THE UNIVERSE AND THE

SOLAR SYSTEM
SCI03 LECTURE #1
LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Describe the historical development of theories that

explain the origin of the Universe
• Compare the different hypothesis explaining the origin of
the Solar System
THE UNIVERSE

• All of space and time AND all of its

contents.
• planets, moons, minor planets
• stars & galaxies
• contents of intergalactic space
• ALL matter
• ALL energy
 SCIENTIFIC LAW VS. SCIENTIFIC THEORY

Scientific Law • Scientific Theory

• often be reduced to a mathematical • Often seeks to synthesize a body of
statement evidence or observation of a
• Specific statement based on particular phenomena
empirical data
THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

1. Big Bang Theory – The universe began with a cataclysmic expansion

that hurled matter and energy outwards and created space. Most
commonly accepted theory
• The Big Crunch
• Eternal Inflation of the Universe
2. Steady State Theory – The universe has always been expanding
outwards and continuously creates matter
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVsHjnY-o9s
THE BIG BANG THEORY
 PROOF OF THE BIG BANG
1. Hubble’s Law
• Galaxies have been observed to be moving from the Earth at speeds that are proportional to their distance.
• Phenomenon discovered in 1929 by Edwin Hubble.
• Supports the expansion of the universe and suggests that it was once compacted.
2. Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) Radiation
• 2.725 degree Kelvin background radiation in the microwave range that pervades ALL of the known universe.
• Phenomenon discovered in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson
• The CMB is the evidence of the theory’s statement that if the universe was extremely hot and extremely small at one
point in time, then there should be evidence of this extreme temperature all across the universe.
3. Abundance of Light Elements
• The sheer volume of light elements, Hydrogen and Helium in the observable universe.
• Supports the model since these are the first elements to form in the high-energy environment during and shortly after
the Big Bang.
ETERNAL INFLATION OF THE UNIVERSE

• States that after the Big Bang, the

formation of the universe never
stopped.
• The Big Bang is continuously making
other different universes
(multiverses) which could be
different or similar to our own in
terms of physical laws.
THE BIG CRUNCH: AN OSCILLATING UNIVERSE
• The opposite of the Big Bang: a
possible explanation for the end of
the Universe
• The universe will not continue to
expand forever.
• Eventually, universal expansion will
stop and the forces of gravity will
begin to pull the universe back into
itself
• In the end, the universe will collapse
into a massive black hole/singularity
• Oscillating universe: from the
singularity, ANOTHER Big Bang
occurs
 STEADY STATE THEORY

• Alternative to the Big Bang model of the evolution of the universe

• There is a continuous creation of matter which is observable as the expansion of
the universe.
• Infinity is possible. No beginning or ending of the universe – “may forever”
• Density of matter is constant over time.
• Disproven in the mid-1960s.
GROUP RESEARCH ACTIVITY

• Research on the theories of the origin of the Solar System. (At least 3.)
• Compare and contrast these models.
• Summarize your results in table format.
• Due at the end of the class period.
THEORIES ON THE ORIGIN OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

I. Early Theories:
1. Laplacian Theory
2. Tidal Theory
II. Extensions/Variations:
1. Accretion Theory
2. Floccule/Protoplanet Theory
3. Capture Theory
4. Solar Fission Theory
5. Solar Nebula Theory
LAPLACIAN NEBULAR THEORY
• A monistic theory proposed by Pierre Laplace in 1796
• States that the solar system began with a slowly spinning cloud of gas and
dust.
• The cloud begins to cool and collapse under the force of gravity.
• As it collapsed, so it spun faster and flattened along the spin axis.
• The cloud eventually took on a lenticular/disk form with equatorial material in
free orbit around the central mass.
• Thereafter material was left behind as a set of rings within which clumping occurred.
• Clumps orbiting at slightly different rates combined to give a protoplanet in each ring.
• A smaller version of the scenario, based on the collapse of protoplanets, produced
satellite systems.

• The central bulk of the original cloud collapsed to form the Sun.
LAPLACIAN NEBULAR THEORY

An illustration of Laplace's nebula theory. (a) A slowly rotating and collapsing gas-and-
dust sphere. (b) An oblate spheroid forms as the spin rate increases. (c) The critical
lenticular form. (d) Rings left behind in the equatorial plane. (e) One planet condensing
in each ring.
LAPLACIAN NEBULAR THEORY

• Problem: Angular Momentum – The theory suggests that most of the angular
momentum in the solar system is found in the sun.
• In reality, the sun only contains 0.5% of the total angular momentum of the solar
system while the rest is found in the planetary orbits
• Because it did not agree with observations, the theory had to be abandoned.
• Later scientists would attempt to improve on concepts that were introduced by this
theory: protoplanets, planetisimals, nebulae, etc.
 TIDAL THEORY
• A dualistic theory proposed by James Jeans in 1917
• A massive star passed by the Sun, drawing from it a tidal filament.
• The gravitationally unstable filament broke up with each condensation forming a protoplanet.
• The protoplanets, attracted by the retreating star, were retained in heliocentric orbits.
• At first perihelion passage a small-scale version of the same mechanism led to a filament being drawn from a protoplanet
within which protosatellites formed.
TIDAL THEORY
• Initially well-received by the scientific community thanks to elegant analysis,
the theory would run into problems of angular momentum:
1. If the theory were true then mathematically, Jupiter and the Sun should have the same
spin period because they have the same mean density. In reality, their spin periods differ
by a factor of 70.
2. Material from the Sun would not be able to go into orbit father than four solar radii
which is smaller than the observed orbit of Mercury.
3. A Jupiter-sized amount of solar material would have a temperature of 106 K and would
explode out of the solar system rather than collapse into a planet and stay in orbit
around the Sun.
• Jeans attempted to salvage the theory but his attempts only led to more
problems and so the theory had to be abandoned.
ACCRETION THEORY

• A dualistic extension theory proposed by Otto Schmidt in 1944.

• States that galaxies contain cool, dense clouds of material.
• Stars can pass through these clouds and acquire a dusty-gas envelope which
would eventually turn into protoplanets.
• Problems:
• Energy Considerations – For a two-body system (star-cloud), there was too much
energy for the cloud to attach to the star. To solve this, a third body was assumed
to exist but the proposed three-body system was too implausible to accept.
• No proposed mechanism for planet formation
• Note: Schmidt did not propose an origin for the Sun itself
ACCRETION THEORY

In order for the protoplanetary disk to form, streams of cloud material must intersect
to cancel their perpendicular velocities on plane G
 FLOCCULE/PROTOPLANET THEORY
• A monistic extension theory proposed by W.H. McCrea in 1960
• Attempted to solve the angular momentum problem of Laplace’s theory.
• Starting point was a cloud of gas and dust that was to form a galactic cluster.
• Due to turbulence, gas streams collided and produced regions of higher-than-average density.
• The high-density regions, referred to as “floccules”, moved through the cloud and combined
whenever they collided.
• When a large aggregation formed, it attracted other floccules in its region thus producing a
protostar.
 FLOCCULE/PROTOPLANET THEORY
• In the original form of the theory, each floccule
had about three times the mass of the Earth so
many of them had to combine to form the giant
planets.
• The resultant planetary aggregations contained
much more angular momentum than the
present planets.
• As the protoplanet collapsed it would have
become rotationally unstable and would have
broken into two parts
The fission of a rapidly spinning protoplanet with the • In a neck between the two separating parts,
formation of protosatellite droplets. small condensations would form and be
retained by the larger part as a satellite family.
CAPTURE THEORY
• A dualistic extension theory first proposed by M. M. Woolfson in 1964
• Posits that the Solar System formed from tidal interactions between the Sun
and a low-density protostar.
• The Sun's gravity would have drawn material from the diffuse atmosphere of the
protostar, which would then have collapsed to form the planets
• Problem: Age of the Sun and the planets – Capture theory predicts that the
Sun and the planets of the Solar System will have very different ages. In
actuality, the Sun and the rest of the Solar System have similar ages.
• Later included the possibility of a tidal filament collision which produced 6
original planets that would then collide again to form the modern planets.
CAPTURE THEORY

The disruption of a model protostar.

Captured points are marked with their
orbital perihelion distances (1012 m)
and eccentricities (in brackets).
Escaping points are marked H
(hyperbolic orbits).
 SOLAR FISSION THEORY
• A monistic extension theory proposed by
Louis Jacot in 1951 and extended further
by Tom Van Flandern in 1993.
I. Jacot
• Stated that the planets were expelled
from the Sun one by one from the
equatorial bulge caused by rotation.
• One of these planets shattered to form
the asteroid belt
• The moons and rings of planets were (a) Rotation of the Sun creates an equatorial bulge of solar
formed from the similar expulsion of material. (b) Equatorial bulge separates and the solar material
material from their parent planets. begins to orbit around the Sun and eventually cool into a planet.
• Difference between inner planets and
outer planets explained by vortex
behaviour.
 SOLAR FISSION THEORY

II. Van Flandern

• Planets were expelled from the Sun in
pairs at different times, 6 of which
exploded to form the rest of the modern
planets
• Problem: Energy & Mass Requirements –
There would exist no energy source to
allow for planetary explosions. Similarly,
there isn’t enough mass to account for
such cataclysmic explosions.
• NOTE: Neither Jacot nor Van Flandern
proposed an origin for the Sun itself
SOLAR NEBULA THEORY/MODERN LAPLACIAN THEORY
• The modern accepted theory of the origin of the Solar System.
• A combination of the work of different scientists in order to explain solar
formation, planetary formation, and planetary orbits.
• Answered the original Laplacian Model’s angular momentum problem by
introducing drag created by dust particles in the protoplanetary disk.
• Supported by the discovery of apparently young stars that were surrounded by
disks of cool dust
• Further supported by the observation of excess infrared radiation in many stars
that indicate the presence of disks of cooler material orbiting around those stars.
SOLAR NEBULA THEORY/MODERN LAPLACIAN THEORY
 CLASS ACTIVITY II: THEORY TABLE
• By pairs and on a 1-whole sheet of paper, complete the table below.
• Due at the end of the class period.
Origin Theory Laplacian Tidal Theory Accretion Floccule/ Capture Solar Fission Solar Nebula
Theory Theory Protoplanet Theory Theory Theory
Properties Theory

Monistic or
Dualistic?

Solar Origin
Planetary
Origin

Possible
Proof/s

Main
Problem/s