ASTRONOMICAL DISTANCE, MASS AND

TIME SCALES

Astronomical Distance

1 Astronomical Unit (AU) is the mean distance

between the Sun and the Earth.
1 AU = 1.496 ×1011m
 Light Year
• 1 Light Year (ly) is the distance travelled by
light in one year.
1ly= 365daysx3x108m
1ly=9.46x1015 m
1 ly = 9.460 ×1015m = 6.323 ×104 AU
 Parsec
• 1 Parsec (pc) is defined as the distance at
which the radius of Earth’s orbit subtends an
angle of 1″
1 pc = 3.262 ly = 2.062 ×105AU = 3.085 ×1016m
 Dimensions of Astronomical Objects

•   sizes of stars or stellar dimensions are usually measured

The
in units of solar radius RΘ.
1 solar radius, RΘ= 6.7 ×108m
. The angular diameter of the Sun is 32′ and mean solar distance is1.5
× 1011m.
Thus,
R= [ 1.5x( 1011 m)x 32( 2.9x 10-4 rad) ]

R=6.7x108m
 Stellar masses
• Stellar
  masses are usually measured in units of
solar mass MΘ. Now According to Kepler’s third law
• T2= where where a, P, G and MΘ are the mean
solar distance, orbital period (~ 365 days) of the
Earth, gravitational constant and mass of the Sun,
respectively
• MΘ ≈ 2 × 1030kg
 BRIGHTNESS, RADIANT FLUX AND
LUMINOSITY
• The apparent brightness of a star is defined in terms of
what is called the apparent magnitude of a star
• Apparent magnitude of an astronomical object is a
measure of how bright it appears. According to the
magnitude scale, a smaller magnitude means a brighter
star.
• The brightest stars are assigned the first magnitude (m = 1)
and the faintest stars visible to the naked eye are assigned
the sixth magnitude (m = 6).
Relationship between brightness and apparent
magnitude

• m1=2.5
•  
• Where the brightness b1 and b2 of two stars with corresponding
magnitudes m1 and m2 are given by the following relations
• Luminosity (L) and Radiant Flux (F)
The luminosity of a body is defined as the total energy radiated by it per
unit time.
• Radiant flux at a given point is the total amount of energy flowing
through per unit time per unit area of a surface oriented normal to the
direction of propagation of radiation

F=
Stellar Parallax

 
One half of the maximum change in angular
position of the star is defined as its annual
parallax. The distance r of the star is given by

where dSE is the average distance between the

Sun and the Earth. Since the angle θ is
very small, tan θ ≅ θ, and we can write

r=
One parsec is the distance of an object that
has a parallax of one second of an
arc (1″).
 Proper Motion

• All celestial objects, the Sun, the Moon, stars, galaxies and
other bodies are in relative motion with respect to one another.
Part of their relative motion is also due to the Earth’s own
motion. However, the rate of change in the position of a star is
very slow. It is not appreciable in one year or even in a decade.
• The motion of a star can be resolved along two directions:
i) Motion along the line of sight of the observer, (either towards
or away from the observer) is called the radial motion.
ii) Motion perpendicular to the line of sight of the observer is
called proper motion
 Proper Motion

•Proper
  motion=
Or