Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 2 views

    Part 1 (Astronomy and Cosmology)

    Uploaded by

    roushill sahye

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Part 1 (Astronomy and Cosmology)

    Uploaded by

    roushill sahye
    2 views5 pages

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    2 views5 pages

    Part 1 (Astronomy and Cosmology)

    Uploaded by

    roushill sahye

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 5

    CHAPTER 25: ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY A LEVEL NOTES MOOCHOORAM R K

    Luminosity, L

    Luminosity, L of a star refers to the total power of radiation emitted by the star.

    Unit of luminosity: watt (W)

    Luminosity of the Sun: 3.83 x 1026 W Luminosity of Sirius A: 25 x LSun

    Note: The luminosity of a star depends on its surface area and surface temperature.

    Radiant flux intensity, F

    Radiant flux intensity, F refers to the total power of radiation incident per unit surface area.

    Unit of Radiant flux intensity: Wm-2

    Luminosity
    Radiant flux intensity =
    surface area star
    L d
    F=
    A
    𝐋𝐋
    𝐅𝐅 =
    𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝐝𝐝𝟐𝟐

    Where Surface area of sphere = 𝟒𝟒𝟒𝟒𝐝𝐝𝟐𝟐


    F: Radiant flux intensity in Wm -2

    L: Luminosity of source in W
    d: distance from centre of source to any point X
    CHAPTER 25: ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY A LEVEL NOTES MOOCHOORAM R K

    The radiant flux intensity obeys an inverse-square law.

    L
    F=
    4πd2
    Since L is a constant
    𝟏𝟏
    𝑭𝑭 ∝ 𝐝𝐝𝟐𝟐

    Past exam question (M23/P42/Q10a)

    A student observes different stars from the Earth. Give two reasons why some stars appear brighter
    than others.

    1. Brighter stars could be closer to Earth


    2. Brighter star could have a greater luminosity in the visible wavelengths.

    Past exam question (M22/P42/Q12)

    The luminosity of the Sun is 3.83 x 1026 W. The distance between the Earth and the Sun is 1.51 x
    1011 m.

    (a) Calculate the radiant flux intensity F of the Sun at the Earth.

    (b) Use data from (a) to calculate the mass that is converted into energy every second in the Sun.
    CHAPTER 25: ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY A LEVEL NOTES MOOCHOORAM R K

    Worked example Collins (pg 539)


    The flux intensity F from a distant star of known luminosity 5.7 x 1026 W is measured as 2.7 x
    10-8 Wm-2. Calculate how far it is from us.

    L
    F= (5.7 x 1026 )
    4πd2 𝑑𝑑 = �
    4π x (2.7 x 10−8 )
    L
    𝑑𝑑 = � = 4.1 x 1016 𝑚𝑚
    4πF

    Standard Candle
    A standard candle is an astronomical object of known luminosity.

    Examples of standard candles are Cepheid Variables and Type 1-A Supernova.

     Variable star

    The brightness of a variable star varies regularly as shown.

    The mean luminosity of the variable star can be obtained from period and then the distance to the
    galaxy in which the star is found can be determined by the inverse-square law.
    CHAPTER 25: ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY A LEVEL NOTES MOOCHOORAM R K

    Worked example (pg541, Collins)

    A type 1 Cepheid variable star observed in the Andromeda galaxy is observed to have a period of
    30 days. The observed radiant flux intensity of the star is 5.4 x 10-16 Wm-2 , and the radiant flux
    intensity of the Sun at the Earth is 1.37 x 103 Wm-2 . The average distance between the Sun and
    the Earth is 1.50 x 1011 m.

    Use this information and the relationship between period and luminosity shown in Figure 1 to
    estimate the distance to the Andromeda galaxy.

    Figure 1:Period-luminosity relationship for the two types of Cepheid variable stars

    From Figure 1 for Type 1 Cepheid with a period of 30 days, 𝐿𝐿 ÷ 𝐿𝐿𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆𝑆 = 104
    L
    Using the relationship F = and the inverse square law
    4πd2

    LStar dStar 2 FStar


    =� � x
    LSun dSun FSun
    Rearranging,

    LStar FStar
    dStar = � 𝑥𝑥 � � 𝑥𝑥 dSun
    LSun FSun

    1.37 𝑥𝑥 103
    = �104 𝑥𝑥 � � 𝑥𝑥 1.50 𝑥𝑥 1011
    5.4 𝑥𝑥 10−16

    = 2 𝑥𝑥 1022 𝑚𝑚
    CHAPTER 25: ASTRONOMY AND COSMOLOGY A LEVEL NOTES MOOCHOORAM R K

     Type 1-A supernova


    At large distances where the light from individual stars in galaxies cannot be observed, Type 1a
    supernova can be used to as standard candles to measure distance to distant galaxies.

    Type 1-A supernova can be used as standard candles as they all reach the same peak of
    luminosity.

    Figure 2: Light curve of a typical Type 1-A supernova

    Worked example (pg 543 Collins)

    A Type 1-A supernova is observed in another galaxy with a peak radiant flux intensity of
    9 x 10-18 Wm-2.

    If we assume that the peak luminosity of all Type 1-A supernova is about 1036 W, estimate the
    distance of the galaxy from Earth.

    L
    F= ( 1036 )
    4πd2 𝑑𝑑 = �
    4π x (9 x 10−18 )
    L
    𝑑𝑑 = � = 9 x 1025 𝑚𝑚
    4πF

    You might also like