AQA Physics A-level

Topic 9: Astrophysics
Key Points

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 The Converging Lens
Lenses are used to change the path of light rays as they pass through, in order to focus or magnify an image.
They achieve this through the process of refraction:
● As light passes into a optically denser medium, it will slow down
● This change in speed causes the ray to bend towards the normal
● When passing out of a denser medium, the light will speed up, causing it to bend back away from the normal

The diagram to the right, shows how rays of light are brought
together at a point by a convex lens:

● The central black line is known as the principal axis

● The rays entering the lens are known as axial rays since they
are parallel to the principal axis
● The point where the rays meet is known as the principal focus
● The distance from the centre of the lens to that point is known
as the focal length
● The lens is assumed to be very thin, and the ray is only
assumed to bend once in the centre of the lens

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 Astronomical Refracting Telescope
A refracting telescope is made up of two lenses. The objective lens brings light from a distant object together,
and focuses it to a point on the focal plane. The eyepiece lens is then positioned so its focal plane lies on the
focal plane of the objective lens. It produces a magnified image that is produced at infinity, and because of this, it
is in normal adjustment.
In an exam you may be required to draw a ray diagram:
1. Draw and label the principal axis and the two lenses
2. Mark on the common principal foci
3. Add an off-axis ray to the eyepiece, starting from the
centre of the objective lens and then draw an intermediate
image from this ray to the common principal foci
4. Draw a construction line from the centre of the eyepiece
to the intermediate image
5. Add two more parallel rays entering the objective lens and
follow them through to the eyepiece so that they cross at
the edge of the intermediate image
6. Continue all three rays from the eyepiece, so that they are
parallel to the construction line
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 Angular Magnification
Due to the image from a telescope being formed at infinity, the magnification of the image cannot
be calculated using lengths. Instead, the angles subtended by the object and image are used. To
calculate the angle subtended by an object at a distance d away, and with a height h, you need to
use the following formula:

θ= h Where θ is measured in
d radians.

When making calculations with the above equation, you will realise that the angle subtended by the
image will be greater than the angle subtended by the object, and hence the image is magnified.
To calculate the angular magnification of an image, use the following the formula:

angle subtended by image at eye

angular magnification, M =
angle subtended by object at unaided eye

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 Cassegrain Telescopes
A second type of telescope you should know about, is the reflecting telescope. These are based on the idea that
for reflection, the angle of incidence will always equal to the angle of reflection. A Cassegrain telescope is the
type of reflecting telescope that you should be familiar with:
● Parallel light from a distant objects enters the telescope
● A large parabolic reflector focuses the light together at the
principal focus
● A convex reflector then directs the light through the
eyepiece lens which sits in a hole in the large reflector

When drawing ray diagrams, you should be aware of the

following:
● Only two rays are required, and these are drawn parallel to the
principal axis
● The curve of the primary mirror should look like a continuous
parabola rather than two separate mirrors
● The rays shouldn’t cross until after they hit the secondary
mirror

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 Reflectors and Refractors
Reflecting telescopes are widely considered to be better than refracting telescopes for several
reasons:
● Reflectors can be much larger than refractors since mirrors can be held from behind, whereas
lenses can only be supported at their edge, as well as being likely to fracture under its own
weight
● Lenses, unlike mirrors, suffer from chromatic aberrations - different wavelengths of light are
focused onto slightly different positions, causing different focal points for different colours and
resulting in multi-coloured blurry edges
● Lenses, also unlike mirrors, suffer from spherical aberrations too

However, it is also important to note that reflectors also suffer from problems:
● Both the secondary mirror and the framework holding it in place cause diffraction as light
passes through, resulting in a lower quality image
● Refraction still occurs in the eyepiece meaning chromatic aberration can still occur, albeit
on a lesser scale

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 Radio Telescopes
When making observations of the universe, the atmosphere can heavily affect electromagnetic
waves. However, waves in the radio wave regions are less affected, and so radio telescopes are
often used:
● A parabolic metal surface, known as the reflecting dish, reflects incoming radio waves onto
an aerial
● The aerial is placed at the focal point so that no secondary reflector is needed
● Since radio waves have relatively large wavelengths, a mesh can be used for the reflecting
dish, rather than a solid piece of metal
● The condition for the above to apply, is that the gaps in the mesh are less that 1/20 of the
wavelength, so that they are reflected and not diffracted
● Radio telescopes generally have fairly low resolving powers
● Man-made interference, such as that from mobiles and satellites can interfere with the
operation of radio telescopes, making it harder for object’s to be detected
● Linked telescopes can help reduce issues caused by interference

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 Infrared and UV Telescopes
Telescopes using different regions of the electromagnetic spectrum are also used. The first type you should
be familiar with are infrared telescopes:
● Large concave mirrors are used to focus radiation onto a detector
● Since all objects emit infrared radiation, infrared telescopes must be cooled to almost absolute
zero
● The cooling process is achieved by using a cryogenic fluid such as liquid nitrogen or hydrogen
● They are used to observe cooler regions in space but since the atmosphere absorbs most infrared
radiation, they must be launched into space and accessed remotely
Ultraviolet telescopes are also used for some purposes:
● The atmosphere blocks UV radiation with wavelengths less than 300nm and so UV telescopes must
also be positioned in space
● They use the Cassegrain configuration in order to focus the radiation
● The rays are detected by solid state devices that make use of the photoelectric effect to convert
UV photons into electrons that pass around a circuit
● UV telescopes are used to observe interstellar medium and star formation regions

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 Large Diameter Telescopes
In general, large diameter telescopes are regarded as being superior to smaller diameter
telescopes. There are two main advantages that you should be aware of:
1. They have a greater collecting power, resulting in brighter images
2. They have a better resolving power, resulting in clearer images

The collecting power of a telescope is the rate at which useful energy is taken in by a telescope.
It is dependant on the area of the collecting surface, which is normally taken to be the area of the
primary mirror or objective lens. In general, it is known as the telescope’s aperture. You should
understand the significance of a telescope’s collecting power:
● The area of a circle = π(d/2)² and the so collecting power is proportional to the square of the
diameter
● A greater collecting power allows fainter objects to be seen more easily
● Doubling the diameter of a telescope’s aperture, means a given object can be seen from
twice the distance it previously could been seen from

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 The Rayleigh Criterion
The resolution of a telescope is a measure of how much a detail a telescope can produce. When light
enters a telescope, diffraction occurs and the resolution of the image produced is reduced.
The resolving power of a telescope is a measure of its ability to produce separate images of
close-together objects. Whether the two objects will be resolved is determined by the Rayleigh
criterion:
● The diffraction of light as it enters forms a target-like diffraction pattern consisting of a central
maximum surrounded by circular fringes made up of dark rings known as the minimum diffraction
rings
● Rayleigh’s criterion states that two objects won’t be resolved if any part of either of their central
maximums falls within the first minimum diffraction ring of the other object
Using the equation for a circular diffraction pattern, allows the minimum angular separation to be
calculated:
λ
θ≈
D
The smaller the angle, the greater the detail of the image that is produced, and so the better the
resolution.
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 Problems with Resolving Power
If a question asks you to calculate the resolving power for a given situation, you
need to calculate θ. This angle is therefore often known as the minimum angular
resolution of the telescope. There are several common problems that you
should be aware of that are related to resolving power:

● Power is usually measured in Watts, however in this case it is an angle that is

being calculated and so the unit of radians must be used instead
● The aperture diameter and the wavelength must have consistent units before
being used in calculations
● The angle calculated is only a theoretical and minimum value - in practice,
especially at shorter wavelengths, this value is less useful due to effects such
as refraction and diffraction

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 Charged-Coupled Devices
Telescopes often project the images they produce onto a charged-coupled device, to convert it
into an easily viewed and processed image. You should be able to compare a CCD to the human
eye:
● Photons of light are incident on a silicon layer in the CCD, which causes electrons to be
liberated
● These electrons are then trapped by the pixels’ potential wells, and then values of charge
are measured to form an image
● Whereas for CCDs, most photons will cause an electron to liberated (high quantum
efficiency), the human eye has a much lower quantum efficiency for low-light regions, as
well as losing colour, meaning CCDs are much more effective in low-light scenarios
● A simple comparison between the number of pixels/light sensitive cells per unit area suggests
that CCDs and the human eye have similar resolutions
● CCDs also allow for remote viewing, long exposure times, detection of waves outside the
visible region and computer analysis

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 The Apparent Magnitude Scale
The apparent magnitude scale, in its most basic form, is a measure of the brightness of a star as
viewed from Earth:
● This basic definition avoids the problems relating to non-visible parts of the spectrum, that terms like
luminosity and intensity have
● Luminosity is the total power that the star radiates and intensity is the power per unit area reaching
the observer - neither of these depend on just visible light and so can’t be used as a pure measure of
brightness
● Stars may appear brighter because they are closer to Earth
● Stars may have a higher apparent brightness since they are emitting more of their radiation in the
visible light region
Further developments on the brightness of stars and the apparent magnitude scale later led to the following
conclusions:
● There is a negative relationship between intensity and apparent magnitude
● There is a 2.51 ratio for an apparent magnitude difference of 1
● The sun is the brightest visible star on Earth and has an apparent magnitude of -26

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 Units of Distance
Due to the vast scale of the distances between bodies in space, standard distance units
such as those used on Earth aren’t practical. This led to the rise of several types of
Astronomical distances:
● A light year is the distance that a photon of light will travel through
a vacuum in the period of a year - in metres, 1ly = 9.46 x 10¹⁵ m.
● The Astronomical Unit (AU) is the average distance between the
Sun and Earth - in metres, 1AU = 1.5 x 10¹¹m
● The parsec is the distance at which 1AU subtends an angle of 1
arc second
● 1pc ≈ 3.26 ly

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 Absolute Magnitude
A star’s apparent magnitude is unable to tell you much about the properties of the star, unless you know
how far away it is. This leads to the definition of a star’s absolute magnitude:
● A star’s absolute magnitude is the apparent magnitude that the star would have, at a distance of 10
pc
● It is a measure of inherent brightness and both the apparent and absolute magnitudes lie on the
same logarithmic scale
● Apparent magnitude is represented by ‘m’ and absolute magnitude is represented by ‘M’

Absolute and apparent magnitudes can be related using the following equation:
m - M = 5 log (d/10)
This equation leads to a few useful conclusions:
● Stars closer than 10pc have a brighter apparent than absolute magnitude
● Stars further than 10pc have a dimmer apparent than absolute magnitude
● If the apparent and absolute magnitudes are equal, the star is 10pc away

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 Black Bodies
A black body is one that absorbs all wavelengths of EM radiation that is incident upon it. The
radiation emitted by a black body depends on temperature:

● The hotter the object, the shorter the wavelength at which it

has its intensity peak
● Stars are assumed to act like black bodies
● Hotter stars will emit more light at the blue/violet end of the
spectrum
● Cooler stars will emit more light at the red end of the
spectrum
The peak wavelength and temperature of a body is governed
by Wien’s displacement law:

λmaxT= 2.9 x10⁻³ mK

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 Stefan’s Law
Another law that you should be familiar with is Stefan’s Law. This relates a star’s
total power output to its surface area and temperature as follows:

P = σ A T⁴
● P is the star’s total power output measured in W
● A is the star’s surface area measured in m²
● T is the the star’s temperature measured in K
● σ is Stefan’s constant

σ = 5.67 x 10⁻⁸ Wm⁻²K⁻⁴

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 The Inverse Square Law
Any quantity that quarters when the distance doubles follows an inverse square law

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 Absorption Spectra
When light passes through a gas, certain wavelengths of light are absorbed. This same
process occurs when the light from a star passes through the atmosphere, and results in
gaps in the spectrum of light that a star emits. This is known as an absorption spectrum:

● Different wavelengths of light have different frequencies determined by c=fλ

● Different frequencies means that different photons have different energies determined by
E=hf
● Electrons in the gases in the atmosphere absorb the photons that have the correct
amount of energy to excite them to a higher discrete energy level, but can’t absorb
photons that don’t have the correct energy
● This results in certain wavelengths being absorbed, and the rest passing straight through,
forming a spectrum with absorption lines
The absorption spectra from stars can be analysed to determine their properties.

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 Stellar Spectral Classes
Star types can be grouped into spectral classes based on their temperature. Each class is labelled with a
letter and they are as follows:

● O: 25,000K -50,000K
● B: 11,000K - 25,000K
A useful mnemonic for the
order is: ‘Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss
● A: 7500K - 11,000K
Me!’ ● F: 6000K - 7500K
● G: 5000K- 6000K
● K: 3500K - 5000K
● M: <3500K
The temperature of a star determines the prominent absorption lines present in its absorption
spectra since temperature affects the energy of the star:
● At low temperatures there may be insufficient energy to break molecular bonds or excite atoms
● At high temperatures there is an excess of energy and so there is too much energy to form
molecules, but enough for ionisation to take place

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 The Hydrogen Balmer Series
The hottest stars have an abundance of hydrogen and helium in their atmospheres and
so the spectral lines from these elements tend to dominate. This gives rise to the
Hydrogen Balmer series:
● Hydrogen Balmer lines are absorption lines that are produced as a result of the
excitation of electrons from the n=2 state of hydrogen atoms
● The lines are most prominent in class A stars since at these temperatures there is
a large amount of hydrogen in n=2 state
● Classes O and B have weaker lines since most of the hydrogen in these classes is
ionised due to the very high temperatures
● Class F is quite cool so it is unlikely that hydrogen is excited, meaning the lines are
weak
● For classes G, K and M, the temperatures are too low for excitation to occur and
so there are no, or extremely weak, Balmer lines
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 The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is a plot of the absolute magnitude of a star to its temperature or spectral
class:

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 The Sun
You can plot the evolution of a star using a H-R diagram. You should be able to do this for the sun, and
understand the processes that it undergoes in its evolution:

● The sun currently has an absolute magnitude of 5, and is

in spectral class G - this means it is a main sequence
star
● As it uses up hydrogen, the hydrogen in its outer regions
will fuse, causing the star to expand and become a red
giant
● As it continues to use up fuel, it will collapse, causing an
increase in temperature and pressure which will induce
helium fusion
● Following this, helium shell fusion will begin to occur,
once again causing the sun to expand
● Over time the outer material will be expelled and only the
extremely hot but small core will be left - this is known as
white dwarf
● Once all fusion processes have stopped, the white dwarf
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will cool to become a black dwarf
 Supernovae
A supernovae is an object that undergoes a very quick and very large increase in its absolute
magnitude. You should be familiar with the nature of type 1a supernovae:
● They result from the explosion of a white dwarf star
● The variation of absolute magnitude against time for a type
1a supernovae is shown to the left - this type of diagram is
known as a light curve
● The maximum peak value of absolute magnitude is the same
for all type 1a supernovae
● The peak value occurs at around 20 days and is -19.3
● Since the peak value is always this value, type 1a are standard
candles
● The consequence of this is that the distance of a type 1a
supernovae can be calculated since the absolute magnitude is
known and the apparent magnitude can be measured

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 Neutron Stars
When the sun expels its outer layer, it becomes a white dwarf, however for
massive stars the core that is left is too large for this to occur. Instead, a neutron
star is formed:
● They are believed to mainly consist of neutrons, although some theories
suggest that they also have an outer layer of atomic nuclei and electron fluid
● Their density is estimated to be the same as nuclear matter
● They have a diameter of around 12 km
● They spin very rapidly so that angular momentum is conserved as the core
collapses
● Over time they lose energy, and so their speed of rotation will decrease
● They can act as very strong radio sources due to their strong magnetic
fields
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 Black Holes
The biggest cores can continue to collapse and will eventually form black
holes:
● The escape velocity of a black hole is greater than the speed of
light
● The Event Horizon of a black hole is the boundary at which the
escape velocity is exactly equal to the speed of light
● Anything that passes the Event Horizon cannot escape the black hole
● The Schwarzschild radius (Rs) is the name given to the radius of a
black hole’s Event Horizon
● The density of a black hole is proportional to the inverse of the
square of its mass - this means that the larger a black hole is, the
lower its density
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 Schwarzschild Radius
The equation for the Schwarzschild radius can be derived using Newton’s Law
of Gravitation:

GMm Kinetic Energy Lost =

½ mv² = Gravitational Potential
R Energy Gained

2GM Rearranging and

R = dividing both sides by
v² ‘m’.

2GM For a black hole with

Rs = an escape velocity
c² equal to the speed of
light.

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 Doppler Effect
The doppler effect is the apparent change in wavelength of a wave, when the source
moves relative to the observer:
● When the source moves away from the observer the wavelength will appear to
increase
● When the source moves towards the observer the wavelength will appear to
decrease
These apparent changes to wavelength consequently also result in a corresponding
change in frequency. In the case of light, these changes mean that the colour of the
light will visibly appear to change:
● When a light source moves away from the observer, the light will be shifted towards
the red end of the colour spectrum
● When a light source moves towards an observer, the light will be shifted towards
the blue end of the colour spectrum
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 The Doppler Equation
The magnitude of the wavelength shift that occurs due to the doppler effect, depends
on the relative speed at which the source and observer are moving away or towards
each other. The shift can be calculated using the below equation:

Δλ Δf = v
z= =
λ f c
Where z = Doppler Shift, Δλ = the change in wavelength, Δf = the change in
frequency and v = the relative speed of the source and observer
You should be aware the when the source and observer are approaching each other,
the relative speed should be a negative quantity, whereas when they are moving away
from each other, the relative speed quantity should be positive. This means that
positive z values indicate red-shift whereas negative z values indicate blue-shift.

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 Binary Star Systems
A binary star system consists of two stars rotating around the same centre of mass. You
should understand the different sections of the simplified light curve for such a system below:

● At position 1, the two stars are side by side and so

no eclipse occurs, and the absolute magnitude is at
its greatest
● At position 2, the larger of the two stars is in front of
the smaller one, resulting in all of the smaller star’s
light being blocked out
● At position 3, the two stars are once again side by
side and so no eclipse occurs, and the absolute
magnitude is again at its greatest
● At position 4, the smaller star is in front of the larger
one and so part of the larger star’s light is blocked
and the intensity is at a secondary minimum

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 Redshift
The observation of redshift in the light emitted by distant galaxies has
led to two key conclusions about the universe:
1. All visible galaxies show redshift, suggesting that all galaxies are
moving away from each other
2. The more distant galaxies demonstrate a greater amount of redshift,
suggesting they are moving away at a faster rate

These redshifts are observed by analysing the absorption or emission

spectra from the light emitted by these galaxies. The positions of the
absorption or emission lines are seen to be shifted towards the red end of
the spectrum when redshift occurs.
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 Hubble’s Law
Due to the observed redshift of distant galaxies, it is known that the further away a galaxy is, the
faster it is receding. The doppler equation can be used to calculate the velocity that it is moving
away at. Hubble’s Law forms a relationship between the recessive velocity and the distance of
a galaxy:

v = Hd
● The speed at which it is moving away, is directly proportional to the distance it is at
● The constant of proportionality in this relationship is known as ‘Hubble’s Constant’ and is
denoted by ‘H’
● H = 65 kms⁻¹Mpc⁻¹
Hubble’s Law suggests that the universe is expanding, and also supports the idea that it started
from a single point. By dividing the distance to a galaxy by its recessional velocity, the time since it
started receding can be approximated. This leads to the currently accepted age of the universe
being around 15 billion years.

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 Dark Energy
Astronomers have taken several measurements of the distance to distant Type 1a Supernovae
and measured the redshift of their galaxies. They expected to observe that:
● The rate of expansion of the universe is slowing down
● The supernovae would appear brighter than predicted by Hubble’s Law
● They weren’t receding as fast as predicted
However, in reality they observed very different results:
● The supernovae were dimmer than predicted by Hubble’s Law
● They were receding faster than predicted
● The rate of expansion of the universe appears to be accelerating

Currently there is no confirmed explanation of how the universe is expanding at an accelerating rate,
but one prediction is the existence of dark energy. Since dark energy hasn’t been observed, it is a
controversial idea that is still being investigated.

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 The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang theory is the currently accepted model for the origin of the universe. It states that
the universe began from a single, very small, hot and dense point, from which it has expanded.
You should be familiar with the evidence that supports this theory:
● The redshift observed from distant galaxies suggests that they are receding, which
demonstrates that the universe is expanding as predicted
● Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) is radiation that can be observed
throughout the universe - the Big Bang can explain its existence as being the result of high
energy radiation produced in the big bang that has been stretched as the universe has
expanded
● The Big Bang theory predicts that early fusion reactions produced helium by fusing hydrogen,
before the universe cooled and expanded to leave a relative abundance of those two elements -
this agrees with observations of nuclear matter in the universe
It is due to the magnitude of evidence supporting the Big Bang theory that it is currently accepted
over other models.

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 Quasars
The most distant and yet most powerful observable objects in the universe are
quasars:
● Believed to originate from supermassive black holes at the centre of early active
galaxies
● Appear at the centre of young galaxies and consequently often obscure the host
galaxy due to their brightness
● Calculations using the inverse square law suggest that their power output is the
same as that of several galaxies combined
● From the variation in their output, they are estimated to be roughly the size of a solar
system
● They were first observed as being very strong radio sources
● Later observations confirm that they emit electromagnetic radiation across the
whole range of the spectrum

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 Exoplanets
An exoplanet is a planet that is found outside of our own solar system. The ability to observe them is a
fairly new development in astrology due to a number of issues:

● Direct observations of exoplanets are difficult because the light they emit is usually obscured by the
brighter star that they orbit
● Resolving exoplanets that are too close to their star is often beyond current optical abilities
● If the exoplanet and star can be resolved, they don’t reflect much light and so will only appear very
dimly

However, more recently methods of observing exoplanets have been developed:

● Large exoplanets with large orbits are easiest to observe
● Hot exoplanets can be viewed from the infrared radiation that they emit, rather than relying on the
limited amount of light that they reflect
● Exoplanets that orbit brown dwarfs or other dimmer stars allow for easier observations
● Masking techniques have been developed to prevent the bright light from stars obscuring the
exoplanets when being imaged

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 Radial Velocity Method
One method of observing exoplanets that you should know about, is the radial
velocity method:

● The gravitational pull causes the star the exoplanet is orbiting to wobble
● This wobble results in a Doppler shift in the light it emits
● The magnitude of the Doppler shift, and the direction in which the shift
occurs, is linked to the component of the star’s velocity away from and
towards the Earth
● The data can be analysed to calculate an approximate distance of how close
an exoplanet is to the star
● The analysis used is similar to that of a binary star system

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 The Transit Method
Another method used to discover exoplanets it the transit method:
● There is a small dip in the apparent
magnitude of a star when a planet passes in
front of it
● A light curve can be plotted to show the dip in
intensity as well the period of time that is is
over
● Dips like this can also be caused by processes
such as variations in the star’s output itself as
well as sun spots, however the observation of
repeated transits like this, indicate the
existence of an exoplanet

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