Formation of the Universe

Why do scientists think the

universe is expanding?
I. The singularity – The theorized beginning
of the universe.
A. All particles of matter in the universe was
compressed into an unimaginably dense
object about the size of a dime.
B. Suddenly this single atom imploded and
with a great release of energy all matter began
expanding with tremendous speed to create
our universe
II. The Big Bang Theory

A. The first minute

1. 98% of all matter in the universe was formed. First particles
formed were quarks (make up protons and neutrons),
electrons, photons, neutrons.

2. The first elements formed were hydrogen, helium and

deuterium (isotope of hydrogen)

3. Our universe is 1 million billion miles across and 10 billion

degrees Kelvin.
B. Inflation Theory
1. For a very short period of time (10 –30 sec) the universe
doubled itself every 10 –34 sec.
2. This theory was proposed in 1979 by Alan Guth.
3. This period of great expansion helped establish the law of
gravity (All objects have a gravitational force, the larger the
object the greater the force, ex. the earth vs. your pen.) other
laws of physics were established between subatomic
particles. This theory also helps explain how the force of
gravity began to condense clumps of matter into objects that
would eventually form stars and galaxies.
C. Size and organization of our universe.
1. There is no end to the universe, due to the nature of
space, it curves.
a. Thought to be 90 billion trillion miles “across”, this is
as far out as we can see.
b. At this distance, quasars (star like objects) are
observed. Quasars give off more energy than 100’s
of galaxies combined, thought to represent the
earliest stages of the universe formation
2. The universe is composed of around 100
billion galaxies, of which the Milky Way
(our home) is one.
a. Galaxies are composed of 100’s of
billions of stars
b. There are 3 general shapes:
- Elliptical: older galaxies, more disc
shaped
- Spiral: looks like a pin
wheel, Milky Way is one.
- Irregular: least common of the
three.
Galaxies are rushing away
from each other, space is
expanding
3. Formation of heavier elements
may be found in supernovae.
a. Supernovae occur when giant
stars (much bigger than our sun)
explode and immense energy is
released (equal to a trillion hydrogen
bombs detonating)
b. 10 million degree temperatures
are adequate to create heavier
elements necessary for life (carbon,
nitrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and
phosphorous).
4. Our galaxy the Milky Way (“milky
circle”) is about 100,000 light years across
and 15,000 light years long.
D. Future of our universe – Scientists are measuring the
density (amount of mass per unit of area) of our
universe, to predict what will happen. A density unit is
called an omega is used to refer to the density of our
universe. Scientists cannot yet measure dark matter (ex.
Black holes, neutrinos).
1. Open / Eternal Universe (The Big
Rip)
If galaxies continue to move away
from each other, eventually all stars
will die and the universe will fizzle
out.
2. Closed Universe (Big Crunch)
The gravitational attraction between stars will
overcome the energy that resulted from the
“Big Bang”. The galaxies will begin to come
toward each other, eventually the universe
would condense again into another
singularity.
3. Flat / Critical Density-
Momentum will be lost, galaxies will
stop moving from each other, the
universe will not expand, but not contract.
Momentum will eventually die and the
stars will fizzle out.
III Evidence to Support the Big Bang
A. The Doppler Effect – The universe is currently
expanding
1. Every object in universe is moving (earth
rotating, sun around the Milky Way, galaxies
move away from each other).
2. Direction of this movement is measured by
a spectroscope which breaks up white light
into individual colors (like a prism).
3. Light, like sound, travels in the form of waves,
light just travels A LOT faster (186,000 miles a
second). These waves are measured in wavelength
(different wavelengths of light appear as different
colors)
4. Light waves when approaching an object are shorter
with a higher frequency (Just as with sound - ex. train
whistle sounds high when approaching you). In light,
blue /violet are the visible colors with shorter
wavelength. Therefore objects moving toward the earth
and giving off light, have a blue shift / color to them
when measured with a spectroscope
5. Light waves when moving away from an
object are longer with a lower frequency
(i.e. train whistle sounds lower when
moving away from you) – red is the visible
color with longer wavelengths. Therefore
objects that are moving away from earth
have a red shift when measured with
spectroscope
6. All galaxies observed in the universe
have a red shift, so they are moving away
from our galaxy.
7. The degree of the shift (how blue or
red) gives information on the speed at
which the object is moving
B. Detection of uniformly distributed cosmic
background radiation (CBR), left over energy
from the Big Bang, is found in the form of
radio waves. 1% of static on TV is this
background radiation from the big bang.
C. Chemical Composition:
The big bang model predicts that the
universe is about 75% hydrogen and about
25% helium with small amounts of heavier
elements. This is supported by
measurements of observable universe.
IV. Important milestones in modern
cosmology (study of the origins of the
universe):
A.1927 – Georges Lamaitre, hypothesized
that the universe began from an
explosion of a “primitive atom”.
B. 1929 – Edwin Hubble, hypothesized
approximate size of the universe and
observed “red shift” of neighboring
galaxies
C. 1948 – George Gamow, speculated
that such a Big Bang explosion would
have left behind uniformly distributed
background radiation throughout the
universe
D. 1964 – Arno Penzias and Robert
Wilson, discovered the background
radiation coming from all directions
E. 1970’s – Alan Guth, Inflation Theory
explaining laws of physics and formation
of galaxies.
F. 1992 – George Smoot, measured
temperature fluctuations of space at 2.7
Kelvin, evidence of structure of universe
V. Formation of our Solar System – Solar
Nebular Theory
A. Gas and dust (Nebular cloud) began to
collapse due to the force of gravity. Usually
initiated by a shockwave of neighboring
supernova. This cloud may have been seeded
with heavier elements by a neighboring
supernova.
B. Particles in the center of the cloud, coalesce (come
together) faster and become more dense, increasing
temperature causing nuclear fusion, gives off heat and
light (2 hydrogen atoms fuse and form helium)- this is
called a protostar (our sun). 99.9% of all the mass in
our solar system is contained in our sun.
C. In the outer portions of the cloud,
colliding dust grains begin to stick together
until they are big enough to produce their
own gravitational field, attracting even
more matter, forming protoplanets.
1. Inner planets (Mercury, Venus,
Earth, and Mars) are so close to the
sun that their gases burn off and
tend to be rocky and metal.
2. Outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus
and Neptune) are far enough from the sun
that gases do not burn off and they tend to
be very large planets.
3. Asteroid belts are thought to be created
from clumps of matter that were not
assimilated into the protoplanets.
There is an asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter
termed the “main belt”, and another on the outer edge of
the solar system called the “Kuiper belt”. The “Oort
Cloud” is on the outermost edges of our universe and
contains a collection of comet-like objects.
D. The forming protoplanets of the outer
portion of the cloud begin to swirl around
the center (sun). Our solar system formed
about 4.5 billion years ago
E. It takes our sun 200 million years to
rotate around the core of the Milky
Way galaxy.
 The SUN
The Sun is the closest star to Earth and is the center
of our solar system. A giant, spinning ball of very
hot gas, the Sun is fueled by nuclear fusion
reactions. The light from the Sun heats our world
and makes life possible. The Sun is also an active
star that displays sunspots, solar flares, erupting
prominences, and coronal mass ejections. These
phenomena impact our near-Earth space
environment and determine our "space weather."
 Charateristics of the Sun
• Size: 1 392 000 km in diameter

• Mass: 1.98 x 10³° kg

• Density: 1400kg/m³

• Surface Temperature:5500 °C–

• 6000 °C
The Structure of Sun
 The Stars

• A Star is a big ball of hot gases. The gases

are mostly hydrogen and helium.
• A Star emits light and heat which are
generated by nuclear reactions.
• Stars vary in brightness. The brightness
affected by its distance from Earth
 The Various Types of Stars

• Stars are classify according to its size,

brightness, surface temperature and colour.
• There are four main groups of stars, namely
• -White dwarf
• -Neutron stars
• -Giants
• -Super Giants
White Dwarf
Neutron Stars
Giant Star
Supergiant Star
 The Formation of Stars
• Stars are formed within large clusters of dust and
gases called as nebulae.
• Due to the force of gravity nebula collapses and spin.
• The spinning clouds pull in more hydrogen gas over
millions of years.
• Collisions occurred between nebula and hydrogen
atoms.
• Hydrogen atoms combine to form helium atoms,
releasing a large amount of heat and light.
Thank You