CITATIONS Darling, David J. The Galaxies. Minneapolis: Dillon Press, Inc., 1985. "Galaxies, Galaxy Information, Galaxy Facts, News, Photos -- National Geographic." Science and Space Facts, Science and Space, Human Body, Health, Earth, Human Disease - National Geographic. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. .
"HubbleSite - Picture Album." HubbleSite - Out of the ordinary...out of this world.. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <="" gallery="" hubblesite.org="" p="">
"Curious About Astronomy? Galaxies." Curious About Astronomy? Ask an Astronomer. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2011. <="" p="">
PROFICIENCY 2
CITATIONS
"Constellation Guide
StarDate Online." StarDate Online
Your guide to the universe. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. <="" nightsky="" p="" stardate.org="">
"Constellations of the Zodiac." Astronomy Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. <="" p="">
"Greek Mythology: THE CONSTELLATIONS, STAR MYTHS 1." THEOI GREEK MYTHOLOGY, Exploring Mythology & the Greek Gods in Classical Literature & Art. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. <="" p="" www.theoi.com="">
"Star Journey: Star Attractions @ nationalgeographic.com." National Geographic - Inspiring People to Care About the Planet Since 1888. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Jan. 2011. <="">
The Origins of the Solar System
Scientists aren't completely sure how the solar system formed, but most agree the best explanation is that a cloud of molecules collapsed inward on itself, forming our solar system about 4.6 billion years ago. Although any people never actually take the time to collect knowledge on our solar system it is important to know the history and what could occur in the future.
The sun, being the center of the solar system, is the most important part. Some evidence as to how the sun was formed suggests that it could have been started by a bust from nearby supernovas. Other things like differences in density could also have caused the cloud to begin collapsing. Initially, gas collected in the dense center of this spinning disk, creating a protosun. Collisions between molecules heated things up, eventually raising temperatures to about ten million degrees Celsius. These very hot violent crashes started nuclear reactions, which turned the protosun into a star; this process took about 100,000 years.
The sun isn’t the only part to our solar system; planets are a big part of it as well. In the space around the sun planets, moons, comets and asteroids formed. Small particles crashed together to form larger masses, eventually reaching the size of planets. They were big enough to create their own gravity and drew even more collisions, with only the largest surviving the bad crashes. In the hot area near the evolving sun, water on the planets evaporated for the most part, gasses were swept outward and only heavier material could turn into solids. New planets in the inner solar system (like Earth) formed from the dense material. Farther away from the sun, cooler temperatures and ice let much larger bodies form, creating the centers of planets such as Jupiter and Saturn. These centers were large enough for their gravity to pull in gas from the surrounding nebula. This created the gas giants of the outer solar system.
In addition to the planets and the sun there are many other things that lurk in the solar system. Beyond Neptune where it’s even colder, there was not enough material available for forming planets to create gas giants. These little chunks make up the Kuiper belt. Between Mars and Jupiter, another field of solid chunks that aren’t fully developed became the asteroid belt, which is thought to have been kept from running into a planet by the gravity of Jupiter.
Our solar system’s planets are split into two groups; inner and outer. Inner planets and outer planets are characterized by different features. The four inner planets are called terrestrial planets because they have a solid surface and are similar to Earth. These planets are made of heavy metal and have few or no moons. Mercury, the smallest planet, has no moons and is made mostly of iron and nickel. It is one of the densest planets in the solar system. Venus, known for its brightness and has a rocky surface similar to the moon which is hidden by its thick atmosphere. Like Mercury, Venus has no moon. Earth is a rocky planet with a molten core, an atmosphere that lets us live and only one moon. The last inner planet, Mars, has two moons called Phobos andDeimos. It is a rocky planet with a red color caused by a lot of iron in surface.
The outer planets, also called Jovian planets or gas giants, are gaseous with no solid surfaces and only liquid cores. The outer planets are a lot larger than the inner planets; they make up 99% of the mass of the objects orbiting our sun. All of the outer planets have rings, although Saturn’s are the most noticeable. Jupiter is popular for a number of reasons; it is the largest planet, it also has the most moons (63 discovered so far). Jupiter's rings are very thin and hard to see. Saturn is best known for its bright rings. Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side and has 27 known moons. Many moons have names from mythology, but Uranus’ moons are named after characters from the works of Alexander Pope and Shakespeare. Some of the moons are Titiania, Oberon, and Umbriel. Neptune is the last outer planet and the final planet in The solar system has only 13 moons.
The question ‘Will the solar system last forever’ is wondered by many people around the world. Eventually, the Sun is supposed to burn out, and will stop. After this happens, the core will shrink until it becomes so hard that the helium atoms will begin to collide to form carbon and oxygen. This collision will make more energy than the sun today. The extra energy will cause the core to become a lot hotter, causing the Sun to get to over one hundred times its size now, swallowing up the planets Mercury and Venus. Even though the core will be hotter, the surface will be cooler than it is today, changing the color from yellow to red. A star at this stage is called a red giant. When the Sun expands, the Earth will not be saved. Like Mercury and Venus, Earth will probably be taken by the expanding Sun. But even if it is not, there will be no way it could stay intact. The oceans will boil, and the atmosphere will be gone. What is left will be a bare, sun-baked rock, unable for people to live.
Fortunately we don’t need to worry about the destruction of our solar system in this life time because it isn’t expected to happen for about another 5 billion years. The solar system formed 4.6 billion years ago; it is sure to stay intact for many years to come.
Bibliography
"10/11/1995 - How was the sun formed?." MSU Physics and Astronomy Department. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. .
"Formation Of The Sun." University of Washington Astronomy Department . N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. .
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"The Fate of the Earth: What Does the Future Hold for Our Solar System?." Suite101.com: Online Magazine and Writers' Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Feb. 2011. .
Theories of the Universe
Many people ponder across the question ‘how was everything created?’ Many once believed that the universe had no beginning or end and was truly infinite. From ancient Greece to present day many theories have been brought; but what theory is correct?
Claudius Ptolemy was a Roman astronomer who lived in Alexandria, Egypt. During this time Alexandria was very important to Greek culture. Claudius was very influenced by the ancient Greeks and changed many of their ideas about the universe to create his own theory; The Ptolemy theory which is also called the geocentric model. Claudius believed that the Earth did not move and was the center of the universe. Since he was influenced by the ancient Greeks who very well believed in perfection of nature he decided that the planets and stars move continuously in perfect circular orbits. Ptolemy thought that the planets, Sun, and Moon moved is small circles while traveling in their larger orbits around the Earth; these small circles were called epicycles. In order that his theory fit with most observations he stated that the large masses varied in speed and that the epicycles had different diameters.
Nicolaus Copernicus was a Polish astronomer who is best known for the theory that the Sun was near the center of the universe and that the Earth and other planets rotated around the center. He also stated that the Earth spins on an axis and rotates once daily to makes a full revolution around the Sun in one year. Nicolaus did not think that the Earth and other planets were influenced by the Sun; instead he thought that the Sun was located near the center of the universe. It was this center of the universe which made the planets revolves around it. This theory is called the Copernicus theory or heliocentric model.
The big bang theory is also another popular idea that shows that a huge explosion started to make the universe expand. This happened when all of the matter and energy in space was stuck together. This event was not a usual explosion; it was an event filling space with all of the pieces of the universe trying to get away. The Big Bang’s explosion was actually inside itself, different from an explosion of a bomb where it is thrown outward. The galaxies were not all clumped together, but the Big Bang did lay the foundations for the universe.
Although a lot of theories are about how the universe started, this theory is about the future of the universe;
it’s known as the big crunch. According to this theory, the universe will one day stop expanding. Gravity will pull on the matter; the universe will begin to get smaller until it collapses back into a hot, dense ball. This theory would make the universe start out small then expand and heat up only to cool and collapse again.
The Big bounce theory combines the big bang and big crunch theories to create endless, reoccurring cosmos where the universe expands only to eventually collapse back in on itself over and over again; a lot like a bouncy ball bouncing up and down. A big bounce universe would always expand and contract.
Depending on one’s beliefs it is said that the universe will end on December 21st, 2012. There is no factual Information based on this theory but according to the Mayan calendar that is the last day. Although the astronomer Philip Plait has stated very clearly that the Mayan calendar does not end in 2012 yet many people
do believe in this theory.
Even though there are many unfinished theories I do strongly believe the Big Bang theory. The reason behind this is that there are a lot more facts to back this theory up compared to any other one. Also a fact that makes me believe this is that other galaxies are moving away from us rapidly and many believe that they started out compacted.
The answer may never be revealed as to what theories are correct to our universe but there are many predictions that are highly believable. Is the universe going to last forever; no one in our lifetime will know but many can predict.
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