I am getting all my info from the textbook.

Hopefully this is actually useful, sorry if it isn’t

Disclaimer to everyone: if some of my explanations/notes are too long winded or
difficult to understand, check the chapter summary pertaining to that lesson. For most
of the topics, there are simple short explanations for each topic.

Final Exam Notes

Lesson 13: Solar System, Part 3: Jovian Planets

➔ Jovian (Jupiter-like) planets are:
◆ Four large planets of the outer solar system
● Jupiter
● Saturn
● Uranus
● Neptune
◆ Much larger in size and mass
◆ Lower average density
◆ Have rings and many moons
◆ Farther from the sun and from each other
◆ Cool temperatures at cloud tops
◆ Lack solid surfaces
◆ Mostly made of hydrogen, helium and hydrogen compounds (water, ammonia,
methane)
➔ Because these substances are gases under earthly conditions, the Jovian planets are
sometimes called gas giants
➔ Jupiter and Saturn are almost entirely made of H and He
◆ Very few percentages of hydrogen compounds and even smaller amounts of
rock and metal
➔ Uranus and Neptune are much smaller than Jupiter and Saturn are almost entirely H
compounds
◆ Smaller proportions of H and He and smaller amounts of metal and rock
◆ Less dense than Saturn because they have less H and He
● Jupiter is denser than Saturn because the extra mass of Jupiter
compresses its interior to a much higher density
➔ Jovian planets rotate much more rapidly than terrestrial plants and because of this
they are not quite spherical
◆ Rotation rates vary with latitude: equatorial regions complete each rotation in
less time than polar regions
➔ Interiors of Jovian planets:
◆ No solid surface
◆ Layers under high pressure and temperatures
◆ Cores made of hydrogen compounds, metals and rock
◆ Cores are ~ 10 earth masses
 ◆ The layers are different for each planet
➔ Inside of Jupiter:
◆ First layer is gaseous hydrogen
◆ Second layer is liquid hydrogen
◆ Third layer is metallic hydrogen (largest)
◆ Core made up of rock, metals and H compounds
● Slightly bigger than earth but 10x more massive
◆ Because of the high pressures inside Jupiter, it causes the H to change phases
with more depth
◆ Radiates twice as much energy as it receives from the sun
➔ Comparing Jovian interiors:
◆ Saturn has the same basic layering as Jupiter but it has thicker layers of
gaseous and liquid H and a thinner, more deeply buried layer of metallic H
◆ Saturn radiates twice as much energy as it receives from the Sun because of
the helium rain that drops deeper in the interior of the planet, producing
energy
◆ Neptune radiates twice as much energy as it receives but source of energy is
unknown

➔ Weather on Jovian planets:

◆ Atmospheres have dynamic winds and weather
◆ Colourful clouds and enormous storms
◆ Presence of small amounts of more complex hydrogen compounds, including
acetylene, ethane, propane and ammonium hydrosulfide
● Responsible for virtually all aspects of their appearances
● Some compounds condense to form the clouds
● Some compounds are responsible for the variety of colours
● Without these compounds, Jovian planets would be grey featureless
balls of gas
➔ Jupiter’s atmosphere:
◆ H compounds in Jupiter form clouds
◆ Different cloud layers correspond to freezing points of different H compounds
➔ Jovian planet atmospheres:
◆ Other Jovian planets have cloud layers similar to Jupiter's
◆ Different compounds make clouds of different colors
➔ Atmospheric structure, clouds, and colours: Jupiter
◆ Three layers of the atmosphere (starting from the top)
● Thermosphere:
○ Above the clouds
○ Consists of low-density gas
● Stratosphere:
○ Above the clouds
○ Absorbs solar ultraviolet photons
○ Similar to Earth’s Ozone
 ● Troposphere:
○ Temperature rises with depth
◆ Three primary cloud layers that are formed by a gas condensing at different
temperatures (described from the bottom to the top)
● The temperature is too high deep in the troposphere so no clouds can
condense
● When rising gas reaches 100km below the highest cloud tops,
temperatures drop to where water vapor can condense and make clouds
○ These clouds reflect all the colours of sunlight and makes them
white
● Rising gas reaches an altitude with colder temperatures where
ammonium hydrosulfide can condense, making the second cloud layer
○ These clouds reflect brown and red light which produces many
of the dark colours of Jupiter
● The remaining gas reaches an altitude where its cold enough for
ammonia to condense and make the upper cloud layer
○ Ammonia clouds reflect all the colours of sunlight, making it
white

➔ Atmospheric structure, clouds, and colours: Saturn

◆ Same three cloud layers as Jupiter
◆ Lower temperatures make the three layers occur deeper within Saturn’s
atmosphere
◆ Because less light penetrates the depths at which Saturn’s clouds are found
and the light reflected is more obscured by the atmosphere above them, the
colours of the planet are more subdued
◆ Cloud layers have greater vertical distances than Jupiter’s
➔ Atmospheric structure, clouds, and colours: Uranus and Neptune
◆ Colder high-altitude temperatures allow some of the methane gas to condense
into clouds of methane snow
◆ Remainder of the methane gas absorbs red light and therefore allows only blue
light to penetrate deeper
◆ The methane clouds reflect the blue light upwards, giving these planes their
blue colours
➔ Global winds and storms: Jupiter
◆ Global wind patterns are shaped by the alternating bands of rising and falling
air
◆ White ammonia clouds are in regions of rising air
◆ Reddish ammonium hydrosulfide clouds are in regions of falling air
◆ No seasons because there is no noticeable axis tilt
➔ Global winds and storms: Saturn
◆ Axis tilt similar to Earth
◆ Minor seasonal changes because of internal heat keeping the planets
temperature uniform
➔ Global winds and storms: Neptune
◆ Axis tilt similar to Earth
◆ Minor seasonal changes because of internal heat
➔ Global winds and storms: Uranus
◆ Takes a long time for seasons to change because of extreme axis tilt
➔ Jovian planets have global magnetic fields generated by motions of charged particles
deep in their interiors
◆ Like Earth, these magnetic fields create bubble-like magnetospheres that
surround the planets and shield them from solar winds
➔ To have a global magnetic field, a planet has to have:
◆ An interior region of electrically conducting fluid
◆ Convection in that layer of fluid
◆ At least moderately rapid rotation
➔ Jupiter has the strongest magnetic field and it’s about 20,000 times as strong as
Earth’s
➔ Saturn’s magnetic field is weaker than Jupiter’s because of the thinner layer of
electrically conducting metallic H
◆ Still much stronger than Earth’s
➔ Uranus and Neptune are even smaller but still stronger than Earth’s
➔ Size of a planet’s magnetosphere also depends on the pressure of the solar wind on it
➔ Moons orbiting Jovian planets are organized into three categories:
◆ Small moons – less than about 300km in diameter
◆ Medium sized moons – diameter of about 300km – 1500km
◆ Large moons – more than 1500km in diameter
➔ Jovian moons have a different composition than those orbiting terrestrial worlds
◆ Because they are formed in the cold outer solar system, most of them contain
substantial amounts of ice in addition to metal and rock
◆ 170 known moons orbit the Jovian planets
➔ Most of the medium-size and large moons probably formed by accretion within the
disks of gas surrounding individual Jovian planets
➔ The medium-size and large moons tend to have more interesting geology
➔ Many small moons are probably just captured asteroids and comets
➔ Io:
◆ one of Jupiter’s moons
◆ the most volcanically active world in our solar system
◆ Meaning its very hot inside and something is continually heating Io’s interior
◆ Tidal heating arises from the effects of tidal forces exerted by Jupiter
● Generates tremendous heat and this explains the volcanic activity
◆ No crater impacts because the volcano eruptions keep repaving the surface
➔ Europa:
◆ Covered by water ice
◆ Tidal heating is weaker because it lies farther from Jupiter
◆ Only a handful of craters suggesting ongoing geological activity which erased
evidence of all past impacts
 ● Either liquid water rising from an ocean that lies beneath the icy crust
or interior water ice that is just warm enough to undergo convection,
rise up and flow across the surface
➔ Ganymede:
◆ Largest moon in the solar system
◆ Surface of water ice
◆ Some regions are dark and densely cratered
◆ Other regions are light-coloured with few craters
◆ The young terrain argues for occasional upwelling of liquid water or icy slush
to the surface
➔ Callisto:
◆ Outermost moon
◆ A heavily crated ice ball which makes sense because of its age
◆ Lacks volcanic and tectonic features and any significant source of internal heat
➔ Saturn’s moon Titan:
◆ Thick atmosphere
◆ Atmosphere is about 90% molecular nitrogen and the rest is argon, methane,
ethane and other H compounds
● Produces organic chemicals that are the basis of life
◆ Conditions are right for methane/ethane rain which creates rivers flowing into
lakes and seas
◆ There are also storms
◆ Familiar characteristics to Earth:
● Instead of liquid water, there is liquid methane and ethane
● Instead of rock, there is ice
● Instead of molten lava, there slush of water ice mixed with ammonia
● Instead of surface dirt, there are smog-like particles that rain out of the
sky and accumulate on the ground

Lesson 14: Solar System, Part 4: Other Objects

➔ Asteroids:
◆ Rocky leftovers of planet formation
◆ Vary in sizes
● Many have a diameter > 1km
● Small asteroids are more common than large ones
◆ Orbit around the sun
➔ Comets:
◆ Formed beyond the frost line (outer solar system)
◆ Ones that we see have traveled to the inner solar system
◆ Icy counterparts to asteroids
◆ Also composed of rocky dust and more complex chemicals
● CO, CO2, organic molecules
 ◆ Most do not have tails
◆ Most remain frozen in outer solar system
◆ Orbit the sun far beyond the orbit of Neptune
◆ Only comets that enter the inner solar system grow tails
➔ Meteorite:
◆ A rock from space that falls through Earth’s atmosphere
◆ Majority are small asteroids or pieces of asteroids
◆ Some have been chipped off of the moon and mars from other larger impacts
to their surface
● they then fly into space and enter our atmosphere
➔ Meteors:
◆ Bright tail left by a meteorite
◆ Only a flash of light caused by a particle of dust or rock entering our
atmosphere at high speed but not the particle itself
➔ Pluto’s demotion as a planet:
◆ Eris’s discovery in 2005 made astronomers question where to draw the line
between planets and non-planets
◆ Eris was about the same size as Pluto but about 27% larger in mass
◆ Eris also has a moon
◆ In 2006, the dwarf planet category was created to accommodate Pluto, Eris
and other “small bodies” that are large enough to be round
➔ A planet is a moderately large object that orbits a star and shines primarily by
reflecting light from its star
◆ An object can be considered a planet if it:
1. Orbits a star
2. Is large enough for its own gravity to make it round
3. Has cleared most other objects from its orbital path
◆ An object meeting requirement 1 and 2 but not 3, is considered a dwarf planet
● Ex. Pluto
➔ Dwarf planet:
◆ Mass of about .2% that of earth
◆ Ice rich composition
◆ Much more eccentric orbit
◆ More inclined to the ecliptic plane than any other planets
◆ May be similar to asteroids or comets
➔ Small solar system body:
◆ an asteroid, comet or other object that orbits a star but is too small to qualify
as a planet or a dwarf planet

Lesson 15: Stars, Part 1: The Sun as a Typical Star

➔ Gravitational contraction is the process of the sun generating energy by slowly
contracting in size
➔ Calculations show that contraction could have kept the Sun shining for about 25
million years, but Earth is much older therefore gravitational contraction could not
account for the Sun’s long-term energy generation
➔ Sun converts mass into energy through the process of nuclear fusion
➔ The sun shines steadily because it has achieved two kinds of balance that keep its size
and energy output stable
◆ Gravitational equilibrium is between the outward push of internal gas pressure
and the inward pull of gravity
● The Sun’s internal pressure precisely balances gravity at every point
within it, keeping its size stable
● Deep in the core, the pressure makes the gas hot and dense enough to
sustain nuclear fusion
● Energy released by fusion, heats the gas and maintains the pressure
that keeps the sun in balance against the inward pull of gravity
◆ Energy balance is between the rate at which fusion releases energy in the
Sun’s core and the rate at which the sun’s surface radiates this energy into
space
● Without energy balance, the balance between pressure and gravity
would not remain steady
➔ To summarize the answer to “why does the sun shine?”
◆ About 4.5 billion years ago, gravitational contraction made the sun hot enough
to sustain nuclear fusion in its core
◆ Energy liberated by fusion has maintained gravitational equilibrium and
energy balance within the sun which keeps it shining steadily
➔ The Sun’s structure (from outward to in):
◆ Corona
● When approaching the sun there is a low-density gas that represents
what we think of as the Sun’s atmosphere
● The outermost layer of this atmosphere is called the corona
● Extends several million km above the visible surface of the Sun
● Radiates X rays
● Temperate is ~ 1 million K
● Low density
◆ Chromosphere
● Middle layer of the solar atmosphere
● Radiates UV light
● Temperature is ~ 10,000 K
◆ Photosphere
● Lowest layer of the atmosphere
● This is the visible surface of the sun
● Less dense than Earth’s atmosphere
● Temperature is just under 6000 K
● Surface boils and churns
● where you’ll find sunspots; regions of intense magnetic fields
 ◆ Convection zone
● Where energy generated in the solar core travels upward, transported
by rising hot gas and falling cool gas called convection
◆ Radiation zone
● Where energy moves outward primarily in the form of photons of light
◆ Core:
● This is where the source of the Sun’s energy is found: nuclear fusion
transforming H into He
● Temperate is ~15 million K
● Density is more than 100x that of water
● Pressure is 200 billion times that on Earth’s surface
➔ H nuclei is simply one proton
➔ The overall H fusion reaction transforms 4 separate protons into a He nucleus with 2
protons and 2 neutrons
◆ Reaction proceeds through many steps involving two nuclei at a time
● The sequence of steps that occurs in the Sun is called the proton-proton
chain, because it starts with collisions between individual protons
➔ Hydrogen Fusion by the Proton-Proton chain
◆ Step 1: two protons fuse to make a deuterium nucleus (1 proton and 1
neutron). This step occurs twice in the overall reaction
◆ Step 2: the deuterium nucleus and a proton fuse to make a nucleus of helium-3
(2 proton, 1 neutron). This step occurs twice in the overall reaction
◆ Step 3: two helium-3 nuclei fuse to form helium-4 (2 protons, 2 neutrons),
releasing two excess protons in the process
➔ Solar activity is the change sunspots and the other features of the Sun’s surface with
time
◆ Sun’s features are created by magnetic fields which form and change easily in
the convecting plasma in the outer layers of the Sun
➔ Sunspots are regions with strong magnetic fields and are cooler than other parts of the
Sun’s surface
➔ Solar flare: a type of storm which emits bursts of UV light and X rays along with
charged particles moving at nearly the speed of light
➔ Solar prominences: giant loops of magnetic field lines created by the pairs of sunspots
that trap the gas inside the chromosphere and corona within the loop
➔ Coronal mass ejections: huge bubbles of charged particles from the Sun’s corona that
travel outward from the Sun
➔ There is a pattern in solar activity that makes sunspots and solar storms more common
at sometimes than at others
➔ Sunspot cycle is a cycle in which the average number of sunspots on the Sun
gradually rises and falls
◆ Solar maximum: when the sunspots are most numerous
◆ Solar minimum: when there are few if any sunspots
◆ The average length of time between maximums is 11 years
➔ Solar activity has a huge impact on Earth
 ◆ Ex. If a coronal mass ejection reaches Earth, it can create a geomagnetic storm
in the magnetosphere, and this could:
● lead to unusually strong auroras
● hamper radio communications
● disrupt electrical power delivery
● damage electronic components in orbiting satellites
● cause low orbit satellites to plummet to the ground if remained
unchecked because their energy and angular momentum would be
drained

Lesson 16: Stars, Part 2: Classifying Stars

➔ Three fundamental properties of stars:
◆ Luminosity
● Apparent brightness is how bright stars look in our sky
○ Defined as the amount of power (energy per second) reaching
us per unit area
● Luminosity to the total amount of power that a star emits into space
regardless of its distance
◆ Temperature
● Only surface temperature is directly measurable
○ Determined from the star’s colour or its spectrum
● Interior temperatures are inferred from mathematical models of stellar
interiors
◆ Mass
● Most dependable method for “weighing” a star relies on Newton’s
version of Kepler’s third law
○ We can calculate mass only if we can measure both the orbital
period and the separation of the two stars
➔ Astronomers classify stars according to surface temperature by assigning a spectral
type determined from the spectral lines present in a star’s spectrum
◆ Hottest stars, with the bluest coloured are called spectral type O
● Followed by declining surface temperature by spectral types B, A, F,
G, K and M
○ M being cool, red stars
➔ Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is one of the most important tools in astronomical
research and is central to the study of stars
◆ Shows relationship among the properties of stars
◆ Also provides information about stellar radii
◆ Made by plotting stars according to their surface temperature and luminosities
➔ Stars cluster into four major groups on the H-R diagram:
◆ Main-sequence:
● Most stars fall somewhere along here
● These stars are fusing H into He in their cores
 ● It’s the prominent streak running from the upper left to the lower right
on the H-R diagram
● High luminosity main-sequence have hot surfaces
● Low luminosity main-sequence have cooler surfaces
● Stars position along the main sequence is closely related to its mass
● Mass determines surface temperature and luminosity
● Mass determines balancing point at which the energy released by
hydrogen fusion in the core equals the energy lost from the star’s
surface
◆ Supergiants:
● Upper right
● Large and very bright
● Red stars nearing the end of their lives
● Because it is cooler but more luminous than the Sun means it must be
larger in radius than the Sun
◆ Giants:
● Somewhat smaller in radius and lower in luminosity
● Still larger and brighter than main-sequence
● Red stars nearing the end of their lives
● Because it is cooler but more luminous than the Sun means it must be
larger in radius than the Sun
◆ White dwarfs:
● Lower left
● Small in radius
● Appear white in colour because of their high temperatures
● Remaining ember’s of former giants
● Dim because they lack an energy source and radiate their leftover heat
● Typical white dwarf is no larger than Earth but has a mass similar to
the Sun
➔ Any star that varies significantly in brightness with time is called a variable star
◆ Certain types cannot achieve balance between the power welling up from the
core and the power being radiated from the surface

Lesson 17: Stars, Part 3: The Lives of Stars

➔ High-mass stars consume their H so rapidly that they end up with much shorter
lifetimes than low-mass stars
➔ The mass of a main-sequence star determines both its luminosity and its lifetime
because it determines the core temperature and fusion rate at which the star can
remain in gravitational equilibrium and energy balance
➔ The mass determines what happens when the star finally exhausts its core supply of H
➔ The mass determines whether it will become hot enough to fuse He or heavier
elements
➔ The fate of the star also depends on the mass it had at birth
➔ Relatively low-mass stars like our Sun end up as white dwarfs
➔ High-mass stars die violently, leaving behind a neutron star or a black hole
➔ Degeneracy pressure: type of pressure unrelated to an object’s temperature, which
arises when electrons or neutrons are packed so tightly that the exclusions and
uncertainty principles come into play
➔ Three basic groups of stars by mass:
◆ Low-mass stars
● Born with < 2 solar masses of material
◆ Intermediate-mass stars
● Born with 2-8 solar masses
◆ High-mass stars
● Born with masses > 8 solar masses
➔ Life stages of a low-mass star (using our Sun as an example):
◆ Main-sequence
● Slow and steady
● Sun fuses H into He in its core via the proton-proton chain
● Sun shines steadily because gravitational equilibrium and energy
balance work together as a self-regulating solar thermostat, keeping the
Sun’s fusion rate and overall luminosity quite steady
● Aside from solar activity, the long lives of low-mass stars remain
relatively uneventful as long as H fusion continues in the core and the
luminosity rises
◆ Red giant
● When the star’s core H is depleted, there is no fusion to replace the
energy the star radiates from its surface
● Core will begin to shrink
● As the Sun passes through its final life stages, the outer layers will
expand outward and will slowly grow in size and luminosity to become
a red giant
● When core exhausts its H, it will be made out of almost entirely He
● Gas surrounding the core will still contain H that had never undergone
fusion
● Gravity shrinks both the non-fusing He core and the surrounding shell
of H, making the H shell hot enough for H shell fusion – H fusion in a
shell around the core
● H fusing shell shrinks along with the core, growing hotter and denser
making the fusion rate rise which feeds more He to the core
● The core and shell continue to contract and heat up, with the Sun
growing larger and more luminous and it will become hot enough for
He nuclei to fuse together
◆ Helium fusion
 ● Occurs when nuclei slam into one another at much higher speeds than
those needed for H fusion
● He fusion requires much higher temperatures
● He fusion process converts 3 He nuclei into one carbon nucleus
● The onset of He fusion heats the core rapidly without causing it to
expand in size and the rising temperature causes the He fusion rate to
speed up drastically, called a He flash
○ releases an enormous amount of energy into the core
◆ Death
● After about 100 million years, He core fusion star converts all its core
He into carbon
● Fusion will cease again, and the star will again be out of energy
balance
● The core will begin to shrink again under the crush of gravity
● Sun will eject its outer layers into space, creating a huge shell of gas
expanding away from the inter carbon core
● The exposed core will be very hot and will emit intense UV radiation
which will ionize the gas in the expanding shell, making it glow bright
as a planetary nebula
● The glow of the planetary nebula will fade as the exposed core cools
and the ejected gas disperses into space
● The nebula will disappear within about 100,000 years, leaving the
carbon core behind as a white dwarf
➔ Summary of the life stages of a low-mass star:
◆ H fusion in the core (main sequence)
◆ H fusion in the shell around contracting core (red giant)
◆ He fusion in core (horizontal branch)
◆ Double shell burning (red giant)
◆ Ejection of H and He in a planetary nebula leaves behind an inert white dwarf
(death)
➔ Life stages of a high-mass star:
◆ Early stages:
● Similar to the early stages of a low-mass star except they proceed
much faster
● H fusion proceeds through a different set of steps inside high-mass
stars
◆ Hydrogen fusion:
● Gravity compresses the H core to a higher temperature making it
possible for protons to slam into C, O and N nuclei and other protons
● C, N and O act as a catalyst for H fusion making it proceed at far
higher rate
○ Faster chain reaction is called the CNO cycle
● CNO cycle is:
○ 4 H nuclei fuse with one He-4 nucleus
 ○ The amount of energy generated = the difference in mass
between the 4 H nuclei and the one He nucleus multiplied by c2
◆ Supergiant
● As its core H runs out, it develops a H-fusing shell and its outer layers
begin to expand outward which turns it into a supergiant
● The core contracts and its gravitational contraction releases energy that
raises the core temperature until it becomes hot enough to fuse He into
C
○ No helium flash in stars of more than 2 solar masses
● Fuses He into C so rapidly leaving an inert C core after only a few
hundred thousand years
● Inert C core shrinks, crush of gravity intensifies, and core pressure,
temperature and density all rise
● He-fusing shell forms between the inert core and the H-fusing shell
◆ Fusion of heavier nuclei:
● He-capture reactions is where a He nucleus fuses with some other
nucleus
○ Can change C into O into Ne (neon) into Mg (magnesium) and
etc
● A star’s core can fuse heavy nuclei to one another at high enough
temperatures
● Each time the core depletes the elements it’s fusing; it shrinks and
heats until it becomes hot enough for other fusion reactions
● As each stage of fusion ceases, fusion in the surrounding shell
intensifies and further inflates the star’s outer layers
◆ Iron dead end:
● Iron (Fe) has the lowest mass per nuclear particle of all nuclei and
cannot release energy by either fusion or fission
○ Fusion: light elements into heavier ones
○ Fission: heavier elements into lighter ones
● When core turns into Fe, it cannot generate energy
● Ultimately, the star explodes as a supernova, scattering all the newly
made elements into interstellar space
◆ Death:
● The gravitational collapse of the core releases an enormous amount of
energy that drives the star’s outer layers into space in an explosion
called a supernova
● The ball of neutrons left behind is called a neutron star
○ Sometimes the remaining mass is so large that gravity also
overcomes neutron degeneracy pressure and the core continues
to collapse until it becomes a black hole
➔ Summary of the life stages of a high-mass star:
◆ Main sequence: H fuses to He in core
◆ Red supergiant: H fuses to He in shell around He core
 ◆ Helium core burning:
◆ He fuses to C in core while H fuses to He in shell
◆ Multiple shell burning:
◆ Many elements fuse in shells
◆ Supernova leaves neutron star behind
➔ In the final life stages of a high-mass star, its core has a variety of fusion reactions
which produces a wide range of elements, including all the elements necessary for life
that are then released into space when the star dies
➔ Mass determines the total lifetime of stars because it determines its core temperature
◆ High-mass stars with > 8 solar masses have short lives, eventually becoming
hot enough to make iron, and end in supernova explosions
◆ Low-mass stars with < 2 solar masses have long lives, never become hot
enough to fuse carbon nuclei, and end as white dwarfs
◆ Intermediate-mass stars can make elements heavier than carbon but end as
white dwarfs
➔ Mass determines how high a star's core temperature can rise and therefore determines
how quickly a star uses its fuel and what kinds of elements it can make

Lesson 18: Galaxies, Part 1: The Milky Way Galaxy

➔ The Milky Way Galaxy is a spiral galaxy consisting of a thin disk about 100,000
light-years in diameter and 1000 light years thick with a central bulge and a spherical
halo that surrounds the disk
➔ The galactic disk is filled with interstellar gas and dust
➔ The most prominent stars in the halo are found in about 200 globular clusters of stars
◆ globular cluster:a spherical collection of stars that orbit a galactic core
➔ Our sun is located in the disk about 27,000 light years from the galactic center
◆ A little more than halfway out from the center to the edge of the disk
➔ Each star follows its own orbital path around the center of the galaxy, and its orbit
depends on whether it resides in the:
◆ Disk
● Stars orbit the galactic center in roughly circular paths that all go in the
same direction in nearly the same plane
◆ Halo
● Stars orbit the galactic center, but the orientation of their paths are
relatively random
● Neighboring stars may circle the galactic center in opposite directions
● Swoop from high above the disk to far below it and back again
◆ Bulge
● Range of orbital properties among its stars
● Some stars orbit with random orientations like halo stars
 ● Some stars orbit in the same general direction as disk stars but with
more elongated orbits
➔ Stars are born when gravity causes the collapse of molecular clouds and they shine for
many years with energy produced by nuclear fusion and in their deaths, they return
much of their material back to the interstellar medium
◆ Known as star-gas-star cycle which is the galactic recycling process
➔ Star-gas-star cycle
◆ Gas from dying stars
● The return of their original mass to space through stellar winds and
through planetary nebulae or supernovae
● The high-speed gas ejected sweeps up surrounding interstellar matter,
creating a bubble of hot, ionized gas
● Shock fronts created by supernovae leave behind supernova remnants
which has newly made heavy elements
◆ Superbubbles and fountains
● Many bubbles combine to form a much larger superbubble
● In places where superbubbles have grown so large that they cannot be
contained within the Milky Way’s disk, these superbubbles break out
of the disk
○ Hot gas erupts from the disk, spreading out as it shoots upward
into the galactic halo
● According to the theoretical modeling of blowouts, sometimes called
galactic fountain, the gravity of the galactic disk slows and eventually
halts the rise of the gas from a blowout
● Near the top of its trajectory, the ejected gas starts to cool and form
clouds
● Gravity causes these clouds to rain back down into the disk where the
contents mix with the gas throughout a large region of the galaxy
◆ Cooling and cloud formation
● Most of the gas in the Milky Way is cool enough that H atoms remain
neutral rather than being ionized and these are referred to as atomic H
gas
● After the gas that makes bubbles cools, it becomes part of this
widespread atomic H gas in the galaxy
◆ From atomic to molecular clouds
● As the temperature drops further in the center of a cool cloud of atomic
H, H atoms combine into molecules, making a molecular cloud
◆ Completing the cycle
● Gravity forms stars out of the gas in molecular clouds
➔ Summary of galactic recycling:
◆ Stars make new elements by fusion.
◆ Dying stars expel gas and new elements, producing hot bubbles
◆ Hot gas cools, allowing atomic hydrogen clouds to form
◆ Further cooling permits molecules to form, making molecular clouds
 ◆ Gravity forms new stars (and planets) in molecular clouds.
◆
➔ Spiral arms of our galaxy contain both young stars and the material necessary to make
new stars
➔ Spiral arms are like swirling ripples in a whirlpool
➔ Spiral arms exhibit unusually high levels of star formation
➔ Theoretical models suggest that the spiral pattern of star formation is caused by
disturbances called spiral density waves that spread through the gaseous disk of the
Milky Way
➔ As a spiral density wave moves through the disk, the changing gravitational forces
among stars in the wave cause stars and gas clouds to pack more densely together and
then move farther apart
➔ When a spiral density wave packs gas clouds closer together, gravity within the cloud
becomes strong enough to trigger the formation of new star clusters
➔ Supernova explosions from massive stars in these clusters can then compress the
surrounding clouds further, triggering even more star formation
➔ As this long-lasting pattern of increased density and star formation spreads through
the gas and stars of the disk, the disk’s rotation gradually stretches it into a spiral arm
➔ Two other key differences distinguish halo stars from disk stars:
◆ The main-sequence turnoff points for globular clusters indicate that stars in the
halo are generally very old (~12 billion years), while disk stars have many
different ages
◆ Spectra show that halo stars contain smaller proportions of heavy elements
than disk stars
➔ Astronomers divide most of the Milky Way’s stars into two distinct populations:
◆ Disk population:
● Stars follow the orderly orbital patterns of the disk
● Young and old stars
● Have heavy-element proportions near 2%
◆ Halo population:
● Stars orbit the center of the galaxy with many different inclinations
● All old and low mass
● Have heavy-element proportions as low as 0.02%
➔ Due to the relative lack of heavy elements in halo stars, they must have formed early
in the galaxy’s history
➔ Current most simplistic model for the formation of our galaxy
◆ Our galaxy began as a giant protogalactic cloud of H and He gas, along with
an even larger amount of dark matter
◆ Gravity would have drawn in matter from all directions, creating a cloud that
was blobby in shape with little or no organized rotation
◆ Gravity would have caused regions within the cloud to contract and fragment
◆ As a result, the orbits of stars that formed early on could have had any
orientation
● Accounting for the random orbit of the halo stars
 ◆ As time passed, the remaining gas continued to contract under the force of
gravity
◆ The gas in the collapsing protogalactic cloud settled into the shape of a
flattened, spinning disk
◆ Collisions among gas particles tended to average out their random motions,
leading them to acquire orbits in the same direction and in the same plane
◆ Stars that formed within the spinning disk therefore share the same organized
motion of the disk
➔ Using telescopes to look at the center of our galaxy, we see the indication of an
extremely massive object from the crowding and orbiting of several hundred stars in
the region
◆ Applying Newton’s version of Kepler’s third law we see that the object has a
mass of ~ 4 million solar masses, packed into a region of space a little larger
than our solar system
➔ Most suspected black holes are thought to accumulate matter through accretion disks
that radiate brightly in X rays
➔ X-ray flares from galactic center suggest that tidal forces of the suspected black hole
occasionally tears apart chunks of matter about to fall in

Lesson 19: Galaxies, Part 2: Galaxies and Hubble’s Law

➔ Three galaxy classifications based on their appearance:

◆ Spiral:
● Flat white disks with yellowish bulges at their centers
● Disks filled with cool gas and dust, interspersed with hotter ionized gas
◆ Elliptical:
● Redder, more rounded and often elongated like a football
● Contain very little cool gas and dust
● Often contain very hot, ionized gas
◆ Irregular:
● Neither disklike nor rounded
➔ Spiral and irregular galaxies look white because they contain stars of all different
colours and ages
➔ Elliptical galaxies looker redder because old, reddish stars produce their like
➔ Dwarf galaxy contains less than 1 million (106) stars
➔ Giant galaxy contains more that 1 trillion (1012) stars
➔ Astronomer Edwin Hubble devised the tuning fork system which organized spiral and
elliptical galaxies into a diagram shaped like a tuning fork
◆ Elliptical galaxies appear on the “handle” at the left, designated by the letter E
and a number
● The larger the number, the flatter the elliptical galaxy
◆ The two forks show spiral galaxies, designated by the letter S for ordinary
spirals and SB for barred spirals, followed by lowercase a, b or c
 ● The bulge size decreases from a to c, while the amount of dusty gas
increases
➔ The Great Debate on April 26, 1920
◆ Harlow Shapley, a rising young astronomer, argued that the spiral nebulae
were gas clouds internal to the Milky Way while another astronomer, Heber
Curtis, argued in favor of Kant’s islands of stars
● German philosopher Immanuel Kant suggested in 1755 that the
universe had separate and distinct islands of stars
○ Meaning the Milky Way was not the only galaxy and there was
more to the universe
◆ Neither Shapley nor Curtis scored a convincing victory at the debate
◆ Using the largest telescope at the time (100 inches), Hubble saw what looked
like individual stars in the Andromeda spiral, suggesting a separate galaxy
● He marked these individual stars as Cepheid’s
○ Cepheid: star which brightens and dims periodically
● The period-luminosity relation enabled him to determine their
luminosities and distances
● The results showed that Andromeda is too far away to be part of the
Milky Way
➔ Hubble’s law tells us that more distant galaxies are moving faster
◆ v = (H0) (d)
● H0 is Hubble’s constant
◆ Allows us to determine a galaxy’s distance from the speed at which it is
moving away from us, which we can measure from the redshift of its spectrum
➔ The inverse of Hubble’s constant tells us how long it would have taken the universe to
reach its present size if the expansion rate had never changed
◆ Therefore, its age
◆ We estimate the age of the universe is about 14 billion years
➔ It is difficult for us to specify an object's distance because the universe is constantly
expanding and therefore the distances are always changing
◆ It is best to express the distance to a faraway galaxy in terms of its lookback
time
● The time it has taken for a galaxy’s light to reach us
➔ The expansion of the universe during that time stretches the light coming from the
galaxy, leading to a cosmological redshift directly related to the galaxy’s lookback
time

Lesson 20: Cosmology, Part 1: The Big Bang

➔ Conditions during the very early universe:

◆ Filled with radiation and elementary particles
◆ Hot and dense enough for energy of radiation to turn into particles of matter
and antimatter
 ● Collided and turned into radiation
➔ Key eras after the Big Bang:
◆ Planck
● Science cannot describe the universe during this era
● Came to an end when temperature dropped low enough for gravity to
become distinct from the other three forces
◆ GUT
● Grand unified theories predict the merger of the strong, weak and
electromagnetic forces into a single GUT force
● Gravity and GUT force operated in the universe
● Universe began to cool
● If correct, it would have cause inflation
◆ Electroweak
● The splitting of the GUT
● Gravity, strong and electroweak force operated in the universe
● Universe continued to expand and cool
● Filled with photons and elementary particles
◆ Particle
● Slight excess of matter over antimatter
◆ Nucleosynthesis
● Protons and neutrons begin to fuse into heavier nuclei
◆ Nuclei
● Fully ionized nuclei moved independently of electrons
● Photons bounced rapidly from on electron to the next
● H and He nuclei captured electrons and now photons could stream
freely across the universe
◆ Atoms
● When the universe consisted of a mixture of neutral atoms and plasma,
along with a large number of photons
◆ Galaxies
● Galaxies began to form
● Continuing today
➔ The cosmic microwave background is the radiation left over from the Big Bang
◆ Its spectrum matches the characteristics expected of the radiation released at
the end of the era of nuclei
◆ Observational evidence for the Big Bang Theory
➔ The existence of He is a consequence of fusion that occurred during the era of
nucleosynthesis, according to the Big Bang Theory
◆ The theory predicts the ratio of protons to neutrons during the era of
nucleosynthesis and from this predicts that the chemical composition of the
universe should be about 75% H and 25% He, which is correct
◆ Since predictions match observations, this is also observational evidence for
the Big Bang Theory
➔ Inflation in the Big Bang model explains:
 ◆ The density enhancements that led to galaxy formation
◆ The smoothness of the cosmic microwave background
◆ The “flat” geometry of the observable universe
➔ The idea of inflation makes specific predictions about the patterns we should observe
in the cosmic microwave background
◆ Observations made with microwave telescopes match those predictions
➔ Olbers’ paradox tells us that assuming universe is infinite, unchanging and the same
everywhere, then the entire night sky would be as bright as the surface of the Sun and
it would not be dark at night
◆ The Big Bang theory disproves this by telling us that since the universe has a
finite age, meaning it began at a particular moment, we only see a finite
number of stars in the sky that lie within the observable universe

Lesson 21: Cosmology, Part 2: Dark Matter, Dark Energy and Fate of the
Universe

➔ Dark matter is the unseen mass whose gravity governs the observed motions of stars
and gas clouds
➔ Dark energy is the form of energy thought to be causing the expansion of the universe
to accelerate
➔ Both dark matter and dark energy have never been directly observed
◆ Each has been proposed to exist because it seems to be the simplest way of
explaining a set of observed motions in the universe
➔ Dark matter in the Milky Way
◆ Our galaxy’s mass is more than 10 times the total mass of all the stars in the
disk
● Because we have very little radiation coming from this enormous
amount of mass, it qualifies as dark matter
➔ Dark matter in other spiral galaxies
◆ We can determine the amount of dark matter in a galaxy by comparing the
galaxy’s mass to its luminosity
◆ Detailed analysis shows that most spiral galaxies also contain great deal of
dark matter in extended halos and that they have at least 10 times as much
mass in dark matter as they do in stars
◆ Because no detectable visible light is coming from this matter, we call it dark
matter
➔ Dark matter in clusters of galaxies
◆ Observations of galaxy clusters suggest they contain 40 or more times as much
mass in dark matter as in stars
◆ Evidence of dark matter in clusters comes from:
● Measuring the speeds of galaxies orbiting the center of the cluster
 ● Studying the X-ray emission from hot gas between the cluster’s
galaxies and observing how the clusters bend light as gravitational
lenses
○ Gravitational lenses: bending of light rays by gravity
➔ Dark matter could possibly be made of:
◆ Ordinary matter – familiar type of matter built from protons, neutrons and
electrons but in forms too dark for us to detect with current technology
◆ Exotic matter – particles of matter different from those in ordinary atoms and
that are dark because they do not interact with light at all
➔ Calculations and detailed studies of temperature patterns in the cosmic microwave
background have ruled out the possibility of dark matter being made of ordinary
matter
◆ They indicate that the overall density of ordinary matter in the universe is
around 5% of the critical density and that is too small to account for the one-
quarter of the critical density that is dark
◆ The rest of the matter is hypothesized to be exotic dark matter consisting of as
of yet undiscovered subatomic particles called WIMPs
● WIMPs = weakly interacting massive particles
○ Massive in comparison to lightweight particles like neutrinos
➔ During the first few million years after the Big Bang, the universe expanded
everywhere
◆ gradually the stronger gravity in regions of enhanced density pulled in matter
until these regions stopped expanding and became protogalactic clouds
● dark matter consisting of WIMPs would have remained in the galactic
halos because of its inability to radiate away orbital energy, while
ordinary gas collapsed to form stars and galactic disks
➔ Galaxies that would have formed clusters kept flying apart with the expansion of the
universe
◆ Gravity of the dark matter associated with the cluster helped the galaxies to
fall back inward and begin orbiting each other with random orientations
➔ The expansion of the universe should continue to accelerate into the future, as long as
the effects of dark energy do not change with time and there are no other factors that
affect the fate of the universe
◆ That’s if dark energy is driving the acceleration
➔ Because the expansion is accelerating, there has to be a force that acts to push
galaxies apart and that force is known as dark energy
◆ Dark energy plays the role of accelerating the expansion of the universe

Lesson 22: Astrobiology, Part 1: History of Life on Earth

➔ There is fossil evidence showing that there was life on Earth at least 3.5 billion years
ago
➔ There is carbon isotope evidence pushing that date back to 3.85 billion years ago
 ◆ Living organisms incorporate carbon-12 slightly more than carbon-13
● All life and fossils tested to date show the same characteristic ratio of
the two carbon isotopes
○ Therefore, those fossils were once living organisms
➔ Life arose on Earth within a few hundred million years (possibly less) of its birth
➔ Fossils provide strong evidence that evolution has occurred
➔ Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how it occurs through natural selection
◆ Overtime, advantageous genetic traits will naturally win out over less
advantageous traits because they are more likely to be passed down through
many generations
➔ Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection tells us that species adapt and
change by passing hereditary traits from one generation to the next
◆ His theory predicted that there must be some biochemical mechanism for
heredity, that would preserve most hereditary info from prior generations but
still allow for small changes
● This mechanism is embodied in the properties of the molecule called
DNA
➔ Genetic evidence suggests all life on Earth evolved from a common ancestor
◆ May have resembled microbes that live today in hot water near undersea
volcanic vents
➔ It is unknown how the first organism, being the common ancestor, arose but it may
have been from a natural chemical process on the early Earth
➔ Once life arose, it quickly diversified and evolved through natural selection
➔ Life as a whole has only three basic requirements:
◆ A source of nutrients – to build living cells
◆ Energy – to fuel the activities of life
● Whether from the sunlight, chemical reactions or the heat of Earth
itself
◆ Liquid water
➔ Mars once had conditions suitable for life to arise
◆ No more liquid water on mars
◆ If life arose, it might still survive in pockets of liquid water underground
➔ Europa probably has a subsurface ocean of liquid water and may have seafloor
volcanoes
◆ If so, it has conditions suitable for life to arise
➔ Titan has liquid methane and ethane on its surface, but it is too cold for liquid water
◆ Perhaps these other liquids can support life
➔ Perhaps titan has liquid water in temporary hot springs or deep underground

Lesson 23: Astrobiology, Part 2: Life Beyond Earth?

➔ Our technology cannot determine whether extrasolar planets have habitable surfaces
 ◆ We can make an educated guess based on the requirements for long-term
surface habitability
➔ The Sun’s habitable zone is the range of distances from the Sun in which a planet like
Earth could have oceans and surface life
➔ If Earth-like size is sufficient to have characteristics that could support long-term
habitability, we would have a simple recipe for long-term surface habitability:
➔ Any planet within a star’s habitable zone that is also similar to Earth in size would be
expected to have a habitable surface
◆ If this is correct, current data suggests there should be billions of worlds with
habitable surfaces in our galaxy alone
➔ The Drake equation says that the number of civilizations in the Milky Way Galaxy
with whom we could potentially communicate, can be calculated by using: NHP´flife ´fciv
´fnow
◆ NHP– number of habitable planets in the galaxy
◆ flife– fraction of habitable planets that have life on them
◆ fciv– fraction of life bearing planets on which a civilization capable of
interstellar communication has at some time arisen
◆ fnow– fraction of all these civilizations that exist now
➔ We can only make a reasonable estimate for NHP, meaning we cannot actually
calculate the results of the Drake equation
➔ SETI (search for extraterrestrial intelligence) is done by searching for alien radio
signals
◆ Some researchers are studying other parts of the electromagnetic spectrum
● Ex. Some scientists use visible light telescopes to search for
communications encoded as laser pulses
➔ Spacecrafts such as the Pioneers and Voyagers have been launched to wander the
Milky Way galaxy for many years
◆ They carry greetings from Earth, just in case someone comes across one of
them someday
➔ Interstellar travel has many technological challenges
◆ More efficient engines are needed
◆ Takes up lots of energy
◆ Will require vast new sources of energy
◆ Fast moving starships will require special shielding to protect the crew
● Ordinary atoms and ions at that speed will cause instant death like a
deadly flood of high-energy cosmic rays
➔ Fermi’s paradox is a plausible argument suggesting that a galactic civilization should
already exist, yet we have not found evidence of such
◆ Possible solutions:
● We are alone
● Civilizations are common, but no one has colonized the galaxy for a
variety of reasons
○ Ex. Interstellar travel is too hard or expensive, other cultures
don’t feel the need to leave home to explore or perhaps many
 civilizations have arisen, but they all destroyed themselves
before being able to achieve interstellar travel
● There is a galactic civilization, but it has not yet revealed itself to us

This is it for my notes everyone!

I’ve gone through the whole final exam review given to use and made notes on each
point straight from the textbook. I may end up adding more stuff if I think it might help
while I’m reviewing. Hopefully this helps, all the best everyone!

The Cosmic Perspective Practice Concept Quiz: Chapter 11

Which of the following gases is not a significant ingredient of the jovian planet atmospheres?
Carbon dioxide

Jupiter and the other jovian planets are sometimes called “gas giants.” In what sense is this
term misleading?
They actually contain relatively little material in a gaseous state.

According to our theory of solar system formation, why did Uranus and Neptune end up to be
much less massive than Jupiter and Saturn?
Particles in the solar nebula were more spread out at greater distances, so that accretion took
longer and there was less time to pull in gas before the solar wind cleared the nebula.

Which of the following best explains why we see horizontal “stripes” in photographs of
Jupiter and Saturn?
The light stripes are regions of high clouds, and the dark stripes are regions where we can see
down to deeper, darker clouds.

Which jovian planet should have the most extreme seasonal changes?
Uranus

Why is the radiation so intense in the region that traces Io’s orbit around Jupiter?
The region is full of gases that become ionized after they are released from volcanoes on Io
Which of the following best explains why many jovian moons have been more geologically
active than the Moon or Mercury?
Jovian moons are made mostly of ice that can melt or deform at lower temperatures than can
the rock and metal that make up the Moon and Mercury.

All the following statements are true. Which one is most important in explaining the
tremendous tidal heating that occurs on Io?
Io orbits Jupiter on an elliptical orbit as a result of orbital resonances with other satellites

Which of the following is not a piece of evidence supporting the idea that Europa may have a
subsurface ocean?
Astronomers have detected small lakes of liquid water on Europa’s surface

Why do astronomers believe that Triton is a captured moon?

Triton orbits Neptune in a direction opposite that of Neptune’s rotation

Which statement about Saturn’s rings is not true?

The rings must look much the same today as they did shortly after Saturn formed.

What is tidal heating?

A source of internal heating created by tidal friction. It is particularly important for satellites
with eccentric orbits such as Io and Europa

What is Io torus?
A donut-shaped charged-particle belt around jupiter that approximately trace Io’s orbit

What are the Galilean moons?

The four moons of Jupiter discovered by Galileo: Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto