UNIVERSE AND THE SOLAR

SYSTEM
Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to:

• State the different theories that explain the origin of the universe
• Describe the different theories that explain the origin of the Solar System
• Explain the current advancement or information about the Solar System
Matter – is composed of atoms
Organic matter – composed of cells
Universe?how it came to be and
what it is made up of
 Universe
-cannot be easily explained
Concept Map

Universe Solar System

formed have formed

13.7
origins 4.6 BYA
BYA
explained by

theories
such as such as

solar
big steady vortex collision tidal nebular
nebular
bang state theory theory theory theory
theory
 creation myth
- is a symbolic narrative of the beginning of the world as
understood by a culture
“
God created the universe in six days

”
According to Genesis
 Big Bang Theory and other Theories
• Theories that explain the origin of
the universe
• 1.Big Bang Theory
• 2.Steady State Theory
• 3.Inflation Theory
• 4.String Theory
• 5.M-theory
 Big Bang Theory
• proposed by Alexander Friedman and Georges Lamaitre in 1920
• around 13.7 bya through colossal explosion
• there was a great explosion/expansion due to random fluctuation
sent space, time, matter and energy
 Description of the Events
• 1.Inflationary epoch – size of atomic nucleus
• 2.Formation of the universe – universe continued to expand
• 3. Formation of the basic elements (3 s) – protons and neutrons combined
to form hydrogen nuclei.
• 4.Radiation era (10 000 years)– included different wavelengths of light,
X-rays, radio waves, and ultraviolet rays.
form
cosmic microwave background radiation
• 5.Matter domination (300 000 years) – matter dominate at the end of the radiation era.
- lithium atom began to form
- electrons joined with hydrogen and
helium nuclei to make small neutral
atoms.
6.Birth of stars and galaxies (300 million years) – slightly irregular areas of gas cloud gravitationally
attracted nearby matter and became denser.
- dense gas clouds collapsed and gained mass to
ignite and produce light
Huge clouds of gas – birthplace for dozens of stars
Galaxies – groups of stars
 1. Strong force – short range attractive force which binds the
nucleus
2. Electromagnetic force – long-range force that binds atoms
which can either be attractive or repulsive
3. Weak force – short-ranged force present in radioactive decay
4. Gravitational force – weak, long-ranged, and attractive force
which binds the Solar System

Four basic forces of big bang timeline

 Evidences of Big Bang Theory:
• 1.Galaxies moving away – proposed by Edwin Hubble in 1924
- stars are not uniformly distributed in space
clusters
galaxies
moving away – distance increases in time – closer in the past – frm single pt
2. Presence of cosmic microwave background (CMB) – discovered by Arno Penzias and Robert
Wilson in 1960
- background radio emission coming from every direction in the
sky speculated as remnant energy left over from formation of the universe
- dates back to the recombination era when atoms begin to form
- placed at end to the steady state theory of the universe
3. Abundance of light elements – elements like helium, hydrogen, with trace
amounts of lithium and beryllium found in the observable universe
- checked from the spectra of the oldest stars
and gas clouds confirms the big bang nucleosynthesis (combination of
protons and neutrons)
 Other Theories:
• 1. Steady State Theory – proposed by Bondi, Gold, and Hoyle in 1948
- universe is unchanging in time and uniform in space
Unresolved problems:
1. Flatness – revealed that the geometry of the universe is nearly flat accdg. to
Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP). – curvature (big bang)
2. Monopole – no magnetic monopoles observed –stable magnetic mono(big bang)
3. Horizon – showing regions must have had contact in the past – far apart (big bang)
 2. Inflation Theory
• - proposed by Alan Guth, Andrei Linde, Paul Steinhart, and Andy Albrecht
offered solutions to the unresolved problems revolving the big bang theory
• -proposed a period of exponential expansion
• -regarded as an extension of the standard big bang theory
• 1.Flatness – ball of astronomical size
• 2.Monopole – allows the existence of the monopoles
• 3.Horizon – presupposes that the distant regions were much closer to each other
Dark energy - energy of the empty space causes the expansion
of the universe to accelerate
Dark matter – is considered a hypothetical kind of matter that
cannot be seen with telescopes
- account for most of the matter in the universe
March 17, 2014 – John Kovac and his team of astronomers detected
distortions in space-time
- Existence of gravitational waves was directly linked to the
exponential expansion that is intrinsic to the inflation theory
 3. String Theory
- Came before the big bang theory
- -fundamental building block that replaced the assembly of
particle type
- - may come in two forms: closed and open
Graviton – particle carrying the force of gravity
- consistent with quantum gravity of Einstein
 4. M-theory
- considers 11 space-time dimensions
-occurs as a result of the contact of two hyperdimensional
- proposed by Stephen Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow
p-branes – multidimensional objects
Geocentric Theory – superseded description of the Universe with Earth at
the center.
 Origin of the Solar System: Early
Theories
• Galaxy – is defined as gravitationally-bound system of stars, stellar
remnants, interstellar gas, and dark matter.
• Milky Way – is one of the billion galaxies in the observable universe.
 1. Descartes’ Vortex Theory
• Rene Descartes - 1st proponent of model on the origin of the Solar System
• - a French mathematician and physicist
• - Solar System was formed into bodies with nearly circular
orbits of the whirlpool-like motion in the pre-solar materials
• - orbits of the planets are the primary whirlpool motion
and the satellites are the secondary whirlpool motion
 2. Buffon’s Collision Theory
• George Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (1707-1788) – a French naturalist
in the 18th century
• - proposed that the planets were formed by the collision of
the sun with a giant comet
• - planets were formed from debris after the sun’s collision
with a giant comet
 3. Kant-Laplace Nebular Theory
• Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) and Pierre Simon Laplace (1749-1827)
proposed the nebular theory
• - suggested that a great cloud of gas and dust (nebula) begins
to collapse because of gravitational pull
• - as the cloud contracted, it spun more rapidly
• - spinning cloud flattens with bulges at the center, as collapse
continues, the bulges became the sun and planets
•
 4. Jeans-Jeffrey’s Tidal Theory
• Sir James Hopwood Jeans (1877-1946) – a British mathematician and
astrophysicist, and Harold Jeffreys (1891-1989)
• - suggested a dualistic theory in which the sun and planets
were produced by different mechanisms called tidal theory
• - planets formed from the substance that was torn out of the
sun
 5. Solar Nebular Theory
• - solar system was formed as a result of the condensation of hydrogen gas
and dust referred to as interstellar gas and dust cloud
• - an explosion of a star (supernova) might have cause the dust and gas to
collapse, forming the sun and planets
• -gas and cloud collapsed due to the force of gravity
• -as the cloud continues to shrink, its rotational speed increases and
becomes a rapidly rotating disk
• - contraction – converts gravitational energy – into heat energy – center to
glow- temp.is enough- nuclear reaction begins – becomes sun
• Solar nebulae – remaining gas and dust cloud form disk-shaped bodies
(due to rotation)
• Planetisimals – the objects formed from centimeter-sized particles
• Protoplanets – refer to massive objects later become the planets
• nebular gas – resulted in the formation of gas giants
• Solar system – composed of large gas giants and rocky icy planets
 Solar System: Properties and Current Info
• Observed regularities:
• 1. The orbits of all planets are almost in the same plane. –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 revolve around the sun in counterclockwise direction.
• 5. The distances of the planets from the sun can be expressed in a similar
relationship called Bode’s Law, named after German astronomer Johann
Bode (1747-1826)
• 6. The satellite systems of Jupiter and Saturn are nearly identical in their
arrangements with the Solar System.
• 7. The satellites and planets contain almost all the rotational motion of the
Solar System.
• 8. The Solar System also contains asteroids and comets.
• Asteroids are made up of rocks and are sometimes referred to as minor
planets in many ways.
• Main asteroid belt – where most asteroids in the Solar System lie, is
located between the orbit of Mars and Jupiter
• Ceres – first known asteroid
• near-Earth asteroids (NEAs) – perturbed out of their main belt and may
especially come close to Earth.
• Comets – are composed mainly of ice (frozen water and gas) and non-
volatile dust (silicate minerals and carbon grains)
• Kuiper belt – often called the Solar System’s “final frontier” because it is the
outermost region of the Solar System.
• Oort cloud – is located farther than the Kuiper belt and therefore remained
unexplored.
• Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) – objects orbiting beyond Neptune
 Classification of Planets
• Group into two:
• 1.Terrestrial
• 2.Jovian
•
• Terrestrial planets – are Earth-like planets, which include Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars
• - referred to as inner planets
• - composed mostly of dense, rocky, and metallic
materials
• Jovian planets – are Jupiter-like planets which include Jupiter, Saturn,
Uranus, and Neptune.
• - referred to as gas planets and made up mostly of hydrogen
and helium
•
• Frost line- is the distance of the solar nebula from the protostar
• - divides the inner warm regions (where terrestrial planets are
formed) from the outer cooler region (where Jovian planets are formed).
 Comparison of Terrestrial and Jovian planet formation
clump
rock and metals rocky particles s clumps from planetisimals Terrestrial
condense clump accret planetisimals accrete more planets form
e

gases condense to icy particles clumps clumps form Planetisimals Jovian

form icy particles clump accrete planetisimals accrete more planets form
• Other classifications of planets are based on their positions relative to the
sun or Earth.
• 1. Position relative to the sun:
• Inner planets include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars
• Outer planets include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune
• Asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter form the boundary between the
inner and outer planets.
• 2. Position relative to Earth:
• Inferior planets are located inside the orbit of Earth, which include
Mercury and Venus.
• Superior planets are located outside the orbit of Earth, which includes
Mars, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Saturn – very large and 2nd largest planet
- would leave a ring made of ice and dust
• 2003 UB – object more massive than Pluto
• - revolved around the sun and had satellites, too
• Planet – a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun
• Dwarf planet – is a celestial body that has the ff. characteristics:
• a. orbit around the sun
• b. has sufficient mass
• c. not cleared the neighborhood around it
• d. is not a satellite
• - Pluto is one of them