GENERAL RELATIVITY

PRINCIPLE OF EQUIVALENCE -states that gravity is equivalent to a uniformly accelerated reference

frame and served as the backbone of his General Theory of Relativity.

GENERAL RELATIVITY - deals with non-inertial or accelerating frames of reference.

- gravity as a product of the warping or curving of space-time.

SPACE-TIME - is a four-dimensional continuum composed of the three dimensional space and

one dimension of time.

Warping or curving of space-time can be simulated with the use of a fabric.

THE VARIOUS EVIDENCE FOR GENERAL THEORY OF RELATIVITY

1. THE CORRECT PREDICTION OF SHIFTS IN THE ORBIT OF MERCURY - PERTURBATION or the effects of
nearby planets is accounted to 531 arcsec per century shift which is calculated using
Newtonian Gravitation. However, there is a 43 arcsec per century discrepancy from the actual
computation during the modern times. This discrepancy lead to Einstein’s explanation of
perihelion shift and that shifting is a result of the warping of space-time.

2. GRAVITATIONAL BENDING OF LIGHT

GRAVITATIONAL LENSING happens as light emitted by distant stars or galaxies bends
following the curvature of space-time created by a massive object in the universe.

3. BLACK HOLE
KARL SCHWARZSCHILD - was the first to use the general relativity in predicting that a
sufficiently massive body can deform space-time and that lead to his idea of the existence of
black holes.
BLACK HOLES are extremely dense collapsed star that not even light can escape from its
gravitational field.
- Anything must surpass the escape velocity of the blackhole in order to free itself from
the gravitational attraction and escape into space.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM OR GPS- originally known as NAVSTAR GPS, was invented by Dr. Ivan
Getting and the US Department of Defense.
- Due to the satellites’ constant motion relative to the observers on Earth and time runs
slower wherever gravity is strongest, clocks were corrected for effects predicted by the special
and general theory of relativity.

Exploring the Consequences of Special Relativity Postulates

RELATIVITY OF SIMULTANEITY - states that two simultaneously occurring event under one
reference frame is not necessarily simultaneous in another frame.
- depends on the reference frame of the observer.
TIME DILATION - States that the difference in the time interval between two events as perceived
by an observer under a stationary frame varies.
LENGTH OF CONTRACTION- States that the length of an object varies from one reference frame to
another.
- also emphasized that the length of an object contracts as it reaches the speed of light.
MASS ENERGY EQUIVALENCE & COSMIC SPEED LIMIT - Mass Energy Equivalence is represented by
Einstein’s E=mc2 whereas, E represents the total energy of a system, m represents the
relativistic mass and c represents the speed of light.
 - it requires an infinite amount of energy to keep the relativistic mass of an object in
motion with the speed of light.
SPEED OF LIGHT - is regarded as the cosmic speed limit being the fastest speed ever recorded
thus, no known object can travel faster than the speed of light.

EXPANDING UNIVERSE

COSMOLOGY - is the branch of astronomy that deals with the origin and evolution of the
universe.
ASTROMETRY - is the branch of astronomy involved in the measurement of distances and motion
of celestial bodies.

FIRST FEW STEPS OF THE COSMIC DISTANCE LADDER

ARISTOTLE - able to tell that the earth and the moon is spherical.
ERATOSTHENES - used geometry with a lot of observation to calculate the radius of the earth
which is accurate within 8% of the actual radius of the earth.
ARISTARCHUS - was also responsible for making the first documented measurement of the
distance of the Moon from the Earth, as well as , the approximate radius of the moon.
COSMIC DISTANCE LADDER - is a series of successive methods used by astronomers to determine
the distances of distant celestial bodies such as stars and galaxies.
ASTRONOMICAL UNIT (AU) - the average distance of the Earth from the Sun which is now measured
to be 1. 498 x 108 km.
RADAR RANGING – used in measurements of distances within the solar system

GOING BEYOND THE SOLAR SYSTEM

PARALLAX – the apparent displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed
along two different lines of sight.

Astronomers use TRIGONOMETRIC PARALLAX to calculate the distance of a relatively nearby

celestial object such as a nearby star (other than the sun).

LIGHT-YEAR - the distance travelled by light in one Julian Year (365 1⁄4 days)

PARSEC - the distance of which the mean radius of the earth's orbit subtends an angle of one
second of arc.

One light-year is 9.46 x 1012km while 1 parsec is equivalent to 3.26 light-years.

STANDARD CANDLES - objects with known luminosity.

CEPHEID VARIABLE STARS OR CEPHEIDS- the most useful for nearby galaxies, These stars vary in
luminosity alternately appearing to be dim and bright with intervals from a few days to a few
months.
HENRIETTA LEAVITT - discovered that when Cepheids have longer periods of alternating
brightness, the more luminous it become.

WHITE DWARF SUPERNOVAE can also be used to measure distances of very far galaxies. This is due
to the idea that they all have the same peak luminosity because they originated from the same
sizes of main sequence stars.
DOPPLER EFFECT
When the source of light is moving towards the observer, the observed light turns BLUE
SHIFTED or shifted towards the short wavelength portion of the spectrum.
When the source of light is moving away from the observer, the observed light becomes RED
SHIFTED or shifted towards the long wavelength portion of the spectrum.

HUBBLE’S LAW AND THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE

EDWIN HUBBLE’s discovery of the Andromeda Galaxy enabled him to study for the Milky Way
Galaxy.
HUBBLE’S LAW - relationship between the distance of the star or galaxy is observed to its
recession speed (speed at which it is moving away)