Origin and Structure of the Universe
This organization of matter in the
• Definition of Terms
A. Baryonic matter- "ordinary" matter consisting of
protons, electrons, and neutrons that comprises
atoms, planets, stars, galaxies, and other bodies
B. Dark matter- matter that has gravity but does not
emit light.
C.Dark Energy- a source of anti-gravity; a force that
counteracts gravity and causes the universe to
expand.
D.Protostar - an early stage in the formation of a star
resulting from the gravitational collapse of gases.
E. Thermonuclear reaction - a nuclear fusion reaction
responsible for the energy produced by
stars.
F. Main Sequence Stars- stars that fuse hydrogen
atoms to form helium atoms in their cores; outward
pressure resulting from nuclear fusion is balanced by
gravitational forces
G.Light years- the distance light can travel in a year; a
unit of length used to measure astronomical distance
• Age of the Earth and the Universe
Any explanation of the origin of the Universe should be
consistent with all information about its composition,
structure, accelerating expansion, cosmic microwave
background radiation among others.
Structure and Composition
• The universe as we currently know it
comprises all space and time, and all matter
and energy in it.
• Hydrogen, helium, and lithiumare the three
most abundant elements.
• Stars- the building block of galaxies-are born
out of clouds of gas and dust in galaxies.
Instabilities within the clouds eventually
results into gravitational collapse, rotation,
heating up, and transformation into a
protostar-the hot core of a future star as
thermonuclear reactions set in.
• Stellar interiors are like furnaces where
elements are synthesized or combined/fused
together. Most stars such as the Sun belong to
the so-called “main sequence stars.” In the
cores of such stars, hydrogen atoms are fused
through thermonuclear reactions to make
helium atoms. Massive main sequence stars
burn up their hydrogen faster than smaller
stars. Stars like our Sun burnup hydrogen in
about 10 billion years.
Birth, Evolution, Death, and Rebirth of Stars
• The remaining dust and gas may end up as
they are or as planets, asteroids, or other
bodies in the accompanying planetary system.
• A galaxy is a cluster of billions of stars and
clusters of galaxies for superclusters. In
between the clusters is practically an empty
space.
universe suggests that it is indeed clumpy at a
certain scale. But at a large scale, it appears
homogeneous and isotropic .
• Based on recent data, the universe is 13.8
billion years old. The diameter of the universe
is possibly infinite but should be at least 91
billion light-years (1 light-year = 9.4607
×1012km). Its density is 4.5 x 10-31g/cm3.
Measuring Distances
It is easy to make measurements on Earth. We use
familiar systems such as the Metric System and
Empirical System.
Some things are just so big , or just so far away, these
measuring systems will not work as the numbers
become too long to handle.
Astronomical Unit
Light Years
THE ANCIENT UNIVERSE
• For 2000 years, the minds of astronomers were
shackled by a pair of ideas.
• Plato’s student Aristotle argued that Earth was
imperfect and lay at the center of the universe.
Such a model is known as geocentric universe.
• His model contained 55 spheres turning at
different rates and at different angles to carry
the seven known planet (moon, Mercury,
Venues, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn) across the
sky.
• Ancient astronomers believed that Earth did
not move because they saw no parallax, The
apparent motion of an object because of the
motion of the observer.
• To demonstrate parallax, close one eye and
cover a distant object with your thumb held at
arm’s length. Switch eyes and your thumb
appears to shift position as well.
• If Earth moves, ancient astronomers reasoned,
you should see the sky from different locations
at different times of the year, and you should
see parallax distorting the shapes of the
constellations.
• They saw no parallax, so they concluded Earth
could not move. Actually, the parallax of the
stars is too small to see with unaided eye.
Non-Scientific Thoughts on the Origin of the
Universe
 Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods and
myths which narrate that the world arose from
an infinite sea at the first rising of the sun.
 The Kuba people of Central Africa tell the
story of a creator god Mbombo (or Bumba)
who, alone in a dark and water-covered Earth,
felt an intense stomach pain and then vomited
the stars, sun, and moon.
  In India, there is the narrative that gods
sacrificed Purusha, the primal man whose
head, feet, eyes, and mind became the sky,
earth, sun, and moon respectively.
 The monotheistic religions of Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam claim that a supreme
being created the universe, including man and
other living organisms.
Science-based Models of the Origin of the Universe
Steady State Model
 The now discredited steady state model of the
universe was proposed in 1948 by Bondi and Gould
and by Hoyle.
 It maintains that new matter is created as the
universe expands thereby maintaining its density.
 Its predictions led to tests and its eventual rejection
with the discovery of the cosmic microwave
background.
Big Bang Theory
 As the currently accepted theory of the origin and
evolution of the universe, the Big Bang Theory
postulates that 13.8 billion years ago, the universe
expanded from a tiny, dense and hot mass to its
present size and much cooler state.
 The theory rests on two ideas: General Relativity
and the Cosmological Principle.
General Relativity
 General relativity, or the general theory of
relativity, is the geometric theory of gravitation
published by Albert Einstein in 1916 and the
current description of gravitation in modern
physics.
 General relativity generalizes special
relativity and Newton's law of universal
gravitation, providing a unified description of
gravity as a geometric property of space and time,
or spacetime.
 Some predictions of general relativity differ
significantly from those of classical physics,
especially concerning the passage of time, the
geometry of space, the motion of bodies in free fall,
and the propagation of light.
Evolution of the Universe according to the Big Bang
Theory
Time begins
 The universe begins ~13.7 Billion years ago
 The universe begins as the size of a single
atom
 The universe began as a violent expansion
 All matter and space were created from
a single point of pure energy in an
instant
3 minutes after the Big Bang
 The universe has grown from the size of an
atom to larger than the size a grapefruit
 E=mc 2
 energy froze into matter according to Albert
Einstein’s equation.
 This basically says that like snowflakes
freezing, energy forms matter into clumps that
today we call protons, neutrons and electrons.
 These parts later form into atoms
Several hundred thousand years after Big Bang
 ATOMS form (specifically Hydrogen and its
isotopes with a small amount of Helium.)
 The early Universe was about 75% Hydrogen
and 25% Helium. It is still almost the same
today.
 From then on until 380,000 years, the cooling
universe entered a matter-dominated period
when photons decoupled from matter and
light could travel freelyas still observed today
in the form of cosmic microwave background
radiation.
200 to 400 million years after Big Bang
 1st stars and galaxies are formed
 ~ 4.6 billion years ago
 Our Solar system was formed
 Misconceptions about the Big Bang
 there was no explosion; there was (and
continues to be) an expansion
 Rather than imagining a balloon
popping and releasing its contents,
imagine a balloon expanding: a small
balloon expanding to the size of our
current universe
 we tend to image the singularity as a little
fireball appearing somewhere in space
 space began inside of the singularity.
Prior to the singularity, nothing existed,
not space, time, matter, or energy -
nothing.
Big Bang evidence
1. Universal expansion and Hubble’s Law
a) Hubble observed the majority of galaxies are
moving away from us and each other
b) The farther, the faster they move
c) Red Shift
2. Quasars - super large (solar system size) galactic
cores that put out more light than whole galaxies
 Only found 10-15 billion light years away
 Found nowhere else
 Nothing exists past them
3. Radioactive decay
 Radiometric dating – gives us the age of items
from the decay of radioactive materials found
within the object
 Moon rocks have been dated and found to be
older than Earth
 Gives us an estimated time that Earth
and the Moon formed
4. Stellar formation and evolution
  We observe the life cycles of stars across the
universe using tools such as satellites and
telescopes
 we view stars form, burn and explode
5. Speed of light and stellar distances
 The speed of light is a universal constant of
300,000 km/s2
 We observe stars millions/billions of light-
years away
 A light-year is the distance that light travels in
1 year – the light we see today from a star 500
light years away is 500 years old
 The furthest stars away are 10-15 billion light
years away
 We have telescopes that can see further, but
there isn’t anything viewable
SOLAR SYSTEM
• The solar system is located in the Milky Way
galaxya huge disc- and spiral-shaped aggregation of
about at least 100 billion stars and other bodies;
• Its spiral arms rotate around a globular cluster or
bulge of many, many stars, at the center of which lies
a supermassive blackhole;
• This galaxy is about 100 million light years across (1
light year = 9.4607 ×1012km)
• The solar system revolves around the galactic center
once in about 240 million years;
• The Milky Way is part of the so-called Local Group
of galaxies, which in turn is part of the Virgo
supercluster of galaxies;
• Based on on the assumption that they are remnants
of the materials from which they were formed,
radioactive dating of meteorites, suggests that the
Earth and solar system are 4.6 billion years old.on the
assumption that they are remnants of the materials
from which they were formed.
Large Scale Features of the Solar System
1. Much of the mass of the Solar System is
concentrated at the center (Sun) while angular
momentum is held by the outer planets.
2. Orbits of the planets elliptical and are on the same
plane.
3. All planets revolve around the sun.
4. The periods of revolution of the planets increase
with increasing distance from the Sun; the innermost
planet moves fastest, the outermost, the slowest;
5. All planets are located at regular intervals from the
Sun.
Small scale features of the Solar System
1. Most planets rotate prograde
2. Inner terrestrial planets are made of materials with
high melting points such as silicates, iron , and nickel.
They rotate slower, have thin or no atmosphere,
higher densities, and lower contents of volatiles -
hydrogen, helium, and noble gases.
3. The outer four planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune are called "gas giants" because of the
dominance of gases and their larger size. They rotate
faster, have thick atmosphere, lower densities, and
fluid interiors rich in hydrogen, helium and ices
(water, ammonia, methane).
Origin of the Solar System
Any acceptable scientific thought on the origin of the
solar system has to be consistent with and supported
by information about it (e.g. large and small scale
features, composition). There will be a need to revise
currently accepted ideas should data no longer
support them.
Rival Theories
Many theories have been proposed since about four
centuries ago. Each has weaknesses in explaining all
characteristics of the solar system.
Nebular Hypothesis
In the 1700s Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant,
and Pierre-Simon Laplace independently thought of a
rotating gaseous cloud that cools and contractsin the
middle to form the sun and the rest into a disc that
become the planets. This nebular theory failed to
account for the distribution of angular momentum in
the solar system.
Encounter Hypotheses:
• Buffon’s (1749) Sun-comet encounter that sent
matter to form planet;
• James Jeans’ (1917) sun-star encounter that would
have drawn from the sun matter that would condense
to planets,
• T.C. Chamberlain and F. R. Moulton’s (1904)
planetesimal hypothesis involving a star much bigger
than the Sun passing by the Sun and draws gaseous
filaments from both out which planetisimals were
formed;
• Ray Lyttleton’s(1940) sun’s companion star colliding
with another to form a proto-planetthat breaks up to
form Jupiter and Saturn.
• Otto Schmidt’s accretion theory proposed that the
Sun passed through a dense interstellar cloud and
emerged with a dusty, gaseous envelope that
eventually became the planets. However, it cannot
explain how the planets and satellites were formed.
The time required to form the planets exceeds the age
of the solar system.
• M.M. Woolfson’s capture theory is a variation of
James Jeans’ near-collision hypothesis. In this
scenario, the Sun drags from a near proto-star a
filament of material which becomes the planets.
Collisions between proto-planets close to the Sun
produced the terrestrial planets; condensations in the
filament produced the giant planets and their
satellites. Different ages for the Sun and planets is
predicted by this theory.
Sun - Star interaction
Nobel Prize winner Harold Urey’s compositional
studies on meteorites in the 1950s and other scientists’
work on these objects led to the conclusion that
meteorite constituents have changed very little since
the solar system’s early history and can give clues
about their formation. The currently accepted theory
on the origin of the solar system relies much on
information from meteorites.
Protoplanet Hypothesis - Current Hypothesis
• About 4.6 billion years ago, in the Orion arm of the
Milky Way galaxy, a slowly-rotating gas and dust
cloud dominated by hydrogen and helium starts to
contract due to gravity
• As most of the mass move to the center to
eventually become a proto-Sun, the remaining
materials form a disc that will eventually become the
planets and momentum is transferred outwards.
• Due to collisions, fragments of dust and solid matter
begin sticking to each other to form larger andlarger
bodies from meter to kilometer in size. These proto-
planetsare accretions of frozen water,ammonia,
methane, silicon, aluminum, iron, and other metals in
rock and mineral grains enveloped in hydrogen and
helium.
• High-speed collisions with large objects destroys
much of the mantle of Mercury, puts Venus in
retrograde rotation.
• Collision of the Earth with large object produces the
moon. This is supported by the composition of the
moon very similar to the Earth's Mantle
• When the proto-Sun is established as a star, its solar
wind blasts hydrogen, helium, and volatiles from the
inner planets to beyond Mars to form the gas giants
leaving behind a system we know today.
Recent advancement/information on the Solar
System
Exploration of Mars
Since the 1960s, the Soviet Union and the U.S. have
been sending unmanned probes to the planet Mars
with the primary purpose of testing the planet's
habitability. The early efforts in the exploration of
Mars involved flybys through which spectacular
photographs of the Martian surface were taken. The
first successful landing and operation on the surface
of Mars occurred in 1975 under the Viking program of
NASA. Recently, NASA, using high resolution
imagery of the surface of Mars, presented evidence of
seasonal flow liquid water (in the form of brine - salty
water) on the surface of Mars.
Rosetta's Comet
Rosetta is a space probe built by the European Space
Agency and launched on 2 March 2004. One of its
mission is to rendezvous with and attempt to land a
probe (Philae) on a comet in the Kuiper Belt. One of
the purpose of the mission is to better understand
comets and the early solar systems. Philae landed
successfully on comet (67P/Churyumov–
Gerasimenko) on 12 November 2014. Analysis of the
water (ice) from the comet suggest that its isotopic
composition is different from water from Earth.
Pluto Flyby
On 14 July 2015, NASA's New Horizon spacecraft
provided mankind the first close-up view of the
dwarf planet Pluto. Images captured from the flyby
revealed a complex terrain - ice mountains and vast
crater free plains. The presence of crater free
plains suggests recent (last 100 millions of years)
of geologic activity.
MERCURY
 57,910,000 km from Sun
 diameter: 4,880 km
 mass: 3.30e23 kg
 It orbits the Sun once in about 88 Earth days
 Mercury's thin atmosphere, or exosphere, is
composed mostly of oxygen (O2), sodium
(Na), hydrogen (H2), helium (He), and
potassium (K).
 Mercury is difficult to see and study from
Earth because it is never far from the Sun’s
glare.
 Mariner 10 – the only spaceprobe to visit it.
 It took photographs of nearly all of one side of
it.
 Surface
 Mercury is covered with craters which were
formed when it was bombarded by meteorites.
 Mercury’s surface is also crossed by wrinkles
and ridges a few kilometers high.
 Mercury is a rocky planet with a particularly
large metal core and a very thin atmosphere.
 During sunrise to sunset the temperature on
the surface reaches 450ºC.
 During the long night the temperature drops
to about -170ºC.
 Orbit and Spin
 70 million km – farthest
 46 million km – nearest
 Orbits 48 km/s. It takes only 88 days to
complete one orbit. It takes 59 days to
complete one spin.
VENUS
 108,200,000 km from Sun
 diameter: 12,103.6 km
 mass: 4.869e24 kg
 thick and toxic atmosphere is made up mostly
of carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen (N2),
with clouds of sulfuric acid (H2SO4) droplets.
 probably once had large amounts of water like
Earth but it all boiled away.
 The hottest planet in the solar system.
 It appears as a bright star in the Earth’s sky. It
is bright because its cloud tops reflects most of
the light from the sun.
  Spins every 243 days and the only planet to
turn clockwise.
 Orbital period: 225 days.
 Regarded as the Earth’s twin.
 The planet is very active volcanically.
 It has plateaus and mountains but less craters
and valleys.
 Soil composition is similar to composition of
basalt rocks in Earth.
Venus’ Atmosphere
 Venus’ dense atmosphere consists mainly of
carbon dioxide.
 It feels denser than water and its pressure is 90
times greater than that of the Earth.
 Average temperature is 464 degrees Celsius
EARTH
 referred to as the "Blue Planet"
 149,600,000 km from the sun
 mass: 5.98 x 1024 kg
 diameter: 12,800 km
 It is also known as watery planet, because 70%
of its surface is covered by water.
MARS
 named after the Roman god of war
 often described as the "Red Planet“
 iron oxide on its surface gives it a reddish
appearance
 atmosphere of Mars consists of about
95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen,1.6% argon
and contains some oxygen and water
 also has the largest dust storms
 Mars is the planet most similar to Earth. It is a
dry, rocky, red world about half the size and
much colder.
 A little more than half the Earth’s size and is
about 1/9 of the mass of the Earth.
 It has a thin atmosphere, about 100 times
thinner than Earth’s, comprising mainly of
carbon dioxide gas.
 Mars has two irregularly shaped moons. The
Phobos, the larger and closer moon, and the
Deimos.
 Its temperature at the equator is from 30
degrees Celsius in the day and -130 degrees
Celsius at night.
 Surface Features
 Volcanic activity, meteorite bombardment and
running water have shaped the surface we see
today.
 The surface of Mars is composed of
mountains, valleys and craters.
 Search for Life
 Less than a century ago, people believed that
Martians, a form of intelligent life, lived on
Mars.
 Two American spaceprobes, Vikings 1 and 2
landed in Mars in 1976. It tested for life but
none were found.
 Pathfinder – 1997
 Mobile robots Opportunity and Spirit - 2004
JUPITER
 778,330,000 km from Sun
 diameter: 142,984 km
 mass:1.900e27 kg
 largest planet within the Solar System
 has a faint ring system, these rings appear to
be made of dust.
 90% hydrogen and 10% helium (by numbers of
atoms, 75/25% by mass) with traces of
methane, water, ammonia and "rock".
 Jupiter is the largest and most massive of all
the Solar System planets. It is a gas giant with
a surface of colorful clouds, 63 moons and a
thin ring system.
 There is no solid surface on Jupiter. The outer
edge that we can see is made of clouds.
 Jupiter is so huge that 11 Earths would fit
across its diameter and 1,300 would fill it.
 The outer part of Jupiter is gas, below this is
liquid, and in the center is a solid core.
 It takes 12 years for the Jupiter to complete one
revolution and 10 hours for a single turn.
 Jupiter’s Weather
 Jupiter’s rapid spin, combined with heat rising
from inside help create and drive the weather.
 Different pressure systems, winds up to 650
km/h result.
 Dark zones of falling gas and light zones of
rising gas, create storms on where it meets.
 Jupiter’s Moons
 Surrounding Jupiter is a thin ring system and a
large varied family of moons.
 There are 63 moons, four large and 59 small.
 The four largest ones are Io, Europa,
Ganymede and Callisto are known as Galilean
Moons.
SATURN
 Saturn is classified as a gas giant planet
 rings are made up of ice
 atmosphere is made up mostly of hydrogen
(H2) and helium (He).
 cannot support life as we know it. However,
some of Saturn's moons have conditions that
might support life.
 Saturn appears to be a bright yellow star from
Earth. Spaceprobes have revealed a colorful
planet with an amazing system of rings and a
large family of moons.
 Saturn does not have a solid surface. Its outer
layer, a haze of ammonia crystals, is difficult to
see through.
 The ring system dominates the sky.
 Three spaceprobes that taught us more of the
planet
 Pioneer 11 (1979), Voyager 1 and Voyager 2
(1980-1981).
  Another craft, Cassini, went into the orbit of
the Saturn in 2004
 Due to its fast spin, Saturn is squashed in
shape with a bulging middle.
 A gap in the rings, known as the Cassini
Division, contains ring pieces
 Saturn’s Rings
 The broad but thin system appears to be
divided into several wide rings but each of
these is made up of separate narrow ringlets.
(made out of icy rocks)
 The rings are thought to be younger than the
solar system and believed to be only a few
hundred million years.
 Saturn’s Moons
 Saturn has atleast 56 moons.
 Saturn’s largest moon, Titan, is the second
largest moon in the solar system.
 It is the only moon known to have an
atmosphere made up mainly of nitrogen.
URANUS
 2,870,990,000 km from Sun
 diameter: 51,118 km
 mass: 8.683e25 kg
 It has at least ten thin uniform black rings
,which are made of dust.
 atmosphere is about 83% hydrogen, 15%
helium and 2% methane.
 composed primarily of rock and various ice
 Uranus is the seventh planet from the Sun, and
only just visible with the naked eye. It is a gas
giant with a ring system and large family of
moons.
 It is a cold and dark place.
 The temperature at its cloud tops is around -
200 degrees Celsius. Sky remains dark.
 84 years orbital period
 The sky above Uranus is black. The Sun is only
a distant, bright star. A thin system of rings
surrounds Uranus. Each is made of dark
chunks of rock.
 Its surface is almost featureless. It consists
mainly of Hydrogen and Helium. Another gas,
methane, gives the planet its blue-green
coloring.
 Discovery
 Discovered only in 1781 when the astronomer
William Herschel observed it through his
telescope.
 It was only until 1986, when spaceprobe
Voyager 2 reached Uranus, that we got our
first good look.
 Moons and Rings
 By 2007, 27 moons were known.
 Most of Uranus’ moons are named after
characters from plays by William Shakespeare:
for example the largest moon is Titania, and
others are Miranda, Oberon and Puck.
 Uranus’ ring system is made of 11 major rings
or more, seems to be almost upright around
the planet.
NEPTUNE
 4,504,000,000 km from Sun
 diameter: 49,532 km
 mass: 1.0247e26 kg
 first planet found by mathematical prediction.
 Most windy planet
 Most distant gas planet.
 composed of and rock with about 15%
hydrogen and a little helium.
 Neptune is the most distant of the four gas
giants. It is a blue, windy and cold world, with
a ring system and a family of 13 moons.
 Like Uranus, the first clear view of it was from
the Voyager 2 spaceprobe. It reached Neptune
in 1989, after its successful trip to Uranus in
1986.
 Neptune’s Appearance
 Like Uranus, it is composed mainly of H and
He as well as methane giving the planet a blue
appearance. It is bluer because it has more
methane gas
 White and dark features appear on the
Neptune’s surface.
 Discovery
 Early cosmologists observed that Uranus’ path
is affected by an unknown body.
 in 1845, John Couch Adams in England, and
Urbain Le Verrierin France, worked out the
position of an unknown planet.
 In 1846, Neptune was discovered, in the
predicted position, by German astronomer
Johann Galle.
 Moons and Rings
 Neptune’s largest moon, Triton, was also
discovered in 1846, and a second moon,
Nereidin 1949.
 Six more moons were discovered by Voyager 2
in 1989 and four faint narrow rings.
PLUTO
 5,913,520,000 km from the Sun
 diameter: 2274 km
 mass: 1.27e22 kg
 atmosphere is consists primarily of nitrogen
with some carbon monoxide and methane
 orbit crosses Neptune's, it really doesn't and
they will never collide
METEOROIDS, COMETS, AND ASTEROIDS
COMETS
 “Dirty snowballs”
 an icy small Solar System body that, when
passing close to the Sun, heats up and begins
to outgas, displaying a visible atmosphere or
coma, and sometimes also a tail.
  Formed beyond the frostline, comets are icy
counterparts to asteroids.
ASTEROIDS
 An irregularly shaped rocky object in space
(like a space potato)
 May be the shattered remains of objects left
over from the time when the planets were
formed
 larger than the meteoroids (In fact, the main
difference between meteoroids and asteroids is
their size.)
 larger ones have also been called planetoids
METEOROIDS
 small rocky or metallic body travelling
through space. Meteoroids are significantly
smaller than asteroids, and range in size from
small grains to 1 meter-wide objects.
STARS, GALAXIES, CONSTELLATIONS AND
UNIVERSE
STAR
 massive, luminous sphere of plasma held
together by its own gravity.
nearest star to Earth is the Sun
 some other stars are visible from Earth during
the night, appearing as a multitude of fixed
luminous points due to their immense
distance.
GALAXY
 derived from the Greek galaxias, literally
"milky", a reference to the Milky Way.
 a massive, gravitationally bound system
consisting of stars, stellar remnants, an
interstellar medium of gas and dust, and dark
matter
 contain varying numbers of planets, star
systems, star clusters and types of interstellar
clouds
CONSTELLATION
 totally imaginary things that poets, farmers
and astronomers have made up over the past
6,000 years
 The real purpose for the constellations is to
help us tell which stars are which, nothing
more
 used as mnemonics, or memory aids
SUN AND MOON
Sun Fact Sheet
The Sun is a normal G2 star, one of more than 100
billion stars in our galaxy.
Diameter: 1,390,000 km (Earth 12,742 km or nearly 100
times smaller)
Mass: 1.1989 x 10 kg (333,000 times Earth’s mass)
30
Temperature: 5800 K (surface) 15,600,000 K (core)
The Sun contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of
the Solar System (Jupiter contains most of the rest).
Chemical composition:
Hydrogen 92.1%
Helium 7.8%
Rest of the other 90 naturally occurring
elements: 0.1%
• Energy is created in the core when hydrogen is
fused to helium. This energy flows out from
the core by radiation through the radiative
layer, by convection through the convective
layer, and by radiation from the surface of the
photosphere, which is the portion of the Sun
we see.
• The seasons occur because the tilt of the
Earth's axis keeps a constant orientation as the
Earth revolves around the Sun.
• Sun does not rotate as a rigid sphere. The
equator of the Sun rotates faster than the poles
of the Sun. This is called the differential
rotation. Sunspots and many other solar
activities are due to this differential rotation.
• The most rapid changes to the Sun's magnetic
field occur locally, in restricted regions of the
magnetic field.
• However, the entire structure of the Sun's
global magnetic field changes on an 11 year
cycle.
• Every 11 years, the Sun moves through a
period of fewer, smaller sunspots,
prominences, and flares - called a "solar
minimum" - and a period of more, larger
sunspots, prominences and flares - called a
"solar maximum.“
• After 11 years, when the next cycle starts, the
magnetic field poles are reversed.
• The last solar minimum was in 2006
• Sunspots appear as dark spots on the surface
of the Sun. Temperatures in the dark centers of
sunspots drop to about 3700 K (compared to
5700 K for the surrounding photosphere).
They typically last for several days, although
very large ones may live for several weeks.
Sun’s Interior
• Inner parts of the Sun
• Core - where energy is produced
• Temperature ~ 15 million kelvin.
• Density ~ 160,000 kg/m3 ~ 14 times as dense as
lead.
• Pressure ~ 3.4 x 1011 atm ( 1atm = air pressure
at sea level).
• Sun’s energy is produced inside a region of
200,000 km (or 1/4th of the radius).
• Radiative zone
• This region is comparatively
transparent to EM radiation.
• Energy is carried away from core as
electromagnetic radiation (photons) by
the radiative diffusion mechanism.
 • It takes light 170,000 years for the
energy created at the core to travel
through the radiative zone (696,000
km) at a rate of 50cm per hour
• Convective zone
• In this region the temperature is low
enough for nuclei to join with electrons
and form hydrogen atoms, and these
absorb light very efficiently.
• material(gas) convects energy (heat) to
surface.
• Hot gas goes up & cooler gas comes
down.
• Methods of probing the interior of the Sun
• Helioseismology: measuring vibrations of the
Sun as a whole.
ATMOSPHERE of the Sun – 3 layers
The Other Parts of the Sun:The Solar Atmosphere
• Photosphere shines(emit radiation) at a
temperature of 5800K.
The photosphere is heated from below by the
energy streaming out from the solar interior.
Spectral studies show that the temperature
decreases to a “cool” 4800K.
• Photosphere consists of very low density gas,
primarily Hydrogen & Helium.
– Density ~10-4 kg/m3(.01% of Earth’s
avg. density)
• When observing with a telescope (fitted with a
special filter) we can see a blotchy pattern in
the photosphere called granulation.
– Light colored granules surrounded by
dark colored boundaries.
Chromosphere
• The Chromosphere has a density 1/10,000th
that of the Photosphere
• It can only be seen during a total Solar Eclipse,
or by using special filters, where the
Photosphere is blocked from view.
• Unlike in the Photosphere the temperature
rises with altitude in the Chromosphere, from
4000K - 25,000K.
Corona
• Outer most region of the Sun’s atmosphere.
• Extends to several million kilometers and one
millionth as bright as the Photosphere
• Can be seen only if we block the Photosphere
– Using filters or during a total solar
eclipse
• Corona is not a spherical shell of gas but
numerous streamers extending in different
directions.
• Solar wind consists mainly of electrons,
Hydrogen ions, and Helium ions.
• Solar wind causes the Aurora on Earth..
Sunspots
– These are irregular shape dark regions
in the photosphere
– Mostly found in groups.
– Vary in size, typically of Earth size (few
ten thousands kilometers in diameter).
– These are not permanent feature,
lasting anywhere between a few hours
to a few months.
Sunspots have two regions:
– Dark central core named the umbra
– And brighter border called the
penumbra.
• Sunspots are NOT shadows but regions in the
photosphere that are relatively low in
temperature.
• The average temp. of the photosphere is
5800K whereas the umbra of a sunspot is at a
“cool” 4300K and the penumbra is somewhat
hotter 5000K
• Since these regions are cooler they emit less
light than the rest of the photosphere and thus
look darker
• Galileo was the first to study sunspots.
• He observed that he could determine the Sun’s
rotation rate by tracking sunspots.
• He discovered that the Sun rotates once about
every 4 weeks.
Solar Prominences
• Solar prominences are sheets or loops of
glowing gas ejected from an active region in
the Sun.
• Instabilities in the intense magnetic field near
sunspots causes these.
• These loops are 10 times larger than the Earth
• They last for weeks.
Solar Flares
• Solar flares occur in complex sunspot groups.
• Observed low in the Sun’s atmosphere in the
active region.
• These are also due to instabilities in the
magnetic field.
• Most energetic of these flares are equal to 1014
nuclear bombs going off simultaneously.
Coronal mass ejections are much bigger than
flares
• Blasts a billion tons of hot coronal gas into
space
• Seems to be related to large-scale changes in
the Sun’s magnetic field.
Solar Activity
• When solar flares & coronal mass ejections are
aimed towards Earth
 – A stream of high energy electrons & • Known maria, highlads and craters
nuclei reaches us few days latter.
– These interfere with satellite. The formation of the moon
– Disrupt electronics & communication • Born from the earth - broke off from the earth
equipment. by centrifugal forces, and left the pacific ocean
behind
Moon, Moon Phases & Eclipses • Captured by the earth’s gravity
The Moon • Co-formation with the earth
• Moon – our closest natural neighbor • Giant impact hypothesis
• The earth’s only natural satellite • An impact of a Mars-sized body collide w/ the
• Orbit around the earth is an eclipse proto-Earth and ejected materials to orbit
• Average distance from the earth to the moon is around the earth – the Moon
384,403 kilometers (238,857 miles) – 30 times Explorations of the moon
the diameter of the earth • Ancient people observed the moon by naked
• Diameter of 3,474 km, ¼ of the earth eyes, and wrote poems and essays, and told
• Gravity 1/6 of the earth myths
Moon’s orbit • Galileo first observed the moon using an
• The orbit period around the earth – 27.3 days telescope
• The spin period is exactly the same! • The only celestial body the human being has
• We always see the same side of the moon! orbited and landed
( precisely speaking 59% of the surface during • First impact: Luna 2 of Soviet Union in 1959
the whole period of the moon revolution. • First far side picture: Luna 3 in 1959
• The period of Lunar Phase – 29.5 days • First soft landing: Luna 9 in 1966
• Because of the earth’s revolution in the space • First men’s step on the moon: Apollo 11 in
• The orbit plane of the moon is tilted by ~5 1969
degree with respect to the earth’s orbit around Moon Phases
the sun, unlike other planets • Why does the moon change phases?
• The orbit plane of the moon is tilted by ~5 • Lunar phases are the result of our eyes seeing
degree with respect to the earth’s orbit around the illuminated half of the Moon from
the sun, unlike other planets different viewing geometries
Moon’s surface • Due to the Moon’s orbital positions
Maria (sigular mare, ‘sea’ in Latin) • The Moon’s Orbit around the earth
• Dark areas and were thought to be seas
• Cover 31% of the near side, but only 2% of the
far side
• No water but vast pools of solidified lava that
flowed into basins formed by comets/metors
colliding
• Nomenclature: Latin terms describing the
weather and abstract concepts
• Smaller dark regions
• Lacus (Lake)
• Palus (marsh)
• Sinus" (bay)
Craters
• Formed when asteroids/comets hit the lunar
surface
• Half a million craters with diameters larger
than 1km
• Crater counting – to estimate the age of the
lunar surface
• The largest crater is South Pole-Aitken basin,
with 2,240 kms in diameter and 13 kms in
depth
• Nomenclature:
• Large craters, deceased famous scientists,
artists
• Small craters, common first names