evolution of the universe glg/150

Early Evolution in formation At one point the universe was a very small object The lighter elements were formed from subatomic matter that was densely packed together The heavier elements originated within stars and were released into the gas cloud This theory was born of the observation that other galaxies are moving away from our own at great speed, in all directions, as if they had all been propelled by an ancient explosive force” (National Geographic, 2014). The idea is that at one point the universe was a very small object. The lighter elements were formed from subatomic matter that was densely packed together, causing them to collide and result in fusion reactions. The heavier elements originated within stars and were released into the gas cloud when an old star exploded as a supernova (Merali & Skinner, 2009).

At this time the universe was a hot, dense concentration of energy The energy and matter has been continuing to expand since its origin The matter became less dense and reduced the time that the lighter elements can be formed.

The nebula hypothesis suggests that the Sun and planets formed from a large, rotating cloud of cosmic gas The cloud contained many of the elements that make up the Sun and planets The intense heat of the Sun caused elements such as iron, aluminum, and silicon to condense Scientists believe that the early origin of the solar system is based upon the nebula hypothesis. The nebula hypothesis suggests that the Sun and planets formed from a large, rotating cloud of cosmic gas (Merali & Skinner, 2009). The cloud contained many of the elements that make up the Sun and planets such as, hydrogen, helium, carbon, oxygen, silicon, and iron. The intense heat of the Sun caused elements such as iron, aluminum, and silicon to condense in the regions closest to the sun thus creating rocky planets.

A strong solar wind removed most of the gases such as helium and hydrogen from the inner planets Moons and other smaller bodies of the outer solar system are made up of water ice, methane ice, and other kinds of ice Earth, Mars, and Venus now have atmospheres that were the result of gasses leaked from the interiors by way of volcanoes and were trapped by each planet’s gravity The Jovian planets have very thick atmospheres

Motion involved in formation Motion is involved in the formation of the Sun, Moon, planets, asteroids, comets, and other bodies Fusion reactions of hydrogen, helium, and lithium It was formulated with a hot dense concentration of energy

The stars power the wind and the waters One major star is the sun that is always spinning full of hot gas The moon shines through the sun’s illumination The motion of the moon is one third of gravity that earth contains and because the moon has no atmosphere Motion is involved in the formation of the Sun, Moon, planets, asteroids, comets, and other bodies in the universe when a cloud of gas and dust in space was disturbed. Fusion reactions of hydrogen, helium, and lithium formulated with a hot dense concentration of energy called the Big Bang Theory (Merali & Skinner, 2009).

An object must orbit a star in order to be a planet The object must be big enough for gravity to make it move in motion Asteroids are left over debris from early planets that have been in collisions from earlier times in the solar system

The motion of comets begin when they are pushed out Most of Asteroids motion lies in a belt between Jupiter and Mars The motion of comets begin when they are pushed out Comets tumble near the Sun they begin to evaporate, forming a tail that can be seen from Earth The motion of comets begin when they are pushed out of the Oort cloud; these lumps of ice and dust travel by spinning and tumbling like acrobats through the solar system in a parabolic, hyperbolic, or elliptic trajectory. However, as the comets tumble near the Sun they begin to evaporate, forming a tail that can be seen from Earth (National Earth Science Teachers Association, 2012).

Discoveries related to earth and OTHER BODIES In the 1490’s Nicolaus Copernicus studied the heliocentric system and was able explain it with retrograde motion The system could show the time difference it took the Earth to orbit the Sun Copernicus that the positions of the planets at any given time in the future could be accurately predicted by assuming that they move in circular orbits around the Sun

Copernicus revisited the notion that the Earth spins on its axis and the daily rising and setting of the sun was due to the rotation on the axis Copernicus also came up with a hypothesis that if Mars had a larger motion then Jupiter or Saturn, then it should be closest to the three planets to Earth Copernicus found Saturn must have the most distant because of the smallest retrograde motion

Johannes Kepler was a german mathematician that carried out astronomical calculations Kepler’s discoveries include three laws that described planetary motion The Law of ellipses, the Law of equal areas and the Law of orbital harmony

The Law of ellipses is defined as the orbit of each planet as an ellipse with the sun at one focus. The Law of equal areas is defined as a line from planet to the sun that sweeps equal areas at a time The Law of orbital harmony is defined for any planet the square of the orbital years according to the cube of the planets’ average distance from the sun

Galileo Galilei discoveries Galileo Galilei made great scientific discoveries and thus contributed to the advancement in many areas of science Galileo constructed a small telescope and saw four moons orbiting Jupiter this proved that the Earth is not the center of all orbiting motion He discovered that Venus had phases like the moon and it changed in sizes, which explained only if Venus and Earth are orbiting around the Sun

Isaac newton discoveries Newton discovered that gravity acts between all bodies Newton stated the moon revolves around Earth instead of moving through space in a straight line because the force of Earth’s gravity exerts a small pull on it Newton continued the thought on gravity. He reasoned that the force of gravity initiated the moon to revolve around the Earth

conclusion The early formation of the universe was vital elements inside of gas and dust that combined, and that continues to expand The gravity, orbit, and motion of other bodies were directly involved in the formation of the Earth, Sun, Moon, planets, and other bodies as well The discoveries of Galileo, Copernicus, Kepler, and Newton resulted in scientific contributions as it relates to understanding the motion of Earth, the Sun, and other bodies as they travel in the universe.

references Merali, Z., & Skinner, B. J. (2009). Visualizing Earth science. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley National Earth Science Teachers Association. (2012). Windows to the Universe. Retrieved April 5, 2014 from http://www.windows2universe.org/ National Geographic. (2014). Origins of the Universe. Retrieved online on April 7, 2014 from http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/universe/origins-universe-article/