EARTH SCIENCE NOTES

1st SEMESTER 2021

The Universe and the Solar System

Definition of Terms:
Universe

- Contains all galaxies and planets

Cosmology

- A branch of science that studies the origin and evolution and fate of the universe

Solar System

- Composed of the sun, the planets and their satellites, the comets, and the asteroids

Axis

- An imaginary line through the center of the earth around which the planet rotates

Rotation

- The act of spinning on an axis

- One complete rotation of the earth takes 24 hours

Orbit

- A closed, curved path that an object follows as it moves around another object
- Earth moves in an orbit around the sun

Revolution

- The movement of an object in an orbit around another object

Satellite

- An object that revolves around another object

- Can be natural or man made (i.e. the moon or a space station)

Theories on the origin of the universe

The big bang theory
- “The universe started as a singularity that exploded”

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 - A cataclysmic expansion 13.7 billion years ago
- Both matter and space were created simultaneously
- The first subatomic particles were formed
- Subatomic particles are protons (+), neutrons (/), and electrons (-)
- As the universe cooled down, the simplest atoms were able to form
- Hydrogen and helium
- Timeline:
- Singularity explodes─ Rapid expansion─ High energy particle reactions─ Light
element nuclei form─ The first elements form─ Formation of the first galaxies
and stars─ Accelerated expansion of the universe─ formation of the solar system
- George Lemaitre
- A Belgian Priest
- Supported by Edwin Hubble*, Arno Penzias*, and Robert Wilson*
- “The universe started as an infinitely dense point
- 2mm wide
- A kin to a supercharged black hole
- The singularity exploded which created matter, energy, space, and time
- The universe developed in two major stages
- Radiation era (characterized by a dominance of radiation and happened
immediately after the explosion)
- Matter era (characterized by the presence and predominance of matter)
- On the next page is a table of all events that happened in the universe timeline of the Big
Bang theory.

Time Table of events

Era Epoch Universe Time Notes

Temp.

Radiation Planck 10⁴⁰ Kelvin Immediately - Matter did not exist

Era after big bang - Energy and
superforce
- Superforce is
“the ancestor”
to the 4 forces
of nature
(gravity, strong
nuclear, weak,
and
electromagneti
c)
- Ended with gravity
breaking away from
the superforce

2
 Grand 10³⁶ Kelvin 10^-43 - Named after the 3
Unification seconds remaining unified
forces of nature
(Grand unified
theory)
- Ended when strong
nuclear force broke
away

Inflationary 10³⁰ 10^-36 - Universe rapidly

Kelvi seconds expands
n - Grows from the
size of an atom
to a grapefruit
- Universe is filled with
electrons, quarks and
other particles

Electroweak 10²⁰ 10^-32 - Electromagnetic and

Kelvi seconds weak forces finally
n break apart

Quark 10¹⁶ Kelvin 10^-12 - The universe is to hot

seconds and dense for
subatomic particles
to form

Hadron 10¹⁰ Kelvin 10^-6 seconds - Universe cools down

enough for quarks to
bind into protons and
neutrons

Lepton 10¹² Kelvin 1 second - Protons and neutrons

come together and
Nuclear 10⁹ Kelvin 100 seconds form nuclei
- Formation of the first
element in the
universe (Helium)

Matter Era Atomic 3000 Kelvin 50 000 years - Universe cools down
enough for the
electrons to bind to
the nuclei
- This process is
called
recombination
- Leads to the
formation of

3
 hydrogen

Galactic N/A 200 000 000 - Hydrogen and Helium

years form atomic clouds
- Atoms collect in small
pockets inside the
clouds
- Formation of galaxies

Stellar N/A 3 000 000 000 - Formation of stars in

years the galaxies
- Heat of the stars give
way for other
elements to form
from hydrogen and
helium
- These elements
become the
foundation of planets
moons and life

Steady state theory

- The universe is in the same state into the eternal past and eternal future, only the
present moment exists
- Disproven in mid 1960s
- There is a continuous creation of matter
- Observable as the expansion of the universe
- There is no beginning or end
- Proponents of this theory are Hermann Bondi*, Thomas Gold*, and Fred Hoyle*

Oscillating universe theory

- Also known as the “Big Crunch Theory”
- The universe is expanding and will contract once all the energy of the big bag has
been used up
- A similar contraction and return to the singularity should be possible
- The universe will eventually stop expanding and collapse back in on itself
- Proponent of this theory is Richard Tolman*
- The universe might end in on big cataclysmic event
- The universe collapses and consumes itself
- Cyclic Universe
- A big crunch could lead to another big bang
- Dark Energy

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 - 70% of the universe’s composition
- Seemingly invisible space force
- Accelerates the expansion of the universe
- Cosmological constant
- If it is constant then the universe will only continue to expand instead of
collapse in on itself therefore negating the big crunch theory
- If universe continues to expand the universe may possibly rip itself apart
(Big rip theory)
- Gets stronger with time
- Observed through measuring the distance between Quasars
- Quasars are really far away and very bright black holes

Eternal Inflation of the universe

- The formation of the universe can never be stopped and is continuously making
other different universes

Theories on the Origin of the Solar System

The Solar nebula hypothesis
- The solar system started from a nebula that was disrupted by a nearby supernova

The nebular Theory

- Proponents of this theory are Emmanuel Swdenborg*, Immanuel Kant*, and
Pierre Simon Laplace*

- The solar system was formed through 5 stages

- Collapse

- High temperature gas ball

- Gas ball collapses into a disk shape and heats up

- Spinning

- Disk begins to spin faster and faster

- Cools down

- Flattening

- The disk becomes a sphere due to the spinning

- Some of the gas escape the sphere thus flattening into a disk

- Condensation

- Fog forms around the core of the largest mass in the middle of the disk

- Smaller masses around it form and rapidly cool down

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 - Accretion

- The cores of smaller masses turn into planets

- The biggest mass in the middle remains at a high temperature (sun)

The encounter theory

- A near collision between a passing star and the sun

- Proponents to this theory are George Leclerc*, and Comte de Buffon*

The Protoplanet theory

- Modified version of nebular hypothesis
- A nebula was disrupted which led to the formation of protoplanet
- Proponents of this theory are Carl von Wezsacker* and Gerard Kuiper*

>The Birth of the solar system

- A nebula collapses under its own gravity spins faster
- Dense matter forms in the center of the nebula
- Called a “protostar”
- Heat of this protostar is due to friction
- Once it reached 18 billion degrees Fahrenheit, nuclear fusion starts
- Birth of our star (4.5 billion years ago)
- Fusion of hydrogen and helium creates photons which became the first light of
our sun