Available online
Description
This programme investigates the properties of the superdense matter of white dwarfs, stars so compact that they are as massive as the Sun, but only the size of the Earth. The programme begins at t...he Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceaux, where the existence of Sirius'B', the white dwarf companion of Sirius 'A' (the brightest star in our night sky) was first detected. The main body of the programme then deals with the quantum interpretation of matter at such phenominal density. Finally, we visit a modern observatory near Madrid, where astronomers view a television picture obtained direct from a satellite (the International Ultra-violet Explorer I.U.E.) orbiting thousands of miles above the Earth's atmosphere. Only then can the ultra-violet light from the white dwarfs reveal enough details of the spectrum so that their temperature, radius and also mass, can be determined. The programme ends with the prediction that no white dwarf heavier than one and a half the mass of the Sun will ever be found, because theory says it could not support itself against gravity.
This programme investigates the properties of the superdense matter of white dwarfs, stars so compact that they are as massive as the Sun, but only the size of the Earth. The programme begins at t...he Royal Greenwich Observatory in Herstmonceaux, where the existence of Sirius'B', the white dwarf companion of Sirius 'A' (the brightest star in our night sky) was first detected. The main body of the programme then deals with the quantum interpretation of matter at such phenominal density. Finally, we visit a modern observatory near Madrid, where astronomers view a television picture obtained direct from a satellite (the International Ultra-violet Explorer I.U.E.) orbiting thousands of miles above the Earth's atmosphere. Only then can the ultra-violet light from the white dwarfs reveal enough details of the spectrum so that their temperature, radius and also mass, can be determined. The programme ends with the prediction that no white dwarf heavier than one and a half the mass of the Sun will ever be found, because theory says it could not support itself against gravity.
| Module code and title: | S271, Discovering physics |
|---|---|
| Item code: | S271; 16 |
| First transmission date: | 29-09-1982 |
| Published: | 1982 |
| Rights Statement: | |
| Restrictions on use: | |
| Duration: | 00:25:00 |
| + Show more... | |
| Producer: | Tony Jolly |
| Contributor: | Alan Cooper |
| Publisher: | BBC Open University |
| Keyword(s): | Herstmonceaux; IUE; Madrid Observatory; Pauli pressure; Quantum theory; Relativity; Royal Greenwich Observatory; Satellite; Sirius B/A |
| Master spool number: | HOU4262 |
| Production number: | FOUS253R |
| Videofinder number: | 1795 |
| Available to public: | no |
