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The document provides an overview of space physics, detailing the characteristics of Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the Solar System's planets. It explains concepts such as the snow line, orbital eccentricity, gravity, and the life cycle of stars, as well as measuring distances in space and the structure of galaxies. Additionally, it discusses the Hubble Constant and its implications for understanding the universe's age and expansion.

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Megan
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2 views

Space Physics - Copy (1)

The document provides an overview of space physics, detailing the characteristics of Earth, the Moon, the Sun, and the Solar System's planets. It explains concepts such as the snow line, orbital eccentricity, gravity, and the life cycle of stars, as well as measuring distances in space and the structure of galaxies. Additionally, it discusses the Hubble Constant and its implications for understanding the universe's age and expansion.

Uploaded by

Megan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Space Physics

Achal Gupta
Our Home Base
 The Earth is tilted on its
axis of rotation by 23.5
degrees
 It completes one rotation in
24 hours
 Average orbital speed is
defined as
The Moon
 The Moon is the Earth’s
only permanent natural
satellite
 The Moon’s rotational
and orbital period is 28
days
 The Moon is tidally
locked to the Earth
The Sun
 Our parent star is a yellow dwarf
star
 It is almost 5 billion years old
 99.8% of the Solar System’s mass
is in the Sun, which is why all
planets orbit the Sun
 The Earth’s orbit is roughly 365
days long
 Earth’s orbit is elliptical
 The elliptical orbit and axial tilt
leads to seasons
The Solar System
The solar system is composed of different types of celestial bodies such as:
• Star (the Sun)
• Planets
• Dwarf Planets
• Asteroids
• Moons
• Comets
Mercury is the smallest planet in the Solar System

Venus is the hottest planet in the Solar System

Earth is the only world we know to have life

Mars has the tallest mountain in the Solar System (Olympus Mons)
Jupiter is the largest planet in the Solar System

Saturn can float on water, in theory

Uranus has an axial tilt of nearly 90˚, so it rolls in orbit

Neptune is the farthest and coldest planet


The Snow Line
 When the sun was born, solar winds
pushed light elements towards the
outer solar system
 The snow line is the boundary
between this region of light elements
and heavier elements
 Hence there is a stark difference
between rocky planets and gas giants
 This boundary is the max distance
from the sun where water ice will
sublimate
Orbital Eccentricity
Gravity
The force of gravity decreases the
further you go from a body
Orbital speed decreases the further
you go from a body, due to
conservation of energy
The force keeping any satellite in
orbit is the gravitational force
Total energy remains constant
therefore when potential energy is
lost (satellite gets closer), kinetic
energy is gained (speeds up)
The Sun as a Star
 It is a medium mass star
mostly made of hydrogen
and helium
 It emits mostly UV, visible
and infrared light
 It is fueled by the fusion of
hydrogen into helium

Hydrogen Helium Other


Measuring Distance In Space
 Distances in space are vast
 The distance to the Sun is 1.5 x
m
 We need a better way to
measure distance
 The speed of light is constant
therefore we can use it to (where c is the constant of
measure distance
proportionality)
 One light year = 9.5 x m
Galaxies
 The Sun is one of many billions of
stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way
 The Milky Way is one of many billion
of galaxies in the known Universe
 The Milky Way is a barred spiral
galaxy
 It is 100 000 light years wide
 The closest star to us, Proxima
Centauri is almost 300 000x further
than the Sun
Stable Star Supergiant Star Death White Dwarf and
Planetary Nebula

Less Massive

The Life Cycle of a Star


Planetary Neutron Star
Nebula

More Massive

Stable Star Supergiant Supernova Black Hole


The Hubble Constant
 The microwave radiation at all
points in space is called the is the Hubble Constant
Cosmic Microwave Background
Radiation (CMBR) =
 The relative speed v of a galaxy
can be found using redshift
 Distance d of the galaxy can be This gives the estimated age of the
found using the brightness of a universe and proves that the
supernova in the galaxy universe was very small at one
point
thank you.

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