999,000⁰C, much hotter than the surface of
the sun.
 Helmet streamers
Are large cap-like coronal structures with
long pointed peaks that usually arise form
sunspots and active regions.
They are created by a network of magnetic loops
that connect the sunspots in active region and
suspend the filament material above the Sun’s
surface.
 Coronal Holes
Regions found at the dark part of the corona.

They are associated with open magnetic lines

and are located at the solar poles.
 Coronal loops
They are located around sun spots in active regions and
are associated with the closed magnetic filed lines
connecting magnetic regions on the solar surface.

Cool loops are those exist at temperatures below

1M ⁰C

Hot loops are those exist at temperatures beyond

1M ⁰C
 Polar Plumes
Are column-like streamers that project outward
form the Sun’s magnetic poles

They are created by the action of solar wind in

much the same manner as the formation of peaks
on the helmet streams
 Proxima Centauri
A red dwarf star that is 4.3 light years away.
In what galaxy are we located?
What are the Inner Solar System?
What are the Outer Solar System?