The Earth and Beyond

Contents
The Solar System Stars Solar Systems, Galaxies & the Universe Comets Life Cycle of Stars Red-Shift History of the Universe Future of the Universe SETI

The Solar System

My Very Efficient Mind Just Stores Up Nine Planets

Stars

Stars are burning balls of gas e.g. our Sun

Stars give out light This light reflects off planets so we can see them Planets are much smaller than stars but they seem much bigger as they are much closer The 9 planets orbit the sun, Earth orbits the Sun once a year

Stars

Stars are burning balls of gas e.g. our Sun

Stars give out light This light reflects off planets so we can see them Planets are much smaller than stars but they seem much bigger as they are much closer The 9 planets orbit the sun, Earth orbits the Sun once a year

Solar Systems, Galaxies & the Universe

Our Sun is one of millions of stars that orbit the centre of the Universe

The Milky Way is one of more than a billion galaxies in the Universe
The Universe is expanding

Comets
Tail is pushed away from sun by solar pressure

Comets appear every few years Comets have highly elliptical orbits around the Sun

Tail is made of ice and rock

Comets are visible when they are close to the Sun A comets orbit is fastest near the Sun due to the Suns gravity. It slows as it moves further away from the Sun

Life Cycle of Stars

cools and contracts

Layers of dust & gas are ejected clouds of dust & gas

HHe heat & light ejectedstar

H runs outswells red = cooler

dense core = neutron star explode supernova or black hole (crushes atoms!)

Red-Shift

Light from distant galaxies is shifted towards the red end of the spectrum Frequencies become lower as they move away (like the Doppler Effect for sound)

Further away = greater red-shift

Universe is expanding

Also evidence from microwave radiation (background radiation) that Universe is cooling

History of the Universe

1. Steady State Theory

Universe has always existed and Universe will always exist No convincing evidence
Not much support for the Steady State Theory

History of the Universe

2. Big Bang Theory

Universe was compressed and exploded Big Bang

Occurred 15 billion years ago

Estimated by current rate of expansion

Expansion is slowing due to gravity

Future of the Universe

According to the Big Bang Theory

1. Expand Forever If too little mass for gravity to stop expansion Universe will expand and spread out into eternity 2. Big Crunch

If enough mass to stop expansion, universe will contract Big Crunch! Big Crunch would produce another Big Bang and so on!

SETI
Scientists search for extra terrestrial intelligence

Radio Signals SETI looks for radio wavelength signals being sent to Earth These signals can only be sent by a transmitter SETI has been running for 40 years not found anything Now searching for laser signals too! Robots Collect Photos and Samples Spacecraft are sent to planets to look for microorganisms Collect samples and take photos Scientists analyse samples and look for fossils etc.

Summary
Solar system 9 planets & 1 star Stars emit light, planets reflect this light Solar systems are in galaxies which are in the Universe Comets (rock and ice) have long elliptical orbits around Sun Life cycle of stars differs for massive & small stars Red-shift evidence for fast expansion of galaxies History of the Universe Big Bang or Steady State Future of the Universe Big Crunch or Eternal Expansion SETI Radio signals, laser signals, collect photos & samples