ASTRONOMY

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

STARS AND GALAXIES, AND THE MILKY WAY
OBJECTIVES
At the end of the discussion, students are expected to;

a) Define the Solar System

b) Identify the members of the Solar System based on its
characteristics
c) Construct a model of Solar System
d) Identify the planets of our Solar System and appreciate
the importance of the planets.
WHAT IS ASTRONMY?

• Astronomy is a branch of science that studies everything

outside of the earth's atmosphere, such as planets, stars,
asteroids, galaxies; and the properties and relationships
of those celestial bodies. In simpler terms, it is the study
about the sun, moon, stars, planet, comets, galaxies, and
other non-Earthly bodies and phenomena. By studying
the cosmos beyond our own planet, we can understand
where we came from, where we are going, and how
physics works under conditions which are impossible to
recreate on Earth.
In the past, astronomy has been
used to measure time, mark the
seasons, and navigate the vast
oceans. As one of the oldest
sciences astronomy is part of every
culture’s history and roots. It inspires
us with beautiful images and
promises answers to the big
questions. It acts as a window into
the immense size and complexity of
space, putting Earth into perspective
and promoting global citizenship and
pride in our home planet.
THE
SOLAR
SYSTEM
 WHAT IS THE SOLAR SYSTEM?
• Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of
interstellar gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the
shockwave of a nearby exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust
cloud collapsed, it formed a solar nebula – a spinning, swirling disk of
material.
• At the center, gravity pulled more and more material in. Eventually, the
pressure in the core was so great that hydrogen atoms began to combine
and form helium, releasing a tremendous amount of energy. With that, our
Sun was born, and it eventually amassed more than 99% of the available
matter.
• Our solar system consists of our star, the Sun, and everything bound to it by
gravity – the planets; dwarf planets; dozens of moons; and millions of
asteroids, comets, and meteoroids. Beyond our own solar system, we have
discovered thousands of planetary systems orbiting other stars in the Milky
Way.
 Structure of the Solar System
The order and arrangement of the planets and other bodies in our solar system is due
to the way the solar system formed. Nearest to the Sun, only rocky material could
withstand the heat when the solar system was young. For this reason, the first four
planets – Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars – are terrestrial planets. They are all small
with solid, rocky surfaces. Gravity pulled these materials together, and that is where
we find gas giants Jupiter and Saturn, and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune.
FACTS ABOUT OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
• The four giant planets –
and at least one asteroid –
have rings. None are as
spectacular as Saturn’s
gorgeous rings.
• The planets of our solar
system – and even some
asteroids – hold more than
200 moons in their orbits.
• Our solar system is made
up of a star, eight planets,
and countless smaller
bodies such as dwarf
planets, asteroids, and
comets.
• Our solar system extends much farther
than the eight planets that orbit the Sun.
The solar system also includes the Kuiper
Belt that lies past Neptune's orbit. This is
a sparsely occupied ring of icy bodies,
almost all smaller than the most popular
Kuiper Belt Object – dwarf planet Pluto.
• The planets of our solar system – and
even some asteroids – hold more than
200 moons in their orbits.
STARS
WHAT IS A STAR?
• Stars are huge celestial bodies made mostly of
hydrogen and helium that produce light and heat from
the churning nuclear forges inside their cores. Aside
from our sun, the dots of light we see in the sky are all
light-years from Earth. They are the building blocks of
galaxies, of which there are billions in the universe. It’s
impossible to know how many stars exist, but
astronomers estimate that in our Milky Way galaxy
alone, there are about 300 billion.
Life Cycle of a Star
• As a general rule, the more massive the star, the shorter
its life span. Over the course of thousands of years,
gravity causes pockets of dense matter inside the nebula
to collapse under their own weight. Most of the stars in our
galaxy, including the sun, are categorized as main
sequence stars. They exist in a stable state of nuclear
fusion, converting hydrogen to helium and radiating x-
rays. This process emits an enormous amount of energy,
keeping the star hot and shining brightly
 FACTS ABOUT STAR
• Some stars shine more brightly than others. Their brightness is
a factor of how much energy they put out–known as luminosity–
and how far away from Earth they are. Color can also vary from
star to star because their temperatures are not all the same.
Hot stars appear white or blue, whereas cooler stars appear to
have orange or red hues.

• They spend 90 percent of their lives in their main sequence

phase. Now around 4.6 billion years old, Earth’s sun is
considered an average-size yellow dwarf star, and astronomers
predict it will remain in its main sequence stage for several
billion more years.
• Stars are dozens of constellations. Many are named for mythical figures, such as Cassiopeia
and Orion the Hunter. Others are named for the animals they resemble, such as Ursa Minor
(Little Bear) and Canus Major (Big Dog).
• You can easily identify some constellations in the night sky. For this, you should know what a
particular constellation looks like and where to look for it in the night sky.

EXAMPLE OF CONSTELLATION THAT ARE KNOWN

Ursa Major (Saptarshi)

Saptarshi has been associated with
seven well known ancient Indian sages,
or rishis, as shown in the figure below.
According to ancient mythology,
the seven sages who form the Saptarshi,
preserve the eternal knowledge of
Vedas and explain it to people in every
new age.
GALAXY
WHAT IS THE GALAXY
• Galaxies are vast cosmic islands of stars, gas, dust,
and dark matter held together by gravity. Hubble’s
keen eye has revealed intricate details of the shapes,
structures, and histories of galaxies — whether alone,
as part of small groups, or within immense clusters.
From supermassive black holes at galactic centers to
giant bursts of star formation to titanic collisions
between galaxies, these discoveries allow
astronomers to probe the current properties of
galaxies as well as examine how they formed and
developed over time.
Kinds of Galaxies
• Astronomers classify galaxies into three major
categories: elliptical, spiral and irregular.
• Ellipticals, which account for about one-
third of all galaxies, vary from nearly
circular to very elongated. They possess
comparatively little gas and dust, contain
older stars and are not actively forming
stars anymore. The largest and rarest of
these, called giant ellipticals, are about
300,000 light-years across. Astronomers
theorize that these are formed by the
mergers of smaller galaxies. Much more
common are dwarf ellipticals, which are
only a few thousand light-years wide.
• Spiral galaxies appear as flat, blue-
white disks of stars, gas and dust
with yellowish bulges in their centers.
These galaxies are divided into two
groups: normal spirals and barred
spirals. In barred spirals, the bar of
stars runs through the central bulge.
The arms of barred spirals usually
start at the end of the bar instead of
from the bulge. Spirals are actively
forming stars and comprise a large
fraction of all the galaxies in the local
universe.
• Irregular galaxies, which have
very little dust, are neither disk-like
nor elliptical. Astronomers often
see irregular galaxies as they peer
deeply into the universe, which is
equivalent to looking back in time.
These galaxies are abundant in the
early universe, before spirals and
ellipticals developed.
MILKY
WAY
• Milky Way is a huge collection of stars, dust and gas. It’s
called a spiral galaxy because if you could view it from the top
or bottom, it would look like a spinning pinwheel. Our home
galaxy's disk is about 100,000 light-years in diameter and just
1000 light-years thick.
• Just as Earth orbits the sun, the solar system orbits the center
of the Milky Way. Despite hurtling through space at speeds of
around 515,000mph (828,000kmph) our solar system takes
approximately 250 million years to complete a single
revolution, according to Interesting Engineering(opens in new
tab). The last time our planet was in this position, dinosaurs
were just emerging and mammals were yet to evolve.
• Lying at the very heart of the Milky Way is a supermassive black hole
called Sagittarius A*. About 4 million times the mass of the sun, this
beast consumes anything that strays too close, gorging on an ample
supply of stellar material enabling it to grow into a giant

In the case of the Milky Way,

this bulge is peanut-shaped,
measuring 10,000 light-years
across, according to ESA. It
harbors 10 billion stars (out
of the Milky Way's total of
about 200 billion), mostly old
red giants, which formed in
the early stages of the
galaxy's evolution.
MORE FACTS ABOUT THE MILKY WAY
• The Milky Way currently has four
spiral arms, according to the
National Science Foundation(opens
in new tab) (NSF). There are two
main arms — Perseus and Scutum-
Centaurus — and the Sagittarius
and Local Arm, which are less
pronounced. Scientists still discuss
the exact position and shape of
these arms using Gaia data.
• Milky Way continues
devouring smaller galaxies to
this day. A galaxy called
Sagittarius (not to be mistaken
with the black hole) currently
orbits close to the Milky Way
and has likely smashed
through its disk several
times(opens in new tab) in the
past 7 billion years.
Thank You!