Unit 1: The Universe

1. The Sun and the Solar System

2. Planets in the Solar System
3. Other celestial bodies
4. The stars
5. Galaxies and the Universe
1. The Sun and the Solar System
a) (Introduction) The Solar System consists of:
 The Sun
 Celestial bodies: they travel around the sun
• Planets
• Satellites
• Dwarf planets
• Comets
• Asteroids
b) The Sun: characteristics.
 It is the centre of the Solar System: eight planets
go around it in elliptical orbits
 It is very far away (so it looks small to us)
 The Sun is really big! Its mass is 334.000 times
the mass of the Earth
 The Sun is extremely hot because of its core
nuclear reactions: the hydrogen is converted into
helium.
 The Sun emits light because of its extreme heat
Planets going around the Sun in
elliptical orbits
Comparing the size of the Sun and the
Earth
Hydrogen converted into helium
c) Historical theories to explain the Solar System
̶ The geocentric model: by Ptolemy
• The Earth is the centre of the Universe
• The Sun, Moon and planets go around the Earth
– The heliocentric model: by Copernicus
• The Sun is the centre of the Universe
• The Earth and the other planets go around the Sun
• The Moon goes around the Earth
• The Earth rotates on its axis
– Both models, heliocentric and geocentric, were
wrong.
Geocentric model (by Ptolemy)
Heliocentric model (by Copernicus)
2. Planets in the Solar System
a) (Introduction) What are planets?:
 Planets are spherical bodies.
 Planets move around the sun in counter-
clockwise direction.
 Planet’s orbits are free of other celestial bodies
 Planets do not shed their own light. Planets shine
because they reflect the light of the sun.
 The eight Solar System planets are classified into
two groups: terrestrial planets and gas giant
planets
Planets move around the sun in
counter-clockwise direction
Planetshine
Clasification of planets
b) Terrestrial planets:
‒ Features: they have a compact rocky surface like
the Earth.
‒ Mercury:
• It is the closest planet to the Sun.
• Its surface is full of craters
• It doesn’t have an atmosphere
• Its surface temperature range -170ºC to 450ºC
– Venus:
• There are thick corrosive clouds of carbon dioxide and
acids which completely cover its extremely dense
atmosphere.
• Its surface temperature is the highest in the Solar
System: 460ºC.
– Earth: It is the only planet in the Solar System that
has the necessary conditions for life:
• Average temperatures of 15ºC
• Liquid water
• Atmosphere: 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen
• Satellites: a big one, the Moon.
– Mars:
• Size: much smaller than Earth.
• Atmosphere: very thin. Made of carbon dioxide.
• Surface: dry and sandy.
• Satellites: two and they are very small.
The Moon and Mercury
Venus covered in clouds
Venus surface and atmosphere
Venera probe on Venus surface
Venus and the Earth
Mars, the Earth and the Moon
Mars atmosphere
Mars surface and atmosphere
Mars satellites
c) Gas giant planets:
‒ Features:
• They are liquid and gaseous planets.
• They are bigger and colder than terrestrial planets.
• Their huge atmosphere is made of hydrogen and
helium.
• It is impossible to see their surface because it is
covered by outer clouds.
‒ Jupiter:
• It is the largest planet in the Solar System.
– Saturn:
• It is a bit smaller than Jupiter
• Saturn has a huge and beautiful ring
 ‒ Uranus:
• It is smaller than Saturn.
• Its axis rotation is almost on the plane of its orbit.
– Neptune:
• It is the smallest and the last of the gas giant planets
• Its average temperatures range from -150ºC to -200ºC.
3. Other celestial bodies
a) Introduction: they include dwarf planets and small
bodies such as comets and asteroids.
b) Dwarf planets:
‒ They are round celestial bodies whose orbits
are cleared of the orbits of other bodies.
 ‒ Pluto, Ceres and Eris are dwarf planets.
c) Small bodies:
‒ Composition: they are made of rocks and ice and
some are made of metals.
‒ They sometimes fall to Earth (meteorites are
asteroids bites on Earth’s surface) so we can study
them.
‒ There are two types: asteroids and comets.
‒ Asteroids:
• Most of them are located in a ring around the Sun
between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter called the Asteroid
Belt.
• Other asteroids are located beyond Neptune’s orbit: in
another ring called the Kuiper Belt.
Gas giant planets
Dwarf planets
Dwarf planets in Kuiper Belt
Dwarf planets in their orbits
Pluto, Charon and the Earth
 Pluto and Charon

New Horizon’s Mission

To Pluto

Pluto and charon

Flying Video
Pluto
Pluto’s surface Video
 Charon’s surface Video
Charon
Asteroids & comet composition
Meteorites
Asteroids
Asteroid belt
Kuiper belt
 – Comets:
• They go around the Sun in very eccentric orbits.
• They complete their cycle around the Sun in periods
that go from 5 years to 300 years.
• A comet's tail points away from the Sun because the
increasing temperature near the Sun causes the
evaporation of the comet ice.
d) Distances in the Solar System
̶ Astronomical unit (A.U.): it is the distance
between the Sun and the Earth (150.000.000
Km)
– Light year: it is the distance that light travels in
one year. (Speed of light: 300.000 km per
second).
Rosetta mission
Landing on comet
Chury
«Chury» Comet
«Chury» Comet
Rosseta Mission

Landing on comet
«Chury» Comet
«Chury» Comet on Madrid!
A comet’s tail
Astronomical units (A.U.)
 4. The stars
a) (Introduction) What are the stars?
– They are celestial bodies which emit their own light.
– The life of a star: they are born, they develop and
they die.
– The Sun is the star in our planetary system: it is
yellow, middle aged (4500 millions years old) and
medium sized. The Sun rotates really fast: about
72.000 Km/h
– The bigger the star, the higher its temperature and
the brighter and bluer its colour.
b) The life of a star:
– They are born: a star begins its life as an enormous
cloud of gas and dust called nebula.
– They develop: stars are made of hydrogen which is the
fuel they use to transform into helium and emit heat
and light in the process.
– They die: It happens when a star runs out of fuel.
Depending on its mass, a star can die in different ways:
• Medium and small stars (as the Sun): they cool
down and expand (as a red giant star) until they are
extinguished as a white dwarf star.
• Bigger stars: they disappear (as a black hole) in a
final explosion called supernova. The star’s remains
become cosmic dust. The new stars, planets and
living beings are made of that cosmic dust.
The Sun and other stars
The Crab Nebula
The life of a star
Red giant Sun
The Earth swallowed by the Sun
Evolution of the Sun
Supernova
Black hole devouring a star
 5. Galaxies and the Universe
a) (Introduction) What are the galaxies?
– They are groups of stars and clouds of gas and dust.
– Everything orbits around a common centre.
– They develop and change their appearance: from
elliptical to spiral.
b) Our galaxy is the Milky Way
‒ From the Earth, it looks like a wide band of light.
‒ All the stars you can see in the sky belong to the
Milky Way
‒ Structure: it is a spiral galaxy (>100.000 mill. stars)
• Shape: it is like a disc (similar to an UFO)
• Its stars are grouped in spiral arms which orbit its
centre.
• In the centre there is a supermassive black hole
• The Solar System is situated between two spiral arms.
6. The Universe
a) It is everything we can observe: space, matter and
energy.
b) Origin: according to the Big Bang theory a
giant explosion created the Universe.
‒ In the beginning, everything in the Universe was
concentrated in a small and simple point.
‒ After the explosion, matter, at high temperature,
expanded and got cooler to form huge nebulae
of hydrogen gas.
‒ The nebulae developed into millions of stars and
galaxies.
‒ All galaxies move away from each other: the
Universe is in a continuous expansion.
Milky Way from the Earth
The Milky Way structure
Milky Way: (UFO) profile view