SPACE PHYSICS-HOW TO TELL?

COSMOLOGY: Is the study of the Universe and its origin. A Cosmologist studies
physics, arts, history and religion.

THE UNIVERSE: Is an unfathomable space that consists of an infinite number of

galaxies.

A GALAXY: Is a collection of billions of Stars and other celestial bodies. A galaxy

rotates and is held together by gravitational attraction.

Our Galaxy is called the Milky-way galaxy. Close to us is Andromeda galaxy.

STAR: Is a celestial body that consists of interstellar clouds of dust and gases of
Helium and Hydrogen. It radiates most of its energy in the IR, VL and UV regions
of the EM spectrum. A star is powered by nuclear fusion reaction with the release
of great heat energy; 11 H + 31 H 4
2H e

Features of the solar system

 The solar system consists of one Star, which is the SUN and the eight
Planets, the dwarf/minor planets, their Moons, the Asteroids and comets
all of them orbiting the SUN in an elliptical orbit.
 The strength of the gravitational field, g at the surface of a celestial body
depends on its mass.
 This g-value around a body decreases as the distance from the body
increases.
 The Sun contains most of the mass of the solar system, and that’s why the
planets orb it the Sun because it has the biggest g-value.
 The Sun has a temperature of about 6000 0C at the surface and about
20million 0C at its core (center).
 The closer a planet is to the Sun, the greater its orbital speed, because
there is stronger gravitational pull on it by the Sun.
 Mercury and Pluto (dwarf/minor planet) have the most eccentric orbits
(extremely elliptical). This makes them inconsistent with the general
properties of the normal planets.

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  Venus, Earth and Neptune have the least eccentric orbits.
 The force that keeps all the celestial bodies around the Sun is the
gravitational attraction of the Sun.
 The average orbital speed of a satellite around its celestial body can be
defined as the average radius of the orbit divided by the orbital period. It is
given the equation;
2 πr
v= T

v = average orbital speed

r = average orbital radius

T = orbital period

 The Sun is not at the center of the elliptical orbits of the planets, comets
and asteroids except if the orbit is approximately circular.
 There are eight planets in the solar system. The four closest to the sun are
rocky and small, and the four farthest from the sun are gassy and large.

A Planet: Is a spherical celestial solid or gas which has cleared its orbit around the
Sun, and it exhibits two types of motion; rotation and revolution. Its rotation
causes day and night and its revolution causes seasons on the planet.

Moon/Satellite: Is any object in orbit around a planet.

Asteroids: Are solid celestial bodies that are less spherical in shape and they have
much more elliptical orbits than planets.

They are found mostly between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, a region known as
the Asteroid belt.

This Asteroid belt separates the rocky planets from the gassy planets.

Comets: Are mostly rocky, more elongated and smaller than asteroids with much
more elliptical orbits just like those of the asteroids.

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The Accretion theory: states that planets were formed from many
elements in interstellar clouds of gas, dust, and ice revolving around
an early sun. The elements and dust collected into clumps and would
stick together through rotation due to gravitational forces.
Gravity is the force behind accretion that pulls particles of matter
together.
The standard scenario of terrestrial planet formation consists of three
stages:

(1) Dust to planetesimals,

(2) Planetesimals to protoplanets, and

(3) Protoplanets to planets

ORDER OF THE PLANETS: According to the positions of the planets from the Sun,
we have;

1. Mercury: Is the planet closest to the Sun, and is the smallest with no moon.

2. Venus: Is the hottest planet, and it has no moon. A day is longer than a year on
Venus, because it has the least speed of rotation. One day on Venus is about
5882hours (8 months on Earth).

3. Earth: Is the only planet known to support life and has enough atmospheres to
protect its inhabitants from harmful radiation. It has the highest density. It takes
24 hours to make a complete rotation. This movement causes day and night. It
takes about 365days to make one complete revolution. This movement causes
the seasons of the year; summer, winter, spring and autumn.

When the Earth’s axis points towards the Sun at about 23 0, it is SUMMER for that
hemisphere, and when the axis is away from the Sun, it is WINTER for that
hemisphere. When the axis of the Earth points towards the Sun at about 90 0, it is
either SPRING or AUTUMN for that hemisphere of the Earth. During SPRING and
AUTUMN, day and night are approximately equal (about12hrs each).

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The only moon of the Earth revolves around the Earth in about 27.5days (almost
one month). This movement causes the different phases of the moon.

We see the same side of the moon all the time because the moon takes the same
amount of time to rotate as it takes to revolve around the Earth.

4. Mars: Has two moons. On mars is found the tallest mountain.

5. Jupiter: Is the biggest planet in the solar system. Its mass is greater than the
mass of all the other planets put together. It has a large red spot of storm. It has
the greatest number of moons (more than 40 moons). It rotates faster than all
planets, for a day on Jupiter is about 10 hours.

6. Saturn: Has the most conspicuous ring of millions of rock and ice (moonlets)
around it. It has about 30 moons.

7. Uranus: Is the planet to have recorded the lowest temperature. It has a ring
around it also but much fainter. It has 21 moons.

8. Neptune: Is the outermost planet. It has a faint ring system also. It has 8
moons.

THE PLANETS AND CERTAIN COMPARATIVE INFORMATION ABOUT THEM

Merc Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn

Uranu Neptu Pluto
s
r/Mkm 58 108 150 228 778 1420 2870 4490 5900
T/yr 0.24 0.62 1.00 1.88 11.86 29.46 84.01 164.8 247
d/km 4880 12100 12800 6790 142980 120540 51120 49530 2300
m/Em 0.06 0.82 1.00 0.11 318 95.2 14.5 17.2 0.002
ρ /gcm-3 5.4 5.2 5.5 3.9 1.3 0.7 1.3 1.8 1.1
θ /0C 350 480 22 -23 -150 -180 -210 -220 -230
moon 0 0 1 2 52 30 21 8 1
Where;

r = radius (distance of planet from sun)

T = Orbital period (time for revolution of planet)

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d = diameter of planet

m = mass of planet (compared to mass of Earth)

ρ = density of planet

θ = average surface temperature of planet

Exercises Use the data in the table above to;

1. Calculate the average orbital speed of these planets; Earth, Venus and
Saturn.
2. Find the total mass of each planet around the Sun in kg, given that the mass
of the Earth is approximately 5.972 x 1024 kg.
3. Show that Jupiter is more massive than all the other planets put together.
4. Calculate the density of these planets; Mercury, Earth, and Jupiter.

Speed of light (c): Is about 3.0 x 108 m/s

Light year (LY): Is the distance light travels in one year. This value is approximately
equal to 9.5 x 1015 m/s.

Light takes about 8 minutes (480 s) to travel from Sun to Earth.

The Milky Way galaxy has a diameter of about 10,000 LY.

Red shift: Is an increase in the observed wavelength of an electromagnetic

radiation emitted from receding stars and galaxies.

Blue shift: Is an increase in the observed frequency of an electromagnetic

radiation emitted from approaching stars and galaxies.

Hubble Law: States that everything in the universe is moving; and that other
galaxies are moving away from the Earth at a red shift that is proportional to their
distances from the Earth.

Thus;

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  We will notice a red shift if a galaxy or a star in another galaxy is moving
away from us.
 0r a blue shift if the galaxy or star in another galaxy is coming towards us.

The Hubble constant (H0): Is the ratio of the speed at which a galaxy is moving to
its distance from the Earth. It has a value of 2.2 x 10-18 s-1
v
H0 = d H0 = 2.2 x 10-18 per second

The Big bang Theory: Supposes that about 14 billion years ago, everything in the
universe was condensed in an infinitesimally small singular point of infinite
density and heat. Suddenly, an explosive expansion began. This balloons the
universe outward with a speed that is greater than the speed of light.

Evidences for the Big bang Theory

 Light emitted from distant galaxy is red shifted compared to light emitted
from Earth.
 CMBR (Cosmic microwave background radiation) is found everywhere in
the universe.
d
 The equation v = 1/H0 represents the age of the universe, proving that all
matter was present at a point.

Life cycle of stars: These are the possible standard stages stars go through;

I. Interstellar clouds of gas and dust to Proto star

II. Proto star to stable star
III. Stable star to Red giant (or Red Super giant)
IV. Red giant (Red super giant) to Supernova
V. Supernova to Planetary nebula with dwarf star or neutron star
VI. Planetary nebula to stars with planets
VII. Supergiant ( Supernova) to Black hole

Exercises;

1. Explain what is meant by a) Black hole b) Red shift c) Light year

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2. Describe the life cycle of a star.