A111 Links & Applets

NOTE: Some of the applets linked here require java to run on your computer. There are well-known security issues with Java and many operating systems block Java applets, which you may or may not be able to override. All links worked as of 7/28/17. Course topics start from the bottom of the page.

last updated 8/23/17

Relativity & Black Holes

SPECIAL RELATIVITY:
Great special relativity applet with several demos
Animation of non-absolute nature of simultaneity
Time dilation and length contraction applets to play with

GENERAL RELATIVITY:

Paper announcing detection gravitational radiation from merging black holes (with my highlighting)
Caltech LIGO Gallery
Explanation of LIGO BH merger observations
Detection of gravitational waves from a merging black hole pair!
Equivalence Principle: acceleration and gravity
(from phys23p.sl.psu.edu/phys_anim/mod/indexer_mod.html)
Equivalence Principle: force-free space and free-fall
PBS video of Einstein’s thought experiments
The Binary Pulsar
Diagram of Precession of Mercury’s Perihelion
Simulation of Orbit Precession
Precession of Mercury’s perihelion
Bending of starlight – about 2/3 down the page
Animation of gravitational lens
Measuring the Mass of a WD via Gravitational Microlensing
Light path animation for lensing of a galaxy at redshift z=7
Gravitational Lens applet FLASH download
Black hole binary system models
Gravity Probe B page with good explanatory videos
Black Hole FAQs
Comparative warping of space

Star Clusters & Populations

George Rieke’s Milky Way page –READ THIS!
website about star clusters
Animation of HR diagram evolution for an ensemble of many stars
Evolution of a cluster’s HR diagram
Computer simulation of 30 Doradus, a young star cluster in the Large Magellanic Cloud, over 3 million years
Composite open cluster HR diagram except for M3 which is a globular cluster, for comparison
Globular cluster HR diagram
Movies over a single night of RR Lyrae stars in globular cluster M3 by Krzysztof Stanek and Andrew Szentgyorgyi, Whipple Observatory
A beautiful view of the Milky Way

Compact Binaries

Roche lobes
Close binary classification
NASA’s page on X-ray binaries
Merging neutron stars explain short-duration gamma-ray bursts
Gamma-Ray Bursts
Black hole binary system models
Falling into a Black Hole – a bit technical but lots of good info here

Supernovae, Neutron Stars & Pulsars

Veil Nebula SNR from HST
Technical, but accessible article on the Crab Nebula
A pulsar catalogue
Explanation of pulsar mechanism
Derivation of tidal force
Energetics of the Crab Nebula showing it’s powered by rotational energy lost by the pulsar
Conservation of angular momentum
Pulsar Lighthouse Animation
(from www3.amherst.edu/~gsgreenstein/progs/animations/pulsar_beacon/)
Pulsar Sounds
Animation of Double Pulsar evolution (orbital motion suppressed) John Rowe Animation/Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO
Current state of the Double Pulsar John Rowe Animation/Australia Telescope National Facility, CSIRO
Building neutron-rich isotopes
High-mass core (Type II SN precursor)
Type II Supernova explosion cartoon from abyss.uoregon.edu/ ~js/images/sn_explosion.gif
Thirty Years of Observation Yield Insight into SN 1987a
Detection of neutrinos from SN 1987a
Long-Duration Gamma Ray Burst Explanation from NASA

Cepheid Variables

Standard Candles
All about Delta Cephei and Cepheid variables
H. Leavitt
Schematic Cepheid Light Curve
Schematic Cepheid light curves at different P
The P-L relation
Visualization of the Cepheid P-L relation
Description of Cepheid pulsation mechanism
Movie of a Cepheid in M100 from the AAVSO
Hunting for Cepheid Variables in M100

Stellar Evolution Plus Some Useful Animations

The Deaths of Stars
GOOD series of web pages covering most course material
Star in a Box – watch stellar evolution on the HR diagram!
Evolution of a 1 solar mass star
Stellar evolution on the HR diagram for different masses
HR Diagram evolution simulation for many stars

Planetary Nebulae & White Dwarfs

A Gallery of Planetary Nebula Spectra
Planetary Nebula Shapes:
Roundish/Elliptical (IC 3568, NGC 2022, the Owl Nebula, the Helix Nebula)
Bipolar (NGC 7009, Hb 12)
Quadrupolar (NGC 7026, NGC 3918)
Point-symmetric: NGC 5307
Origin of Mass-Radius relation for white dwarfs
Measuring the Mass of a WD via Gravitational Microlensing

Star Formation & Energy Generation

Astronomer Ivan King gives one of the most cogent, understandable explanations of stellar structure ever, using not a single equation: here it is.
The proton-proton cycle – this is a flash download!
The CNO cycle – this is a flash download!
Stellar energy generation page from Michael Richmond at RIT
“So You Want to Make a Star” article by Prof. Kwitter from Mental Floss
Jim Brau’s star formation web page at U. Oregon
Steps to Star Formation from Alyssa Goodman’s COMPLETE program at CfA
HR diagram showing protostar evolutionary track
Explanation of Hydrostatic Equilibrium
Input for a stellar model

Particles & Forces

A figure from John Bahcall showing the evolution of neutrino experiments and the new agreement with theory.
THE ANSWER
The sheet on particles and forces
A blowup of the chart of particles and interactions in the stairwell.
The Particle Adventure