began. At its simplest, it talks about the universe as we know it starting with a small singularity, then inflating over the next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know today. This universal expansion was predicted from general relativity by Alexander Friedmann in 1922 and Georges Lematre in 1927. The Big Bang is a scientific theory about how the universe started, and then made the groups of stars (called galaxies) we see today. The universe began as very hot, small, and dense, with no stars, atoms, form, or structure (called a "singularity"). Is an effort to explain what happened during and after that moment. According to the standard theory, our universe sprang into existence as "singularity" around 13.7 billion years ago. The universe expanded from a very high density and high temperature state, and offers a comprehensive explanation for a broad range of phenomena, including the abundance of light elements, the cosmic microwave background, large scale structure and Hubble's Law. SINGULARITY
Extrapolation of the expansion of the universe
backwards in time using general relativity yields an infinite density and temperature at a finite time in the past.
STARS
A star is a luminous sphere of plasma held
together by its own gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Other stars, mostly in the Milky Way, are visible from Earth during the night, appearing as a multitude of fixed luminous points due to their immense distance.
Stars are giant, luminous spheres of plasma.
There are billions of them including our own sun in the Milky Way Galaxy. And there are billions of galaxies in the universe.
Stars form inside relatively dense concentrations
of interstellar gas and dust known as molecular clouds. These regions are extremely cold (temperature about 10 to 20K, just above absolute zero). At these temperatures, gases become molecular meaning that atoms bind together.
Hydrogen is still available outside the core, so
hydrogen fusion continues in a shell surrounding the core. The increasingly hot core also pushes the outer layers of the star outward, causing them to expand and cool, transforming the star into a red giant.
Constellations are formed of bright stars which
appear close to each other on the sky, but are really far apart in space. The shapes you see all depend on your point of view. Many societies saw patterns among the stars with gods and goddesses or stories from their culture. Stars - the building block of galaxies born out of louds of gas and dust in galaxies. Instabilities within the clouds eventually results into gravitational collapse, rotation, heating up, and transformation to a protostar - the core of a future star as thermonuclear reactions set in. Stellar interiors are like furnaces where elements are synthesized or combined/fused together. Most stars such as the Sun belong to the socalled main sequence stars. In the cores of such stars, hydrogen atoms are fused through thermonuclear reactions to make helium atoms. Massive main sequence stars burn up their hydrogen faster than smaller stars. Stars like our Sun burnup hydrogen in about 10 billion years.
STARS Life
Massive stars are born, just like average stars,
out of clouds of dust called nebulae. These stars have: A quick main sequence phase, where hydrogen continues to be fused into helium during a stable portion of the star's life cycle.
Stellar evolution is the process by which a star
undergoes a sequence of radical changes during its lifetime. Depending on the mass of the star, this lifetime ranges from only a few million years for the most massive to trillions of years for the least massive, which is considerably longer than the age of the universe.
All stars are born from collapsing clouds of gas
and dust, often called nebulae or molecular clouds. Over the course of millions of years, these protostars settle down into a state of equilibrium, becoming what is known as a mainsequence star. Nuclear fusion powers a star for most of its life.
Hydrogen is still available outside the core, so
hydrogen fusion continues in a shell surrounding the core. The increasingly hot core also pushes the outer layers of the star outward, causing them to expand and cool, transforming the star into a red giant.
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 practicallyan empty space. This organization of matter in the universe suggests that it is indeed clumpy at a certain scale. But at a large scale, it appears homogeneous and isotropic. STAR
NEBULA - A nebula is a cloud of gas (hydrogen)
and dust in space. Nebulae are the birthplaces of stars. There are different types of nebula. An Emission Nebula e.g. such as Orion nebula, glows brightly because the gas in it is energized by the stars that have already formed within it. In a Reflection Nebula, starlight reflects on the grains of dust in a nebula. The nebula surrounding the Pleiades Cluster is typical of a reflection nebula. Dark Nebula also exist. These are dense clouds of molecular hydrogen which partially or completely absorb the light from stars behind them e.g. the Horsehead Nebula in Orion. Planetary Nebula are the outer layers of a star that are lost when the star changes from a red giant to a white dwarf. RED GIANT - This is a large bright star with a cool surface. It is formed during the later stages of the evolution of a star like the Sun, as it runs out of hydrogen fuel at its center. Red giants have diameter's between 10 and 100 times that of the Sun. They are very bright because they are so large, although their surface temperature is lower than that of the Sun, about 2000-3000C. Very large stars (red giants) are often called Super Giants. These stars have diameters up to 1000 times that of the Sun and have luminosities often 1,000,000 times greater than the Sun. RED DWARF - These are very cool, faint and small stars, approximately one tenth the mass and diameter of the Sun. They burn very slowly and have estimated lifetimes of 100 billion years. Proxima Centauri and Barnard's Star are red dwarfs. WHITE DWARF - This is very small, hot star, the last stage in the life cycle of a star like the Sun. White dwarfs have a mass similar to that of the Sun, but only 1% of the Sun's diameter; approximately the diameter of the Earth. The surface temperature of a white dwarf is 8000C or more, but being smaller than the Sun their overall luminosity's are 1% of the Sun or less. o White dwarfs are the shrunken remains of normal stars, whose nuclear energy supplies have been used up. White dwarf consist of degenerate matter with a very
high density due to gravitational effects,
i.e. one spoonful has a mass of several tonnes. White dwarfs cool and fade over several billion years. SUPERNOVA - This is the explosive death of a star, and often results in the star obtaining the brightness of 100 million suns for a short time. There are two general types of Supernova:o Type I These occur in binary star systems in which gas from one star falls on to a white dwarf, causing it to explode. o Type II These occur in stars ten times or more as massive as the Sun, which suffer runaway internal nuclear reactions at the ends of their lives, leading to an explosion. They leave behind neutron stars and black holes. Supernovae are thought to be main source of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
NEUTRON STARS -These stars are composed
mainly of neutrons and are produced when a supernova explodes, forcing the protons and electrons to combine to produce a neutron star. Neutron stars are very dense. Typical stars having a mass of three times the Sun but a diameter of only 20 km. If its mass is any greater, its gravity will be so strong that it will shrink further to become a black hole. Pulsars are believed to be neutron stars that are spinning very rapidly.
BLACK HOLES - Black holes are believed to form
from massive stars at the end of their lifetimes. The gravitational pull in a black hole is so great that nothing can escape from it, not even light. The density of matter in a black hole cannot be measured. Black holes distort the space around them, and can often suck neighbouring matter into them including stars.
Activity : Discuss or describe each stages (life cycle of a