UNIVERSE AND

THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
 OBJECTIVES
At the end of the lesson, the learners should be able
to:

⋆ State different hypotheses explaining the origin of

the universe.
⋆ Describe different hypotheses explaining the origin
of the solar system.

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 “
When you heard the
word UNIVERSE
what comes in to
your mind?
3
 “
Do you think that
the UNIVERSE and
GALAXY are the
same?
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 1.
UNIVERSE
 UNIVERSE
 It is only one.

 Composed of space and 100 billion

galaxies.

 A galaxy is a grouping of millions or

billions of stars kept together by
gravity.

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 UNIVERSE
⋆ The universe is everything – planets, stars,
galaxies, space, and even time! No one knows
how big the universe is. In the past, many people
thought the universe was infinite. Now, most
cosmologists (astronomers who study the
universe. “Kosmos” is a Greek word that means
“the organization of everything.”) agree that the
universe is finite, meaning it does have an end
and does not go on forever. However, that might
be even more difficult to imagine than an
infinite universe!

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 “
How did the
UNIVERSE
begin?
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 2.
THEORIES ON
THE ORIGIN OF
THE UNIVERSE
1. BIG BANG THEORY
The current
understanding of
how the universe
began is described
by the Big Bang
Theory—it wasn’t
big and there
wasn’t a bang!

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1. BIG BANG THEORY
 Explains how universe developed from very
tiny, dense “singularity”.

 The universe began from an initial point (or

singularity) which has expanded over billions
of years to form the universe as we now know
it today.

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12
2. OPEN UNIVERSE
 Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)
discovered that the galaxies of
the universe are moving farther
apart.

 This means that the universe is

getting continually bigger or
getting bigger forever. This is
called the Open Universe
Theory.

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2. OPEN UNIVERSE
 Alternatively,
the galaxies may
come together,
until finally they
will collide and
explode. This
event is called
the “Big
Crunch”.
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3. STEADY STATE THEORY
 Proposed by Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold,
and Fred Hoyle in 1948.

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 3. STEADY STATE THEORY
 Steady state theory states that the universe is always expanding.
It also states that new matter is constantly formed as the
universe continues to expand.

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 3. STEADY STATE THEORY
 The older bodies eventually became out of sight as
a consequence of their increasing distance and
rate of recession.

 This theory further claims that the universe has

no beginning or end in time, and even though it is
expanding, its appearance remains the same over
time.

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3. STEADY STATE THEORY

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 4. CREATION THEORY
 Creation theory earns a strong influence to
scientists explaining that there was once a Creator
who, through His word, designed and created the
universe and the vastness of it.
 According to His word, He created everything
systematically and with purpose.

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 3.
THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
 “
What do you
know about the
SOLAR
SYSTEM?
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 SOLAR SYSTEM
 Copernicus (1473-1543) first proposed
that Earth and the other planets orbit
the sun

 The orbits of the planet were first said

to be elliptical by Kepler (1571-1630)

 The brightest object in our sky (besides

the sun and the moon) is Venus.

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23
 “
How did the
SOLAR
SYSTEM begin?
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 4.
THEORIES ON
THE ORIGIN OF
THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
1. NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS
 Proposed by Emanuel Swedenborg, Immanuel Kant
and Pierre-Simon Laplace in 1700s.

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1. NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS

 This hypothesis started from a rotating cloud

of gas and contracts in the middle to form the
sun and the rest into a disc that becomes
planet.

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 a. Supernova and formation of
primordial dust cloud.

b. Condensation of primordial
dust. Forms disk-shaped nebular
cloud rotating counter-clockwise.

c. Proto sun and planets begin to

form.

d. Accretion of planetariums and

differentiation of planets and
moons.

e. Existing solar system

take place.
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1. NEBULAR HYPOTHESIS
Evidences to support Nebular Hypothesis:
1. Planets and moons revolve in a
counterclockwise direction.
2. Almost all planets and moons rotate on their
axis in a counterclockwise direction.
3. Planetary orbits are aligned along the sun’s
equatorial plane.

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2. ENCOUNTER HYPOTHESIS
 Proposed by Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin and Forest
Ray Moulton.

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2. ENCOUNTER HYPOTHESIS
 The planets formed from debris torn off the
Sun by a close encounter with another star.

 That our planets, moons, and sun spun off

from a collision between stars.

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3. PROTOPLANET
HYPOTHESIS
 Proposed by Carl von Weizsacker and Gerard Kuiper.

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3. PROTOPLANET
HYPOTHESIS
 The Solar System begins to form, as a rotating
cloud, or nebula collapses. But instabilities
develop in the nebula causing dust particles to
pull together.

 Then the dust particles merge into billions of

planetesimals then collide and form
protoplanets.

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3. PROTOPLANET
HYPOTHESIS

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3. PROTOPLANET
HYPOTHESIS

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 5.
THE PLANETS
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5.1 TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
MERCUR
EARTH
Y

VENUS MARS

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5.1 TERRESTRIAL PLANETS
 Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars – are small
dense rocky worlds.

 They are located in the inner part of the Solar

System; they have solid surfaces; and just a
couple moons at most, rotate slowly, and have no
rings around them.

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5.1.1 MERCURY
 Mercury is the innermost
planet.
 Dead, airless world that
whirls through space in the
merciless glare of the Sun.
 It is the closest planet to the
sun, and second smallest
planet in the solar system.

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5.1.1 MERCURY
Age About the same age as the Sun

Location Solar System

Average Distance from the Sun 58,340,000 km

Diameter 4880 km

Mass 3.30 x 1023 kg

Orbital Period around the Sun 0.24 Earth years (88 Earth days)

Number of Moons 0
Temperature variations on Mercury
are the most extreme in the solar
Distinguishing Features
system ranking from – 170 °C to 430
°C

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5.1.2 VENUS
 Venus is named after the
Roman goddess of love
and beauty.
 As seen from Earth, it is
the brightest of all the
planets.
 Venus appears as a
gleaming, silvery white
gem.

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5.1.2 VENUS
 But appearance deceives,
because the planet is in
fact a rocky waste, hotter
that Mercury and is
spread out under a
choking carbon dioxide
atmosphere that is
denser than water.

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5.1.2 VENUS
Age About the same age as the Sun

Location Solar System

Average Distance from the Sun 108,200,000 km

Diameter 12,100 km

Mass 4.869 x 1024 kg

Orbital Period around the Sun 0.616 Earth years (225 Earth days)

Number of Moons 0
Thick clouds containing sulfuric acid
Distinguishing Features
hide the rocky surface.

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5.1.3 EARTH
 Our planet appears to be
big and sturdy with an
endless ocean of air.
 From space, Earth is small
with a thin, fragile layer of
atmosphere.
 The distinguishing features
of Earth are the blue
waters, brown and green
land masses and white
clouds set.
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5.1.3 EARTH
 Also called as the blue
planet.
 Third planet from the Sun.
 Only a few hundred
kilometers larger than that
of Venus.
 Atmosphere is composed of
78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen
and 1 other gases.

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5.1.3 EARTH
Age About the same age as the Sun

Location Solar System

Average Distance from the Sun 149,600,000 km

Diameter 12,760 km

Mass 5.972 x 1024 kg

Orbital Period around the Sun 1 year (365 Earth days)

Number of Moons 1 (Luna)

Earth is the only planet to have
Distinguishing Features
liquid water in its surface.

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