Week 1 - How the elements are formed Flashcards
• When we use the term _____ we are discussing the
totality of all matter, energy, and space.
Universe
___ and ____ emit the full spectrum of
electromagnetic radiation.
Stars and galaxies
• Unfortunately for the astronomers, the Earth‟s protective
atmosphere also absorbed much of the incoming
radiation from the non-visible wavelengths.
• Scientists were soon devising ways to minimize or
eliminate the Earth‟s atmospheric filtering.
• Observatories were located on high mountains where the
atmosphere is thin .
• Balloons, aircraft, satellites, and spacecraft were utilized
to transport instruments to ever greater heights.
Studying the universe
• While the galaxies are all moving away from each other at
the present time, they must have been closer together in
the past.
• The universe must have been much more compressed.
• In fact most astronomers think that the universe began as
a small, hot, extremely dense entity that rapidly expanded
(exploded) about 14 billion years ago – ______
The big bang
• With our present knowledge of subatomic particles and
the structure of the universe we can extrapolate back to
about _____ second of the Big Bang.
10-43 sec
• Experimental evidence supports the Big Bang in three
major areas:
• ________– galaxies today have a redshift in
their spectrum lines
• ________– microwave radiation
that fills all space and is thought to represent the
redshifted glow from Big Bang
• There is a H to He mass ratio of 3 to 1 in the stars and
interstellar material, as predicted by the Big Bang model.
Cosmological redshift – galaxies today have a redshift in
their spectrum lines
• Cosmic microwave background – microwave radiation
that fills all space and is thought to represent the
redshifted glow from Big Bang
• There is a H to He mass ratio of 3 to 1 in the stars and
interstellar material, as predicted by the Big Bang model.
• With a doubt, our current knowledge of the formation of
the universe is incomplete.
• In 1980 the standard model was modified.
• This proposes that the universe
consists of a large number of separate regions – formed
at about 10-35 second.
• We can only detect information from one of these regions
– our “universe.”
Big Bang - Standard
& Inflationary Models
• Much greater expansion took place between 10-35 second
and 10-30 second than in the standard model.
Inflationary Model of the Big
Bang
• If the _______ is correct the entire universe is
gigantic and the portion that we can observe is only a tiny
fraction of the whole.
• At the present time the _______ is the best
theory to explain the origin of the universe.
Inflationary Model
• this is a self-luminous sphere of hot gases, energized
by nuclear reaction and held together by the force of
gravity.
• the nearest star to Earth.
• enormous in size relative to the size of Earth.
• _______ diameter is approximately 100 times the diameter of
the Earth.
The Sun: Our Closest Star
The Sun can divided into four concentric layers:
• The innermost core
• The “surface” is called the photosphere.
• The chromosphere is a layer of very hot gases above the
photosphere.
• The corona is the Sun‟s outer solar atmosphere.
The this is the bright and visible “surface” of the
Sun.
• Temperature of 6000K
• Composition of 75% H, 25% He, and 1% C, O, N, Ne, and
others
• When viewed close-up, the photosphere surface appears
to have a „granular‟ texture.
• Each granule is a hot spot caused by an individual
convection cell bringing thermal energy to the surface.
• Each granule is about the width of Texas.
Photosphere
• are huge patches of cooler, and therefore
darker material on the surface of the Sun.
• They are a distinctive feature of the photosphere.
Sunspots
• The abundance of sunspots vary through an ____
sunspot cycle.
• Each sunspot cycle begins with the appearance of a few
sunspots near the 30o
“N & S” latitudes.
• The number of sunspots slowly increase, with a maximum
number in the middle of the cycle at around the 15o
region.
• The number of sunspots then slowly taper off during the
last half of the 11-year cycle.
Sunspot Cycle
11 year
Interestingly, this also have magnetic polarity.
• Each 11-year cycle is similar except that the polarities are
reversed.
• Therefore the 11-year sunspot cycle is actually a
manifestation of a more fundamental 22-year magnetic
cycle.
Sunspot Cycle
• ________‟s temperature is approximately 1 million K.
• Prominences occur within the corona region of the Sun.
Corona
• In the extreme high-temperatures of the corona protons,
electrons, and ions are furnished with enough energy to
escape the Sun‟s atmosphere.
• These particles are accelerated enough to escape the Sun‟s
tremendous gravitational pull.
• The solar wind extends out from the Sun at least 50 AU.
Solarwind
• The Sun‟s ______ is so hot that individual atoms cannot
exist.
• Continuous high-speed collisions result in the separation of
nuclei and electrons.
Interior of the Sun
• Moving outward from the core of the Sun, both the
temperature and the density decrease.
• It is the nuclear fusion of ______ within the core that is
the source of the Sun‟s energy.
• In the Sun and other similar stars the nuclear fusion takes
place as a three step process called the
Interior of the Sun
H into He
Proton proton chain
In the net reaction of the PP Chain, four protons form a
He nucleus, two positrons, two neutrinos, and two gamma
rays.
• The amount of energy released by the conversion of
mass conforms with Einstein‟s equation, E = mc2
Proton-Proton Chain
• Approximately 6.00 X 1011 kg of H is converted into 5.96
X 1011 kg of He every second
• With a total mass of 1030 kg of H, scientists expect the
Sun to continue to radiate energy from H fusion for
another
5 billion years
The Earth only receives a very small percent of the Sun‟s
radiated energy.
• Every second the Earth receives approximately 1.4 x 103
W/m2
, a value known as ______
• Even a very small variation (+/- 0.5%) in the solar
constant would have disastrous effects on our planet‟s
biota.
Solar Constant
Recall that stars are composed dominantly of ____, with
some ____, and far lesser amounts of other elements.
• They exist as huge plasma spheres in which nuclear
fusion of H to He produces enormous amounts of energy
that is emitted.
• Although star masses can vary considerably, most have a
mass between 0.08 – 100 solar masses.
• One solar mass = mass of our Sun
H and He
• Most stars are part of a ______ system, unlike our
Sun that is a single star.
Multiple star system