THE UNIVERSE

AND
THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES
a. Describe the structure and composition of the
Universe;
b. State the different hypotheses that preceded the Big
Bang Theory of the Origin of the Universe; and
c. Reflect on the importance on how the Universe was
formed.
A QUICK REVIEW

UNSCRAMBLE ME
Directions: Arrange the jumbled
letters to form words related to the
universe
 BONYRIAC
MAETTR
Clue:
"ordinary" matter consisting of protons,
electrons, and neutrons that comprises atoms,
planets, stars, galaxies, and other bodies
BARYONIC
MATTER
KRAD TEMART
Clue:
A matter that has gravity but
does not emit light.
 DARK
MATTER
DRAK NEREYG
Clue:
a source of anti-gravity; a force that
counteracts gravity and causes the
universe to expand.
 DARK
ENERGY
 OTROPTSAR
Clue:
an early stage in the formation of
a star resulting from the
gravitational collapse of gases.
PROTOSTAR
 THEMRONECALUR
RATIECON
Clue:
a nuclear fusion reaction
responsible for the energy
produced by stars
THERMONUCLEAR
REACTION
 MANI SUQEECNE
STASR
Clue:
stars that fuse hydrogen atoms to form
helium atoms in their cores; outward
pressure resulting from nuclear fusion is
balanced by gravitational forces
 MAIN
SEQUENCE
STARS
 LGIHT REYAS
Clue:
the distance light can travel in a
year; a unit of length used to
measure astronomical distance
LIGHT
YEARS
LESSON
PROPER
ACTIVITY
1. The universe as we
currently know it
comprises all space
and time, and all
matter & energy in it
 2. The Universe is at
least 4.5-4.6 billions of
years old
4. Hydrogen, helium,
and lithium are the
three most abundant
elements
 STRUCTURE, COMPOSITION,
AND AGE OF THE UNIVERSE
• The universe as we currently know it
comprises all space and time, and all matter
& energy in it.
•It is made up of 4.6% baryonic matter,
24% cold dark matter, and 71.4% dark
energy
• Dark matter can explain what may be
holding galaxies together for the reason
that the low total mass is insufficient for
gravity alone to do so while dark energy
can explain the observed accelerating
expansion of the universe.
•Hydrogen, helium, and lithium are the
three most abundant elements.
•Hydrogen and Helium are the most
abundant elements in the universe. These
are the first elements to be formed in the
Big Bang Model of the Origin of the
Universe.
• Stars - the building
block of galaxies born
out of clouds of gas and
dust in galaxies
A star's energy comes from combining light
elements into heavier elements by fusion, or
“nuclear burning” (nucleosynthesis).

In small stars like the sun, H burning is the fusion

of 4 H nuclei (protons) into a He nucleus (2
protons + 2 neutrons). Forming He from H gives
off lots of energy (i.e. a natural hydrogen bomb).
 Stellar interiors are like furnaces
where elements are synthesized or
combined/fused together. Most
stars such as the Sun belong to the
so-called “main sequence stars.”
WHAT TYPES OF STARS ARE ON THE MAIN
SEQUENCE?

• Yellow dwarfs are small, main sequence stars. The

Sun is a yellow dwarf.
• A red dwarf is a small, cool, very faint, main
sequence star whose surface temperature is under
about 4,000 K. Red dwarfs are the most common type
of star. Proxima Centauri is a red dwarf.
• Stars are classified as per their hotness using a
set of letters. Those letters are O, B, A, F, G, K
and M. So, there are basically 7 letters with O
representing the hottest stars while M represents
the coolest ones.
• SUPERNOVA is the explosion of a star. It is the largest explosion that
takes place in space; happens where there is a change in the core, or center,
of a star.

• BLACK HOLE is a region in space where the pulling force of gravity is

so strong that light is not able to escape. The strong gravity occurs because
matter has been pressed into a tiny space. This compression can take place
at the end of a star's life. Some black holes are a result of dying stars.
Because no light can escape, black holes are invisible. However, space
telescopes with special instruments can help find black holes. They can
observe the behavior of material and stars that are very close to black holes.
• The remaining dust and gas may end up as they are or as planets,
asteroids, or other bodies in the accompanying planetary system.

• A galaxy is a cluster of billions of stars and clusters of galaxies

form superclusters. In between the clusters is practically an
empty space.

• the universe is 13.8 billion years old.

The Milky Way Galaxy

41
ACTIVITY: DOPPLER EFFECT

Try to determine where

the horn is coming from.

• Video 1 Video 2
ACTIVITY INSTRUCTIONS:
• Prepare a yell for each group
• State/perform your yell when you
are done with your group
discussion/ activity.
GUIDE QUESTIONS:
1. Where does the horn coming from? Is it coming
from inside the car or outside the car? If outside the
car, where?
2. What have you noticed with the frequencies and
the wavelengths of the sound from the two video
clips?
3. What is your conclusion with regards to the
activity?
• - Video 1 - horn is coming from the inside of the car.
There is hardly any change in the volume and pitch of
the horn.

• - Video 2 - horn is coming from outside of the car.

Specifically, the horn is coming from another car
travelling in an opposite direction. Notice how the pitch
and volume of the car varies with distance from the other
car. Pitch and volume increases as the other car
approaches.
THE EXPANDING UNIVERSE
The “Raisin Bread” Theory of an Expanding Universe

47
 EXPANDING UNIVERSE
Redshift
Is used when describing how far away a distant object
is. As the sound waves from the siren move toward
you, they are compressed into higher frequency sound
waves. As the siren moves away from you, its sound
waves are stretched into lower frequencies. This
shifting of frequencies is called the Doppler effect.
• In 1929, Edwin Hubble announced his significant
discovery of the “redshift” and its interpretation that
galaxies are moving away from each other, hence as
evidence for an expanding universe, just as predicted by
Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
• He observed that spectral lines of starlight made to pass
through a prism are shifted toward the red part of the
electromagnetic spectrum.
When an object moves away from us, its
light waves are stretched into lower
frequencies or longer wavelengths, and
we say that the light is redshifted.

In the visible portion of the electromagnetic

spectrum, blue light has the highest
frequency and red light has the lowest
• Redshift is used when light is shifted toward
lower frequencies or toward the red end of
the spectrum.
• Blueshift is used when visible light is shifted
toward higher frequencies or toward the blue
end of the spectrum
 A. ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

Non-scientific Thought
• Ancient Egyptians believed in many gods and myths which
narrate that the world arose from an infinite sea at the first
rising of the sun.
• The Kuba people of Central Africa tell the story of a creator
god Mbombo (or Bumba) who, alone in a dark and water-
covered Earth, felt an intense stomach pain and then vomited
the stars, sun, and moon.
 A. ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

• In India, there is the narrative that gods sacrificed Purusha,

the primal man whose head, feet, eyes, and mind became the
sky, earth, sun, and moon respectively.
• The monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam claim that a supreme being created the universe,
including man and other living organisms.
Steady State Model
• The now discredited steady state model of the universe was
proposed in 1948 by Bondi and Gould and by Hoyle. It
maintains that new matter is created as the universe expands
thereby maintaining its density.
• Its predictions led to tests and its eventual rejection with the
discovery of the cosmic microwave background.
 ASSIGNMENT
Group 1 Nebular Hypothesis
Group 2 Encounter Hypotheses
Group 3 Protoplanet Hypothesis
Group 4 Recent advancement/information on the Solar
System: Exploration of Mars
Group 5 Recent advancement/information on the Solar
System: Rosetta's Comet
Group 6 Pluto Flyby
•Definition
•Its importance
•Give a brief discussion and provide
examples if possible.
•Present your report in a creative
manner
 RUBRICS
•Content – 50 %
•Delivery – 20 %
•Mastery – 20 %
•Creativity – 10 %
 QUIZ
1-3 What are the major composition of the
universe?
4-5 Give the 2 elements/gases that are most
abundant in the universe
6-10 For 5 points, give a brief explanation on
how the universe was formed.