Space physics

The Earth
The earth is 3rd plant of sun and it rotate due to centripetal force

 The Earth orbits the Sun once in approximately 365 days (i.e. in one year).
 The path of the Earth around the Sun is not quite circular but takes the form of an ellipse
with the Sun at one focus.
 The earth rotates on its axis, which is tilted, once in approximately 24 hours. It makes days
and night while when it rotates around sun it makes seasons.
 Day and night are of equal length only when the Earth is at points A and B of its orbit; these
are the equinoxes, which often fall on 20 March and 23rd September.
 The light of sun reaches earth in about 500 s.

The Moon
The moon is a satellite of the Earth and its diameter is one quarter of the diameter of earth.
Its 5th largest satellite on the solar system
Distance from earth 400 000 km.

 The moon is a (natural) satellite of the Earth and travels round it in an approximately
circular orbit approximately once a month at an average distance away of about
400 000 km.
 Moon reflects the sunlight it doesn’t has its own light.
 It does not have atmosphere
 Its gravitational field strength is one sixth of earth.

 It takes approximately 500s for sun light from the sun to reach the earth.
 d from sun to earth is 150,000,000km per second
300,000 km
Speed =distance/ time
Time= distance / time
T= 150,000,000/300,000 = 500s
Orbital speed
we defined average
 Speed= distance/time
 Speed = circumference of circle/ time
 Speed = 2 π r/T

So, for the Moon, moving in a circular orbit around the Earth with average orbital speed
circumference of orbit :2πr
Circumference of orbit/time :2πr /T
where r is the average radius of the orbit, and T is the orbital period (the time for one
orbit).
Key definitions Average orbital speed r T 2 ν = π
where r is the average radius of the orbit and T is the orbital period

The Solar System

The Solar System consists of:

1. The Sun
2. Eight planets
3. Natural and artificial satellites
4. Dwarf planets
5. Asteroids and comets

The Solar System consists of one star (the Sun) and eight planets moving around it in elliptical
orbits
The 8 planets in our Solar System in ascending order of the distance from the Sun are
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. Mercury is closest to the
Sun. Neptune is the farthest.

to help you recall them:

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Noodles

The four inner and 4 rocky planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are all small, of similar
size, solid and rocky, with a layered structure, and have a high density.
The four outer and gaseous planets, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, are much larger and
colder and consist mainly of gases; their density is low.
These outer planets have many moons and other natural satellites in the form of rings of icy
materials.

Asteroids
 These are rocks of various sizes.
 They orbit sun in asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

 They have high density like inner planets.

 They are classified as minor planets.
 Minor planets are the objects which orbits stars but do not have enough mass to have a
spherical shape due to gravitational pull.
 Largest asteroid “Ceres “ is classified as dwarf planet.
 Ceres is large and spherical in shape but don’t have enough attraction to clear sea of smaller
objects
around it.
Most of the dwarf planets, the best known of which is Pluto, orbit the Sun at average distances
greater than Neptune.

Comets
 The dirty snow balls
 Made of dust in ice of water and methane.
 The ice melts when they get close to sun and that makes their tail.
 Low density like outer planets.
 They orbit the sun in highly elliptical order and are much closer to sun at some times than
other.
 On approaching the Sun, the dust and gas are blown backwards by radiation pressure from
the Sun and the comet develops a bright head and long tail pointing away from the Sun.

Planetary data about orbital distance, orbital period, density, surface

temperature and uniform gravitational field strength

GRAVITATIONAL FIELD STRENGTH

Gravitational field strength is the force per unit mass. On earth it is 9.81 N/kg. The force
of gravity is responsible for the orbits of planets, moons, asteroids and comets.

 is always attractive

Gravitational field strength at the surface of planet depends on the mass of planet. Massive
the planet more gravitational field strength it will have.

As we move away the gravitational field strength decreases with distance. Farther we go
weaker will be the strength

Gravitational field strength of sun

As mass of sun is maximum in solar system, about 99.8 percent of total solar system so its
gravitational field strength is maximum. The force that keeps an object in orbit around the
Sun is the gravitational attraction of the Sun Remember that the strength of the Sun’s
gravitational field decreases as the distance from sun increases.
Satellites

 There are two types of satellite:

o Natural
o Artificial

 Some planets have moons which orbit them

o Moons are an example of natural satellites

The Universe
Milky way

 Galaxies consist of billions of stars bound together by the force of gravity

 There are thought to be at least 200 billion galaxies in our Universe each containing on
average 2 billion stars The Milky Way is one of the billions of galaxies that make up the
Universe.
 The diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is around 100 000 light-years and it contains 800
billion or more stars.

Red shift

In developing a theory about the origin of the Universe, two discoveries about galaxies have to
be taken into account. The first is that light emitted from glowing hydrogen in stars in distant
galaxies, is ‘shifted’ to the red end of the spectrum (longer wavelength) in comparison with the
value on Earth. The second is that the further away a galaxy is from us, the greater is this
redshift. These observations can be explained if other galaxies are moving away from us very
rapidly, and the further away they are, the faster is their speed of recession. Evidently the
Universe is expanding.

Or

The same dopplers effect is shown by light. When the light source is receding, the wavelength
seems longer, that is the light is redder.

From the size of the redshift of starlight, the speed of recession of the galaxy can be calculated.

The most distant ones visible are receding with speeds up to one-third of the speed of light.

The redshift in the light from distant galaxies provides evidence that the Universe is expanding
so red shift is the increase in observed wavelength of electromagnetic radiation from a star or
galaxy because it is moving away from us.

Big Bang Theory

If the galaxies are receding from each other, it follows that in the past they must have been
closer together. It is therefore possible that initially all the matter in the Universe was packed
together in an extremely dense state. The Big Bang theory proposes that this was the case, and
that the Universe started about 14 billion years ago from one place with a huge explosion – the
Big Bang.

Stars and the Universe

The Sun

 The Sun is a medium-sized star which consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. It is 74%
hydrogen and 24% helium 40 % of its energy is radiated in form of visible light and 50%
is infrared radiations and 10 % is ultraviolet.
 It has a mass of 2x10 30 kg
 This radiation is emitted from glowing hydrogen which is heated by the energy released
in nuclear reactions within the Sun.

Galaxies

 A galaxy is a large collection of stars; there are billions of stars in a galaxy. The force of gravity
pulls stars together in group called galaxy.
 Our sun is one of billions of stars in our galaxy known as milky way.
  Other stars in galaxy are far away from earth than sun is.
 It is a spiral galaxy with about 200 billion stars.
 Milky way has a diameter of about 100,000 light years and the disc is about 2000 light years
thick.

Light-years

Astronomical distances can be measured in light-years, where one light-year is the distance
travelled in a vacuum by light in one year and equals nearly 10 million million kilometres: 1
light-year = 9.5 × 1012 km = 9.5 × 1015 m

The Life Cycle of Solar Mass Stars

1. Nebula

All stars form from a giant 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

Thermal expansion from fusion reactions occur within its core due to fusion and the force of

gravity keeps the star in equilibrium

At this point, the star is born, and it becomes 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 which results

from the expanding hot gases inside the star

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 dies down

A new series of reactions will then occur around the core, for example, helium nuclei will

undergo fusion to form beryllium

As the core shrinks, more reactions will cause the outer part of the star to expand

It will become a red giant

It is red because the outer surface starts to cool

5. White Dwarf

The star will eventually become unstable and eject the outer layer of dust and gas

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

Red Supergiant

Eventually, the main sequence star will reach a stage when it starts to run out of hydrogen

gas in its core

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 is greater than

the outward force due to the pressure of the expanding gases

A new series of fusion reactions will then occur around the core, for example, helium nuclei

will undergo fusion to form beryllium

These fusion reactions will cause the outer part of the star to expand and it will become

a super red giant

A super red giant is much larger than a red giant

Supernova

Once the fusion reactions inside the red supergiant finally finish, the core of the star

will collapse suddenly causing 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 a supernova

6. Neutron Star (or Black Hole)

At the centre of this explosion a dense body, called a neutron star will form

In the case of the largest 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