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Transcript
SOAR Fall 2004 The Children of Earth The Origin Of Metals Only elements lighter than iron can be made in living stars. Light elements from living stars Heavy elements from … Giant Stars Have layers fusing different elements Iron Iron is the most stable element ABSORBS energy in fusion ABSORBS energy in fission When iron core begins to fuse energy is absorbed by reaction core cools … contracts outer layers begin to fall in star implodes … outer layers bounce off dense inner core star explodes … Supernova Crab Nebula Supernova Observed in 1054 by Chinese & Anazazi Capella in Auriga Castor in Gemini Pollux in Gemini M1 Aldebaran in Taurus Procyon in Canis Minor Rigel in Orion Sirius in Canis Major Supernova Remnant Crab Nebula “Guest Star” in, Taurus noted in Chinese records in 1054 and on rock overhang in Chaco Cañon, NM. Is still expanding … still exploding! Crab Nebula VLT Optical Image Crab Pulsar Neutron star pulses! Initially called “LGM” for “little green men.” Crab Nebula Core of exploded star is a neutron star Inner Crab Combined HST optical and Chandra X-ray images The first pulsar discovered! Pulsars Rapidly Rotating Neutron Stars Emission “beamed” by magnetic fields Bright when beam points at Earth Stars “spin-up” during collapse like spinning skater Eta Carinae A star 100 times the mass of Sol …in death throes Southern Sky from CTIO SMC Cen 1.5 m Cen telescope LMC 4 m telescope Southern Cross (Crux) Cerro Tololo Interamerican Observatory La Serena, Chile Starry Night Cerro Tololo Interamerican View Observatory La Serena, Chile Eta Carinae “… Bathe yourself in the ocean of matter; plunge into it where it is deepest and most violent; struggle in its currents and drink of its waters. “For it cradled you long ago in your preconscious existence; and it is that ocean that will raise you up to God.” Teilhard de Chardin The Milky Way Galaxy Sun ~ 30,000 ly from center Galactic Year ~225,000,000 yr (Sol is ~22) M87, a galaxy much like the Milky Way http://www.eso.org/outreach/press-rel/pr-1999/pr-18-99.html Solar System Sun & Planets formed from interstellar clouds collapsing under gravity Solar System Inner Worlds: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars 1 AU = 150,000,000 km = 93,000,000 mi Positions at 17:00 UT, 1/23/04 Solar System Outer Worlds: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto SS width ~ 12,000,000,000 km ~ 7,500,000,000 mi Positions at 17:00 UT, 1/23/04 Contents of the Solar System Planets Mercury (y) Venus (v) Earth () Mars (m) Jupiter (j) Saturn (t) Uranus (U or u) Neptune (n) Pluto (P) Sun and Planets to scale Planet Mosaic Asteroids Gaspra Mostly beyond Earth’s orbit Ida & Dactyl An asteroid with a moon! Asteroids Come close to Earth Can hit Earth Asteroid Impacts Cause of mass extinctions? Chicxulub Impact Demise of the dinosaurs? Mapped by gravitational anomalies On Edge of Yucatan Peninsula Earth c. 65 million BCE http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/SIC/impact_cratering/Chicxulub/Chicx_title.html Comet Halley from ESA’s Giotto, 1986 Comets: Dirty Snowballs Comet Explorer, c. 2025 Comet Hale-Bopp & N. American Nebula 3/97 Col Drusciè Observatory, Cortina d'Ampezzo - Italy Life’s History Earth is 4.5 by old Now Then Earliest life 3.5 by ago: stromatolites (cyanobacteria) Life At High Temperature Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park Cyanobacteria … the most ancient life on Earth Life In The Dark The Deep Sea Vents Life utilizes minerals from Earth’s interior Life’s History Evolution of complex life only in last 570 million years! Most evolution has taken place ONLY in last 3% of the age of the universe! Life In The Air Sandhill Cranes, Bosque Del Apache, Socorro, NM The last of the dinosaurs! Abundance Of Life Life survives in every ecosystem on Earth … even within ice and rocks! Sulfide-digesting bacteria on rocks Microbe from Antarctic Ice Life Everywhere On Land Life From The Rocks Shrub on the desert pavement Lichens: symbiotic associations of algae and fungi Trees From The Rocks Life On The Trees Given Hydrogen, Gravity & 15 Billion Years The Universe Made Pace Kiva Puppies! Touching Earth Whenever your feet touch Earth you know they are touching Where something has died or been born. Antler Earth Prayers And All Is From The Stars! Except the hydrogen isstars from the Giant stars produced Fe, Zn, which Sun-sized produced Au, Ag, Hg, Pb, I, Ba ... after the first millisecond C,Big O, Nbang! … Human History Humanoids appeared about a million years ago … 0.04% of Earth’s age, 0.007% of Universe’s age Human History Written human history covers about last 10,000 years (since the glaciers melted) 0.0004% of Earth’s age, 0.00007% of Universe’s age If the history of the universe were a year, Humans would show up in the last ½ hour before midnight on December 31! Psalm 8 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars that you have established; what are human beings that you are mindful of them, mortals that you care for them? Genesis “God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.” And we are all made of star stuff! Caring for Earth’s Creatures “The concern here is with the possibility of a theology of nature, that is, using the picture of reality coming to us from postmodern science as a way to reimagine the relationship between God and the world… Caring for Earth’s Creatures “…to consider ourselves as inspirited bodies, profoundly interrelated with all other such bodies and yet having the distinction of shared responsibility with God for the well being of our planet.” Sally McFague The Body of God God and the Universe “Matter and spirit: these were no longer two things, but two states of one and the same cosmic stuff.” Teilhard de Chardin