Motion In the Universe

This involves the motion of celestial objects. The celestial objects include stars, planets,
moons and comets. A star, as we know, is powered by the fusion of hydrogen. Stars lie
at the center of their own solar systems. Planets revolve around their stars in a circular
orbit. Moons revolve around their parent planets in a circular orbit. Comers are objects
which revolve around stars in an elliptical orbit.

Our Sun is a star and it one of the smallest stars around. Billions of stars make up a
galaxy. The name of our galaxy is the “Milky Way”. There are billions of galaxies which
make up the Universe. Satellites are objects which revolve around their parent planets
in a circular orbit. There are two different types of satellites:

1. Natural satellites: These satellites are those which are naturally made and include
our own moon. The Earth has only one moon, while different other planets have
many moons.
2. Artificial satellites: These satellites are those which are man-made and include
geostationary and near-Earth satellites. Geostationary satellites have the same
time period as the Earth’s day (24 hrs). They are placed high above the Earth’s
surface. Near-Earth satellites are placed above the Equator.

Moons are celestial objects which were once part of their individual planets. Comets are
celestial objects which are made of ice. The solar system contains planets, at different
distances from the Sun. They each have their own orbits around the Sun. The solar
system is just one of billions of galaxies in the Universe. The planets are held in orbit due
to the gravitational pull of the Sun. The strength of the pull depends on two factors:

1. Masses of the objects

2. Distance between the objects

F ∝ (m1m2)/d2

where, F = gravitational force,

m1, m2 = masses of objects 1 & 2

d = distance between objects

So, greater the masses, greater is the force. Greater the distance, smaller is the force.
This is why the moon has a lower gravitational field strength compared to the Earth. The
moon has (1/6th) the field strength of the Earth’s.

Field strength of Earth = 10 N/kg

Field strength of Moon = (1/6) x 10 = (5/3) N/kg

The speed of a circular orbit may be determined using the following equation:

Speed = (circumference of the circle) / time period

v = (2 x pi x r)/T

r = radius of the circle, t = time period

Gravitational force is responsible for the moons orbiting the planets, the planets
orbiting the stars, the comets orbiting the stars and the artificial satellites orbiting the
Earth.

Stellar Evolution

As we learned earlier, a star is run by the fusion of hydrogen to produce helium. The
Universe, theoretically, started from single point, and this idea was known as the Big
Bang Theory. Scientists have said that dust and smoke combined to form a collection of
celestial matter known as the nebula. Within this nebula, the combination of dust and
smoke gathered, due to being pulled by gravitational forces, to form stars. Thus, the
nuclear reactions began (hydrogen fusing to form helium).

As the temperature rises, the start explodes to form a red giant. Once the star has
exhausted its nuclear fuel (hydrogen), its core collapses into a dense white dwarf, while
the outer layer is shed. That outer layer goes onto become a new nebula, from where
new stars are formed. Eventually, the white dwarf runs out helium and becomes a black
dwarf, thus ending the lifetime of the star. The white dwarf becomes black when it stops
emitting any light, but it still retains its mass. This process is also the timeline of our own
Sun. All the stars having the same mass as our Sun have the same timeline.
Stars which are much larger than the Sun (3 times or more) follow a different life-cycle.
One such star expands to form a red super giant once the temperature increases due to
the fusion reactions of the star. Once the star has expanded, the core of the star
becomes unstable and its outer layer is blown off in an explosion known as the
Supernova explosion, leaving a contracting core of the star. The material which
exploded becomes a new nebula can cause the formation of new stars.

Supernovas last one or two years (the remnants of expanding shell of gas move to the
outer layer of the original stars) and can shine brighter than a whole galaxy for this
duration. What happens to the star after the supernova depends on how big it was to
begin with. If the star was only a few times bigger than the Sun, the core will shrink to a
tiny neutron star, which is only a few miles in diameter. If the star was 3 times (or more)
larger than the Sun, it goes on collapsing under the gravitational pull until it becomes a
black hole.

Black holes have the massive star’s entire mass within a very small volume. Due to its
almost infinite density, the gravitational pull of the star is so massive that even
something as fast as light cannot escape from it. There are two magnitudes of
brightness of stars:

1. Apparent brightness: It is the brightness of a star as seen by an observer from the

Earth. It is not the actual brightness.
2. Absolute brightness: It is the brightness of the star at a standard distance of 32.6
light years (10 parsecs) from it.

The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram

This diagram shows the relationship of the surface temperature and the luminosity if
the stars. The stars are classified in the following categories:

1. The main sequence stars

2. Red giants (and supergiants)
3. White dwarf stars

The main sequence stars include our Sun, which has a luminosity of exactly 1. The
luminosities of the other stars are based on the Sun’s luminosity. The red giants have
luminosities greater than 1, and the super giants have luminosities greater than the
giants. On the other hand, the white dwarfs have luminosities of less than 1.

The surface temperature increases as we go from right to left, and this is why the white
dwarfs have a greater surface temp. as compared to that of our Sun, as well as the
giants. Greater the size of the body, the greater is its luminosity. This is because the
surface area emitting the light is larger. Lesser the size of the body, the greater is the
surface temp. This is because the heat is concentrated onto a small area.

Cosmology

This refers to the study of the origins and the current situation of the Universe. As we
learned earlier, the Universe, theoretically, began from a point of Singularity, a ‘super
atom’. The super atom exploded, resulting in the formation of many fragments, which
were joined together to form billions of stars. This topic discusses the current expanding
state of the Universe, which may be revealed using two observations:

1. Red-shift of galaxies: The relative motion of one object in relation to another

object results in the red-shift. When a car approaches a person at rest, the sound
becomes more vivid due to the increase of frequency of the sound, and to keep
the speed of the sound (speed = frequency x wavelength) the same, the
wavelength has to decrease. When the car leaves the person, the sound becomes
less vivid due the decrease of frequency of the sound, and to keep the speed of
sound the same, the wavelength has to increase.
The 1st case describes the blue-shift. It is called blue as it corresponds to a
primary color of light having lower wavelength. The 2nd case describes the red-
shift. It is called red as it corresponds to a primary color of light having higher
wavelength. So, if the wavelength of light coming from a galaxy is seen to have
increased, it is said to be red-shifted, and if the wavelength of light coming from a
galaxy is seen to have decreased, it is said to be blue-shifted.

2. Cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR): It is one of the landmark

evidences of the Big Bang Theory. When the Universe was young, before the
formation of the stars and planets, it was denser and warmer. As the Universe
expanded, the radiation filling the stars and planets became cooler. The radiation
given off was tried to be measured using telescopes, and the scientists failed. So,
this meant it was not in the visible radiation zone. Then, radio antennas were
used and similar readings were detected from all parts of the Universe. This
radiation was found to be in the microwave region. This is why this radiation was
called the cosmic microwave background radiation. Moreover, since the
wavelength of the current radiation of the Universe (microwave) is greater than
the theoretical original radiation of the Universe (infrared), this means the
Universe has been red-shifted from its original point.

The relative speed of an object in respect to another may be found using the
Doppler Equation:

(Change in wavelength/ Reference wavelength) = (Speed of galaxy/Speed of light

in vacuum)

If we compare the absorption spectrum of hydrogen of our Sun with the spectra
of nearby galaxies, we will be able to identify the situation of various galaxies. In
the absorption spectrum of hydrogen, the dark lines represent the wavelength of
colors which have been absorbed by hydrogen electrons in the stars/galaxies. We
monitor the dark lines on the extreme right of each spectrum. We notice that, for
the Sun, the spectrum line in question is more towards the left (closer to the blue
region). However, as we look for galaxies further away from the Sun, we notice
that the dark line shifts more to the right (towards the red region) and the dark
line is the farthest to the right for the farthest galaxy. This means, the farther we
go, the greater the red-shift, as the wavelength increases.