Questions Answers

● The fabric of space-time is a conceptual model

combining the three dimensions of space with the fourth
dimension of time.
● The famous physicist Albert Einstein helped develop
the idea of space-time as part of his theory of relativity.
1. What is Space-time?
● Spacetime is any mathematical model which fuses the
three dimensions of space and the one dimension of
time into a single four-dimensional manifold.
● It also helps us to understand the nature of the
movement of matter in the universe.

● Dark Matter is an unknown matter which is not

visible. The reason behind its invisibility is, it does not
absorb, reflect or emit light or other parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum. This makes it extremely hard
to spot.
● Dark matter does not interact with the electromagnetic
force thereby making it hard to spot.
● But scientists are confident it exists because of the
gravitational effects it appears to have on galaxies and
galaxy clusters.
● It influences the universe's large-scale structure, the
formation of galaxies, and affects the cosmic microwave
background.
2. What is Dark Matter in simple
terms?

● Dark energy is an unknown form of energy that is

3. Explain Dark Energy. hypothesized to permeate all of space, tending to
accelerate the expansion of the universe.
 ● Dark energy is the most accepted hypothesis to explain
the observations since the 1990s indicating that the
universe is expanding at an accelerating rate.
● It is hypothetical energy, with possible anti-gravitational
properties, that scientists have not been able to
understand yet. It is spread across the universe
uniformly and accounts for nearly 70% of its mass.

● Ever since the Big Bang, the universe is expanding at an

ever-increasing rate. The reason behind this continuous
expansion of the universe is a force named Dark
Energy.
4. What is the difference between Dark
● On the contrary, the role played by Dark Matter is to
Energy and Dark Matter?
bind our universe together. Dark Matter is particles that
cannot be seen through a telescope, but they can be
located because of its gravitational effect on its
surroundings and the X-ray it emits.

● The 'event horizon' is the boundary defining the

● Singularities are regions of space where the
5. What is the event horizon and
singularity?
region of space around a black hole from which nothing
(not even light) can escape. In other words, the escape
velocity for an object within the event horizon exceeds
the speed of light.
density of matter, or the curvature of spacetime,
becomes infinite. In scientific terms, a gravitational
singularity (or space-time singularity) is a location
where the quantities that are used to measure the
gravitational field become infinite in a way that does not
depend on the coordinate system. In other words, it is a
point in which all physical laws are indistinguishable
from one another, where space and time are no longer
interrelated realities, but merge indistinguishably and
cease to have any independent meaning.
 ● The oscillating universe theory briefly considered by
Albert Einstein in 1930 theorized a universe following an
eternal series of oscillations, each beginning with a Big
Bang and ending with a Big Crunch; in the interim, the
universe would expand for a period of time before the
gravitational attraction of matter causes it to collapse
back in and undergo a bounce.
● It is one of several cosmological models in which the
universe follows infinite, or indefinite, self-sustaining
6. Explain the Oscillating Universe cycles.
Theory.

● Quark is a fundamental constituent of matter and is

defined as an elementary particle. These quarks
combine to produce composite particles called hadrons,
the most stable of which are neutrons and protons that
are the components of atomic nuclei. We can define
quark as A quark is a type of elementary particle
and a fundamental constituent of matter.
● Quarks cannot exist independently but as a constituent
part of the matter. Its Standard theoretical Model is
based on the conceptual framework. It describes all the
known elementary particles. Also, it describes the
unobserved particles.
● The three primary quark types are mentioned below:
7. Explain Quarks.
○ Up
○ Down
○ Strange
● The antiparticles that correspond to every flavor of
quarks are known as Antiquarks. Antiquarks have the
same mass, same mean lifetime, and same spin
corresponding to quarks, but other properties like
electric charge and other charges have opposite signs.
● Twelve fundamental particles, i.e. six quarks and six
leptons (the other type) are the basic building blocks of
everything in the universe. Quark and leptons are
distinguished based on flavors. The six types are
namely: up, down, top, bottom, strange, and charm.
 ● The Big Bounce is a hypothesized cosmological model
for the origin of the known universe. It was originally
suggested as a phase of the cyclic model or oscillatory
universe interpretation of the Big Bang, where the first
cosmological event was the result of the collapse of a
previous universe.
● The concept of the Big Bounce envisions the Big Bang
as the beginning of a period of expansion that followed
a period of contraction.
● In this view, one could talk of a Big Crunch followed by
a Big Bang, or more simply, a Big Bounce.
● This suggests that we could be living at any point in an
8. What is the Big Bounce Theory? infinite sequence of universes, or conversely the current
universe could be the very first iteration.

● Celestial bodies or heavenly bodies are objects in space

such as the sun, moon, planets, and stars.
● The celestial bodies that do not have their own light and
9. What are celestial bodies?
heat are called planets. ​
● On the other hand, stars are celestial bodies that are
made up of gasses and have their own heat and light,
 which they emit in large amounts.

● Luminosity refers to the total amount of energy

produced by different celestial bodies(stars, galaxies)
per unit of time and it is basically measured in joules
per second or watts in SI units.
● Luminosity is The absolute measure of radiated
electromagnetic power (light), the radiant power
emitted by a light-emitting object.
● Luminosity generally depends upon two factors:
10. Explain Luminosity.
○ The size of the star: The larger a star is, the
more energy it puts out, and the more luminous
it is.
○ The temperature of the star: If two stars are
of the same size but have different temperatures,
then the star with a higher temperature will be
more luminous than the star with lower
temperatures.

● Sun is classified as a G2V star, with G2 standing for the

second hottest star of the yellow G class—of surface
11. What do you mean by G2V star? temperature about 5,800 kelvins (K)—and the V
representing the main sequence, or dwarf star, the
typical star for this temperature class.

12. Why do Stars collapse?
13. How do Black Holes Form?
14. If Black Holes Are "Black", How do
Scientists know they are there?
15. What do you understand by
gravitational waves?
● G stars are so-called because of the prominence of a
band of atomic and molecular spectral lines that the
German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer designated G.
● In collapsed stars, the matter has been pushed to the
limit. Internal pressures produced by nuclear power
production in the centers of stars are no longer
important because nuclear fuel has been exhausted.
● A star, like an inflatable bubble, is held up by a balance
of internal pressure against gravity. In the normal
course of its life, this pressure is provided by the energy
produced in nuclear reactions deep in the center of the
star.
● When those nuclear reactions stop producing energy,
the pressure drops and the star falls in on itself.
● Primordial black holes are thought to have formed in
the early universe, soon after the big bang.
● Stellar black holes form when the center of a very
massive star collapses in upon itself. This collapse also
causes a supernova, or an exploding star, that blasts
part of the star into space.
● Scientists think supermassive black holes formed at the
same time as the galaxy they are in. The size of the
supermassive black hole is related to the size and mass
of the galaxy it is in.
● A black hole can not be seen because of the
strong gravity that is pulling all of the light into
the black hole's center. But scientists can see how
strong gravity affects the stars and gas around the
black hole. Scientists can study stars to find out if they
are flying around, or orbiting, a black hole.
● When a black hole and a star are orbiting close
together, high-energy light is produced. Scientific
instruments can see this high-energy light.
● A black hole's gravity can sometimes be strong enough
to pull off the outer gasses of the star and grow a disk
around itself called the accretion disk.
● As gas from the accretion disk spirals into the black
hole, the gas heats to very high temperatures and
releases X-ray light in all directions.
● NASA telescopes measure X-ray light. Astronomers use
this information to learn more about the properties of a
black hole.
● Gravitational waves are 'ripples' in space-time caused
by some of the most violent and energetic processes in
 the Universe.
● Albert Einstein predicted the existence of gravitational
waves in 1916 in his general theory of relativity. The
general theory of relativity predicts that oscillating
massive objects should produce gravitational radiation
or gravitational waves.
● Some of the cosmic events that produce such ripples
are exploding stars, collisions between
ultra-dense neutron stars, or merging black holes
or supernovae.
● Gravitational radiation is exceedingly difficult to detect
because gravity by nature is much weaker than
electromagnetic radiation.
● Gravitational waves travel at the speed of light carrying
information about their origin and nature of gravity.
● These have very weak interactions with the matter
which helps it to travel a large distance unimpeded.

● LIGO (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave

Observatory) is the world's largest gravitational wave
observatory. Comprising two enormous laser
interferometers located 3000 kilometers apart, LIGO
exploits the physical properties of light and of space
itself to detect and understand the origins of
gravitational waves (GW).
● In 2017, for the first time, scientists directly detected
gravitational waves from the collision of two neutron
stars using the U.S.-based Laser Interferometer
Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO), the
Europe-based Virgo detector; and some 70 ground and
space-based observatories.
● LIGO detectors use laser interferometry to measure the
minute ripples in space-time caused by gravitational
waves from mergers of pairs of neutron stars or black
holes, or supernovae.
16. Write a short note on the LIGO.
● The LIGO has detected the gravitational waves twice,
the second time witnessing the merging of a second
black hole pair. The signal from this merger was weaker
than the 1st observed gravitational waves. Hence a
special technique called matched filtering was adapted
for gravitational wave data analysis which was
developed at IUCAA (Inter-University center for
Astronomy and Astrophysics), Pune.

A nebula is a giant cloud of dust and gas in space. Some

17. What is a nebula? nebulae (more than one nebula) come from the gas and dust
thrown out by the explosion of a dying star, such as a
 supernova. Other nebulae are regions where new stars are
beginning to form. For this reason, some nebulae are called
"star nurseries."
Nebulae exist in the space between the stars—also known as
interstellar space. The closest known nebula to Earth is called
the Helix Nebula. It is the remnant of a dying star—possibly
one like the Sun. It is approximately 700 light-years away
from Earth. That means even if you could travel at the speed
of light, it would still take you 700 years to get there.

● Scientists have relied almost exclusively on

electromagnetic (EM) radiation (visible light, X-rays,
radio waves, microwaves, etc.) to study the Universe.
Some are trying to use subatomic particles, called
neutrinos, as well. Each of these 'messengers' of
information provides scientists with a different but
complementary view of the Universe.
● Since gravitational waves interact very weakly with
matter (unlike EM radiation, which can be absorbed,
reflected, refracted, or bent), they travel through the
Universe virtually unimpeded, giving us a clear
view of the gravitational-wave Universe. The
gravitational waves carry information about their
origins that is free of the distortions or alterations
suffered by EM radiation as it traverses intergalactic
space.
● Gravitational waves will change astronomy because the
universe is nearly transparent to them: intervening
18. What is the significance of studying
matter and gravitational fields neither absorb nor reflect
gravitational waves?
the gravitational waves to any significant degree.
● Humans will be able to observe astrophysical
objects that would have otherwise been obscured,
as well as the inner mechanisms of phenomena
that do not produce light. For example, if stochastic
gravitational waves are truly from the first moments
after the Big Bang, then not only will we observe farther
back into the history of the universe than we ever have
before, but we will also be seeing these signals as they
were when they were originally produced.
● Gravitational-wave astronomy will help explore some of
the great questions in physics: How do black holes
form? Is General Relativity the correct
description of gravity? How does matter act under
the extremes of temperature and pressure in
neutron stars and supernovae?
● They will also help untangle mysteries about the
dense, dead objects known as neutron stars.
 ● A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the
largest explosion that takes place in space.
● Supernovas are often seen in other galaxies. But
supernovas are difficult to see in our own Milky Way
galaxy because dust blocks our view.
● A supernova happens where there is a change in
the core, or center, of a star. A change can occur in
two different ways, with both resulting in a
supernova.
● The first type of supernova happens in binary star
systems. Binary stars are two stars that orbit the same
point. One of the stars, a carbon-oxygen white dwarf,
19. What is Supernova?
steals matter from its companion star. Eventually, the
white dwarf accumulates too much matter. Having too
much matter causes the star to explode, resulting in a
supernova.
● The second type of supernova occurs at the end of a
single star’s lifetime. As the star runs out of nuclear
fuel, some of its mass flows into its core. Eventually, the
core is so heavy that it cannot withstand its
gravitational force. The core collapses, which results in
the giant explosion of a supernova. The sun is a single
star, but it does not have enough mass to become a
supernova.

● A star is a sphere of various gasses held together by its

own gravity that constantly works to try and cause the
star to collapse. The star's core, however, is very hot
and forms pressure within the gas. This pressure
counteracts the force of gravity, putting the star into
what is called hydrostatic equilibrium.
● In collapsed stars, the matter has been pushed to the
limit. Internal pressures produced by nuclear power
20. Why do Stars collapse?
production in the centers of stars are no longer
important because nuclear fuel has been exhausted.
● A star, like an inflatable bubble, is held up by a balance
of internal pressure against gravity. In the normal
course of its life, this pressure is provided by the energy
produced in nuclear reactions and when it stops
producing energy, the pressure drops and the star falls
in on itself.

● These are Ceres, Pluto, Makemake, Haumea, and

21. Name the 5 Dwarf Planets of the Eris. Except for Ceres, which lies in the main asteroid
solar system. belt, other dwarf planets are located in the Kuiper
Belt.

22. What is the source of Comets? ● Comets are believed to have two sources. Long-period
 comets (those which take more than 200 years to
complete an orbit around the Sun) originate from the
Oort Cloud. Short-period comets (those which take
less than 200 years to complete an orbit around the
Sun) originate from the Kuiper Belt.

● A solar flare is an intense burst of radiation coming

from the release of magnetic energy associated with
sunspots. Flares are our solar system’s largest
explosive events. They are seen as bright areas in the
23. What are Solar Flares?
sun and they can last from minutes to hours. The
primary ways to monitor flares are in x-rays and optical
light. Flares are also sites where particles (electrons,
protons, and heavier particles) are accelerated.