Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
The Universe: Its Scale and (some) Contents “Space is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it's a long way down the road to the chemist's, but that's just peanuts to space.” Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 - 2001) “Galactic Stress” by David Levine, available for free online: http://www.mikebrotherton.com/diamonds/?page_id=41 The opening scene to the movie Contact: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNAUR7NQCLA © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. What is our place in the universe? © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Star A large, glowing ball of gas that generates heat and light through nuclear fusion © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Planet Mars Neptune A moderately large object that orbits a star; it shines by reflected light. Planets may be rocky, icy, or gaseous in composition. © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Moon (or Satellite) An object that orbits a planet Ganymede (orbits Jupiter) © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Asteroid A relatively small and rocky object that orbits a star © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Comet A relatively small and icy object that orbits a star © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Solar (Star) System A star and all the material that orbits it, including its planets and moons © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Nebula An interstellar cloud of gas and/or dust © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Galaxy A great island of stars in space, all held together by gravity and orbiting a common center M31, the great galaxy in Andromeda © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Universe The sum total of all matter and energy; that is, everything within and between all galaxies © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. How can we know what the universe was like in the past, as well as its size? • Light travels at a finite speed (300,000 km/s). Destination Light travel time Moon 1 second Sun 8 minutes Sirius 8 years Andromeda Galaxy 2.5 million years • Thus, we see objects as they were in the past: The farther away we look in distance, the further back we look in time. © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Example: We see the Orion Nebula as it looked 1500 years ago. © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Example: This photo shows the Andromeda Galaxy as it looked about 2 1/2 million years ago. Question: When will we be able to see what it looks like now? © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Light-year • The distance light can travel in 1 year • About 10 trillion kilometers (6 trillion miles) © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. How far is a light-year? 1 light-year = (speed of light) (1 year) km 365 days 24 hr 60 min 60 s = 300,000 s 1 yr 1 day 1 hr 1 min © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. How far is a light-year? 1 light-year = (speed of light) (1 year) km 365 days 24 hr 60 min 60 s = 300,000 s 1 yr 1 day 1 hr 1 min =9,460,000,000,000 km © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. Can we see the entire universe? © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. How big is Earth compared to our solar system? Let’s reduce the size of the solar system by a factor of 10 billion; the Sun is now the size of a large grapefruit (14 cm diameter). How big is Earth on this scale? A. B. C. D. E. an atom a ball point a marble a golf ball a big boulder. © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc. How far away are the stars? On our 1-to-10-billion scale, it’s just a few minutes’ walk to Pluto. How far would you have to walk to reach Alpha Centauri? • • • • • F. 1 mile G. 10 miles H. 100 miles I. distance across the USA (~2500 miles) J. distance part way to the moon (100,000 miles) © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.