The Earth's Axis

 The Earth is a rocky planet that rotates in a near circular orbit around the Sun
 It rotates on its axis, which is a line through the north and south poles
o The axis is tilted at an angle of approximately 23.4° from the vertical
 The Earth completes one full rotation (revolution) in approximately 24 hours (1 day)

 This rotation creates the apparent daily motion of the Sun rising and setting
o Rotation of the Earth on its axis is therefore responsible for the periodic cycle of day and night

Day and Night

 The Earth's rotation around its axis creates day and night
o Day is experienced by the half of the Earth's surface that is facing the Sun
o Night is the other half of the Earth's surface, facing away from the Sun

Day and night are caused by the Earth's rotation

Rising and Setting of the Sun

 The Earth's rotation on its axis makes the Sun looks like it moves from east to west
o At the equinoxes the Sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west
o Equinox (meaning 'equal night') is when day and night are approximately of equal length
 However, the exact locations of where the Sun rises and sets changes throughout the seasons
  In the northern hemisphere (above the equator):
o In summer, the sun rises north of east and sets north of west
o In winter, the sun rises south of east and sets south of west

The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Its approximate area changes throughout the year

 The Sun is highest above the horizon at noon (12 pm)

 In the northern hemisphere, the daylight hours are longest up until roughly the 21st June
o This day is known as the Summer Solstice and is where the Sun is at its highest point in the sky all
year
 The daylight hours then decrease to their lowest around 21st December
o This is known the Winter Solstice and is where the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky all year

The Earth's Orbit

 The Earth orbits the Sun once in approximately 365 days

o This is 1 year
 The combination of the orbiting of the Earth around the Sun and the Earth's tilt creates the seasons
 Seasons in the Northern hemisphere caused by the tilt of the Earth

 Over parts B, C and D of the orbit, the northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun

o This means daylight hours are more than hours of darkness

o This is spring and summer
 The southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun
o This means there are shorter days than night
o This is autumn and winter
 Over parts F, G and H of the orbit, the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun
o The situations in both the northern and southern hemisphere are reversed
o It is autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere, but at the same time it is spring and summer
in the southern hemisphere
 At C:

o This is the summer solstice

o The northern hemisphere has the longest day, whilst the southern hemisphere has its shortest day
 At G:
o This is the winter solstice
o The northern hemisphere has its shortest day, whilst the southern hemisphere has its longest day
 At A and D:
o Night and day are equal in both hemispheres
o These are the equinoxes

Moon & Earth

 The Moon is a satellite around the Earth

 It travels around the Earth in roughly a circular orbit once a month
o This takes 27-28 days
 The Moon revolves around its own axis in a month so always has the same side facing the Earth
o We never see the hemisphere that is always facing away from Earth, although astronauts have
orbited the Moon and satellite have photographed it
 The Moon shines with reflected light from the Sun, it does not produce its own light

Phases of the Moon

  The way the Moon's appearance changes across a month, as seen from Earth, is called its periodic cycle
of phases

Phases of the Moon as it orbits around Earth

 In the image above, the inner circle shows that exactly half of the Moon is illuminated by the Sun at all
times
 The outer circle shows how the Moon looks like from the Earth at its various positions
 In the New Moon phase:
o The Moon is between the Earth and the Sun
o Therefore, the sunlight is only on the opposite face of the Moon to the Earth
o This means the Moon is unlit as seen from Earth, so it is not visible
 At the Full Moon phase:
o The Earth is between the Moon and the Sun
o The side of the Moon that is facing the Earth is completely lit by the sunlight
o This means the Moon is fully lit as seen from Earth
 In between, a crescent can be seen where the Moon is partially illuminated from sunlight

Orbital Speed
EXTENDED

 When planets move around the Sun, or a moon moves around a planet, they orbit in circular motion
o This means that in one orbit, a planet travels a distance equal to the circumference of a circle (the
shape of the orbit)
o This is equal to 2πr where r is the radius a circle

 The relationship between speed, distance and time is:

 the average orbital speed of an object can be defined by the equation:

  Where:
o v = orbital speed in metres per second (m/s)
o r = average radius of the orbit in metres (m)
o T = orbital period in seconds (s)
 This orbital period (or time period) is defined as:

The time taken for an object to complete one orbit

 The orbital radius r is always taken from the centre of the object being orbited to the object orbiting

Orbital radius and orbital speed of a planet moving around a Sun

Worked Example
The Hubble Space Telescope moves in a circular orbit. Its distance above the Earth’s surface is 560 km and the
radius of the Earth is 6400 km. It completes one orbit in 96 minutes.
Calculate its orbital speed in m/s.

Step 1: List the known quantities


o Radius of the Earth, R = 6400 km
o Distance of the telescope above the Earth's surface, h = 560 km
o Time period, T = 96 minutes

Step 2: Write the relevant equation

Step 3: Calculate the orbital radius, r


o The orbital radius is the distance from the centre of the Earth to the telescope

Step 4: Convert any units


 o The time period needs to be in seconds


o The radius needs to be in metres

Step 5: Substitute values into the orbital speed equation

Exam Tip

Remember to check that the orbital radius r given is the distance from the centre of the
Sun (if a planet is orbiting a Sun) or the planet (if a moon is orbiting a planet) and not just
from the surface. If the distance is a height above the surface you must add the radius of
the body, to get the height above the centre of mass of the body.

This is because orbits are caused by the mass, which can be assumed to act at the centre,
rather than the surface.

Don't forget to check your units and convert any if required!

The Solar System

 The Solar System consists of:

1. The Sun
2. Eight planets
3. Natural and artificial satellites
4. Dwarf planets
 5. Asteroids and comets

The Sun & the Planets

 The Sun lies at the centre of the Solar System

o The Sun is a star that makes up over 99% of the mass of the solar system

 There are eight planets and an unknown number of dwarf planets which orbit the Sun
o The gravitational field around planets is strong enough to have pulled in all nearby objects with
the exception of natural satellites
o The gravitational field around a dwarf planet is not strong enough to have pulled in nearby
objects
 The 8 planets in our Solar System in ascending order of the distance from the Sun are:
o Mercury
o Venus
o Earth
o Mars
o Jupiter
o Saturn
o Uranus
o Neptune

Satellites

 There are two types of satellite:

o Natural
o Artificial

 Some planets have moons which orbit them

o Moons are an example of natural satellites

 Artificial satellites are man-made and can orbit any object in space
o The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth and is an example of an artificial satellite

Asteroids & Comets

 Asteroids and comets also orbit the sun

 An asteroid is a small rocky object which orbits the Sun
o The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter

 Comets are made of dust and ice and orbit the Sun in a different orbit to those of planets
o The ice melts when the comet approaches the Sun and forms the comet’s tail
 The objects in our solar system

Exam Tip

You need to know the order of the 8 planets in the solar system. The following mnemonic
gives the first letter of each of the planets to help you recall them:

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune

Accretion Model of the Solar System

 There are 4 rocky and small planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars
o These are the nearest to the Sun
 There are 4 gaseous and large planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune
o There are the furthest from the sun
 The eight planets of our Solar System

 The differences in the types of planets are defined by the accretion model for Solar System formation

 The Sun was thought to have formed when gravitational attraction of pulled together clouds of hydrogen
dust and gas (called nebulae)
 The Solar System then formed around 4.5 billion years ago
o The planets were formed from the remnants of the disc cloud of matter left over from the nebula
that formed the Sun
o These interstellar clouds of gas and dust included many elements that were created during the
final stages of a star's lifecycle (a previous supernova)
 Gravity collapsed the matter from the nebula in on itself causing it to spin around the Sun
o The gravitational attraction between all the small particles caused them to join together and grow
in an accretion process
 A rotating accretion disc is formed when the planets emerged
 The accretion model of the creation of the Solar System



 As the Sun grew in size it became hotter
  Where the inner planets were forming near the Sun, the temperature was too high for molecules such as
Hydrogen, Helium, water and Methane to exist in a solid state
o Therefore, the inner planets are made of materials with high melting temperatures such as metals
(e.g. iron)
o Only 1% of the original nebula is composed of heavy elements, so the inner, rocky planets could
not grow much and stayed as a small size, solid and rocky
 The cooler regions were further away from the Sun, and temperature was low enough for the light
molecules to exist in a solid state
o The outer planets therefore could grow to a large size up and include even the lightest element,
Hydrogen
o These planets are large, gaseous and cold

Exam Tip

When referring to the accretion model for the formation of the Solar System, make sure
your answer has the following:

(a) the model’s dependence on gravity

(b) the presence of many elements in interstellar clouds of gas and dust

(c) the rotation of material in the cloud and the formation of an accretion disc

Light Speed

 The planets and moons of the solar system are visible from Earth when they reflect light from the Sun
o The outer regions of the Solar System are around 5 × 10 12 m from the Sun, which means even light
takes some time to travel these distances
 The Sun is so far away from Earth that the light we see actually left the Sun eight minutes earlier
o the nearest star to us after the Sun is so far away that light from it takes four years to reach us
o The Milky Way galaxy contains billions of stars, huge distances away, with the light taking even
longer to be seen from Earth



 The speed of light is a constant 3 × 108 m/s
o Therefore, using the equation:

 The time taken to travel a certain distance can be calculated by rearranging to:

Worked Example
Calculate the time taken for light from the Sun to reach Mercury if the radius of Mercury's orbit is 5.8 × 109 m.
Step 1: State the equation for the time taken for light to travel a certain distance

Step 2: Substitute in the values

Step 3: Round up the answer and include units

Exam Tip

The speed of light is very fast. This is why in our everyday life things like switching on a
light seem to be instant. However, this is only because the light travels very fast and the
distances are very small. In large, astronomical distances which can be millions or even
billions of kilometres, the limit of the speed of light starts to have an effect.

For example, it takes light 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. This means we
are seeing the Sun as it was eight minutes ago. If the Sun was to disappear, we would not
notice till eight minutes later. Although, by that time, time delay would be the least of our
worries...

p.s.: The Sun is not going to vanish!

Elliptical Orbits
EXTENDED

 Orbits of planets, minor planets and comets are elliptical

 o An ellipse is just a 'squashed' circle
 Planets, minor planets and comets have elliptical orbits
o However, the Sun is not at the centre of an elliptical orbit
o This is only the case when the orbit is approximately circular

Planets and comets travel in elliptical orbits, but the Sun is not at the centre of these orbits

Exam Tip

You will not be asked to do any calculations with elliptical orbits. If you are asked to
calculate the time period, orbital speed or radius of an orbit, it can be assumed that it is
circular.

Analysing Orbits
EXTENDED

 Over many years, data about all the planets, moons and the Sun have been collected
 This is not just for general interest, but to indicate:
o Factors that affect conditions on the surface of the planets
o Environmental problems that a visit (using manned spaceships or robots) would encounter

Table of Data for Planets in our Solar System

Uniform Surface
Orbital
Orbital duration / Density / Surface Gravitational
Planet distance /
days or years kg/m3 Temperature/ °C Field Strength/
million km
N/kg

Mercury 57.9 88 days 5427 350 3.7

Venus 108.2 225 days 5243 460 8.9

Earth 149.6 365 days 5514 20 9.8

Mars 227.9 687 days 3933 –23 3.7

 Jupiter 778.6 11.9 years 1326 –120 23.1

Saturn 1433.5 29.5 years 687 –180 9.0

Uranus 2872.5 75 years 1271 –210 8.7

Neptune 4495.1 165 years 1638 –220 11.0

Exam Tip

Although you don't need to memorise any of this data, you must be able to confidently
analyse and interpret it. Look out for trends such as one variable increasing whilst the the
other decreases (or also increases). This carefully about why that may be with what you
have already learnt about the planets from this topic. For example, what is the planet
made of? What is its distance from the Sun and how does this affect it?

Gravitational Field Strength

 The strength of gravity on different planets after an object's weight on that planet
 Weight is defined as:

The force acting on an object due to gravitational attraction

 Planets have strong gravitational fields

o Hence, they attract nearby masses with a strong gravitational force
 Because of weight:
o Objects stay firmly on the ground
o Objects will always fall to the ground
o Satellites are kept in orbit
 Objects are attracted towards the centre of the Earth due to its gravitational field strength

 Both the weight of any body and the value of the gravitational field strength g differs between the surface of
the Earth and the surface of other bodies in space, including the Moon because of the planet or
moon's mass
o The greater the mass of the planet then the greater its gravitational field strength
o A higher gravitational field strength means a larger attractive force towards the centre of that
planet or moon
 g varies with the distance from a planet, but on the surface of the planet, it is roughly the same
o The strength of the field around the planet decreases as the distance from the planet increases
 However, the value of g on the surface varies dramatically for different planets and moons

 The gravitational field strength (g) on the Earth is approximately 10 N/kg

 The gravitational field strength on the surface of the Moon is less than on the Earth
o This means it would be easier to lift a mass on the surface of the Moon than on the Earth
 The gravitational field strength on the surface of the gas giants (eg. Jupiter and Saturn) is more than on the
Earth
o This means it would be harder to lift a mass on the gas giants than on the Earth

Value for g on the different objects in the Solar System

 On such planets such as Jupiter, an object’s mass remains the same at all points in space
 However, their weight will be a lot greater meaning for example, a human will be unable to fully stand up
 A person’s weight on Jupiter would be so large a human would be unable to fully stand up

Exam Tip

You do not need to remember the value of g on different planets for your exam, the value
of g for Earth will be given in the exam question.

Gravitational Attraction of the Sun

 There are many orbiting objects in our solar system and they each orbit a different type of planetary body

Orbiting Objects or Bodies in Our Solar System Table

  A smaller body or object will orbit a larger body
o For example, a planet orbiting the Sun
 In order to orbit a body such as a star or a planet, there has to be a force pulling the object towards that
body
o Gravity provides this force
 Therefore, it is said that the force that keeps a planet in orbit around the Sun is the gravitational
attraction of the Sun
 The gravitational force exerted by the larger body on the orbiting object is always attractive
o Therefore, the gravitational force always acts towards the centre of the larger body
 Therefore, the force that keeps an object in orbit around the Sun is the gravitational attraction of the Sun
and is always directed from the orbiting object to the centre of the Sun

 The gravitational force will cause the body to move and maintain in a circular path

Gravitational attraction causes the Moon to orbit around the Earth

Sun's Gravitational Field & Distance

EXTENDED

 As the distance from the Sun increases:

o The strength of the Sun's gravitational field on the planet decreases

o Their orbital speed of the planet decreases
 To keep an object in a circular path, it must have a centripetal force
o For planets orbiting the Sun, this force is gravity
 Therefore, the strength of the Sun's gravitational field in the planet affects how much centripetal force is on
the planet
o This strength decreases the further away the planet is from the Sun, and the weaker the centripetal
force
 The centripetal force is proportional to the orbital speed
o Therefore, the planets further away from the Sun have a smaller orbital speed
o This also equates to a longer orbital duration
 How the speed of a planet is affected by its distance from the Sun

 This can be seen from data collected for a planet's orbital distance against their orbital speed
o E.g. Neptune travels much slower than Mercury

Table of Orbital Distance, Speed and Duration

Orbital distance / Orbital Speed / Orbital duration / days or

Planet
million km km/s years

Mercury 57.9 47.9 88 days

Venus 108.2 35.0 225 days

Earth 149.6 29.8 365 days

Mars 227.9 24.1 687 days

Jupiter 778.6 13.1 11.9 years

Saturn 1433.5 9.7 29.5 years

Uranus 2872.5 6.8 75 years

Neptune 4495.1 5.4 165 years

Exam Tip

Be careful with your wording in this topic when talking about gravity. It is important to
refer to the force of gravity as 'gravitational attraction', ' strength of the Sun's
 gravitational field' or 'the force due to gravity'. Avoid terms such as 'the Sun's gravity' or
even more vague, 'the force from the Sun'.

Orbits & Conservation of Energy

EXTENDED

 An object in an elliptical orbit around the Sun travels at a different speed depending on its distance from
the Sun
 Although these orbits are not circular, they are still stable
o For a stable orbit, the radius must change if the comet's orbital speed changes
 As the comet approaches the Sun:
o The radius of the orbit decreases
o The orbital speed increases due to the Sun's strong gravitational pull
 As the comet travels further away from the Sun:
o The radius of the orbit increases
o The orbital speed decreases due to a weaker gravitational pull from the Sun

Comets travel in highly elliptical orbits, speeding up as they approach the Sun

Conservation of Energy

 Although an object in an elliptical orbit, such as a comet, continually changes its speed its energy must still
be conserved
o Throughout the orbit, the gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of the comet changes
 As the comet approaches the Sun:
o It loses gravitational potential energy and gains kinetic energy
o This causes the comet to speed up
o This increase in speed causes a slingshot effect, and the body will be flung back out into space
again, having passed around the Sun
 As the comment moves away from the Sun:
o It gains gravitational potential energy and loses kinetic energy
o This causes it to slow down
o Eventually, it falls back towards the Sun once more
 In this way, a stable orbit is formed

Exam Tip
 Remember that an objects kinetic energy is defined by: mv2 where m is the mass of the
object and v is its speed. Therefore, if the speed of an object increases, so does its kinetic
energy. Its gravitational potential energy therefore must decrease for energy to be
conserved.

The Sun

 The Sun lies at the centre of the Solar System

o The Sun is a star which makes up over 99% of the mass of the solar system
o The fact that most of the mass of the Solar System is concentrated in the Sun is the reason the
smaller planets orbit the Sun

 The gravitational pull of the Sun on the planets keeps them in orbit

 The Sun is a medium sized star consisting of mainly hydrogen and helium
 It radiates most of its energy in the infrared, visible and ultraviolet regions of the electromagnetic
spectrum

Our Sun (Image courtesy of NASA)

 Stars come in a wide range of sizes and colours, from yellow stars to red dwarfs, from blue giants to red
supergiants
o These can be classified according to their colour
 Warm objects emit infrared and extremely hot objects emit visible light as well
o Therefore, the colour they emit depends on how hot they are

 A star's colour is related to its surface temperature

o A red star is the coolest (at around 3000 K)
o A blue star is the hottest (at around 30 000 K)
 The colour of a star correlates to its temperature

Nuclear Fusion in Stars

EXTENDED

 In the centre of a stable star, hydrogen atoms undergo nuclear fusion to form helium
 The equation for the reaction is shown here:

Deuterium and Tritium are both isotopes of hydrogen. They can be formed through other fusion reactions in the
star

 A huge amount of energy is released in the reaction

 This provides a pressure that prevents the star from collapsing under its gravity

The fusion of deuterium and tritium to form helium with the release of energy

Worked Example
An example of a hydrogen fusion reaction which takes place in stars is shown here.

Which of the following is a valid reason as to why hydrogen fusion is not currently possible on Earth?

A Hydrogen fusion produces dangerous radioactive waste

B Hydrogen nuclei require very high temperature to fuse together

C Hydrogen is a rare element that would be difficult to get large amounts of

D Hydrogen fusion does not produce enough energy to be commercially viable

ANSWER: B


o Hydrogen nuclei have positive charges
o So two hydrogen nuclei would have a repulsive force between them
o High temperatures are required to give the nuclei enough energy to overcome the repulsive force
o The answer is not A because the products of the hydrogen fusion shown in the reaction is helium
 Helium is an inert gas
o The answer is not C because hydrogen is a very abundant element
 It is the most common element in the universe
o The answer is not D because hydrogen fusion would produce a huge amount of energy

The Milky Way

 Galaxies are made up of billions of stars

 The Universe is made up of many different galaxies

 The Sun is one of billions of stars in a galaxy called the Milky Way
 Other stars in the Milky Way galaxy are much further away from Earth than the Sun is
 Some of these stars also have planets which orbit them
 Our solar system is just one out of potentially billions in our galactic neighbourhood, the Milky Way. There are
estimated to be more than 100 billion galaxies in the entire universe

 Astronomical distances such as the distances between stars and galaxies, are so large that physicists use a
special unit to measure them called the light-year

 One light-year is:

The distance travelled by light through (the vacuum of) space in one year

 The speed of light is the universal speed limit, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light
 But over astronomical distances, light actually travels pretty slowly
 The diameter of the Milky Way is approximately 100 000 light-years
o This means that light would take 100 000 years to travel across it

EXTENDED

 One light year = 9.5 × 1012 km = 9.5 × 1015 m

Life Cycle of Stars

EXTENDED

1. Nebula

 All stars form from a giant interstellar cloud of hydrogen gas and dust called a nebula

2. Protostar

 The force of gravity within a nebula pulls the particles closer together until it forms a hot ball of gas,
known as a protostar
 As the particles are pulled closer together the density of the protostar will increase
o This will result in more frequent collisions between the particles which causes
the temperature to increase

3. Main Sequence Star

  Once the protostar becomes hot enough, nuclear fusion reactions occur within its core
o The hydrogen nuclei will fuse to form helium nuclei
o Every fusion reaction releases heat (and light) energy which keeps the core hot

 Once a protostar is formed, its life cycle will depend on its mass
 The different life cycles are shown below:

Flow diagram showing the life cycle of a star which is the same size as the Sun (solar mass) and the lifecycle of a
star which is much bigger than the Sun

 Once a star is born it is known as a main-sequence star

 During the main sequence, the star is in equilibrium and said to be stable
o The inward force due to gravity is equal to the outward pressure force from the fusion reactions

4. Red Giant or Red Super Giant

 After several billion years the hydrogen causing the fusion reactions in the star will begin to run out
 Once this happens, the fusion reactions in the core will start to die down
 This causes the core to shrink and heat up
 o The core will shrink because the inward force due to gravity will become greater than the outward
force due to the pressure of the expanding gases as the fusion dies down
 A new series of reactions will then occur around the core, for example, helium nuclei will
undergo fusion to form beryllium
 These reactions will cause the outer part of the star to expand
 A star the same size as the Sun or smaller will become a red giant
 A star much larger than the Sun will become a red super giant
o It is red because the outer surface starts to cool

5. For Red Giant Stars

Planetary Nebula

 Once this second stage of fusion reactions have finished, the star will become unstable and eject the outer
layer of dust and gas
o The layer of dust and gas which is ejected is called a planetary nebula

White Dwarf

 The core which is left behind will collapse completely, due to the pull of gravity, and the star will become
a white dwarf
 The white dwarf will be cooling down and as a result, the amount of energy it emits will decrease

Black Dwarf

 Once the star has lost a significant amount of energy it becomes a black dwarf
 It will continue to cool until it eventually disappears from sight

The lifecycle of a solar mass star

6. For Red Super Giants

Supernova

 Once the fusion reactions inside the red supergiant finally finish, the core of the star will collapse
suddenly causing a gigantic explosion
o This is called a supernova
 At the centre of this explosion a dense body, called a neutron star will form
 The outer remnants of the star will be ejected into space during the supernova explosion, forming
a planetary nebula
o The nebula from a supernova may form new stars with orbiting planets

Neutron Star (or Black Hole)

 In the case of the biggest stars, the neutron star that forms at the centre will continue to collapse under the
force of gravity until it forms a black hole
o A black hole is an extremely dense point in space that not even light can escape from

Lifecycle of a star much larger than our Sun

Galaxies & Redshift

 Usually, when an object emits waves, the wavefronts spread out symmetrically
 If the wave source moves, the waves can become squashed together or stretched out
 Diagram showing the wavefronts produced from a stationary object and a moving object

 A moving object will cause the wavelength, λ, (and frequency) of the waves to change:
o The wavelength of the waves in front of the source decreases and the frequency increases
o The wavelength behind the source increases and the frequency decreases
o This effect is known as the Doppler effect

 The Doppler effect also affects light

o If an object moves away from an observer the wavelength of light increases
 This is known as redshift as the light moves towards the red end of the spectrum

 Redshift is:

An increase in the observed wavelength of electromagnet radiation emitted from receding stars and galaxies
Light from a star that is moving towards an observer will be blueshifted and light from a star moving away from
an observer will be redshifted

The observer behind observes a red shift

 The Milky Way is just one of billions of galaxies that make up the Universe
  Light emitted from distant galaxies appears redshifted when compared with light emitted on Earth

 The diagram below shows the light coming to us from a close object, such as the Sun, and the light coming
to us from a distant galaxy

Comparing the light spectrum produced from the Sun and a distant galaxy

 The diagram also shows that the light coming to us from distant galaxies is redshifted
o The lines on the spectrum are shifted towards the red end
 This indicates that the galaxies are moving away from us
 If the galaxies are moving away from us it means that the universe is expanding
 The observation of redshift from distant galaxies supports the Big Bang theory

 Another observation from looking at the light spectrums produced from distant galaxies is that
the greater the distance to the galaxy, the greater the redshift
o This means that the further away a galaxy, the faster it is moving away from us

Graph showing the greater the distance to a galaxy, the greater the redshift

The Big Bang

 Around 14 billion years ago, the Universe began from a very small region that was extremely
hot and dense
 Then there was a giant explosion, which is known as the Big Bang
 This caused the universe to expand from a single point, cooling as it does so, to form the universe today
 Each point expands away from the others
o This is seen from galaxies moving away from each other, and the further away they are the faster
they move
 Redshift in the light from distant galaxies is evidence that the Universe is expanding and supports the Big
Bang Theory
o As a result of the initial explosion, the Universe continues to expand

All galaxies are moving away from each other, indicating that the universe is expanding

 An analogy of this is points drawn on a balloon where the balloon represents space and the points as
galaxies
o When the balloon is deflated, all the points are close together and an equal distance apart
o As the balloon expands, all the points become further apart by the same amount
o This is because the space itself has expanded between the galaxies

A balloon inflating is similar to the stretching of the space between galaxies

Redshift and CMBR

Evidence for the Big Bang

 The Big Bang theory is very well supported by evidence from a range of sources
 The main pieces of evidence are
o Galactic red-shift
o Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)

Evidence from Galactic Red-Shift

 Galactic redshift provides evidence for the Big Bang Theory and the expansion of the universe
 The diagram below shows the light coming to us from a close object, such as the Sun, and the light coming
to the Earth from a distant galaxy

Comparing the light spectrum produced from the Sun and a distant galaxy

 Red-shift provides evidence that the Universe is expanding because:

 Red-shift is observed when the spectral lines from the distant galaxy move closer to the red end of the
spectrum
o This is because light waves are stretched by the expansion of the universe so the wavelength
increases (or frequency decreases)
o This indicates that the galaxies are moving away from us

 Light spectrums produced from distant galaxies are red-shifted more than nearby galaxies
o This shows that the greater the distance to the galaxy, the greater the redshift
o This means that the further away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from the Earth

 These observations imply that the universe is expanding and therefore support the Big Bang Theory
 Tracing the expansion of the universe back to the beginning of time leads to the idea the universe began with a
“big bang”

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Evidence from CMB Radiation

 The discovery of the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background) radiation led to the Big Bang theory becoming
the currently accepted model
o The CMB is a type of electromagnetic radiation which is a remnant from the early stages of the
Universe
o It has a wavelength of around 1 mm making it a microwave, hence the name
Cosmic Microwave Background radiation

 In 1964, Astronomers discovered radiation in the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum
coming from all directions and at a generally uniform temperature of 2.73 K
o They were unable to do this any earlier since microwaves are absorbed by the atmosphere
o Around this time, space flight was developed which enabled astronomers to send telescopes into
orbit above the atmosphere

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 According to the Big Bang theory, the early Universe was an extremely hot and dense environment
o As a result of this, it must have emitted thermal radiation

 The radiation is in the microwave region

o This is because over the past 14 billion years or so, the radiation initially from the Big Bang has
become redshifted as the Universe has expanded
o Initially, this would have been high energy radiation, towards the gamma end of the spectrum
o As the Universe expanded, the wavelength of the radiation increased
o Over time, it has increased so much that it is now in the microwave region of the spectrum
 The CMB is a result of high energy radiation being redshifted over billions of years

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 The CMB radiation is very uniform and has the exact profile expected to be emitted from a hot body that
has cooled down over a very long time
o This phenomenon is something that other theories (such as the Steady State
Theory) cannot explain

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 The CMB is represented by the following map:

The CMB map with areas of higher and lower temperature. Places with higher temperature have a higher
concentration of galaxies, Suns and planets

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  This is the closest image to a map of the observable Universe
 The different colours represent different temperatures
o The red / orange / brown regions represent warmer temperature indicating a higher density of
galaxies
o The blue regions represents cooler temperature indicating a lower density of galaxies

 The temperature of the CMB radiation is mostly uniform, however, there are minuscule temperature
fluctuations (on the order of 0.00001 K)
o This implies that all objects in the Universe are more or less uniformly spread out

Measuring Galactic Speed & Distance

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Using Redshift Observations to Measure the Universe

 The change in wavelength of the galaxy’s starlight due to redshift can be used to find the velocity, v, with
which a galaxy (or any distant object) is moving away from Earth
o Using an equation to compare the ratio of the expected wavelength with the observed wavelength,
the velocity can be found;

This equation will not be directly examined but the idea that the velocity of distant objects can be found from the
redshift seen in easily observed wavelengths is an important one

Measuring Distance Using Supernovae

 Redshift and CMB radiation allow various measurements of the Universe to be accurately made
o Measuring distance is done using different methods
o A key method is the use of standard candles, including supernovae
 Supernovae are exploding stars
o Certain types have the same peak level of brightness (absolute magnitude), making them
extremely useful in measuring the distance to remote stars and galaxies
o Type 1a supernovae are so bright that they can be seen clearly even though they may be deep
inside their parent galaxy
o This allows the distance to the galaxy to be calculated

Hubble Constant Calculations

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 In 1929, the astronomer Edwin Hubble showed that the universe was expanding
o He did this by observing that the absorption line spectra produced from the light of distant
galaxies was shifted towards the red end of the spectrum
 o This doppler shift in the wavelength of the light is evidence that distant galaxies are moving away
from the Earth

 Hubble also observed that light from more distant galaxies was shifted further towards the red end of the
spectrum compared to closer galaxies
o From this observation he concluded that galaxies or stars which are further away from the Earth
are moving faster than galaxies which are closer

 Hubble’s law states:

The recessional velocity v of a galaxy is proportional to its distance from Earth

 Hubble’s law can be expressed as an equation:

 Where:
o H0 = Hubble constant, this will be provided in your examination along with the correct units (s -1)
 The accepted value is that H0 = 2.2 × 10–18 per second
o v = recessional velocity of an object, the velocity of an object moving away from an observer (km
s-1)
o d = distance between the object and the Earth (km)

 As the equation shows, the Hubble Constant, H0 is defined as:

The ratio of the speed at which the galaxy is moving away from the Earth, to its distance from the Earth

Age of the Universe

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 Since Hubble's Law states that

  It can be rearranged to show that

 Hubble’s law shows that the further away a star is from the Earth, the faster it is moving away from us

A key aspect of Hubble’s law is that the furthest galaxies appear to move away the fastest

 The gradient of the graph can be used to find the Age of the Universe
o When the distance equals zero, this represents all the matter in the Universe being at a single
point
o This is the singularity that occurred at the moment of the Big Bang

 The units of the gradient are per second (the same as the units of the Hubble Constant)
o By taking the reciprocal, or, 1/Ho the units will become seconds
o Therefore the reciprocal of the gradient represents time and gives the amount of time which the
Universe has been expanding for

 Astronomers have used this formula to estimate the age of the Universe at about 13.7 billion years

Worked Example
A distant galaxy is 20 light-years away from Earth.

Use Hubble’s Law to determine the velocity of the galaxy as it moves away from Earth.

The Hubble constant is currently agreed to be 2.2 x 10 -18 s-1.

1 light year ≈ 9.5 x 1015 m

Step 1: List the known quantities:


 o d = 20 light years
o Ho = 2.2 x 10-18 s-1

Step 2: Convert 20 light-years to m:


o 1 ly ≈ 9.5 x 1015 m
o So, 20 ly = 20 x (9.5 x 1015) = 1.9 x 1017 m

Step 3: Substitute values into Hubble's Law:


o From the data booklet: v ≈ H0d
o So, v ≈ (2.2 x 10-18 ) x (1.9 x 1017) = 0.418 m s-1

Step 4: Confirm your answer:


o The velocity of the galaxy as it moves away from Earth 0.42 m s-1