Asian College of Technology

International Educational Foundation

Senior High School Department

EARTH & LIFE

SCIENCE

Prepared by:
Warren F. Bacariza, RN, LPT
Earth & Life Science Instructor
 ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Creation myth
- Genesis of the Bible's Old Testament
THEORIES ( BSISM )
1. Big Bang Theory
- Aleksander Friedman & George Lamaitre
- there was nothing and nowhere
- tiny compact point ( singularity )
- great explosion
- creation of forces and celestial bodies
 Evidences for Big Bang Theory
( GAP )
1. galaxies moving away
- Edwin Hubble
- found out that stars are not
uniformly distributed
2. presence of cosmic microwaves background
- Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson
- discovered a background radio
emission coming from every direction in the sky
3. abundance of light elements ( He, H, Li )
found in observable universe
Unresolved Problems of Big Bang Theory
( FHM )
a. flatness
BBT: There should be curvatures as time
grows
FACT: Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy
Probe ( WMAP )
- geometry of the universe is nearly
flat
b. monopole
BBT: production of heavy stable magnetic
monopoles
FACT: no magnetic monopoles have been
observed
3. horizon
BBT: regions of space are so far apart
FACT: regions of space must have been in
contact with each other in the past
2. Steady State Theory
- Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle ( 1948 )
- universe is unchanging in time and
uniform in space
3. Inflation Theory
- Alan Guth, Andrei Linde, Paul Steinhart,
and Andy Albrecht
- offer solutions to unresolved
problems
- exponential expansion of the universe
prior to the more gradual big bang expansion
- regarded as an extension of the
standard BBT
 Inflation Theory's Solutions to
Unresolved Problems of the BBT
a. flatness
- inflation stretches any initial curvature
of the universe to near flatness
b. monopole
- monopoles exist prior to the period of
inflation
- density of monopoles dropped
exponentially to an undetectble level during
rapid expansion
c. horizon
- distant regions were much closer with
each other prior to inflation
gravitational waves
- conclusive evidence to support inflation
theory
- John Kovac
- detected it
4. String Theory
- answers the question what came before
the Big Bang
- asembly of particle type is replaced by a
fundamental building block ( string )
- free to vibrate
5. M- theory
- the string theory requires objects other
than just strings
- may be seen as sheets or branes
- collision of M-branes leads to a new
universe
ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM
THEORIES
1. Vortex Theory
- Rene Descartes
- explained the orbits of the planets and
satellite of the planets in terms of whirlpool
motion
2. Collision Theory
- Comte de Buffon
- planets were formed by the collision of
the sun with a giant comet
- formed from the resulting debris
3. Nebular hypothesis
- Immanuel Kant and Pierre Simon Laplace
- great cloud of gas and dust ( nebula )
begins to collapse because of gravitational pull
- explains how the sun and planet were
created
4. Tidal hypothesis
- James Hopwood Jeans and Harold
Jeffreys
- sun and planets were produced by
different mechanisms
planets
- formed from the substance that
was torn out of the sun
5. Solar Nebular Theory
solar system
- formed as a result of the
condensation of hydrogen ( interstellar ) gas
and dust
explosion of a star ( supernova )
- might have caused the dust and gas cloud
to collapse to form the sun and planets
gas and dust would remain a cloud
- without violent disturbance
protostar
- center of the collapsed gas and dust
- became the sun
solar nebulae
- the remaining gas dust and cloud
- came together to form planets
formation of the planets involved different
stages in contrast to the single process of
nebular theory:
Stage 1
- grain-sized particles to centimeter
sized particles and later grow to several
kilometers in diameter
cake planetisimals
- objects formed
- minute planet
Stage 2
- formation of more massive objects
called protoplanets
- later become the planet
Formation of planets ( stages )
grain-sized particles

centimeter sized particles

kilometer in diameter

planetesimal

protoplanet
 Solar System Properties and Current
Information
1. The orbits of all the planets are almost in the
same plane. This means that the solar system is
flat.
2. The planetary orbits are nearly circular.
3. The orbits of the planets are nearly in the
same plane as the rotation of the sun.
4. All planets revolved around the sun in
counterclockwise direction. Most planets rotate
around their own axis in a counterclockwise
fashion.
5. The distances of the planets from the sun
can be expressed in a similar relationship called
Bode's law.
6. The satellite systems of Jupiter and Saturn
are nearly identical in their arrangements with
the solar system.
7. The satellite and planets contain almost all
the rotational motion of the solar system.
8. The solar system also contains asteroids and
comets.
asteroids
- made up of rocks
- sometimes referred as minor planets
- atmosphere-free and orbit around the
sun
- congregate to main asteroid belt
 - remnants from the early stages of solar
system formation
- never got formed into planets
- because of Jupiter's high
gravitational force
- can perturbed out of their main belt
- may come close to Earth
- NEAs ( near-Earth asteroid )
NEA
- monitored by NASA ( National
Aeronotics and Space Administration )
- possibility of hitting Earth
- could cause catastrophic
consequences
Ceres
- first known asteroid
comets
- composed mainly of ice ( frozen water
and gas ) and nonvolatile dust
- only becomes active when their orbits
take them near the sun
Sun's heat
- causes the frozen gases to
sublimate forming vaporous jet of stream
- create a spectacular tail
streaming out from the sun
- originate from 2 regions of the outer
solar system
2 regions:
1. Kuiper belt
- called the Solar system's final frontier
- outermost region of the solar
system
2. Oort cloud
- much further out than the Kuiper belt
- remained unexplored
short period comets
- orbit in the sun in less than 200 years
- example: Halley's comet
long-period comets
- orbits from 200 years up to millions
years
TNOs ( Trans-Neptunian Objects )
- objects orbiting beyond Neptune
 CLASSIFICATION OF PLANETS
1. Based on composition
2. Based of relative positions
a. position relative to the sun
b. position relative to the Earth

Based on composition
a. Terrestrial planets
- Earth-like planets
- include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
- sometimes referred as inner planets
- composed mainly of dense, rocky, and
metallic materials
b. Jovian planets
- Jupiter-like planets
- include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune
- referred as gas planets
- made up mostly of hydrogen and helium
Based on relative positions
1. Position relative to the sun
a. inner planets
- include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and
Mars
b. outer planets
- include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
and Neptune
asteroid belt
- between Mars and Jupiter
- boundary between the inner and outer
planets
2. Position relative to the Earth
a. inferior planets
- located inside the orbit of the
Earth
- include Mercury and Venus
b. superior planets
- located outside the orbit of the
Earth
- include Mars, Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune
2003UB313
- discovered by:
- Mike Brown, Chad Trujillo, and
David Rabinowitz
- more massive than pluto
- larger than Pluto in diameter ( 1.5 times )
- largest dwarf planet
- officially called as "Eris" ( 2006 )
 IAU ( International Astronomers Union )
- an organization responsible for the
naming and nomenclature of the planetary
bodies and their satellites
- defines a planet
New definition:
- a celestial body that is in
orbit around the sun
- should have sufficient mass
for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body
forces ( assumes nearly round shape )
- should dominate its
neighborhood by clearing the neighborhood
around it
Pluto
- August 24, 2006
- reclassified from a planet to a
dwarf planet
Reasons:
- does not dominate its
neighborhood
- does not "sweep up"
asteroids, comets, and other debris to clear a
path along the orbits
- its orbit is considered "untidy"
 Dwarf planet characteristics:
1. It is in orbit around the sun
2. Has sufficient mas for its self-gravity to
overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a
nearly-round shape
3. Has not cleared the neighborhood around it
4. It is not a satellite
Dwarf planets ( IAU )
1. Eris
2. Pluto
3. Ceres
4. Make
ESA ( European Space Agency )
- launched the Rosetta spacecraft ( 2004
)
Rosetta mission
- aimed to learn more about:
- formation of the Solar system
- how comets carried water and
complex organic components to the plants
November 12, 2014
- historic landing of Rosetta and its lander
( Philae ) on comet 67P/C-G ( Churyumov-
Gerasimenko )
 - was able to pick up strange, echoed
clapping sound