esci Flashcards
Humankind used religion,
traditions, philosophy, and
science to describe the universe’s
origin and structure
Beliefs
Genesis, a book of the Hebrew Bible
➔ It describes how a Divine Being
created the sky, land, sea, heavenly
bodies, and living creatures in a span
of six days
Creationism
Rigveda, a sacred book of Hinduism
➔ It describes a cyclical or oscillating universe
called Brahmanda (cosmic egg) containing
the universe from a Bindu (a single
concentrated point)
➔ Created by the sleeping Maha Vishnu
Brahmanda
Greek philosopher
➔ Believed the universe began as a sort of blob
of all these fundamental substances.
➔ Nous (mind) literally began rotating this
massive blob of substances, interact, thus
creating all physical things
Anaxagoras
Greek philosophers
➔ Believed in an atomic universe, composed
of very small, indivisible, and
indestructible atoms and the void or
vacuum “atomism”
➔ Everything is interconnected
Leucippus and Democritus
Greek philosophers
➔ Believed in geocentric universe
➔ The Earth stayed motionless in the
heavens and everything is revolving
around it
Aristotle and Ptolemy
European astronomer in 1543
➔ Believed in heliocentrism
➔ The sun is the center of the universe,
motionless, with Earth and the other
planets orbiting around it in circular
paths
Copernicus
Italian philosopher in 1584
➔ Believed that the solar system is not in
the center of the universe but merely a
another star system among an infinite
multitude of others
Bruno
English astronomer in 1687
➔ Believed in a static, steady-state,
infinite universe
➔ It is without a centre or an edge, and of
infinite extent in all directions due to
gravity
Newton
It is a universe that is stable and
doesn’t expand or contract
Static
It is expanding but maintains a
constant average density.
Steady-state
It is limitless or endless in space,
extent, or size; impossible to measure
or calculate
Infinite
English astronomer in 1687
➔ Believed in a universe was full of
matter, made up of vortices or swirling
whirlpools of matter called
gravitational effects
Descartes
Swiss mathematician in 1916
➔ Proposed the theory of relativity
➔ Believed the universe should not be
static, but that it ought to be
expanding
Einstein
American astronomer in 1929
➔ Proposed the Hubble’s Law
➔ Believed that the greater the distance
of a galaxy from ours, the faster it
recedes
Hubble
The invention of new types of
telescopes and sensors extended
humankind’s ability to observe
the farther regions of the
universe
Theories
Lemaitre in 1927
➔ The universe started with an infinitely
hot and dense single point that inflated
and stretched, and still-expanding
cosmos that we know today
Big bang
It was a violent explosion which caused
the inflation and expansion of the
universe.
➔ Fundamental forces formed: gravity,
electromagnetic force, strong nuclear
force, and weak nuclear force
Big bang
➔ Hubble in 1929
➔ supports via his observation of galactic
redshifts
➔ things farther away from Earth were
moving away faster
Big bang
Penzias and Wilson in 1965
➔ Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)
➔ It is the cooled remnant of the first light
that could ever travel freely throughout the
Universe
➔ “Echo” or “shockwave” of the Big Bang
Big bang
➔ Haarmann in 1930
➔ It is a cosmological model that
combines both the Big Bang and the
Big Crunch as part of a cyclical event
➔ “expand then shrink” cycle
Oscillating Universe
Hoyle, Gold, and Bondi in 1948
➔ The universe is constantly expanding but
with a fixed average density
➔ Matter is always created to form galaxies
and stars at the same speed as the old ones
become destroyed
steady state
Matter is constantly created the as the universe expands
steady state cosmology
matter dilutes as the universe expands
big bang cosmology
Guth in 1930
➔ The universe underwent a short and sudden
episode of great expansion 10 to 36s after the
Big Bang
➔ Steinhardt and Turok in 2002
➔ Cyclic model, endless Big Bang and Big
Crunch
Inflationary Universe
Linde in 1983
➔ There are infinity of universes, all with their
own laws of physics, their own collections of
stars and galaxies
➔ Everett III and De Witt in the 60’s and 70’s
➔ “many worlds”
Multiverse
It is made up of our star, the Sun, and everything
bound to it by gravity – the planets Mercury,
Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune; dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, Makemake,
Haumea, and Eris – along with hundreds of
moons; and millions of asteroids, comets, and
meteoroids.
Solar System
It is a representation of an idea, an
object, or even a process that is used to
describe and explain a phenomenon that
cannot be experienced directly
Model
Alexandrian astronomer and
mathematician Claudius Ptolemy
➔ “Ptolemaic system”
➔ It places the Earth as the center of the
Solar System.
Geocentric
Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus
➔ The sun is at rest near the center of
the Universe, and that the Earth,
spinning on its axis once daily, revolves
annually around the Sun.
Heliocentric
It is an assumption, an idea that is
proposed for the sake of argument
so that it can be tested to see if it
might be true
Hypothesis
Immanuel Kant and Pierre-Simon
Laplace
➔ “Kant-Laplace Nebular Hypothesis”
➔ It presumes that the Solar System
began as a cloud of dispersed
interstellar gas called nebula
Nebular
A spinning cloud of dust made of mostly light
elements, called a nebula, flattened into a
protoplanetary disk, and became a solar system
consisting of a star with orbiting planets
➔ massive and dense clouds of molecular
hydrogen—giant molecular clouds (GMC)
Nebula
Clouds made up of hydrogen particles
➔ Before the nebula is stable, it is believed that a
nearby supernova resulted in the disruption of
a nebula.
➔ This disruption created areas of high density,
and as these areas were formed, gravity acted,
pulling other materials to it
nebular
The denser the nebula became, the more
heat it produced that resulted in the
formation of the Sun
nebular
Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin and Forest Ray
Moulton
➔ Proposed that a star passed close enough to
the sun, creating huge tides and causing
materials “planetesimals” to be ejected
➔ The accretion of these solar debris created
larger bodies or “protoplanets”.
Chamberlin-Moulton Planetesimal Hypothesis
James Hopwood Jeans and Harold Jeffreys
➔ Suggested that when a huge tidal wave was
created from the sun’s collision with another
star.
➔ This set up tidal forces, and the instability of
the Sun resulted in part of its mass being torn
off to form the planets.
Jean-Jeffreys’ Tidal Theory
Carl von Weizsacker and Gerard Kuiper
➔ The solar system began with a fragment from
an interstellar cloud composed mainly of
hydrogen, helium, and trace amounts of light
elements
➔ Dense regions in the cloud form and coalesce
Protoplanet
➔ The fragments of the interstellar cloud then
formed the dense central region of the solar
nebula, eventually evolved into the sun
➔ The accretion continued and formed into larger
asteroid-sized planetesimals, which orbited the
center of the solar nebula
protoplanets
The planetesimals differ in chemical
composition
➔ The ones near the central portion became the
terrestrial planets
➔ The gas giants formed in the outer disk
Protoplanet
Life would not have begun without water
➔ Photosynthesis requires water to produce
biomass and oxygen (essential component
of the atmosphere)
➔ It can exist in liquid form since it is within
Liquid Water
Water released through volcanism
2. Water that came from icy meteors of
the outer regions of the solar system
that bombarded Earth (is in the
“habitable zone”)
sources
When the mantle rocks melt, the water dissolves
into the magma
➔ As the magma rises towards the surface and cools,
pressure is reduced, crystals form and the water is
released and emitted as vapour through volcanoes
➔ With this mechanism, water from great depth can
be degassed to the surface
Volcanism
Both asteroids and comets visit the Earth and are
known to harbor ice.
➔ Models of the compositions of asteroids and
comets suggest that they even harbor enough ice
to have delivered an amount of water equal to
Earth’s oceans
Icy Meteors
Heat coming from Earth
➔ Caused by radiogenic heat from
radioactive decay of materials in the
core and mantle
➔ Via volcanism and plate movement
Internal
Certain elements, known as radioactive elements
such as potassium, uranium, and thorium, break
down through a process known as radioactive
decay, and release energy
➔ This radioactive decay in Earth’s crust and mantle
continuously adds heat and slows the cooling of
the Earth
Radiogenic Heat
Volcanism can cause long term increases in
average temperatures by releasing
greenhouse gases, but at a very slow rate
over millions of years
Volcanism
Earth’s solid crust acts as a heat insulator for the
hot interior of the planet. Magma is the molten
rock below the crust, in the mantle
➔ Tremendous heat and pressure within the earth
cause the hot magma to flow in convection
currents
Earth’s solid crust acts as a heat insulator for the
hot interior of the planet. Magma is the molten
rock below the crust, in the mantle
➔ Tremendous heat and pressure within the earth
cause the hot magma to flow in convection
currents
Heat provided by the sun is in the form
of radiation which enters Earth
➔ As sunlight strikes Earth, some of the
heat is trapped by a layer of gases
called atmosphere
External
The atmosphere is responsible for the
occurrence of greenhouse
phenomenon, a natural process which
maintains heat
external
It is infrared radiation that produces the warm
feeling on our bodies
➔ Most of the solar radiation is absorbed by the
atmosphere, and much of what reaches the Earth’s
surface is radiated back into the atmosphere to
become heat energy.
Sun’s Radiation
some of the incoming radiation is reflected by earths surface and atmosphere back out to space
reflection
most radiation is absorbed by the earths surface and warms it
absorption
The greenhouse effect is the process through
which heat is trapped near Earth’s surface by
substances known as ‘greenhouse gases.’ (carbon
dioxide, methane, ozone, nitrous oxide,
chlorofluorocarbons, and water vapor)
➔ Act as acozy blanket enveloping our planet, helping
to maintain a warmer temperature than it would
have otherwise
Greenhouse Effect
The motions of the sun and planets
happen simultaneously. Earth’s motion
is evidenced by the daily rotation and
the yearly revolution.
motion of the earth
It is the amount of time that it takes to
turn around once on its axis (an imaginary
line about which a body rotates).
➔ It is tilted 23.5 degrees.
➔ 2 kinds: sidereal day and solar day
earths rotation
It is the amount it takes for Earth
to turn on its axis.
➔ It takes 23 hrs 56 min 4.0905 sec
➔ 360 degrees
Sidereal
It is the amount it takes for Earth
to turn on its axis.
➔ It takes 24 hrs
➔ 360.9856 degrees
solar
The simultaneous rotation and revolution
of the Earth make it possible to support
life.
➔ A flow of energy is received through solar
radiation
earths motion
production of food
photosynthesis
animals via melanin produced
by melanocytes protects the organism
from UV rays
protection
: driven by solar
radiation on water
weather and climate
23.5 degrees tilt
seasons
it is combination of meteorological circumstances like pressure humidity wind and temperature in a determined time and place
weather
it is combination of atmospheric conditions characterize areas of the planet
Climate
The solid Earth
➔ The rocks, minerals, and landforms of the
surface and interior
➔ Includes geologic landforms such as
mountains and hills
geosphere
The total amount of water on a planet
➔ The hydrosphere includes water that is on the
surface of the planet, underground, and in the
air.
➔ A planet’s hydrosphere can be liquid, vapor, or ice
➔ On Earth, liquid water exists on the surface in the
form of oceans, lakes, and rivers
Hydrosphere
An atmosphere is made of the layers of
gases surrounding a planet or other
celestial body
➔ Earth’s atmosphere is composed of about
78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, and one
percent other gases.
Atmosphere
space station
exosphere
aurora
thermosphere
meteors
mesosphere
weather balloon
stratosphere
jet or hot air balloon
troposphere
The biosphere is made up of the parts of
Earth where life exists—all ecosystems
➔ The biosphere extends from the deepest
root systems of trees, to the dark
environments of ocean trenches, to lush
rainforests, high mountaintops, and
transition zones like this one, where ocean
biosphere
