Physics 405/406: Introduction to Astronomy

Welcome to "Introduction to Astronomy"!

  Course runs Mo, We, Fr, 2-3 pm, in the DeMeritt Hall Lecture Room, DeM 112.

Final Exam: We, May 14, 330 - 530 pm
Material for Exam: All Chapters, but heavy on recent material!
James G46: A–D; DeMeritt 240: E–J; DeMeritt: 112: K-Z

Take a look at the sky yourself!
This is part of what astronomy is about:
Taking in the wonders of the night sky.

Prof. Möbius is teaching Spring 2014

Some recent events

NASA's New Horizon Mission during its Countdown enroute to Pluto, bound for flyby in 2015.

ESA Comet Probe Rosetta wakes up before it encounters Comet.

Mars Rover Curiosity landed safely on Mars on August 5, 2012!

IBEX successfully launched on Sunday, October 19, 2008. The satellite and sensors (partially built at UNH) are working great.
In summer 2009 we displayed the first sky map taken with neutral atoms. IBEX has caught the interstellar wind through our Solar System; see the UNH Press Release from January 2012. As a consequence of IBEX results, there is no Bow Shock in front of the Heliosphere.The interstellar wind through the solar system may be changing.

NASA turned 50 on October 1, 2008! Check out their cool webcast videos!

Check your Class and Assignment Schedule! Reading is assigned for each class!

If you are interested in further discussions on Cosmology and Beyond
Join the Class "Cosmology and Our View of the World", INCO 796
always taught during the Spring Semester, coming year again with
Prof. E. Möbius (Physics), Prof. T. Davis (Genetics), & Prof. W. DeVries (Philosophy)
Meets Wednesday, 610 - 740 pm, in Morse Hall 401

Here is a list of the music pieces played during the walk-in period at the beginning of class.

Here is the article by John Gianforte, our local amateur astronomer expert, on Galileo Galilei that I pointed to in class.

Important class material and your Grade Updates can be found on Blackboard

• Jupiter lost one of its major cloud belts in 2010.
• Last year, 2009, was the International Year of Astronomy (IYA). 400 years after Galileo used a telescope for sky observations the very first time we celebrated advances in Astronomy.
• An unexpected flare-up of a normally inconspicuous comet occurred in October 2007. Comet P Holmes became prominently visible in the constellation Perseus for a few weeks. By the way, the "P" stands for periodical. This comet is on a known orbit about the Sun at distances between 3 and 5 AU. See also the photo gallery for comet P Holmes.
  We already have had a few really nice comets over the past 5 years. Here are photos of comet Ikeya-Zhang of last year, here you will find information on 1998 Comet Hale-Bopp.
• Watch a Science Fiction like "eclipse"! To calibrate the UV camera on STEREO a transit of the Moon in front of the Sun was used to provide cover.
• In January 2007 we have been enjoying the brightest comet since about 30 years. Comet McNaught has passed the Sun so closely that its activity is magnificent, producing a spectacular tail. Enjoy the McNaught photo gallery on the web.
• June 8 2004 was the day of the Venus Transit in front of the Sun's disk. Such events were used in the past (1874 and 1882) to determine distances in the solar system. See information by the European Southern Observatory (ESO) and by NASA.
• The Leonid Meteor Shower was strong over a few years at the end of the previous millenium. This only happens once every 33 years (potentially for a few years in a row) around the time when comet Temple-Tuttle comes to its closest approach to the sun. This happened in 1998. On November 17, 1999, the Leonids produced a decent show, to the delight of some nightly onlookers (with good weather). It was also considered potentially dangerous for the fleet of satellites and spacecraft out there. However, the satellites were spared.
  The last two years we enjoyed a relatively good showing at the east coast of the US, but this year is likely to be more spectacular. You can get the latest updates on the shower on the NASA Leonid website. The European Space Agency (ESA) is running running a special Leonid observation program down under. We have issued Press Releases on observations of the Leonids in this area. The Leonids are a good target of opportunity every year. However, spectucular showings are not regularly expected until about 2033. Stay tuned!
• Weren't able to get to Europe for the August 11 eclipse in 1999? Find pictures and movies here.
• Auroral activity may be seen even in New Hampshire, while the sun is still relatively active. Find information on this so-called "Space Weather" on a special website or directly from the NOAA Space Environment Center.
• More and more Near Earth Objects (NEOs), asteroids that can come close to Earth, are found. A recently tracked one may have the chance to hit Earth in about 900 years. See how this information is garnered and what could be done, if confirmed.
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• Check this site regularly for the Astronomy Picture of the Day, home of some of the most gorgeous images of the sky!
  Check out the collected News Items from Hubble Spacetelescope!

Current Events in Spaceflight:

• The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) was successfully launched in October 2008. IBEX has now taken the first global images of the boundary of our heliosphere with the neighboring interstellar medium, using neutral atom cameras. You can sign up for monthly updates via E-Mail on the IBEX website. A link with multimedia material on the IBEX Mission is available at the Southwest Research Institute. A lot of cool stuff on IBEX is available through the Adler Planetarium!
• During the month of September 2009 the MESSENGER probe passed Mercury for the fourth time. Watch the flyby through a visualization tool or follow the podcast.
• On February 7, 2007, the Ulysses probe passed one more time over the South Pole of the Sun, thus getting a unique view in the Heliosphere.
• First evidence for lakes found outside Earth! Cassini/Huygens found evidence for lakes on Saturn's moon Titan. They most likely consist of liquid methane or ethane.
• The year 2007/8 is the International Heliophysical Year (IHY). 50 Years after the International Geophysical Year (IGY) in 1957/8, when we "stuck our head above the Earth's atmosphere" for the first time at the dawn of the space age, we are now "sticking our head out of the Heliosphere", with the Voyagers at the ouitskirts of the Solar System and the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) to be launched on July 12 2008. As pointed out above, Ulysses is charting the regions above the Sun's South Pole right now, and it will pass over the North Pole later this year.
• The NASA Mars Rovers made it successfully to Mars' surface. Follow Opportunity's hunt for signs of flowing water in Mars' past. It has revealed the most compelling evidence yet.
  The European Mars probe Mars Express has reached Mars end of 2003. Touch down of the lander Beagle-2 apparently was not successful.
• The "Stardust" spacecraft has flown through the dust cloud of a comet and will bring back the comet material.
• The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) is providing the most detailed pictures of the "Baby Universe" thus far. Learn about this journey to the beginning of our universe!
• After the terrible tragedy on Saturday, Febr 1, 2003, NASA is investigating what the root cause of the catastrophic failure was. They keep the public informed on these actions and provide extensive material about the shuttle mission on a special website. Follow also another view on space.com.
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• Here you'll find the recent Astronomy and Space Science Headlines from NASA and an archive of last year's headlines, or alternatively from Space.com. The European Space Agency ESA distributes news of their activities in a similar way.

Helpful Links:

AstroEd: Astronomy Education Resources:

If you have trouble understanding Astronomy the way it is taught here or in the book, check out the websites from other Astronomy courses listed here.

The Cosmic and Heliospheric Learning Center:

The Cosmic and Heliospheric Learning Center, brought to you by the people at ACE, is designed to increase your interest in cosmic and heliospheric science. (The heliosphere is the HUGE area in space affected by the Sun.) It's an exciting subject to learn about, and science is constantly moving forward in understanding it. (ACE -- the Advanced Composition Explorer -- is one of the many satellite projects with which UNH has been involved, and promises to answer some of the more exciting questions about the formation of the solar system and our galaxy.)

Touching the Limits of Science:

One reason you are probably studying astronomy is that you are interested in the Philosophy behind science and are asking yourself where everything comes from. We will get to part of the story, but, as I make the point over and over, this is an endless enterprise. If you want to know more about this, you can either join us (Prof. Thomas M. Davis (Genetics), Prof. Willem DeVries (Philososphy) and Prof. Eberhard Möbius (Physics) in the seminar "Limits of Knowledge: Cosmology and the View of our World" and/or you may start by browsing the website for the seminar.