Reach for the Stars (STA)

How can one deduce the distance to galaxies? What can stellar spectra tell us about stars? How do stars form, evolve and die? What is the energy source of stars? What is the ultimate fate of the Universe? These questions are broached in this chapter, which looks at the Doppler Shift of line spectra, the Hubble Constant, nuclear fusion and radioactive decay among much more.

The photograph shows a model binary star developed in a SHAP centre. It can be used to simulate observations of an eclipsing binary star system.

Gravitation is approached through studying the expanding universe and stellar orbits, and a study of stars and their formation leads to the molecular kinetic theory of matter, including a microsopic interpretation of heating and temperature. ‌

The main physics content areas are:

Inverse-square law for radiation
Black-body radiation
Universal gravitation; gravitational field
Energy conservation: gravitational, kinetic
Motion in a circle
Nuclear fusion, fission and radioactive decay
Molecular kinetic theory