THE UNIVERSE
TERMS
ASTRONOMY - The study of the universe, planet’s origin and members of solar system
METEOROLOGY - Study of atmosphere and elements that
produce weather
EARTH SCIENCE/GEOSCIENCE - The study of our Earth
BARYONIC MATTER - “Ordinary” matter consisting of protons, electrons and neutrons that comprises atoms,
planets, stars, galaxies and other bodies
LIGHT YEARS (9.46x1012 km) - The distance light travels in a year
THERMONUCLEAR FUSION - A nuclear fusion reaction responsible for the energy produced by the stars
NON-SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT
Ancient Egyptians - The world arose from an infinite sea at the first rising of the sun
Kuban people of Central Africa - Mbombo (Bumba) vomited the stars, sun and
moon
India - Purusha, a primal man whose head, feet eyes and mind became the sky, earth, sun, and moon
Judaism, Christianity, and Islam
SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT
STEADY-STATE MODEL- Proposed by Bondi and Gould, and by Hoyle. States that new matter is created there by maintaining its density eventually rejected
BIG BANG THEORY - Currently accepted theory of the origin and evolution of the Universe
Postulates that 13.8 billion years ago, the
Universe expanded from a tiny, dense and hot
mass to its present size and much cooler state.
Rests on two ideas:
General Relativity and Cosmological Principle
Has withstood the tests for expansion:
redshift, abundance of H,He, and Li,
and pervasive cosmic microwave
background
STRUCTURE, COMPOSITION, AND AGE
4.6% baryonic matter, 24% dark matter,
and 71.4% dark energy
Dark matter may explain what may holding
galaxies together
Hydrogen, Helium, and Lithium are the
three most abundant elements
Stars are building blocks of galaxies.Galaxy are clusters of
billions of stars. Superclusters are clusters of galaxies
13.8 billion years old!
1929 - Edwin Hubble, Discovery of the “redshift”
Doppler Effect - Moving away, ↑wavelength, ↓energy
Cosmic Microwave Background - Discovered by Arno Penzias and Robert Woodrow Wilson (1964) Faint glow in the microwave band from blackbody radiation
