Laboratory Experiments in Physics for Modern Astronomy: With Comprehensive Development of the Physical Principles

✍ Scribed by Leslie Golden (auth.)

• Publisher: Springer-Verlag New York
• Year: 2013
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 586
• Edition: 1
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This book presents experiments which will teach physics relevant to astronomy. The astronomer, as instructor, frequently faces this need when his college or university has no astronomy department and any astronomy course is taught in the physics department. The physicist, as instructor, will find this intellectually appealing when faced with teaching an introductory astronomy course. From these experiments, the student will acquire important analytical tools, learn physics appropriate to astronomy, and experience instrument calibration and the direct gathering and analysis of data. Experiments that can be performed in one laboratory session as well as semester-long observation projects are included.

✦ Table of Contents

Front Matter....Pages i-xxix
Front Matter....Pages 1-1
Experiment 1 A Review of Mathematical Concepts and Tools....Pages 3-33
Experiment 2 A Review of Graphing Techniques....Pages 35-52
Experiment 3 The Optics of Telescopes: Part I. Image Size and Brightness....Pages 53-73
Experiment 4 The Optics of Telescopes: Part II. Magnification and Chromatic Aberration....Pages 75-85
Front Matter....Pages 87-87
Experiment 5 Earth: The Seasons and Local Latitude....Pages 89-104
Experiment 6 The Surface Roughness of the Moon. Reflection and Scattering from a Planetary Surface: Part I. Surface Materials....Pages 105-128
Experiment 7 The Surface Roughness of the Moon. Reflection and Scattering from a Planetary Surface: Part II. Beads and Surface Coverage....Pages 129-154
Experiment 8 The Formation of Impact Craters....Pages 155-192
Experiment 9 Determination of the Rotation Rate of Planets and Asteroids by Radar: Part I. Observations of Mercury....Pages 193-213
Experiment 10 Determination of the Rotation Rate of Planets and Asteroids by Radar: Part II. Observations of Simulated Planets....Pages 215-257
Experiment 11 The Orbit of Venus....Pages 259-289
Experiment 12 Kepler’s Laws of Planetary Motion....Pages 291-317
Experiment 13 The Galilean Satellites of Jupiter....Pages 319-354
Experiment 14 Thermal Radiation from a Planetary Subsurface: Part I. Calibration and Initial Measurements....Pages 355-391
Experiment 15 Thermal Radiation from a Planetary Subsurface: Part II. Soil Sample Measurements....Pages 393-426
Experiment 16 The Microwave Phase Effect of the Moon....Pages 427-470
Front Matter....Pages 471-471
Experiment 17 Blackbody Radiation....Pages 473-498
Experiment 18 The Surface Temperature and Energy Output of the Sun....Pages 499-515
Experiment 19 The Theory of Atomic Spectra....Pages 517-532
Experiment 20 Discovering the Nature of Objects in Space: Kirchhoff’s Laws of Radiation....Pages 533-549
Back Matter....Pages 551-570

✦ Subjects

Astronomy, Observations and Techniques; Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology