Holy Fiddlesticks! This is a post that actually has 100% relevance to the class that I am writing this for! Someone asked me "Hey, what do you think of Astronomy so far"? That got me thinking.... One of the things I haven't covered in this blog is my opinions of the class thus far! So here it goes....... Awesome..... I freaking love the class! Except sadly, I do not believe we are going to go to in depth into the intense physics of things i.e. Calculating lifespans of Black Holes, energy outputs of stars over "x" period of time. You know, the awesome equations and such! Yeah that's right, I love solving equations, I may not be the greatest at it but where a lot of people moan and groan when they see the stefan-boltzmann law of power, I jump for joy! Ohhh.... I can't wait until I can take Astrophysics!
-MrAstrowhat
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Omnomnom....
So! Black Holes! My favorite topic! Why is it my favorite topic? Well try to imagine one. Try to imagine a single point in time and space. A place where time slows down. A place where so much mass is packed into one infinitesimal space the gravitational pull is so strong that nothing, not even light can escape. The grand mystery which is a Black Hole is what intrigues me.
If a star has enough mass when it goes into a supernova, even after it goes into neutron star phase, the gravitational force is still enough to continue crushing it. This crushing will continue until the star gets down to such a small size it exists pretty much as a single point (really, really small). This point has such a small size and such a high mass, its gravitational force becomes so great that it starts to suck in all surrounding mass (this can be proved through the equation Gm/r^2)n and even begins to suck in light. Because it absorbs all light it is viewed as a perfectly black circle (hence the name Black Hole).
A Black Hole is comprised of three main parts: The singularity, the Schwarzchild Radius, and the Event Horizon.
I have discussed the singularity before. It is a tiny object of infinite heat and density. It is found at the center of a Black Hole. Simple as that!
The Schwarzchild Radius is the distance from the singularity where the escape velocity is equal to that of the speed of light. This is what puts the "Black" in Black Hole for if light cannot escape than there is nothing for us to see!
The Event Horizon is simply the outer boundaries of the Schwarzchild Radius. It's also referred to as "The point of no return", for once and object enters the Event Horizon it cannot escape.
Arg! This is so hard to explain well by typing! There are so many awesome formulas and stuff I want to show but it would really just end up being a pile of mumbo-jumbo if i attempted to use it in typed words. I may have a solution, I am going to attempt to make some videos to just show any equations that help to prove what I am saying. It's not a guarantee but I am going to try. Back to Black Holes!
Now Black Holes love to eat light and matter but something else that is on the main menu of delicacies for a Black Hole is time. Its hard to imagine how something can warp time. I have come to a conclusion it's just something I have to accept rather than question it. If you dropped a clock into a Black Hole and watched it, the hands would move slower and slower, time would get slower and slower as the clock went deeper into the Black Hole. The clock would also experience Spaghettification (which I mentioned in my last blog) and Redshift. This redshift is a result of the light of the clock being moved towards the lower end of the spectra (red) this is due to the lower frequencies of light that are occurring due to the effects of the Black Hole.
Now here is a nice question, do Black Holes ever die? The answer is YES! Around the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, particles are being emitted. Everytime a particle is emitted, some energy is lost (I think this is related to matter and antimatter particles but I'm not 100% sure). To prove this there is an equation that is derived using a few very fun little equations such as: Stefan-Boltzmann Constant, Hawking Radiation Temperature, Schwarzchild Radius Equation, and Stefan-Boltzmann Power Law. These give an equation which allows you to find how much energy is being emitted from the Black Hole. You can then take the derivative of Einsteins mass-energy equation, set it equal to an little equation for Power, rearrange, integrate, then do some fun little algebraic manipulations (bazinga, the algebra is ridiculous) and get an equation which allows you to solve for time, exciting eh? It's not as exciting when you spend a long time actually learning to derive this......
I think this is enough Black Holes for now, I have some more I will cover next time I do a blog post.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for thought: Derivations suck
If a star has enough mass when it goes into a supernova, even after it goes into neutron star phase, the gravitational force is still enough to continue crushing it. This crushing will continue until the star gets down to such a small size it exists pretty much as a single point (really, really small). This point has such a small size and such a high mass, its gravitational force becomes so great that it starts to suck in all surrounding mass (this can be proved through the equation Gm/r^2)n and even begins to suck in light. Because it absorbs all light it is viewed as a perfectly black circle (hence the name Black Hole).
A Black Hole is comprised of three main parts: The singularity, the Schwarzchild Radius, and the Event Horizon.
I have discussed the singularity before. It is a tiny object of infinite heat and density. It is found at the center of a Black Hole. Simple as that!
The Schwarzchild Radius is the distance from the singularity where the escape velocity is equal to that of the speed of light. This is what puts the "Black" in Black Hole for if light cannot escape than there is nothing for us to see!
The Event Horizon is simply the outer boundaries of the Schwarzchild Radius. It's also referred to as "The point of no return", for once and object enters the Event Horizon it cannot escape.
Arg! This is so hard to explain well by typing! There are so many awesome formulas and stuff I want to show but it would really just end up being a pile of mumbo-jumbo if i attempted to use it in typed words. I may have a solution, I am going to attempt to make some videos to just show any equations that help to prove what I am saying. It's not a guarantee but I am going to try. Back to Black Holes!
Now Black Holes love to eat light and matter but something else that is on the main menu of delicacies for a Black Hole is time. Its hard to imagine how something can warp time. I have come to a conclusion it's just something I have to accept rather than question it. If you dropped a clock into a Black Hole and watched it, the hands would move slower and slower, time would get slower and slower as the clock went deeper into the Black Hole. The clock would also experience Spaghettification (which I mentioned in my last blog) and Redshift. This redshift is a result of the light of the clock being moved towards the lower end of the spectra (red) this is due to the lower frequencies of light that are occurring due to the effects of the Black Hole.
Now here is a nice question, do Black Holes ever die? The answer is YES! Around the Event Horizon of a Black Hole, particles are being emitted. Everytime a particle is emitted, some energy is lost (I think this is related to matter and antimatter particles but I'm not 100% sure). To prove this there is an equation that is derived using a few very fun little equations such as: Stefan-Boltzmann Constant, Hawking Radiation Temperature, Schwarzchild Radius Equation, and Stefan-Boltzmann Power Law. These give an equation which allows you to find how much energy is being emitted from the Black Hole. You can then take the derivative of Einsteins mass-energy equation, set it equal to an little equation for Power, rearrange, integrate, then do some fun little algebraic manipulations (bazinga, the algebra is ridiculous) and get an equation which allows you to solve for time, exciting eh? It's not as exciting when you spend a long time actually learning to derive this......
I think this is enough Black Holes for now, I have some more I will cover next time I do a blog post.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for thought: Derivations suck
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Elephants in my Closet
Hmmm I suppose after leaving everyone on a cliff hanger with what happens at the end of a stars life I have some explaining to do! Now when most people think about a stars death the think about a big explosion. Well... They are wrong. The star doesn't explode, rather, it implodes.
Picture this. You have a balloon in your hands and it is attached to a (very weak) air compressor. You put the nozzle in the balloon and begin to fill it. While its filling you squeeze the balloon to prevent it from growing but despite your efforts your applied force isn't enough. At this point, the balloon is a star, the air compressor is the core of the star that is fusing elements and providing an outward force, and you my friend, are gravity. Now get a friend to yank the nozzle out of the balloon and what happens? The outward force of the balloon stops and your applied force takes over and you squash the balloon.
The above analogy is exactly what gravity does to a star. The gravitational force crushes the star and causes it to essentially implode into itself! This implosion causes a massive release of radiation which creates a brilliant light show in our massive universe.
In this implosion mass amounts of gamma rays are released. These gamma rays have enough energy to decompose elements into nothing but free neutrons. As a result, the result of a supernovae is an extremely dense core made entirely of neutrons (and not to mention the ridiculous amounts of radiation surrounding). This little bundle of joy is called a "neutron star". These neutron stars can have a mass of twice our sun but have a radius of only 12 kilometers. After solving for the volume of a neutron star with that radius and then using the suns mass (times two) we get a density of approximately 5.5x10^17kg/m^2. To put that into perspective, take 110000000000000 fully grown African Elephants (10 000 pounds each) and put them into your dorm room closet. Thats the magnitude of density we are talking about here!
Now lets say, the remaining neutron star had a mass of over 3 solar masses. Gravity would not be satisfied with this neutron star. It would continue to crush! Remember, the heavier the object, the greater the gravitational force. Gravity would continue to crush and crush and crush until there is nothing left but a tiny spot. A tiny spot of such great mass (around 10^3 solar masses) and such little size (the singularity!) that creates a gravitational force so strong that nothing, not even light can escape (the universal law of gravitation (-Gm/r) can prove this, its just a matter of taking a really big number and dividing it by a really small number).
Now this entry is starting to get pretty hefty so I think I will end it here and pick up with Black Holes in my next installment.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: When something is dropped into a black hole (assuming it is not disintegrated from the mass outflow of energy) it experiences a phenomenon called spaghettification. (I just thought it was a cool name) This means exactly what it sounds like, the object is stretched vertically and squeezed horizontally. (again, this doesn't seem that amazing but look at the name!!!!)
Picture this. You have a balloon in your hands and it is attached to a (very weak) air compressor. You put the nozzle in the balloon and begin to fill it. While its filling you squeeze the balloon to prevent it from growing but despite your efforts your applied force isn't enough. At this point, the balloon is a star, the air compressor is the core of the star that is fusing elements and providing an outward force, and you my friend, are gravity. Now get a friend to yank the nozzle out of the balloon and what happens? The outward force of the balloon stops and your applied force takes over and you squash the balloon.
The above analogy is exactly what gravity does to a star. The gravitational force crushes the star and causes it to essentially implode into itself! This implosion causes a massive release of radiation which creates a brilliant light show in our massive universe.
In this implosion mass amounts of gamma rays are released. These gamma rays have enough energy to decompose elements into nothing but free neutrons. As a result, the result of a supernovae is an extremely dense core made entirely of neutrons (and not to mention the ridiculous amounts of radiation surrounding). This little bundle of joy is called a "neutron star". These neutron stars can have a mass of twice our sun but have a radius of only 12 kilometers. After solving for the volume of a neutron star with that radius and then using the suns mass (times two) we get a density of approximately 5.5x10^17kg/m^2. To put that into perspective, take 110000000000000 fully grown African Elephants (10 000 pounds each) and put them into your dorm room closet. Thats the magnitude of density we are talking about here!
Now lets say, the remaining neutron star had a mass of over 3 solar masses. Gravity would not be satisfied with this neutron star. It would continue to crush! Remember, the heavier the object, the greater the gravitational force. Gravity would continue to crush and crush and crush until there is nothing left but a tiny spot. A tiny spot of such great mass (around 10^3 solar masses) and such little size (the singularity!) that creates a gravitational force so strong that nothing, not even light can escape (the universal law of gravitation (-Gm/r) can prove this, its just a matter of taking a really big number and dividing it by a really small number).
Now this entry is starting to get pretty hefty so I think I will end it here and pick up with Black Holes in my next installment.
-MrAstrowhat
Food for Thought: When something is dropped into a black hole (assuming it is not disintegrated from the mass outflow of energy) it experiences a phenomenon called spaghettification. (I just thought it was a cool name) This means exactly what it sounds like, the object is stretched vertically and squeezed horizontally. (again, this doesn't seem that amazing but look at the name!!!!)
Monday, January 10, 2011
Big Ol' Group Hug
Alright to start things off I feel as I should reflect on the course I am doing this blog for so far. I've read through chapters one, two, and most of three and have explored the later sections quite thoroughly and it's all so interesting! So pretty much.... I'm pumped for this semester!
So back to our journey through the life of our universe! We have just witnessed the first few seconds of the big bang. We saw matter and antimatter particles appear and disappear, we saw quarks, neutrinos, and then neutrons, protons, and electrons. These particles then combined into the most basic of elements; Hydrogen.
Once enough of these hydrogen atoms are formed they start to collect into gas clouds called nebulae (nebula for singular). These nebulae continue to collect hydrogen particles and grow larger. BUT! As they grow larger the gravitational force pushing in on the center of the nebula increases. It's like a giant group hug of hydrogen atoms! How sweet!
Eventually, the atoms are squeezed together with such pressure and force they start to fuse together. The more pressure exerted on the center the hotter it gets. The hotter it gets, the more energy there is. This energy will be noted in a few paragraphs.
With enough pressure the Hydrogen atoms fuse into Helium, then, with enough pressure, the Helium fuse into higher mass elements like nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, all the way up to the heaviest of naturally occurring elements such as Uranium. As heavier elements are created, there densities cause them to layer out, think of it as a really big, hot, onion.
This continues until we have a fully formed star! Yay!
Now we know where there is life, there is death. After billions of years of fusing hydrogen, a star will get to a point where it will essentially run out of elements to fuse. Remember that energy I was talking about? Well that energy created an outward force that balanced out the crushing force of gravity (F-star = F-gravity). Once the star stops the fusion process, the energy source is depleted and the outward force stops. Now gravity takes over.
Wow, that's some awesome stuff! Now what happens next? Hmmm I know.... But! That's a story for the next installment of my blog!
-MrAstroWhat
Food for thought: We live in one of an infinite number of parallel universes. As people, we have an ability to conceptualize an event or thing in a certain way. Since there are an infinite number of parallel universes, everytime you think of something, you are creating the concept of a different type of world and, with an infinite number of universes, that means one of them is now the one you thought of. If that makes sense to you :)
and yes.... I changed the background =P
So back to our journey through the life of our universe! We have just witnessed the first few seconds of the big bang. We saw matter and antimatter particles appear and disappear, we saw quarks, neutrinos, and then neutrons, protons, and electrons. These particles then combined into the most basic of elements; Hydrogen.
Once enough of these hydrogen atoms are formed they start to collect into gas clouds called nebulae (nebula for singular). These nebulae continue to collect hydrogen particles and grow larger. BUT! As they grow larger the gravitational force pushing in on the center of the nebula increases. It's like a giant group hug of hydrogen atoms! How sweet!
Eventually, the atoms are squeezed together with such pressure and force they start to fuse together. The more pressure exerted on the center the hotter it gets. The hotter it gets, the more energy there is. This energy will be noted in a few paragraphs.
With enough pressure the Hydrogen atoms fuse into Helium, then, with enough pressure, the Helium fuse into higher mass elements like nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, all the way up to the heaviest of naturally occurring elements such as Uranium. As heavier elements are created, there densities cause them to layer out, think of it as a really big, hot, onion.
This continues until we have a fully formed star! Yay!
Now we know where there is life, there is death. After billions of years of fusing hydrogen, a star will get to a point where it will essentially run out of elements to fuse. Remember that energy I was talking about? Well that energy created an outward force that balanced out the crushing force of gravity (F-star = F-gravity). Once the star stops the fusion process, the energy source is depleted and the outward force stops. Now gravity takes over.
Wow, that's some awesome stuff! Now what happens next? Hmmm I know.... But! That's a story for the next installment of my blog!
-MrAstroWhat
Food for thought: We live in one of an infinite number of parallel universes. As people, we have an ability to conceptualize an event or thing in a certain way. Since there are an infinite number of parallel universes, everytime you think of something, you are creating the concept of a different type of world and, with an infinite number of universes, that means one of them is now the one you thought of. If that makes sense to you :)
and yes.... I changed the background =P
Heeeey!..... I like your shoes!
Ok, this isn't a formal post, just a little shout out saying that I have posted some links at the bottom of my page to some interesting sites and videos that I really found interesting.
Enjoy!
-MrAstroWhat
Enjoy!
-MrAstroWhat
Thursday, January 6, 2011
Particle Party!
Ok, so I am trying to figure in what order I should release my topics in. So I decided I should move from beginning to present, it only seems logical. However, this does mean some of the more complicated of concepts would come first and get slightly more imaginable as I moved forward, but... I must do it for organizational sanity.
According to some scientists (there are numerous theories on the beginning of our universe, this is the one of which I think to be true) our universe started out as a single, infinitesimal point of infinite density and heat. This point is called the Singularity.
A singularity is a term given to a point in space where all the four fundamental forces of physics (gravity, electromagnetics, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear) become one, a point where space and time converge, a point that no one will probably ever understand!
Now how does this singularity come into the creation of our universe? Well let me use a simple example.
Imagine a sphere that is divided into four equal sections, each section represents one of the four fundamental forces. You then begin to pump air into the sphere but suddenly one section begins to grow faster. Then before you know it the whole thing destabilizes and huge amounts of energy is released (A.K.A. The Big Bang). We will also look at the singularities when I do my bit on black holes.
After this destabilization occurred, the former singularity began to expand. Huge amounts of energy was released in the form of matter and antimatter particles.
These particles mentioned above are formed from the splitting of a photon. After creation they spread apart but then converge back into a photon. So if your dream is to be an antimatter particle when you grow up, take warning.... You will have a very short lifespan.
This little party of particles continued until the temperatures dropped and photons remained. Then quarks and gluons were eventually formed, these then formed into neutrons, protons, and electons, which formed into nuclei, and eventually, atoms!
This is the current ending on our little journey to the big bang, but one question remains. What caused the singularity to go haywire, what happened in the plank era (A.K.A the first 10^-43 seconds)? This is where M-Theory comes into play. I am not going to explain it just yet for my knowledge of it is very basic but it is because of M-Theory that scientists believe their are 11 dimensions.
-MrAstroWhat
Food for though: A kitchen magnet can lift a paper clip off the ground. In doing this it is defeating the entire gravitational pull of the earth.
According to some scientists (there are numerous theories on the beginning of our universe, this is the one of which I think to be true) our universe started out as a single, infinitesimal point of infinite density and heat. This point is called the Singularity.
A singularity is a term given to a point in space where all the four fundamental forces of physics (gravity, electromagnetics, weak nuclear, and strong nuclear) become one, a point where space and time converge, a point that no one will probably ever understand!
Now how does this singularity come into the creation of our universe? Well let me use a simple example.
Imagine a sphere that is divided into four equal sections, each section represents one of the four fundamental forces. You then begin to pump air into the sphere but suddenly one section begins to grow faster. Then before you know it the whole thing destabilizes and huge amounts of energy is released (A.K.A. The Big Bang). We will also look at the singularities when I do my bit on black holes.
After this destabilization occurred, the former singularity began to expand. Huge amounts of energy was released in the form of matter and antimatter particles.
These particles mentioned above are formed from the splitting of a photon. After creation they spread apart but then converge back into a photon. So if your dream is to be an antimatter particle when you grow up, take warning.... You will have a very short lifespan.
This little party of particles continued until the temperatures dropped and photons remained. Then quarks and gluons were eventually formed, these then formed into neutrons, protons, and electons, which formed into nuclei, and eventually, atoms!
This is the current ending on our little journey to the big bang, but one question remains. What caused the singularity to go haywire, what happened in the plank era (A.K.A the first 10^-43 seconds)? This is where M-Theory comes into play. I am not going to explain it just yet for my knowledge of it is very basic but it is because of M-Theory that scientists believe their are 11 dimensions.
-MrAstroWhat
Food for though: A kitchen magnet can lift a paper clip off the ground. In doing this it is defeating the entire gravitational pull of the earth.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
More like who put us here!
Alright, so, this is a blog I am putting together for a university project. Throughout the next three months I will be making weekly posts and trying to help explain some theories as to how our universe began, things beyond our solar system, and other crazy phenomena which will really turn your brain inside out. Some things I am hoping to research and share with you are: Supernovae, Black Holes, The Big Bang, The Expanding Universe, Theory of the really small and really big (Quantum and Relativity) Theories of Everything (String and Membrane Theory), and whatever else I find interesting!
Astronomy is one of my greatest passions and if anyone reads this and knows anything awesome I encourage you to POST IT, I always love learning new things about our universe.
The background is a visual of the Orion Nebula..... Just in case you were wondering.
Astronomy is one of my greatest passions and if anyone reads this and knows anything awesome I encourage you to POST IT, I always love learning new things about our universe.
The background is a visual of the Orion Nebula..... Just in case you were wondering.
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