The Universe The universe is everything that exists.

All the planets, stars, and galaxies are part of the universe, and so, is all of space. The universe is so large that contains billions of stars. Cosmology- is the study of the universe. Traditional Views about the Universe The Geocentric Universe Sphere that stayed motionless at the center of the universe. The Earth is the center Aristotle and Claudius Ptolemy

The Heliocentric System Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model and Galileo The center of the universe is the Sun, not the Earth. The Earth is just another planet orbiting around the Sun and the Earth no longer has a special place ( the center ) in the heaven. it might rather be called Pythagorean.

Theories on the Origin of the Universe Big Bang Theory Collapsing cloud of interstellar dust Cloud dense and cold so collapses under its own self-gravity (cold gas has less internal pressure to counteract gravity) Once collapsed, it immediately warms up because of release of gravitational energy during collapse All mass and energy concentrated at a geometric point

Open universe Not enough matter to overcome the initial velocities and cause gravitational collapse The galaxies will continue to expand "forever" All stars will eventually use up their fuel and burn out Universe will then be cold and dead, forever

Steady State Suggest that there is neither beginning nor end to the Universe and it has a constant density.

Creation theory Many people believe that the Earth and all the creatures in it were created by God. These Creationists believe the version of creation found in the Bible in the book of Genesis. In this account, God created the Universe, including the Earth and all the creatures in it, in seven days. Galaxy - a massive collection of stars, gas, and dust kept together by gravity. Type of Galaxy Spirals Spiral galaxies like the one to the left have flat disks of stars with bright bulges called nuclei in their centers. Spiral arms wrap around these bulges

Barred Spirals - In some spirals, the density wave organizes the stars in the center into a bar. The arms of barred spiral galaxies spiral outward from the ends of the bar. The Milky Way may fall into this class of spirals, called barred spirals. Irregular The final class of galaxies, "irregulars," contains a hodge-podge of shapes - anything that looks neither spiral nor elliptical. Any galaxy with no identifiable form - whose stars, gas, and dust are spread randomly - is classified as irregular. Irregulars are the smallest galaxies, and they may contain as few as one million stars. Components of the Galaxy A spiral galaxy like the Milky Way has 3 basic components to its visible matter: The Disk of the Galaxy Most of the gas and dust of the Milky Way is contained in the disk. This material between the stars is often termed the interstellar medium. - The gas is primarily hydrogen and helium, and the dust makes many regions of the disk opaque. - which contain many hot young stars and therefore is luminous The Halo of the Galaxy The halo of the galaxy is rather spherical in shape and contains little gas, dust, or star formation. It is difficult to measure precisely, but the halo appears to extend beyond the disk. -The clusters found in the halo are globular clusters (approximately 100 of them), so the halo is population II, and contains very old stars.

The Nucleus of the Galaxy The nuclear bulge or core contains the highest density of stars in the galaxy. Although some hot young stars may be found in the nucleus, the primary population of stars there is similar to the old stars found in the halo.

The Galactic Magnetic Field and Cosmic Rays The disk of the galaxy is permeated by a magnetic field. This field is weak, being only about 1/50,000 of the strength of the Earth's magnetic field at the surface, but it influences the motion of charged particles in the galaxy.

The Dark Matter Halo We refer to this as dark matter, and at present we do not know what it is, though there is fairly strong evidence that it is not the ordinary matter of stars, gas, dust, and planets.

Chapter 12-The Solar System Section 1-The Solar System A. Ideas about the night sky have changed over time. 1. Earth-centered modelearly Greeks thought planets, Sun, Moon, and stars rotated around Earth. 2. Sun-centered modelNicholas Copernicus and Galileo Galilei observed that the Moon revolved around Earth and that Earth and the other planets revolved around the Sun. 3. Modern viewsolar system includes Sun, eight planets, many small objects, and a huge volume of space. a. Sun is the center of the solar system b. All other objects in the solar system revolve around the Sun. B. How the solar system formed 1. A nebula of gas, ice, and dust slowly formed in space 2. A cloud of material in the nebula slowly rotated in space. 3. Shock waves might have caused the cloud to contract, and the matter was squeezed into less space. 4. The cloud became more dense, rotated faster, heated up, and flattened to form a disk 5. As the cloud contracted, it grew warmer, triggering a nuclear fusion reaction that created the Sun. 6. The leftover matter became the planets and asteroids. a. First four inner planetssmall and rocky with iron cores b. Last four outer planetslarge and lightweight C. Planet motion 1. Copernicusplanets had circular orbits around the Sun. 2. Johannes KeplerGerman mathematician a. Discovered that the planet orbits were elliptical and that the Sun was not directly in the center of the orbits b. Determined that planets do not orbit the Sun at the same speed Section 2-The Inner Planets A. Mercuryclosest to the Sun, second-smallest planet 1. Weak magnetic field suggests an iron core 2. Has many craters and high cliffs 3. No true atmosphere, so surface temperatures range from very hot to very cold B. Venussecond from the Sun and similar to Earth in size and mass 1. Extremely dense atmosphere of clouds 2. Carbon dioxide gas traps solar energy. a. Causes an intense greenhouse effect b. Results in surface temperatures between 450C and 475C C. Earththird planet from the Sun

1. Average distance between Earth and the Sun is 150 million km 2. Water exists on surface as solid, liquid, and gas. 3. More than 70 percent of surface covered with water 4. Atmosphere protects surface from most meteors and Suns radiation D. Marsfourth planet from the Sun 1. Called red planet because iron oxide in rocks makes them reddish-yellow 2. Polar ice caps made mostly of frozen carbon dioxide and frozen water 3. Has largest volcano in the solar system 4. Soil shows no evidence of life. 5. Has gullies and deposits of soil and rocks, which may indicate the presence of liquid groundwater 6. Thin atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide 7. Strong winds caused by differences in temperature between day and night 8. Is tilted on its axis, which causes seasons 9. Two small moons: Phobos and Deimos Section 3-The Outer Planets A. Jupiterfifth planet from the Sun, largest planet in the solar system 1. Atmosphere primarily hydrogen and helium a. Below atmosphere, liquid hydrogen and helium are suspected. b. Solid rocky core may exist below liquid level. c. The Great Red Spot is the most spectacular of Jupiters many constant high-pressure gas storms. 2. Has at least 61 moonsfour are relatively large and have atmospheres a. Iois very volcanically active; the closest large moon to Jupiter b. Europacomposed mostly of rock; may have an ocean of water under a thick layer of ice c. Ganymedelargest moon in solar system, even larger than planet Mercury d. Callistocratered rock and ice crust may surround a salty ocean and rock core B. Saturnsixth planet from the Sun, second largest in the solar system, lowest density 1. Thick outer atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, ammonia, methane, and water vapor 2. Might have a small, rocky core 3. Each large ring composed of thousands of ringlets of ice and rock particles 4. Has at least 31 moons a. Largest moon, Titan, is larger than the planet Mercury. b. Thick clouds on Titan prevent scientists from seeing surface. C. Uranusseventh planet from the Sun, large and gaseous 1. Has thin, dark rings 2. Atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, and methane 3. Methane makes the planet bluish-green in color. 4. Axis of rotation nearly parallel to plane of orbit D. Neptunethe eighth planet from the Sun, large and gaseous 1. Bluish-green-colored atmosphere similar to that of Uranus 2. Storms on Neptune reveal an active and rapidly changing atmosphere 3. Has at least 61 moons, of which pinkish Triton is largest E. Dwarf PlanetsPlutooccasionally closer to the Sun than Neptune, was once the smallest planet in the solar system but as of 2006, Pluto is now considered to be a dwarf planet 1. Has a thin atmosphere and a solid, rocky surface 2. Discovered in 1978, moon Charon is half the planets size. 3. Hubble Space Telescope reveals group of icy bodies that lie in the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptunes orbit. Section 4-Other Objects in the Solar System A. Cometdust and rock particles combined with frozen water, methane, and ammonia 1. Halleys comet orbits the Sun every 76 years. 2. Oort Cloudlarge group of comets surrounding solar system beyond Pluto 3. Amateur astronomers discovered Comet Hale-Bopp in 1995 4. Comet structurelarge dirty snowball of frozen rock and ice a. Ice and dust vaporize as comet nears Sun. b. Vaporized material forms bright cloud called coma around comet nucleus.

c. Solar wind pushes on gas and dust in the coma, causing the particles to form a tail that always points away from the Sun. d. Eventually, most of the ice in the comets nucleus vaporizes, leaving only small particles. B. Small pieces of the old comets nucleus 1. Meteoroidname given to small pieces of comet when they move through space 2. Meteorsmall meteoroid that burns up in Earths atmosphere 3. Meteor showersoccur when Earths orbit passes through a group of meteoroids that enter the atmosphere 4. Meteoritemeteoroid that strikes Earth C. Asteroidrock similar to that which formed planets 1. Most asteroids lie in an asteroid belt located between Mars and Jupiter. 2. Jupiters gravity may have kept these asteroids from forming a planet. 3. Some planets moons may be asteroids pulled from the asteroid belt. 4. Asteroid sizes range from very tiny to 940 km in diameter. 5. The Near Earth Asteroid Rendezvous probe indicates asteroid 433 Eros has been in many collisions over time.