“Astronomy is more than the study of stars and planets. It is the study of the universe in which we humans exist. You and I live on a small planet circling a small sun drifting through the universe, but astronomy can take us beyond these boundaries and help us not only see where we are in the universe but understand what we are.” - Michael A. Seeds, Astronomer-

THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE IN ONE EASY LESSON THE BEGINNING, WHERE WE ARE, AND THE END

COSMOS - GREEK WORD FOR ORDER WE LOOK AT PRETTY MUCH THE SAME NIGHT SKY THAT OUR ANCESTORS LOOKED AT. THE CLOSER WE LOOK, THE MORE COMPLICATED IT BECOMES, AND WE THINK ANYTHING BUT ORDER. IT’S AN EXTREMELY COMPLEX PLACE OUT THERE - ALMOST MIND BOGGLINGLY SO.

IN DOUGLAS ADAMS’S HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY THE ULTIMATE TORTURE MACHINE IS KNOWN AS THE TOTAL PERSPECTIVE VORTEX - A DIABOLICAL CREATION THAT CAN TURN ANY LIVING BEING INTO A RAVING LUNATIC. INSIDE THE CHAMBER IS A PICTURE OF THE ENTIRE VASTNESS OF THE COSMOS WITH A TINY ARROW THAT READS “YOU ARE HERE.”

SCIENTISTS BASE THEIR THEORY OF THE BIG BANG ON THE FACT THAT THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING. IF YOU GO BACK IN TIME, YOU WOULD REACH A POINT WHERE THE UNIVERSE WAS COMPRESSED INTO A SINGLE POINT. NOW, AS YOU MOVE FORWARD FROM THAT POINT IN TIME, AND FOLLOW THE UNIVERSE AS IT EXPANDS, EACH POINT IN TIME REPRESENTS A CERTAIN ENERGY OR TEMPERATURE. THE TEMPERATURES OR ENERGY LEVELS WERE SO GREAT AT FIRST THAT MATTER AS WE KNOW IT COULD NOT EXIST.

ALL CIVILIZATIONS HAVE HAD THEIR CREATION STORIES TO EXPLAIN HOW IT ALL BEGAN. IT ALL BEGINS WITH NOTHING - NOTHING AT ALL. THIS IS SIMILAR TO MANY CREATION STORIES. IT BEGINS WITH A SINGULARITY - A TINY SEED THAT CONTAINED ALL THE MATTER BUT, REMEMBER THERE WAS NOTHING - NO SPACE; NO TIME; NOT EVEN A VOID - NOTHING AT ALL. IN AN INSTANT, NOTHING BECAME SOMETHING.

At 5 seconds, NUCLEI OF ATOMS BEGAN TO FORM. DURING THIS TIME, DEUTERIUM, HELIUM-3, HELIUM-4, AND LITHIUM NUCLEI WERE FORMED. AFTER 5 MINUTES, THE UNIVERSE HAD COOLED TO THE POINT THAT PROTONS AND NEUTRONS DID NOT HAVE ENOUGH ENERGY TO STICK TOGETHER ON COLLISION. NUCLEOSYNTHESIS ENDED AT THIS POINT. A CLOUD OF NUCLEI, ELECTRONS, PROTONS, AND PHOTONS EXISTED AT THIS POINT - A PLASMA.

PLASMAS HAVE INTERESTING PROPERTIES - THEY CONDUCT ELECTRICITY (LIKE METALS), AND THEY ARE OPAQUE TO LIGHT. AT THIS POINT, 75% OF MATTER WAS HYDROGEN NUCLEI AND 25% WAS HELIUM NUCLEI. THE UNIVERSE CONTINUED TO EXPAND AND COOL. AT APPROXIMATELY 300,000 YEARS, THE UNIVERSE COOLED ENOUGH FOR ATOMS TO FORM. THE PLASMA DISSAPEARED, AND PHOTONS COULD ESCAPE. PHOTONS ZOOMED OFF IN ALL DIRECTIONS.

AT APPROXIMATELY A HALF BILLION YEARS, STARS COULD FORM. AT APPROXIMATELY 1 BILLION YEARS, GALAXIES COULD FORM.

@ sec, T = K, UNIVERSE ~ 100 cm 1 sec, T = K, UNIVERSE ~ cm 300,000 years, T = 3,000 K

THE HUBBEL TELESCOPE HAS MADE TWO VERY LONG EXPOSURES THAT HAVE ALLOWED ASTRONOMERS TO LOOK BACK APPROXIMATELY 12.5 BILLION YEARS IN TIME.

DATA SUPPORTING BIG BANG THEORY: 1.THE UNIVERSE IS EXPANDING. 2.COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION 3.CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF THE UNIVERSE – 75% HYDROGEN, 25% HELIUM, TRACE OF LITHIUM. 4.TEMPERATURE OF SPACE

OUR OWN GALAXY, THE MILKY WAY, PROBABLY FORMED FROM A CLOUD OF GAS. THE CLOUD WAS PROBABLY SPHERICAL AT ONE TIME, AS WE DO SEE SOME OLDER STARS IN A SPHERICAL HALO AROUND THE OUTSIDE OF OUR GALAXY. AS THE CLOUD STARTED TO ROTATE, IT FLATTENED OUT. STARS IN OUR GALAXY FORMED, AND SOME GREW OLD AND DIED. THESE CONTRIBUTED THEIR MATTER TO GAS CLOUDS THAT FORMED NEW STARS.

STARS HAVE A FINITE LIFETIME. THEY ARE FUELED BY NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS. LIGHT NUCLEI COLLIDE AT VERY HIGH SPEEDS TO FORM HEAVIER NUCLEI. IN THE PROCESS, A GREAT DEAL OF ENERGY IS RELEASED. IT’S THIS ENERGY THAT KEEPS STARS FROM COLLAPSING. WHEN A STAR USES UP MOST OF ITS NUCLEAR FUEL, THERE IS NOT ENOUGH ENERGY PRODUCED TO OVERCOME GRAVITY, SO THE STAR WILL COLLAPSE.

THERE ARE 2 WAYS A STAR CAN DIE. 1. IF A STAR IS APPROXIMATELY 10 TIMES THE MASS OF OUR SUN, WHEN IT COLLAPSES, IT WILL GO SUPER NOVA - A HUGE EXPLOSION.

2. 3 TIMES THE MASS OF OUR SUN OR SMALLER, IT WILL EXPAND TO BECOME A RED GIANT, THEN PUFF OFF ITS OUTER LAYERS AND BECOME A WHITE DWARF.

THE MILKY WAY GALAXY - HOME

THE LOCAL GROUP

THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY AND THE MILKY WAY GALAXY ARE 2 MILLION LIGHT YEARS APART. IN KILOMETERS, THAT WOULD BE: 2 X 10 6 X 9.5 X = 1.9 X KM THEY ARE MOVING TOWARDS EACH OTHER AND WILL COLLIDE IN APPROXIMATELY 5 BILLION YEARS. NOT IN OUR LIFE TIME, IN OTHER WORDS!

THE VIRGO CLUSTER, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER CLUSTERS ARE MOVING TOWARDS A REGION OF SPACE THAT DOES NOT CONTAIN ANYTHING THAT WE CAN SEE. ASTRONOMERS REFER TO THE OBJECT TOWARDS WHICH THE GALAXIES ARE MOVING AS “THE GREAT ATTRACTOR.”

WHAT DOES ALL OF THIS MEAN FOR THE FUTURE? IT MEANS THAT WE LIVE IN AN EXPANDING UNIVERSE, AND THE EXPANSION IS SPEEDING UP. IN A SENSE, THE SPACE BETWEEN THE GALAXIES IS GETTING LARGER. IN THE FUTURE, STARS WILL BURN UP. OUR OWN SUN WILL USE UP MOST OF ITS FUEL IN ABOUT 5 BILLION YEARS. AS SPACE EXPANDS, GALAXIES WILL MOVE FURTHER APART. STARS WILL GO OUT.

THE NIGHT SKY WILL BECOME EMPTIER AND EMPTIER. ENERGY WILL BECOME HARDER TO FIND. THIS IS NOT QUITE THE SCENE DEPICTED IN “THE RESTURANT AT THE END OF THE UNIVERSE.”

THE LIFE OF OUR UNIVERSE IS ABOUT 14 BILLION YEARS. LIGHT SIGNALS HAVE NOT HAD TIME TO TRAVEL MORE THAN 14 BILLION LIGHT YEARS. SO, WE CAN’T OBSERVE ANYTHING OUTSIDE OF THIS SPHERE. “Our currently observable universe is but one small part of a greater whole. But if the laws of physics can enforce the production of our universe, these same laws could create a whole series of universes through the same mechanism. These other universes, the offspring of other small patches of space-time being launched into existence, could evolve and never come into contact with our own.” - Fred Adams-

THE UNIVERSE IS A VERY STRANGE PLACE INDEED. MIND-BOGGLING!!!