Physics 490: Section 2
The Physics of Astrophysics
1
Two-Body Interaction
2
Orbits follow conic sections
Unbound
Bound
3
Kepler’s 1st and 2nd Laws
Each purple region has the same area and is swept out in
equal time
4
Gravity from an extended (spherical)
distribution
A “sees” mass 1+mass 2
B “sees” only mass 1
5
Rotation curve of the Milky Way
6
v
7
Waves interfere with one another
8
The Wave Nature of Light
9
Electromagnetic Waves
10
Newton’s Double Prism experiment
11
The Electromagnetic Spectrum
12
The Solar Spectrum
13
SDSS Response Function
14
Spectral lines of some common
elements
Phys 231, Topic 2: The Physics of
Astrophysics
15
16
Kirchoff’s Spectroscopy Laws
17
Doppler Shift
18
Maxwell-Boltzmann Distribution
19
The RHS of the SAHA equation
Earth
Atmospheric
Densities
Solar
Densities
20
Ionization fraction of hydrogen
Earth
Solar
21