Download THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE IN ONE EASY LESSON

“Astronomy is more than the study of stars and
planets. It is the study of the universe in which
we humans exist. You and I live on a small planet
circling a small sun drifting through the universe,
but astronomy can take us beyond these
boundaries and help us not only see where we are
in the universe but understand what we are.”
- Michael A. Seeds, Astronomer-
THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE IN ONE
EASY LESSON
THE BEGINNING, WHERE WE ARE,
AND THE END
COSMOS - GREEK WORD FOR ORDER
WE LOOK AT PRETTY MUCH THE SAME NIGHT SKY
THAT OUR ANCESTORS LOOKED AT.
THE CLOSER WE LOOK, THE MORE COMPLICATED
IT BECOMES, AND WE THINK ANYTHING BUT
ORDER.
IT’S AN EXTREMELY COMPLEX PLACE OUT THERE
- ALMOST MIND BOGGLINGLY SO.
IN DOUGLAS ADAMS’S HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO
THE GALAXY THE ULTIMATE TORTURE MACHINE
IS KNOWN AS THE TOTAL PERSPECTIVE VORTEX A DIABOLICAL CREATION THAT CAN TURN ANY
LIVING BEING INTO A RAVING LUNATIC.
INSIDE THE CHAMBER IS A PICTURE OF THE
ENTIRE VASTNESS OF THE COSMOS WITH A TINY
ARROW THAT READS “YOU ARE HERE.”
SCIENTISTS BASE THEIR THEORY OF THE BIG BANG
ON THE FACT THAT THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING.
IF YOU GO BACK IN TIME, YOU WOULD REACH A
POINT WHERE THE UNIVERSE WAS COMPRESSED
INTO A SINGLE POINT.
NOW, AS YOU MOVE FORWARD FROM THAT POINT
IN TIME, AND FOLLOW THE UNIVERSE AS IT
EXPANDS, EACH POINT IN TIME REPRESENTS A
CERTAIN ENERGY OR TEMPERATURE.
THE TEMPERATURES OR ENERGY LEVELS WERE
SO GREAT AT FIRST THAT MATTER AS WE KNOW IT
COULD NOT EXIST.
ALL CIVILIZATIONS HAVE HAD THEIR CREATION
STORIES TO EXPLAIN HOW IT ALL BEGAN.
IT ALL BEGINS WITH NOTHING - NOTHING AT ALL.
THIS IS SIMILAR TO MANY CREATION STORIES.
IT BEGINS WITH A SINGULARITY - A TINY SEED THAT
CONTAINED ALL THE MATTER
BUT, REMEMBER THERE WAS NOTHING - NO
SPACE; NO TIME; NOT EVEN A VOID - NOTHING AT
ALL.
IN AN INSTANT, NOTHING BECAME SOMETHING.
At 5 seconds, NUCLEI OF ATOMS BEGAN TO FORM.
DURING THIS TIME, DEUTERIUM, HELIUM-3, HELIUM4, AND LITHIUM NUCLEI WERE FORMED.
AFTER 5 MINUTES, THE UNIVERSE HAD COOLED TO
THE POINT THAT PROTONS AND NEUTRONS DID NOT
HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY TO STICK TOGETHER ON
COLLISION.
NUCLEOSYNTHESIS ENDED AT THIS POINT.
A CLOUD OF NUCLEI, ELECTRONS, PROTONS, AND
PHOTONS EXISTED AT THIS POINT - A PLASMA.
PLASMAS HAVE INTERESTING PROPERTIES - THEY
CONDUCT ELECTRICITY (LIKE METALS), AND THEY
ARE OPAQUE TO LIGHT.
AT THIS POINT, 75% OF MATTER WAS HYDROGEN
NUCLEI AND 25% WAS HELIUM NUCLEI.
THE UNIVERSE CONTINUED TO EXPAND AND
COOL.
AT APPROXIMATELY 300,000 YEARS, THE
UNIVERSE COOLED ENOUGH FOR ATOMS TO
FORM.
THE PLASMA DISSAPEARED, AND PHOTONS
COULD ESCAPE.
PHOTONS ZOOMED OFF IN ALL DIRECTIONS.
AT APPROXIMATELY 1 BILLION YEARS, GALAXIES
COULD FORM.
@ 10-33 sec, T = 1027 K, UNIVERSE ~ 100 cm wide
@ 1 sec, T = 1010 K, UNIVERSE ~ 1020 cm wide
@ 300,000 years, T = 3,000 K
FIRST STARS FORM AROUND 100-200 MILLION
YEARS
GLAXIES FORM AT AROUND 1 BILLION YEARS
THE HUBBEL
TELESCOPE HAS
MADE TWO VERY
LONG
EXPOSURES
THAT HAVE
ALLOWED
ASTRONOMERS
TO LOOK BACK
APPROXIMATELY
12.5 BILLION
YEARS IN TIME.
DATA SUPPORTING BIG BANG THEORY:
1.THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING.
2.COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION
3.CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE UNIVERSE –
75% HYDROGEN, 25% HELIUM, TRACE OF
LITHIUM.
4.TEMPERATURE OF SPACE
OUR OWN GALAXY, THE MILKY WAY, PROBABLY
FORMED FROM A CLOUD OF GAS.
THE CLOUD WAS PROBABLY SPHERICAL AT ONE
TIME, AS WE DO SEE SOME OLDER STARS IN A
SPHERICAL HALO AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF OUR
GALAXY.
AS THE CLOUD STARTED TO ROTATE, IT
FLATTENED OUT.
STARS IN OUR GALAXY FORMED, AND SOME GREW
OLD AND DIED.
THESE CONTRIBUTED THEIR MATTER TO GAS
CLOUDS THAT FORMED NEW STARS.
STARS HAVE A FINITE LIFETIME.
THEY ARE FUELED BY NUCLEAR FUSION
REACTIONS.
LIGHT NUCLEI COLLIDE AT VERY HIGH SPEEDS TO
FORM HEAVIER NUCLEI.
IN THE PROCESS, A GREAT DEAL OF ENERGY IS
RELEASED.
IT’S THIS ENERGY THAT KEEPS STARS FROM
COLLAPSING.
WHEN A STAR USES UP MOST OF ITS HYDROGEN,
THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ENERGY PRODUCED TO
OVERCOME GRAVITY, SO THE STAR WILL
COLLAPSE.
THERE ARE 2 WAYS
A STAR CAN DIE.
1. IF A STAR IS
APPROXIMATELY 10
TIMES THE MASS
OF OUR SUN, WHEN
IT COLLAPSES, IT
WILL GO SUPER
NOVA - A HUGE
EXPLOSION.
2. LESS THAN 3 TIMES THE MASS OF OUR SUN, IT
WILL EXPAND TO BECOME A RED GIANT, THEN PUFF
OFF ITS OUTER LAYERS AND BECOME A WHITE
DWARF.
THE MILKY WAY GALAXY - HOME
THE LOCAL GROUP
THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY AND THE MILKY WAY
GALAXY ARE 2 MILLION LIGHT YEARS APART.
IN KILOMETERS, THAT WOULD BE:
2 X 106 X 9.5 X 1012 = 1.9 X 1019 KM
THEY ARE MOVING TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND
WILL COLLIDE IN APPROXIMATELY 5 BILLION
YEARS.
NOT IN OUR LIFE TIME, IN OTHER WORDS!
THE VIRGO CLUSTER, ALONG WITH SEVERAL
OTHER CLUSTERS ARE MOVING TOWARDS A
REGION OF SPACE THAT DOES NOT CONTAIN
ANYTHING THAT WE CAN SEE.
ASTRONOMERS REFER TO THE OBJECT TOWARDS
WHICH THE GALAXIES ARE MOVING AS “THE GREAT
ATTRACTOR.”
WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN FOR THE FUTURE?
IT MEANS THAT WE LIVE IN AN EXPANDING
UNIVERSE, AND THE EXPANSION IS SPEEDING UP.
IN A SENSE, THE SPACE BETWEEN THE GALAXIES
IS GETTING LARGER.
IN THE FUTURE, STARS WILL BURN UP.
OUR OWN SUN WILL USE UP MOST OF ITS FUEL IN
ABOUT 5 BILLION YEARS.
AS SPACE EXPANDS, GALAXIES WILL MOVE
FURTHER APART.
STARS WILL GO OUT.
THE NIGHT SKY WILL BECOME EMPTIER AND
EMPTIER.
ENERGY WILL BECOME HARDER TO FIND.
THIS IS NOT QUITE THE SCENE DEPICTED IN “THE
RESTURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE.”
THE LIFE OF OUR UNIVERSE IS ABOUT 14 BILLION
YEARS.
LIGHT SIGNALS HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO TRAVEL
MORE THAN 14 BILLION LIGHT YEARS.
SO, WE CAN’T OBSERVE ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF
THIS SPHERE.
“Our currently observable universe is but one small
part of a greater whole. But if the laws of physics can
enforce the production of our universe, these same
laws could create a whole series of universes through
the same mechanism. These other universes, the
offspring of other small patches of space-time being
launched into existence, could evolve and never come
into contact with our own.” - Fred Adams-
THE UNIVERSE IS A VERY
STRANGE PLACE INDEED.
MIND-BOGGLING!!!