Our Place in The Universe

Chapter 1: Our Place in the Universe
2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

publishing as Addison-Wesley
In the first Chapter we will talk about:

1.1 A Modern view of the Universe
1.2 The Scale of the Universe
1.3 Spaceship Earth
In this lecture we introduce the concepts most of which we

will study in more depth later this semester
1.1 A Modern View of the Universe

Our goals for learning:
1) What is our physical place in the Universe?
2) How did we come to be?
3) How can we know what the Universe was like in
the past?
4) Can we see the entire universe?

1) What is our physical place in the universe?

The Earth is not in the center of Universe

The Earth: our planet.
Solar system: Sun, eight planets and their moons, asteroids

(chunks of rock), comets (balls of ice), interplanetary dust.
Milky Way: our galaxy. Galaxies have from 108 to 1012
stars! Milky way is disk shaped, and solar system is half way
towards its edge.
Local Group: 40 galaxies in our local group, bound together
by gravity. Groups of Galaxies are called Galaxy Clusters.
Local Supercluster: Universe contains sheets of galaxies
and galaxy clusters. Somewhere they are tightly packed, forming
Superclusters containing clusters and isolated galaxies, our local
group is part of Local Supercluster.
Universe: all matter and energy, in superclusters and voids.

And now, in pictures
Star
A large, glowing ball of gas that generates heat
and light through nuclear fusion

Planet
Mars
Neptune
A moderately large object which orbits a star; it

shines by reflected light. Planets may be rocky,
icy, or gaseous in composition.
The IAU members gathered at the 2006 General Assembly agreed that a "planet" is defined as a celestial body that (a) is
in orbit around the Sun, (b) has sufficient mass
for itsPearson
self-gravity
to overcome
2005
Education
Inc., rigid body forces so that it assumes a
hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, publishing
and (c) hasascleared
the neighborhood around its orbit. Pluto-dwarf planet!
Addison-Wesley
Moon (or satellite)

An object that orbits
a planet.
Ganymede (orbits Jupiter)

Asteroid
A relatively small
and rocky object
that orbits a star.
Ida

Comet
A relatively
small and icy
object that
orbits a star.

Solar (Star) System

A star and all
the material
that orbits it,
including its
planets and
moons
venus
mercury
mars
neptune
uranus
saturn
jupiter
pluto

Nebula
The Trifid Nebula
An interstellar cloud
of gas and/or dust
Galaxy
A great island of stars in space, all held
together by gravity and orbiting a
common center
M31, The Great Galaxy

in Andromeda
Universe
The sum total of all matter and energy;
that is, everything within and between
all galaxies

2) How did we come to be?

Big bang and expansion
Earth, made from star

material
formation of galaxies
and stars
Cosmic recycling

Big Bang: the beginning. Our telescopic measurement show
that universe is expanding started from very hot, very dense state,
14 billion years ago!
Galaxy formation: on smaller scales gravity has drawn

matter together, winning over the force of expansion. Galaxies and
stars were formed! Happened few billion years after Big Bang.
Stars: Stars are formed from gas and dust; During their life
they produce heavier elements starting from H and He in nuclear
fusion; After they die, they explode and blow their content back into
galaxy material gets recycled!
Planets: from these heavier elements, planets (and life) were

formed.

3) How can we know what the universe

was like in the past?
Light travels at a finite speed (300,000 km/s).
Destination
Light travel time
Moon
1 second
Sun
8 minutes
Sirius
8 years
Andromeda Galaxy
2.5 million years
Thus, we see objects as they were in the past:

The farther away we look in distance,
the further back we look in time.
Useful definition: a light-year

The distance light can travel in one year.
About 10 trillion km (6 trillion miles).

Example:
This photo shows the Andromeda Galaxy as it looked

about 2 1/2 million years ago (when early humans were first
walking on Earth).
Question: When we will be able to see what it looks like now? How does the
expansion of the Universe affect your answer?
100 000 light years
M31, The Great Galaxy

in Andromeda
At great distances, we see objects as they were

when the universe was much younger.
This is the farthest we

can see, when Universe
started to exist.
Question: Is the following statement sensible: the Universe is between 10 and
16 billion light-years old?
Question: Why cant we see a galaxy 15 billion light-years

away?
(Assume universe is 14 billion years old.)
A.
B.
C.
Because no galaxies exist at such a great distance.

Galaxies may exist at that distance, but their light would
be too faint for our telescopes to see.
Because looking 15 billion light-years away means
looking to a time before the universe existed.
Question: Is the following statement true: Because nearly all

galaxies are moving away from us, we must be located at the
center of the Universe?
What have we learned?

What is our place in
the Universe?
Earth orbits the Sun
There are 100 billion
other stars in the
Milky Way
There are about 40
other galaxies in the
Local Group.
The Local Group is part of the Local Supercluster.
The Local Supercluster is one small piece of the Universe.


How did we come to be?
Big Bang starts the expansion of the universe.
Early universe contained only the elements hydrogen
and helium.
All other elements were made in stars and recycled into
new generations of stars within galaxies.
We are star stuff


How can we know what the universe was like in
the past?
Light takes time to travel through space (the speed
of light = c = 300,000 km/s). Thus, when we look
farther away, we see light that has taken a longer
time to reach us.
Can we see the entire universe?

No - age limits the size of the observable universe.
For a 14 billion year old universe, our observable
universe is 14 billion light-years in radius.
1.2 The Scale of the Universe

Our goal is to get an idea of:
How big is Earth compared to our solar system?

How far away are the stars?
How big is the Milky Way Galaxy?
How big is the Universe?
How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the
Universe?

How big is Earth compared to our solar

system?
Lets reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of
10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit
(14 cm diameter).
How big is Earth on this scale?
A.
B.
C.
D.
an atom
a ball point
a marble
a golf ball
Lets reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of

10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit
(14 cm diameter).
How big is Earth on this scale?
A.
B.
C.
D.
an atom
a ball point
a marble
a golf ball
The scale
of the
solar
system


On our 1-to-10 billion scale, its just a few minutes
walk to Pluto.
How far would you have to walk to reach Alpha
Centauri?
A.
B.
C.
D.
1 mile
10 miles
100 miles
the distance across the U.S. (2500 miles)
Answer: D, the distance across the U.S.

Question: Explain why it
is so difficult to see
planets around other
stars. How do you think
scientists have observed
them?
Closest star, Alpha Centauri is

4.4 light years away.
It took Voyager 12
years to exit Solar
system, it would
take him 100 000
years to arrive to
Alpha Centauri!

The Milky Way has about 100 000 light years in
diameter.
On the scale where 1 ly =1mm, Milky way is the
size of football field, and Sun is 4 mm far from
Alpha Centauri.
Or, lets consider the number of starsthere is
100 billion stars in Milky way

Suppose you tried to count the more than 100 billion

stars in our galaxy, at a rate of one per second
How long would it take you?
A.
B.
C.
D.
a few weeks
a few months
a few years
a few thousand years
Suppose you tried to count the more than 100 billion

stars in our galaxy, at a rate of one per second
How long you think it would take you?
A.
B.
C.
D.
a few weeks
a few months
a few years
a few thousand years
How big is the Universe?

The Milky Way is one of about 100 billion galaxies.
It would take 100 years to count all the galaxies.
1011 stars/galaxy x 1011 galaxies = 1022 stars
As many stars in Universe as grains of (dry) sand on all Earths

beaches
Now lets step through the Universe in powers of 10:
zooming_26_orders_of_mag.htm

How do our lifetimes compare to the age

of the Universe?
The Cosmic Calendar: a scale on which we compress the history of the

universe (14 billion years) into 1 year.
Each months, a little more than a billion year.
Then
Big Bang
Formation of Milky Way
December 26th: First dinosaurs
and first humans, in the last 30 seconds!
September: Formation of
Solar system (4.6 billion years
ago) and first life!

January 1st: Big Bang.

February: Milky Way formed
Early September: Solar system and Earth formed.
Late September: first primitive life.
Mid December: first recognizable life.
December 26th: first dinosaurs.
December 30th: dinosaurs extinct (65 million years ago).
December 31st, 9pm: early hominids began to walk upright
December 31st, 11:59:49 : Egyptian pyramids..


How big is the Earth compared to our solar system?
On a scale of 1-to-10 billion, the Sun is about the size of a
grapefruit. The Earth is the size of a ball point about 15 m
away. The distance between planets are huge compared to their
sizes.

On the same scale, the stars are thousands of km away.

It would take more than 3,000 years to count the stars in the
Milky Way Galaxy at a rate of one per second. The Milky
Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years across.


How big is the universe?
100 billion galaxies in the observable Universe.
14 billion light-years in radius.
As many stars as grains of sand on Earths beaches.
How do our lifetimes compare to the age of the

universe?
On a cosmic calendar that compresses the history of
the Universe into one year, human civilization is just a
few seconds old, and a human lifetime is a fraction of
a second.
1.3 Spaceship Earth

Our goals for learning:
How is Earth moving in our solar system?

How is our solar system moving in the Galaxy?
How do galaxies move within the Universe?
Are we ever sitting still?


Contrary to our perception, we are not sitting still.
We are moving with the Earth in several ways, and at
surprisingly fast speeds
The Earth rotates
around its axis once
every day.
Speed at equator
1,650 km/hr (faster than
commercial jets!).
Earth orbits the Sun (revolves) once every year:

at an average distance of 1 AU 150 million km.
with Earths axis tilted by 23.5 (pointing to Polaris)
and rotating in the same direction it orbits, counterclockwise as viewed from above the North Pole.
Average speed
108,000 km/hr.
Our Sun moves randomly relative to the other stars

in the local Solar neighborhood
typical relative speeds of more than 70,000 km/hr
Question: Why do the patterns of the stars in our sky look the same from
year to year?
And orbits the galaxy every 230 million years (speed

of 800 000 km/ hr)!
More detailed study of the Milky Ways rotation reveals one

of the greatest mysteries in astronomy dark matter:
the stars in the disk of the galaxy represent only the tip of the
iceberg compared to the mass of the entire galaxy.
Most of the galaxys mass lies above and below the disk
In the dark halo!

Within the Local Group galaxies moves randomly, for

example, Milky way moves toward Andromeda with
the speed of 300,000 km/hr.
When we look outside the Local Group we find out
astonishing fact

Hubble discovered that:

All galaxies outside our
Local Group are moving
away from us.
The more distant the
galaxy, the faster it is
racing away.
Conclusion: We live in an expanding universe!

Question: why an expanding Universe implies a beginning (Big Bang)?


Earth rotates on its axis once each day and orbits
around the Sun once each year at an average distance
of 1 A.U. (150 million km).


How is our solar system
moving in the Milky
Way Galaxy?
Stars in the Local
Neighborhood move
randomly relative to
each other.
Our Solar System orbits
the center of the Milky
Way Galaxy about
every 230 million years:
the entire Galaxy
rotates.

How do galaxies
move within the
universe?
All galaxies beyond
the Local Group are
moving away from
us with expansion of
the Universe: the
more distant they
are, the faster theyre
moving.

No!


Our Place in The Universe

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Chapter 1: Our Place in the Universe

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

In the first Chapter we will talk about:

In this lecture we introduce the concepts most of which we

1.1 A Modern View of the Universe

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

1) What is our physical place in the universe?

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

The Earth: our planet.

Solar system: Sun, eight planets and their moons, asteroids

Universe: all matter and energy, in superclusters and voids.

And now, in pictures

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

A moderately large object which orbits a star; it

Moon (or satellite)

Ganymede (orbits Jupiter)

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

Solar (Star) System

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

The Trifid Nebula

M31, The Great Galaxy

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

2) How did we come to be?

Earth, made from star

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

Big Bang: the beginning. Our telescopic measurement show

Galaxy formation: on smaller scales gravity has drawn

Planets: from these heavier elements, planets (and life) were

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

3) How can we know what the universe

Light travel time

2.5 million years

Thus, we see objects as they were in the past:

Useful definition: a light-year

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

This photo shows the Andromeda Galaxy as it looked

100 000 light years

M31, The Great Galaxy

At great distances, we see objects as they were

This is the farthest we

Question: Why cant we see a galaxy 15 billion light-years

Because no galaxies exist at such a great distance.

Question: Is the following statement true: Because nearly all

What have we learned?

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

What have we learned?

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

What have we learned?

Can we see the entire universe?

1.2 The Scale of the Universe

How big is Earth compared to our solar system?

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

How big is Earth compared to our solar

Lets reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

How far away are the stars?

Answer: D, the distance across the U.S.

Closest star, Alpha Centauri is

How big is the Milky Way Galaxy?

2005 Pearson Education Inc.,

Suppose you tried to count the more than 100 billion

Suppose you tried to count the more than 100 billion