Earth Science

THE BIG BANG THEORY

Is the leading explanation about how the universe

began. At its simplest, it talks about the universe as
we know it starting with a small singularity, then
inflating over the next 13.8 billion years to the
cosmos that we know today.
This universal expansion was predicted from general
relativity by Alexander Friedmann in 1922 and
Georges Lematre in 1927.
The Big Bang is a scientific theory about how the
universe started, and then made the groups of stars
(called galaxies) we see today. The universe began
as very hot, small, and dense, with no stars, atoms,
form, or structure (called a "singularity").
Is an effort to explain what happened during and
after that moment. According to the standard theory,
our universe sprang into existence as "singularity"
around 13.7 billion years ago.
The universe expanded from a very high density and
high temperature state, and offers a comprehensive
explanation for a broad range of phenomena,
including the abundance of light elements, the
cosmic microwave background, large scale structure
and Hubble's Law.
SINGULARITY

Extrapolation of the expansion of the universe

backwards in time using general relativity yields an
infinite density and temperature at a finite time in
the past.

STARS

A star is a luminous sphere of plasma held

together by its own gravity. The nearest star to
Earth is the Sun. Other stars, mostly in the Milky
Way, are visible from Earth during the night,
appearing as a multitude of fixed luminous points
due to their immense distance.

Stars are giant, luminous spheres of plasma.

There are billions of them including our own
sun in the Milky Way Galaxy. And there are
billions of galaxies in the universe.

Stars form inside relatively dense concentrations

of interstellar gas and dust known as molecular
clouds. These regions are extremely cold
(temperature about 10 to 20K, just above
absolute zero). At these temperatures, gases
become molecular meaning that atoms bind
together.

Hydrogen is still available outside the core, so

hydrogen fusion continues in a shell surrounding
the core. The increasingly hot core also pushes
the outer layers of the star outward, causing
them to expand and cool, transforming the star
into a red giant.

Constellations are formed of bright stars which

appear close to each other on the sky, but are
really far apart in space. The shapes you see all
depend on your point of view. Many societies saw
patterns among the stars with gods and
goddesses or stories from their culture.
Stars - the building block of galaxies born out of
louds of gas and dust in galaxies. Instabilities
within the clouds eventually results into
gravitational collapse, rotation, heating up, and
transformation to a protostar - the core of a
future star as thermonuclear reactions set in.
Stellar interiors are like furnaces where elements
are synthesized or combined/fused together.
Most stars such as the Sun belong to the socalled main sequence stars. In the cores of
such stars, hydrogen atoms are fused through
thermonuclear reactions to make helium atoms.
Massive main sequence stars burn
up their
hydrogen faster than smaller stars. Stars like our
Sun burnup hydrogen in about 10 billion years.

STARS Life

Massive stars are born, just like average stars,

out of clouds of dust called nebulae. These stars
have: A quick main sequence phase, where
hydrogen continues to be fused into helium
during a stable portion of the star's life cycle.

Stellar evolution is the process by which a star

undergoes a sequence of radical changes during
its lifetime. Depending on the mass of the star,
this lifetime ranges from only a few million years
for the most massive to trillions of years for the
least massive, which is considerably longer than
the age of the universe.

All stars are born from collapsing clouds of gas

and dust, often called nebulae or molecular
clouds. Over the course of millions of years,
these protostars settle down into a state of
equilibrium, becoming what is known as a mainsequence star. Nuclear fusion powers a star for
most of its life.

Hydrogen is still available outside the core, so

hydrogen fusion continues in a shell surrounding
the core. The increasingly hot core also pushes
the outer layers of the star outward, causing
them to expand and cool, transforming the star
into a red giant.

The remaining dust and gas may end up as they

are or as planets, asteroids, or other bodies in
the accompanying planetary system.

A galaxy is a cluster of billions of stars and

clusters of galaxies form superclusters. In
between the clusters is practicallyan
empty
space. This organization of matter in the universe
suggests that it is indeed clumpy at a certain
scale. But at a large scale, it appears
homogeneous and isotropic.
STAR

NEBULA - A nebula is a cloud of gas (hydrogen)

and dust in space. Nebulae are the birthplaces of
stars. There are different types of nebula. An
Emission Nebula e.g. such as Orion nebula, glows
brightly because the gas in it is energized by the
stars that have already formed within it. In a
Reflection Nebula, starlight reflects on the grains
of dust in a nebula. The nebula surrounding the
Pleiades Cluster is typical of a reflection nebula.
Dark Nebula also exist. These are dense clouds of
molecular hydrogen which partially or completely
absorb the light from stars behind them e.g. the
Horsehead Nebula in Orion. Planetary Nebula are
the outer layers of a star that are lost when the
star changes from a red giant to a white dwarf.
RED GIANT - This is a large bright star with a cool
surface. It is formed during the later stages of
the evolution of a star like the Sun, as it runs out
of hydrogen fuel at its center. Red giants have
diameter's between 10 and 100 times that of the
Sun. They are very bright because they are so
large, although their surface temperature is
lower than that of the Sun, about 2000-3000C.
Very large stars (red giants) are often called
Super Giants. These stars have diameters up to
1000 times that of the Sun and have luminosities
often 1,000,000 times greater than the Sun.
RED DWARF - These are very cool, faint and small
stars, approximately one tenth the mass and
diameter of the Sun. They burn very slowly and
have estimated lifetimes of 100 billion years.
Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star are red
dwarfs.
WHITE DWARF - This is very small, hot star, the
last stage in the life cycle of a star like the Sun.
White dwarfs have a mass similar to that of the
Sun, but only 1% of the Sun's diameter;
approximately the diameter of the Earth. The
surface temperature of a white dwarf is 8000C
or more, but being smaller than the Sun their
overall luminosity's are 1% of the Sun or less.
o White dwarfs are the shrunken remains
of normal stars, whose nuclear energy
supplies have been used up. White dwarf
consist of degenerate matter with a very

high density due to gravitational effects,

i.e. one spoonful has a mass of several
tonnes. White dwarfs cool and fade over
several billion years.
SUPERNOVA - This is the explosive death of a
star, and often results in the star obtaining the
brightness of 100 million suns for a short time.
There are two general types of Supernova:o Type I These occur in binary star systems
in which gas from one star falls on to a
white dwarf, causing it to explode.
o Type II These occur in stars ten times or
more as massive as the Sun, which suffer
runaway internal nuclear reactions at the
ends of their lives, leading to an
explosion. They leave behind neutron
stars and black holes. Supernovae are
thought to be main source of elements
heavier than hydrogen and helium.

NEUTRON STARS -These stars are composed

mainly of neutrons and are produced when a
supernova explodes, forcing the protons and
electrons to combine to produce a neutron star.
Neutron stars are very dense. Typical stars
having a mass of three times the Sun but a
diameter of only 20 km. If its mass is any
greater, its gravity will be so strong that it will
shrink further to become a black hole. Pulsars are
believed to be neutron stars that are spinning
very rapidly.

BLACK HOLES - Black holes are believed to form

from massive stars at the end of their lifetimes.
The gravitational pull in a black hole is so great
that nothing can escape from it, not even light.
The density of matter in a black hole cannot be
measured. Black holes distort the space around
them, and can often suck neighbouring matter
into them including stars.

Activity : Discuss or describe each stages (life cycle of a

star)