Space Physics

The Earth’s axis

- Rocky planet that rotates in a near circular orbit around the sun
- Rotates on its axis, which is a line through the north and south poles
- One full rotation/revolution in approximately 24 hours
- Creates the apparent daily motion of the Sun rising and setting
- Periodic cycle of day and night

Day and night

- Day is experienced by the half of earth’s surface that is facing the sun
- Night is the other half of the Earth’s surface, facing away from the sun

Rising and Setting of the sun

- Equinox (equal night)
- Day and night are approximately of equal length
- At equinoxes the sun rises exactly in the east and sets exactly in the west.
- The exact locations of where the sun rises and sets changes throughout the seasons
- In the northern hemisphere (above equator)
- Summer, the sun rises north of east and sets north of west
- Winter, the sun rises south of east and sets south of west

- The Sun is highest above the horizon at noon (12 pm)

- In the northern hemisphere, the daylight hours are longest up until roughly the 21st June
- This day is known as the Summer Solstice and is where the Sun is at its highest
point in the sky all year
- The daylight hours then decrease to their lowest around 21st December
- This is known the Winter Solstice and is where the Sun is at its lowest point in the sky all
year
Earth’s Orbit
The Earth orbits the Sun once in approximately 365 days
- This is 1 year
- The combination of the orbiting of the Earth around the Sun and the Earth's tilt creates the
seasons

B, C, D of the orbit
- The northern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun
- This means daylight hours are more than hours of darkness
- This is spring and summer
- The southern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun
- This means there are shorter days than night
- This is autumn and winter

F, G and H of the orbit

- the northern hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun
- It is autumn and winter in the northern hemisphere
- it is spring and summer in the southern hemisphere

At C:
- This is the summer solstice
- The northern hemisphere has the longest day
- The southern hemisphere has its shortest day

At G:
- This is the winter solstice
- The northern hemisphere has its shortest day
- The southern hemisphere has its longest day

At A and D:
- Night and day are equal in both hemispheres
- These are the equinoxes
Moon & Earth
- The Moon is a satellite around the Earth
- It travels around the Earth in roughly a circular orbit once a month
- 27-28 days
- Moon revolves around its own axis in a month
- always has the same side facing the Earth
- The Moon shines with reflected light from the Sun, it does not produce its own light

Phases of the Moon

- The way the Moon's appearance changes across a month, as seen from Earth, is called its
periodic cycle of phases

Phases of the Moon as it orbits around Earth

- The inner circle shows that exactly half of the Moon is illuminated by the Sun at all times
- The outer circle shows how the Moon looks like from the Earth at its various positions
In the New Moon phase:
- The Moon is between the Earth and the Sun
- Therefore, the sunlight is only on the opposite face of the Moon to the Earth
- This means the Moon is unlit as seen from Earth, so it is not visible
At the Full Moon phase:
- The Earth is between the Moon and the Sun
- The side of the Moon that is facing the Earth is completely lit by the sunlight
- This means the Moon is fully lit as seen from Earth
In between, a crescent can be seen where the Moon is partially illuminated from sunlight

Orbital Speed
- Average speed = total distance / total time
Speed = 2πr/ T
- r = the average radius of the orbit
- T = orbital period in seconds (time for one orbit)
The Solar System:
- The Sun
- Eight planets
- Natural and artificial satellites
- Dwarf planets
- Asteroids and comets

Solar system:
- One star and eight planets
- Inner planets
- Small, similar size, solid and rocky
- Layered structure
- High density
- Mercury, venus, earth, mars
- Outer planets
- Larger, colder
- Consists mainly gas
- Low density
- Jupiter, saturn, uranus, neptune

The Sun & the Planets

- The Sun lies at the centre of the Solar System
- The Sun is a star that makes up over 99% of the mass of the solar system

There are eight planets and an unknown number of dwarf planets which orbit the Sun
- The gravitational field around planets is strong enough to have pulled in all nearby objects
with the exception of natural satellites
- The gravitational field around a dwarf planet is not strong enough to have pulled in nearby
objects

Distance from the sun →

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune

Satellites
- Natural
- Artificial
- Some planets have moons which orbit them
- Moons are an example of natural satellites
- Artificial satellites are man-made and can orbit any object in space
- The International Space Station (ISS) orbits the Earth and is an example of an
artificial satellite
Asteroids & Comets
- Asteroids and comets also orbit the sun
- An asteroid is a small rocky object which orbits the Sun
- The asteroid belt lies between Mars and Jupiter
- Minor planets defined as any object that orbits a star that does not have a large enough
mass for gravitational attraction to have pulled into a spherical shape
- Comets are made of dust and ice and orbit the Sun in a different orbit to those of planets
- The ice melts when the comet approaches the Sun and forms the comet’s tail

Accretion model for Solar System formation

- The Sun was thought to have formed when gravitational attraction pulled together clouds
of hydrogen dust and gas (called nebulae)
- The Solar System then formed around 4.5 billion years ago
- The planets were formed from the remnants of the disc cloud of matter left over from the
nebula that formed the Sun
- These interstellar clouds of gas and dust included many elements that were created
during the final stages of a star's life cycle (a previous supernova)
- Gravity collapsed the matter from the nebula in on itself causing it to spin around the Sun
- The gravitational attraction between all the small particles caused them to join together
and grow in an accretion process
- A rotating accretion disc is formed when the planets emerged
- As the Sun grew in size it became hotter
- Where the inner planets were forming near the Sun, the temperature was too high
for molecules such as Hydrogen, Helium, water and Methane to exist in a solid state
- Therefore, the inner planets are made of materials with high melting temperatures
such as metals (e.g. iron)
- Only 1% of the original nebula is composed of heavy elements, so the inner, rocky
planets could not grow much and stayed as a small size, solid and rocky
- The cooler regions were further away from the Sun, and temperature was low
enough for the light molecules to exist in a solid state
 - The outer planets therefore could grow to a large size up and include even
the lightest element, Hydrogen

Accretion model for the formation of the Solar System

- the model’s dependence on gravity
- the presence of many elements in interstellar clouds of gas and dust
- the rotation of material in the cloud and the formation of an accretion disc

The planets and moons of the Solar System are visible from Earth when they reflect light
from the Sun
- The outer regions of the Solar System are around 5 × 1012 m from the Sun, which means
even light takes some time to travel these distances
- The light we receive on Earth from the Sun takes 8 minutes to reach us
- The nearest star to us after the Sun is so far away that light from it takes 4 years to reach us
- The Milky Way galaxy contains billions of stars, huge distances away, with the light taking
even longer to be seen from Earth
- The speed of light is a constant 3 × 10^8 m/s

- To keep an object in a circular path, it must have a centripetal force

- For planets orbiting the Sun, this force is gravity
- The centripetal force is proportional to the orbital speed
- Therefore, the planets further away from the Sun have a smaller orbital speed
- This also equates to a longer orbital duration

Orbits & Conservation of Energy

- An object in an elliptical orbit around the Sun travels at a different speed depending on its
distance from the Sun
- Although these orbits are not circular, they are still stable
- For a stable orbit, the radius must change if the comet's orbital speed changes
As the comet approaches the Sun:
- The radius of the orbit decreases
- The orbital speed increases due to the Sun's strong gravitational pull
As the comet travels further away from the Sun:
- The radius of the orbit increases
- The orbital speed decreases due to a weaker gravitational pull from the Sun

Conservation of Energy
- Although an object in an elliptical orbit, such as a comet, continually changes its speed its
energy must still be conserved

- Galaxies are made up of billions of stars

- The Universe is made up of many different galaxies
- The Sun is one of billions of stars in a galaxy called the Milky Way
- Other stars in the Milky Way galaxy are much further away from Earth than the Sun
is
- Some of these stars also have planets which orbit them
Astronomical Distances
- Distances between stars and galaxies, are so large that physicists use a special unit to
measure them called the light-year

One light-year is defined as:

- The distance travelled by light through (the vacuum of) space in one year

The speed of light is the universal speed limit, nothing can travel faster than the speed of light
But over astronomical distances, light actually travels pretty slowly
- The diameter of the Milky Way is approximately 100 000 light-years
- One light year is equal to 9.5 × 1012 km, or 9.5 × 1015 m

Star Formation
1. Nebula
- All stars form from a giant interstellar cloud of hydrogen gas and dust called a
nebula
2. Protostar
- The force of gravity within a nebula pulls the particles closer together until it
forms a hot ball of gas, known as a protostar
- As the particles are pulled closer together the density of the protostar will
increase
- This will result in more frequent collisions between the particles which causes
the temperature to increase
3. Main Sequence Star
- Once the protostar becomes hot enough, nuclear fusion reactions occur within its
core
- The hydrogen nuclei will fuse to form helium nuclei
- Every fusion reaction releases heat (and light) energy which keeps the core
hot
- Once a star initiates fusion, it is known as a main-sequence star
- During the main sequence, the star is in equilibrium and said to be
stable
- The inward force due to gravity is equal to the outward pressure force
from the fusion reactions
A low-mass star will go through the following stages
4. Red Giant
- After several billion years the hydrogen causing the fusion reactions in the star will begin to
run out
- Once this happens, the fusion reactions in the core will start to die down
- This causes the core to shrink and heat up
- The core will shrink because the inward force due to gravity will become greater than
the outward force due to the pressure of the expanding gases as the fusion dies
down
- A new series of reactions will then occur around the core, for example, helium nuclei will
undergo fusion to form beryllium
- These reactions will cause the outer part of the star to expand
- A low-mass star that is up to 8 times the mass of the Sun or smaller will become a
red giant
- It is red because the outer surface starts to cool
5. Planetary Nebula
 - Once this second stage of fusion reactions have finished, the star will become unstable and
eject the outer layer of dust and gas
- The layer of dust and gas which is ejected is called a planetary nebula
6. White Dwarf
- The core which is left behind will collapse completely, due to the pull of gravity, and the star
will become a white dwarf
- The white dwarf will be cooling down and as a result, the amount of energy it emits
will decrease
7. Black Dwarf
- Once the star has lost a significant amount of energy it becomes a black dwarf
- It will continue to cool until it eventually disappears from sight

4. Red Supergiant
- After several million years, the hydrogen causing the fusion reactions in the star will begin to
run out
- A high-mass star (one more than 8 times the mass of the Sun) will become a red supergiant
- Similar to a low-mass star, the fusion reactions in the core will start to die down
- The core will go through a series of periods of shrinking and heating up
- As a result, the outer parts of the star will expand and contract
- This time, fusion reactions will form elements all the way up to iron
- Fusion reactions cannot continue once iron is formed
5. Supernova
- Once the fusion reactions inside the red supergiant cannot continue, the core of the star will
collapse suddenly and cause a gigantic explosion
- This is called a supernova
- At the centre of this explosion a dense body, called a neutron star will form
- The outer remnants of the star will be ejected into space during the supernova explosion,
forming new clouds of dust and gas (nebula)
- The nebula from a supernova may form new stars with orbiting planets

6. Neutron Star (or Black Hole)

- In the case of the biggest stars, the neutron star that forms at the centre will continue to
collapse under the force of gravity until it forms a black hole
- A black hole is an extremely dense point in space that not even light can escape from

Galaxies & Redshift

- Usually, when an object emits waves, the wavefronts spread out symmetrically
- If the wave source moves, the waves can become squashed together or stretched out

A moving object will cause the wavelength, λ, (and frequency) of the waves to change:
- The wavelength of the waves in front of the source decreases and the frequency increases
- The wavelength behind the source increases and the frequency decreases
This effect is known as the Doppler effect

The Doppler effect also affects light

 - If an object moves away from an observer the wavelength of light increases
- This is known as redshift as the light moves towards the red end of the spectrum
- An increase in the observed wavelength of electromagnet radiation emitted from
receding stars and galaxies

- Light emitted from distant galaxies appears redshifted when compared with light emitted on
Earth
- The diagram below shows the light coming to us from a close object, such as the Sun, and
the light coming to us from a distant galaxy

The diagram also shows that the light coming to us from distant galaxies is redshifted
- The lines on the spectrum are shifted towards the red end
- This indicates that the galaxies are moving away from us
- If the galaxies are moving away from us it means that the universe is expanding
- The observation of redshift from distant galaxies supports the Big Bang theory
- Another observation from looking at the light spectrums produced from distant
galaxies is that the greater the distance to the galaxy, the greater the redshift
- This means that the further away a galaxy, the faster it is moving away from us

The Big Bang

- Around 14 billion years ago, the Universe began from a very small region that was extremely
hot and dense
- Then there was a giant explosion, which is known as the Big Bang
- This caused the universe to expand from a single point, cooling as it does so, to form the
universe today
- Each point expands away from the others
- This is seen from galaxies moving away from each other, and the further away they
are the faster they move
- Redshift in the light from distant galaxies is evidence that the Universe is expanding
and supports the Big Bang Theory
- As a result of the initial explosion, the Universe continues to expand
The Big Bang theory is very well supported by evidence from a range of sources
The main pieces of evidence are
- Galactic red-shift
- Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)

Red-shift provides evidence that the Universe is expanding because:

- Red-shift is observed when the spectral lines from the distant galaxy move closer to the red
end of the spectrum
- This is because light waves are stretched by the expansion of the universe so the
wavelength increases (or frequency decreases)
- This indicates that the galaxies are moving away from us
- Light spectrums produced from distant galaxies are red-shifted more than nearby galaxies
- This shows that the greater the distance to the galaxy, the greater the redshift
- This means that the further away a galaxy is, the faster it is moving away from the Earth

Evidence from CMB Radiation

- The discovery of the CMB (Cosmic Microwave Background) radiation led to the Big Bang
theory becoming the currently accepted model
- The CMB is a type of electromagnetic radiation which is a remnant from the early
stages of the Universe
- It has a wavelength of around 1 mm making it a microwave, hence the name Cosmic
Microwave Background radiation
- In 1964, Astronomers discovered radiation in the microwave region of the electromagnetic
spectrum coming from all directions and at a generally uniform temperature of 2.73 K
- They were unable to do this any earlier since microwaves are absorbed by the atmosphere
- Around this time, space flight was developed which enabled astronomers to send
telescopes into orbit above the atmosphere
- According to the Big Bang theory, the early Universe was an extremely hot and
dense environment
- As a result of this, it must have emitted thermal radiation
- The radiation is in the microwave region
- This is because over the past 14 billion years or so, the radiation initially from the Big
Bang has become redshifted as the Universe has expanded
- Initially, this would have been high energy radiation, towards the gamma end of
the spectrum
- As the Universe expanded, the wavelength of the radiation increased
- Over time, it has increased so much that it is now in the microwave region of
the spectrum
- The CMB radiation is very uniform and has the exact profile expected to be emitted
from a hot body that has cooled down over a very long time
- The different colours represent different temperatures
- The red / orange / brown regions represent warmer temperature
indicating a higher density of galaxies
- The blue regions represents cooler temperature indicating a lower
density of galaxies
 - The temperature of the CMB radiation is mostly uniform, however, there are
minuscule temperature fluctuations (on the order of 0.00001 K)
- This implies that all objects in the Universe are more or less uniformly
spread out

Measuring galactic speed and distance

- Change in wavelength of the galaxy’s starlight due to redshift
- Find the velocity with which a galaxy is moving away from earth
- Difference between actual wavelength and expected wavelength/actual wavelength =
speed of the galaxy/speed of light

Measuring Distance Using Supernovae

- Redshift and CMB radiation allow various measurements of the Universe to be accurately
made
- Measuring distance is done using different methods
- A key method is the use of standard candles, including supernovae
- Supernovae are exploding stars
- Certain types have the same peak level of brightness (absolute magnitude),
making them extremely useful in measuring the distance to remote stars and
galaxies
- Type 1a supernovae are so bright that they can be seen clearly even though
they may be deep inside their parent galaxy
- This allows the distance to the galaxy to be calculated

Hubble Constant Calculations

- In 1929, the astronomer Edwin Hubble showed that the universe was expanding
- He did this by observing the absorption line spectra produced from the light of distant
galaxies
- He discovered that the light was shifted towards the red end of the spectrum
- This Doppler shift in the wavelength of the light is evidence that distant galaxies are
moving away from the Earth
- Hubble also observed that light from more distant galaxies was more red-shifted than the
light from nearer galaxies
- This observation showed that galaxies or stars which are further away from the Earth
are moving faster than galaxies which are closer

Hubble's Law
- The recessional velocity v of a galaxy is proportional to its distance from Earth
- The ratio of the speed at which the galaxy is moving away from the Earth, to its
distance from the Earth

H0 = v/d

H0 = Hubble constant (per second)

v = recessional velocity of an object, the velocity of an object moving away from an observer (km/s)
d = distance between the object and the Earth (km)
The accepted value of the Hubble constant is H0 = 2.2 × 10–18 per second

Age of the Universe

- 1/H0 space = d/v

- The gradient of the graph can be used to find the Age of the Universe
- When the distance equals zero, this represents all the matter in the Universe being at a
single point
- This is the singularity that occurred at the moment of the Big Bang

The units of the gradient are per second (the same as the units of the Hubble Constant)
- By taking the 1/H0 the units will become seconds
- Therefore the reciprocal of the gradient represents time and gives the amount of time
which the Universe has been expanding for
- Astronomers have used this formula to estimate the age of the Universe at about 13.7
billion years