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Doppler Shift and Stellar Dynamics

By Walter Lewin - MIT
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Lecture Description

Doppler Effect, Binary Stars, Neutron Stars and Black Holes. Doppler shift is introduced with sound waves, then extended to electromagnetic waves (radiation). The Doppler shift of stellar spectral lines and/or pulsar frequencies provides a measure of the line-of-sight (so-called radial) velocity of the source relative to the observer. Combined with Newton's law of universal gravitation, this can lead to the orbital parameters and the mass of both stars in a binary star system.

Course Description

This course is a first-semester freshman physics class in Newtonian Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, and Kinetic Gas Theory. In addition to the basic concepts a variety of interesting topics are covered in this course: Binary Stars, Neutron Stars, Black Holes, Resonance Phenomena, Musical Instruments, Stellar Collapse, Supernovae, Astronomical observations from very high flying balloons (lecture 35), and you will be allowed a peek into the intriguing Quantum World.

Related Resources

Transcript   |  Lecture Notes

Course Index

  1. Measurements of Space and Time
  2. 1-Dimensional Kinematics, Speed, Velocity, Acceleration
  3. Vectors, Dot Products, Cross Products, 3D Kinematics
  4. 3-D Kinematics, The Motion of Projectiles
  5. Circular Motion, Centrifuges, Moving Reference Frames
  6. Newton's Three Laws
  7. Weight and Weightlessness
  8. Friction
  9. Exam-I Review
  10. Hooke's Law and Simple Harmonic Motion
  11. Work and Mechanical Energy
  12. Resistive Forces
  13. Conservative Forces and SHO
  14. Satellite Orbits - Energy - Power
  15. Collisions and the Center of Mass
  16. Elastic and Inelastic Collisions
  17. Change of Momentum, Impulse, Rockets
  18. Exam Review II
  19. Rotational Kinetic Energy
  20. Angular Momentum
  21. Torques, Oscillating Bodies
  22. Elliptical Orbits
  23. Doppler Shift and Stellar Dynamics
  24. Rate of Change of Angular Momentum
  25. Static Equilibrium
  26. Elasticity of Materials
  27. Pressure in a Static Fluid
  28. Buoyant Force and Bernoulli's Equation
  29. Exam Review
  30. Other Oscillating Systems
  31. Forced Oscillations and Resonance
  32. Heat, Conductivity and Thermal Expansion
  33. Ideal-Gas Law and Phase Transitions, Isothermal Atmosphere
  34. The Wonderful Quantum World
  35. X-ray Astronomy and Astrophysics