May 2006April 2004Belinda Wilkes A bit about me! Dr. Belinda Wilkes, Professional Astrophysicist...
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May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes A bit about me! • Dr. Belinda Wilkes, Professional Astrophysicist (Astronomer) • Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass., USA • On contract to NASA to run Chandra X- ray Observatory (Hubble’s X-ray sister) • English, BSc St. Andrews, PhD Cambridge • In USA since 1982
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Transcript of May 2006April 2004Belinda Wilkes A bit about me! Dr. Belinda Wilkes, Professional Astrophysicist...
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
A bit about me!
• Dr. Belinda Wilkes, Professional Astrophysicist (Astronomer)
• Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, Cambridge, Mass., USA
• On contract to NASA to run Chandra X-ray Observatory (Hubble’s X-ray sister)
• English, BSc St. Andrews, PhD Cambridge
• In USA since 1982
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Astronomers learn by looking
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Life Cycle of a Star
The Sun:
our nearest star
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Stars have different colors
• B: blue – hottest
• A: green – warm
• C: red - cool
What can we measure?
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Color, Brightness + Count them
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
What makes the Sun Shine?
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Where are Stars Born?Clusters: Pleiades
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Stellar Nurseries
Infrared: 30 Doradus in LMC
Optical
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Circumstellar Disks
• First image of dust disk, around 18th brightest star
• 25 light years away• Disk thought to be
debris left from planet formation
Infrared
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Stellar Life
• Star burns fuel in its core (fusion: H→Helium)
• Initially fuel is H, star is on Main Sequence “Adult” (e.g. The Sun)
• When H runs out, core heats up and He, burns: “Middle Age” (Giant star)
• then He runs out, it burns heavier elements, e.g. Fe
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
HR Diagram shows age and mass
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Death of a Star• When all fuel runs out, the core collapses• Outer regions of star explode outwards: Supernova• SN shine more brightly than a galaxy for a few hours/days
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
We are made of stardust!
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Cassiopeia A: X-rays
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
The Crab NebulaHubble Space T/p: OpticalChandra X-ray Observatory: X-ray
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Chandra X-ray Observatory
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
What are X-rays?
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Focusing X-rays
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Launch: 23 July 1999Space Shuttle Columbia
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
STS-93 Shuttle Crew
Commander:
Eileen Collins
Mission Spclst:
Cady Coleman
Astronomer:
Steve Hawley
May 2006April 2004 Belinda Wilkes
Supernovae by Chandra
