Astronomy. My first Year Notes
written by Kirstie Calderon Lewis
My own notes of Astronomy First Year lesson 1 - 9. All notes from the lessons and my own work on Astronomy. Important information for quizzes and essays can be find within the notes.
Last Updated
05/31/21
Chapters
9
Reads
915
Lesson Five
Chapter 5
• The A.M.E. was invented by Dr. Ayesha Mansour.
• The factors that determine the amount of light that a non-luminous celestial body reflects towards the Earth.
• The first thing that needs to be known is the amount of light that a celestial body receives from the Sun. That raw value is dependent upon how much light the Sun produces.
Distance from the Sun
• Amount of light that an object receives from the Sun varies with the inverse of the square.
• The word “inverse” means that it decreases with increasing distance.
• The light from the Sun spreads out over a larger area the farther it travels from its source; so, the farther a body is from the Sun, the less of the Sun’s light it gets.
Angular Size
• Size of an object as seen by an observer.
• Size is not the actual physical size measured in miles or kilometres, but rather an angle.
• The greatest angular separation between two ends of the object, expressed in degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds.
• Bigger the angular size of an object is, the more light it sends to the Earth.
• The amount of light it sends increases with the angular area of the object, but this depends on the square of the angular size.
• Albedo values. The word “albedo” comes from the latin word “albus,” which means white. The albedo of a surface is the ratio of the light reflected off the surface to that incident on, or hitting, the surface
• Highest known albedo (0.96) is magnesium oxide
• Lowest albedo (0.01-0.03) is black velvet.
Phase
• The proportion of the body that is lit in the sky.
• The more of the body that is lit, the lighter it will reflect towards Earth.
• The Sun lights the half of a body that is facing it. The proportion of the body that is lit in the sky, as seen from Earth, is the proportion of its sunlit side that is facing Earth.
• Mercury and Venus are closer to the Sun than Earth is, they too have a full set of phases.
• If some of the light reflected from the body is blocked from Earth by another body, it can’t be seen from Earth.
• Part of the body is in the shadow of another body.
• During a partial eclipse of the Moon, when part of the Moon is in Earth’s shadow, then the Sun’s light will not reach it and the body will not be lit in the sky.
• Definition of phase to mean the proportion of the body that is lit in the sky and can be seen from Earth.
• These four quantities (distance from the Sun, angular size, albedo, and phase) are independent of one another.
• The albedo of the Moon does not depend on its phase – a new Moon reflects just as much light as a full Moon. Although that light doesn’t reach Earth.
• The albedo also doesn’t depend on its distance from Earth, but its angular size does.
Formula for the Amount of Light Reflected to Earth.
• The amount of light an observer on Earth sees from a non-light-producing astronomical body
• Magical albedo versus optical albedo.
• Light-coloured objects reflect more magic than dark-coloured objects.
• Magic can pass through clouds and walls relatively easily, whereas light cannot.
• Defined the magical albedo of a non-luminous celestial body as the ratio of the magic reflected from the body to that incident on.
• Careful measurement that the magic reflected by various bodies interact with each other, leading to the fifth part of the A.M.E
Interference
• Only component of the A.M.E. that is unique to magic.
• Magic is reflected by an astronomical object, it is influenced by the magic reflected by other objects in the sky.
• Constructive interference occurs when reflections from two or more magical sources enhance each other so that the magic reflected from each of those objects is stronger than it would be normally.
• Destructive interference occurs when reflections from two or more magical sources partly or completely cancel each other out so that there is less or no magic coming from either of them.
• Total constructive interference refers to a situation in which the reflected magic from one of the bodies is doubled.
• Total destructive interference refers to a complete cancellation of a body’s reflected magic.
• Objects that appear to be 90 degrees apart in the sky do not interfere magically with each other. Objects that appear to be closer together than 90 degrees interfere constructively, and the closer together they appear, the stronger the constructive interference is. Objects that appear to be farther apart than 90 degrees interfere destructively, and the farther apart they appear, the stronger the destructive interference is.
• The more magic a body reflects towards the Earth, the more it will interfere with the magic reflected by other bodies and the less its magic will be interfered with.
• The magic reflected by a body can be almost doubled or almost eliminated entirely.
• A 1 is added to it in the equation for the A.M.E. Quotient to make this doubling and cancellation happen.
• Total constructive interference (doubling the magic) and total destructive interference (eliminating the magic entirely) can never quite be achieved, but the full Moon’s magic is so strong that it can very nearly do so to other bodies.
• Jupiter tends to increase the power of spells and other magic, and Mars tends to make people more likely to commit violence.
• A formula for the amount of magic reflected to the Earth by a non-luminous body.
• The interference component encompasses the total interference from all other visible bodies.
• It is because of this division that Dr. Mansour called her formula the Astronomical Magical Effect Quotient.
• The Sun’s direct magic also interferes with the magic reflected by other objects in the solar system, including the Moon.
• The factors that determine the amount of light that a non-luminous celestial body reflects towards the Earth.
• The first thing that needs to be known is the amount of light that a celestial body receives from the Sun. That raw value is dependent upon how much light the Sun produces.
Distance from the Sun
• Amount of light that an object receives from the Sun varies with the inverse of the square.
• The word “inverse” means that it decreases with increasing distance.
• The light from the Sun spreads out over a larger area the farther it travels from its source; so, the farther a body is from the Sun, the less of the Sun’s light it gets.
Angular Size
• Size of an object as seen by an observer.
• Size is not the actual physical size measured in miles or kilometres, but rather an angle.
• The greatest angular separation between two ends of the object, expressed in degrees, arcminutes, and arcseconds.
• Bigger the angular size of an object is, the more light it sends to the Earth.
• The amount of light it sends increases with the angular area of the object, but this depends on the square of the angular size.
• Albedo values. The word “albedo” comes from the latin word “albus,” which means white. The albedo of a surface is the ratio of the light reflected off the surface to that incident on, or hitting, the surface
• Highest known albedo (0.96) is magnesium oxide
• Lowest albedo (0.01-0.03) is black velvet.
Phase
• The proportion of the body that is lit in the sky.
• The more of the body that is lit, the lighter it will reflect towards Earth.
• The Sun lights the half of a body that is facing it. The proportion of the body that is lit in the sky, as seen from Earth, is the proportion of its sunlit side that is facing Earth.
• Mercury and Venus are closer to the Sun than Earth is, they too have a full set of phases.
• If some of the light reflected from the body is blocked from Earth by another body, it can’t be seen from Earth.
• Part of the body is in the shadow of another body.
• During a partial eclipse of the Moon, when part of the Moon is in Earth’s shadow, then the Sun’s light will not reach it and the body will not be lit in the sky.
• Definition of phase to mean the proportion of the body that is lit in the sky and can be seen from Earth.
• These four quantities (distance from the Sun, angular size, albedo, and phase) are independent of one another.
• The albedo of the Moon does not depend on its phase – a new Moon reflects just as much light as a full Moon. Although that light doesn’t reach Earth.
• The albedo also doesn’t depend on its distance from Earth, but its angular size does.
Formula for the Amount of Light Reflected to Earth.
• The amount of light an observer on Earth sees from a non-light-producing astronomical body
• Magical albedo versus optical albedo.
• Light-coloured objects reflect more magic than dark-coloured objects.
• Magic can pass through clouds and walls relatively easily, whereas light cannot.
• Defined the magical albedo of a non-luminous celestial body as the ratio of the magic reflected from the body to that incident on.
• Careful measurement that the magic reflected by various bodies interact with each other, leading to the fifth part of the A.M.E
Interference
• Only component of the A.M.E. that is unique to magic.
• Magic is reflected by an astronomical object, it is influenced by the magic reflected by other objects in the sky.
• Constructive interference occurs when reflections from two or more magical sources enhance each other so that the magic reflected from each of those objects is stronger than it would be normally.
• Destructive interference occurs when reflections from two or more magical sources partly or completely cancel each other out so that there is less or no magic coming from either of them.
• Total constructive interference refers to a situation in which the reflected magic from one of the bodies is doubled.
• Total destructive interference refers to a complete cancellation of a body’s reflected magic.
• Objects that appear to be 90 degrees apart in the sky do not interfere magically with each other. Objects that appear to be closer together than 90 degrees interfere constructively, and the closer together they appear, the stronger the constructive interference is. Objects that appear to be farther apart than 90 degrees interfere destructively, and the farther apart they appear, the stronger the destructive interference is.
• The more magic a body reflects towards the Earth, the more it will interfere with the magic reflected by other bodies and the less its magic will be interfered with.
• The magic reflected by a body can be almost doubled or almost eliminated entirely.
• A 1 is added to it in the equation for the A.M.E. Quotient to make this doubling and cancellation happen.
• Total constructive interference (doubling the magic) and total destructive interference (eliminating the magic entirely) can never quite be achieved, but the full Moon’s magic is so strong that it can very nearly do so to other bodies.
• Jupiter tends to increase the power of spells and other magic, and Mars tends to make people more likely to commit violence.
• A formula for the amount of magic reflected to the Earth by a non-luminous body.
• The interference component encompasses the total interference from all other visible bodies.
• It is because of this division that Dr. Mansour called her formula the Astronomical Magical Effect Quotient.
• The Sun’s direct magic also interferes with the magic reflected by other objects in the solar system, including the Moon.
