6- SPACE PHYSICS

The Earth
 The Earth is a planet, and it orbits the Sun.
 The Earth takes just over 365 days to complete one orbit.
 The Earth also spins on its axis and it takes about 24 hours to
rotate once.
 The Earth's axis (an imaginary line through the Earth from the North pole to
the South pole) is tilted at an angle of about 23.5 degrees
 The Earth is about 150 million kilometers from the Sun, and the Moon is
about 384 thousand kilometers from the Earth

Day and night

 Because the Earth spins on its axis, sometimes you are
facing the Sun and sometimes you are facing away from the
Sun. The Sun only shines on the half of the Earth that is
facing it.
 When you are facing the Sun, you are experiencing day-
time.
 When you face away from the Sun, you are experiencing
night-time.
 The Earth spins towards the East. That is why the Sun appears
to rise in the East and set in the West. At midday in the Northern
Hemisphere it appears to be in the South.
the earth that is rotating not the sun is moving

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The Seasons
 The Earth moves round the Sun once in approximately 365 days , We
experience different seasons due to the amount of direct sunlight we
receive

 In December the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun and in
June it is tilted towards the Sun. In June the Northern Hemisphere receives
more direct sunlight and so it is summer. At the same time, the Southern
Hemisphere is tilted away from the Sun and it is winter.

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  At the equator the seasons do not vary as much because there is direct
sunlight all year round.
 At the poles during winter there are days when the Sun never rises, and days
during summer when the Sun never sets.

 The maximum height of the Sun in the sky varies according to the seasons.
In summer it is high and casts short shadows. In winter it is low and casts
long shadows. The variation is more pronounced nearer the poles. The
diagram below shows how shadows vary in the Northern Hemisphere.

Phases of moon

 It takes about a month for the Moon to orbit the Earth. It orbits with the
same side of the Moon facing the Earth all the time.
 We can only see the Moon because it is illuminated by (reflects light from
the Sun), which shines on it. It does not produce its own light.

 As the Moon orbits the Earth it reflects different amounts of light towards
Earth. When the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth it does not reflect
any light towards the Earth. We call this a New Moon. As it continues to orbit
we see more and more of the Moon, and we say it is waxing, towards a Full
Moon, and then it wanes again

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Orbital speed

This formula to give us the speed around a circular orbit:

2 x π x orbital radius
orbital speed =
time period

2xπxr
v=
T

 If a question gives the radius in kilometers (km) and the time in hours (h), then
the speed will be in units of km/h.

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Questions

1. The moon orbits the Earth in approximately 708 hours, with a radius of
orbit of 385 000 km. Using the formula given above, calculate the orbital
velocity of the Moon.

Answer
2 x π x 385 000
2xπxr v=
v= 708
T

Therefore v = 3 420 km/h (to 3 sig figs) or 0.949 km/s.

2. The Hubble Space Telescope (HST) orbits the earth at a speed of 7.6 km/s
and has an orbital time period of 5700 seconds.

 a) Using the formula given above, calculate the radius of the HST's orbit
from the center of the Earth.
 b) The Earth has a radius of 6400 km. Calculate the distance from the
HST to the Earth's surface.

Answer

a) Both time period and speed include seconds, so we can substitute the numbers
directly into the formula
2xπxr
7.6 =
2xπxr
5700
v=
T

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 7.6 x 5700
r=
2xπ

Therefore r = 6900 km (to 3 sig figs) .

b) The Earth's radius is 6400 km, so the HST's height above the Earth's surface is
6900 - 6400;
so the distance = 500 km

Space

1. The solar system: Our solar system consists of the Sun at the center, with 8
planets in orbit around it. There are also comets orbiting the Sun, and moons
orbiting the planets. There are similar solar systems around other stars.

 To remember the planets in order “ My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us

Noodles”

2. Galaxies: There are billions of stars in most galaxies. Our Sun is in a huge
galaxy called the Milky Way. It has about 100 billion stars in it. Many probably have
planets. The galaxy nearest to us is called the Andromeda galaxy both of these
galaxies are spiral galaxies, with the outer stars orbiting around a very heavy central
mass of stars.

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3. The universe: The observable universe is believed to consist of billions of
galaxies

Gravity

The motion of galaxies, stars and planets are all ruled by the force of gravity. This
force between any 2 objects depends on the masses of the objects and also the
distance between them. The pull of gravity makes:

 moons orbit planets

 artificial satellites (like the international space station) orbit the Earth
 the Planets orbit the Sun
 Comets orbit the Sun.

Orbits

Moons generally travel around planets in a circular orbit. This means that they keep
approximately the same distance from the planet at all times. This is also true of
planets as they orbit the Sun. The Earth stays at approximately the same distance
from the Sun all year as it travels around in its orbit.

However, comets are very different. The distance from the Sun and the speed of a
comet varies dramatically, as shown in figure

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The correct mathematical name for this orbit shape is an ellipse. All comets have an
elliptical orbit, and as they approach the Sun, the pull of gravity makes them travel
faster and faster. The comet is fastest at its closest approach to the Sun

 as the distance from the sun increase the time to complete an orbit for a planet
increase for planet increase because
-the orbital distance increase
-the speed of a planet in its orbit decrease as gravitational field strength
decrease
 in elliptical orbit the distance from the sun change and gravitational potential
energy change because of the conservation of energy
Total energy = Ek + Ep
when the planet is closer to the sun its Ep is smaller and its Ek is greater and
it move faster

Asteroids

 Are made up of metal and rock and are much smaller than planets usually with
irregular shapes
 most of them are found between the planets mars and Jupiter the dwarf planet
ceres is found there

Comets

 comets are lumps of ice and dust which orbit around the sun , many comets
have elliptical orbit

Satellites
A satellite is anything that orbits a celestial body (star, planet, moon ). Both natural
and artificial satellites exist.

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 Natural satellites
The Moon is the Earth’s natural satellite. Scientists believe that it was formed when
a Mars-sized planet collided with the early Earth, throwing some of the crust into
orbit. However the Moon was formed, it is locked into the Earth’s gravitation field
and circles our planet once every 27.5 days. Many other moons are the natural
satellites for other planets in our solar system and beyond.

Artificial satellites
These have been placed into orbit by man. Among other jobs, artificial satellites
orbiting the Earth are used for:

 telecommunications (transmitting information between distant parts of the

Earth)

 satellite navigation systems

 spying on other countries

 weather forecasts

 Communications satellites occupy a geostationary orbit. They are in orbit

above the equator at just the right distance so that it takes them one day to
complete an orbit. As a result, they always appear in the same position when
seen from the ground. This is why satellite television dishes can be bolted
into position and do not need to move.

Questions

3. A rocket launched from the Earth's surface has to escape from the Earth's
gravitational pull.
Explain why it might be easier to launch a rocket from the surface of Mars.

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Answer

Mars has a lower mass than the Earth, and therefore lower gravitational field
strength (g). This means it takes less energy to launch the rocket into space.

4. Explain the difference between the orbit of a comet and of a planet.

Answer

Both comets and planets orbit the Sun. However, planets have an
approximately circular orbit, whereas comets have a highly elliptical orbit

Stars
Stars have many different colors, ranging here from red and orange, to white and
blue. This is because the stars all have a different temperature at the surface.

The color of the star indicates the temperature. Red stars are not as hot as orange
stars. Then comes yellow/white, white, and finally blue stars that are extremely hot
at the surface.

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The evolution of stars

Nebula

All stars begin from a humble cloud of gas and dust, called a nebula. If the mass of a
region of the nebula is large enough, gravity begins to pull the nebula together and
compress it form a hot ball of gas known as protostar

Main sequence stars

The gas has been compressed so much that the temperature reaches millions of
degrees Celsius, enough for a fusion reaction to begin. A star is born! The fusion
reaction lasts for a long time - billions of years for a star like the Sun

Red giant

When stars begin to run out of hydrogen, more complicated fusion reactions can
start. The star begins to swell outwards and cool a little at the surface,
producing red giant stars.

White dwarf

When the last of the fusion reactions stops, the star shrinks. As it does this, the
compressed gases heat up making the star white hot at the surface, but very small

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Very large stars (Supergiant)

Stars with a mass much higher than the sun will be extremely bright and will
convert hydrogen at a vast rate through fusion reactions when the hydrogen runs
out, they also swell up to make red supergiant stars

Supernova

Once a red supergiant runs out of fuel to sustain the complicated fusion reactions
that occur, the star collapses very rapidly. As it rushes inwards, The star explodes in
a flash releasing so much energy it can out-shine an entire galaxy This explosion is
called a supernova.

Neutron star

The remaining core collapses into a tiny, extremely dense core made of neutrons,
called a neutron star.

Black hole

If the core remnant has a huge mass, it collapses inwards to a point. Nothing can
stop the collapse. This is where things get very weird, as the star is still there, with a
high mass and strong gravity, but it is effectively a point in space. This is called
a black hole.

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Questions

1. The Sun is currently a main sequence star, in the middle of its evolutionary
path.
Describe the next two stages in the evolution of stars like the Sun.

Answer

 The sun will eventually increase in size, and cool to become a red giant.
 After that, it will shrink to a much smaller size, and heat up to become
a white dwarf.

2. Very large main sequence stars will eventually run out of hydrogen in the
star's core. Describe the next stages in a life cycle of a star.

Answer

A very large main sequence star will

 Eventually increase in size to become a red supergiant.

 It then explodes. This is called a supernova.
 The star remnant then collapses to form a neutron star, or - if it is a huge
remnant - to form a black hole.

3. Explain what is meant by a nebula.

Answer

A nebula is a large cloud containing gases (like hydrogen and helium) / dust.

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The Big Bang theory

This theory states that the Universe started from extremely hot single point and
began expanding and cooling. In an enormous release of energy (the Big Bang) all
matter was created and moved outward from this point. Eventually the matter
formed dust clouds, stars and the galaxies we see today. However, these galaxies are
still moving outwards - the universe is still expanding.

 Key pieces of evidence led to this being the main theory that is supported today.
The two pieces of evidence are the red-shift of distant galaxies, and CMB
radiation

1-Red-shift

When very distant galaxies were first observed, astrophysicists noticed that
frequencies produced by the hydrogen in stars had been shifted to longer
wavelengths.

 Wavelength red end of the spectrum. This effect is called red shift.

Remember Doppler Effect A source of waves moving away from us produces a

shift in the wavelength of light towards longer wavelengths. That is what is being
observed here - distant galaxies are moving away from us at very high speeds. In
fact, the further the distance to the galaxy, the faster the recession
velocity (recession means 'moving away'). This higher velocity leads to a higher red
shift.

2-cosmic microwave background radiation

If the big bang happened, releasing a vast quantity of matter and radiation, then the
radiation remaining should now be enormously red-shifted into the microwave
region of the EM spectrum. Penzias and Wilson had discovered what we now call

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the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB radiation), exactly as
predicted by the Big Bang theory.

The CMB radiation, along with the red shift of distant galaxies has provided
astrophysics with enough evidence for them to be reasonably certain that the Big
Bang theory is correct. The universe did have a starting point

Questions

3. In 1964, CMB radiation was discovered.

 a) State what is meant by CMB radiation.

 b) Explain why CMB radiation supports the Big Bang theory for the
origins of the universe.

Answer

a) CMB radiation is cosmic (from space) microwave background (all around us)
radiation.

b) This radiation is predicted from the big bang theory: Any radiation produced in
the big bang should now be red-shifted to microwave radiation, but should be
observable in all directions.

The Hubble constant

 Hubble's Law states that a galaxy's recessional

velocity (its velocity away from us) is directly
proportional to the galaxy's distance from
Earth.

 A graph of recessional velocity against distance

from Earth is a straight line passing through the
origin.

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  This graph shows that galaxies that are further away from Earth are
moving away even faster than those closer to Earth. The Hubble constant is
equal to the gradient of the graph

 the time it has taken for the galaxies to reach their current is given by

t= =

 so you can take as an estimate for the age of the universe

This is further evidence that all matter in the universe came from hot dense
point

Questions

A galaxy is found to be moving away with a speed of 2.1 × 107 m s-1. The galaxy
is at a distance of 9.5 × 1024 m from Earth Assuming the speed has remained
constant, what is the age of the universe in years?
Answer
v = H0d

Rearrange for the Hubble constant H0, and calculate

Write the equation for the age of the universe T0, and calculate

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Convert from seconds into years

Therefore, the age of the universe is estimated to be about 14.3 billion years

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