Our View On The Present State of The Universe

AN ESSAY ON
OUR VIEW OF THE

PRESENT STATE OF THE UNIVERSE
BY
ANDREW C. J. D’SOUZA
A paper submitted in partial fulfillment

Of the course in philosophy
Under the guidance of
Rev. Fr. Felix D’Souza.
FEBRUARY 2006
DEENA SEVA ASHRAM

INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
BANGALORE - 560059.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER I
THE MEANS OF KNOWING OUR UNIVERSE
PART I
THEORITICAL PHYSICS
A. THEORY OF RELATIVITY
1. Introduction
2. Meaning of Relativity
3. Special theory of Relativity
a. Velocity of light
b. Relativity of motion
c. Relativity of length
d. Relativity of time
e. Relativity of space
a. Space-time
f. Relativity of mass
g. Equivalence of mass and energy
h. Activity and mass are inseparable
4. General theory of Relativity
a. New interpretation of gravity
b. Motion and the perihelion of Mercury
c. Deflection of light by a gravitational field
d. Black Holes
B. QUANTUM MECHANICS
1. Quantum
2. Plank’s constant
3. Nature of light
4. Nature of matter
i
5. Energy: The ultimate substance
C. BLACK HOLE PHYSICS

1. Physics of black holes
2. Event horizon
3. Black holes ain’t so black
4. Hartle-Hawking no-boundary proposal
5. Evolution of the universe and its fate
D. SUPERSTRING THEORY
1. Vibrating strings: The ultimate building blocks of the universe
2. The unification of everything
3. Cause of the Big Bang
4. Cause of Dark Matter
PART II
SCIENTIFIC METHOD
A. ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATIONS
1. Electromagnetic radiations
2. Production of electromagnetic radiations
3. Electromagnetic spectrum
a. Radio radiation
b. Infrared radiation
c. Visible light
d. Ultraviolet radiation
e. X radiation
f. Gamma radiation.
ii
CHAPTER II
BASIC PROPERTIES OF THE UNIVERSE
A. SUBSTANCE IN THE UNIVERSE

1. Origin of substance
2. Composition of substance
a. Elements
b. Atoms and molecules
c. Dark matter
3. Building blocks of nature
B. FORCES IN THE UNIVERSE

1. Force
2. The four fundamental forces
3. Gravity
a. Escape velocity
4. Electromagnetic force
5. Strong nuclear force
6. Weak nuclear force
7. Origin of the forces
8. The importance of the forces
C. ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

1. Big Bang theory
D. STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE

1. Meteorites
2. Asteroids
3. Comets
4. Satellites
5. Planets
6. Stars
a. Formation of stars
b. Kinds of stars
iii
c. Fate of stars
i. Red giant
ii. White dwarf
iii. Neutron star
iv. Supernova
v. Black holes
vi. Unpredictable red dwarfs
7. Galaxy
E. UNITS OF MEASUREMENT BETWEENLARGE HEAVENLY

BODIES
F. LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE
iv
CHAPTER III
GRASPING THE PRESENT
A. PARTICLE PHYSICS
1. Hydrino: The revolution in physics
2. Cat - State: Physics
B. METEORITES, ASTEROIDS AND COMETS

1. Meteorites
2. Asteroids
3. Comets
C. SATELLITES OR MOONS
1. Titan: Saturn’s moon
2. Tethys: Saturn’s moon
3. Hyperion: Saturn’s moon
4. Enceladus: Saturn’s moon
5. New moons of Pluto
6. Gabrielle: Xena’s Moon
D. PLANETS
1. Mars
2. Saturn
3. Pluto
4. Xena
5. Exoplanets
a. Planet 2M1207b
b. Earth like exoplanet
c. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb
E. STARS AND SOLAR SYSTEMS

1. Lynx-Arc
2. Wild West Landscape
3. Big baby stars
v
4. Pillars of creation
5. Outcast star
6. Star in top gear
7. Astonishing weight
8. Monster starburst
9. Smallest star
10. Black holes
a. Black holes causing eruptions
b. Black holes as answers to problems
c. Black holes: An illusion
11. Small wonder: Another solar system
12. Sun-like star
13. New theory on the death of stars
F. GALAXY
1. Dark galaxy
G. POSSIBILITY OF LIFE
1. In search of neighbours
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
vi
INTRODUCTION
Ever since man evolved and began rationalizing, the universe has been the
fountainhead of mystery. For centuries man has been trying to grasp the universe. For
those religiously inclined, they found their gods, for poets and artists, it became an
inspiration, and, for those with an inquisitive attitude it became an object of
discussion. However, to all, it remains but just one thing: a mystery.
It is true that a mystery cannot be solved and all probing proves to be futile,
but still, in order to have a better purpose for living, rather than just existing, it is
worth trying.
In my essay I am presenting a scientific way of looking at the universe, and

that also from a “human” point of view. I stress on the word “human” because all
information and probing is done by humans with their intelligence. I also stress on the
word “humans” signifying that it is only a single point of view. I do not affirm,
neither do I negate other forms of life in our universe, but I still feel that in all
probability there could be intelligent life living somewhere in such a vast universe,
probing into this mystery just as we do, or may be at a even higher level.
I have divided my presentation into three chapters. In the first chapter, I

present in two ways through which we can know our universe. Here I present some
theories which help us to understand our universe. I also present the electromagnetic
spectrum through which we are able to perceive heavenly bodies in a better way. In
the second chapter I present what is known in the universe and about the universe.
Here I present the origin, composition and structure of the universe. In the last
chapter I present the latest knowledge and happenings in our universe.
My purpose of writing this essay is not just for the sake of fulfilling a
requirement. The entire essay is but a result of my personal interest becoming
concrete because of a requirement. The recent happenings in the field of astronomy
i.e. visit to Mars and Titan, also have been a reason to make me choose this theme. I
have aimed at making my essay very informative, and I am sure that all who read it
cannot deny its usefulness.
1
CHAPTER 1
THE MEANS OF KNOWING OUR UNIVERSE
Part I
Theoretical Physics
At the dawn of the twentieth century the theories of Relativity and Quantum
Mechanics opened before us two new worlds: the mega-cosmos, a world of fleeting
galaxies, and the micro-cosmos, the microphysical world of quanta.1 A problem arose
when both these theories failed to embrace each other. However in 1970, the
Superstring Theory was formulated which is said to embrace these two theories by
making them its two halves.2 In 1988, the theory of Black Hole Thermo-dynamics
improved our understanding of the universe as it began to unravel the reality of Black
holes and other realities in the universe.3
A. Theory of Relativity
1. Introduction
In the year 1905, Albert Einstein published three seminal research papers
which changed the scientific thinking about the universe forever.4 His revolutionary
1
Joseph M. Angadiyil, “Analytic Rationality, Quantum Physics and The Logic of God”,
Divyadaan, ed. Ivo Coelho, Vol. 13, No.1, (Nashik : Divyadaan, 2002), p. 1.
Before the twentieth century, Newton’s Classical Physics dominated most of the laws of
physics especially the laws of gravitation and motion. Cf. Celestine N. Bittle, From Aether to
Cosmos, (Milwaukee : The Bruce Publishing Company, 1947), p. 429.
2
Cf. Michio Kaku and Jennifer Thompson, Beyond Einstein, (Auckland : Anchor Books,
1995), pp. 9-10.
3
Cf. Michael White and John Gribbin, “ A Brief History of Stephen Hawking”, Reader’s
Digest, ed. Ashok Mahadevan, Vol.143, No.856, (August, 1993), p. 166.
4
Cf. Reuters, “ Relaunching Physics”, The Hindu, ed. N. Ram, Vol.128, (12th Jan, 05), p.
20.
The three revolutionary papers of Einstein were :
a) Brownian motion – This paper proved the existence of atoms.
2
insight into the nature of light particles or protons, into the nature and existence of
molecules, and into the electrodynamics of moving bodies, burst upon an
unsuspecting world when he was just a 26-year-old working in a Swiss patent office.5
Many of the great breakthroughs of the past century such as Quantum

Mechanics, computer revolutions, nuclear power, lasers, space travel, global
positioning systems – can be put down to Einstein’s genius.6
2. Meaning of Relativity
“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems

like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute –
and it’s longer than an hour. That’s relativity.”7
Relativity reveals that appearance is relative. It is a question of cognitive

limitations. We know what appears to us. What appears to us is relative. Thus our
total knowledge is relative only. Beings or things are not relative. It is our knowledge
about the being or thing that is relative.8 The consequence of this principle is, it is
impossible to determine absoluteness of anything because there is no privileged
absolute frame of reference.9
3. Special Theory of Relativity
It is the Special Theory of Relativity that earned Einstein name and fame. This
theory took the world by storm and forever changed the way we look at Classical
2
Physics. The equation E = MC became popular even among the young. The
astonishing results in this paper are emphasized in this famous limerick:
b) Photoelectric effect – This explained how light can act as particles, how atoms can
emit and absorb radiation, and how gravity affects clocks.
c) Special Theory of Relativity – This paper integrated space, time and matter. Cf.
Ibid.
5
Shashi Tharoor, “ Was there such a one as this ?”, Magazine : The Hindu, ed. N. Ram,
Vol.128, (3rd July, 2005), p. 3.
6
Reuters, Op.Cit., p. 20.
7
Ibid.
8
N.C Panda, Māyā in Physics, (Delhi : Motilal Banarsidas Publishers Private Limited,
1991), p. 66.
9
Ibid.
3
“There was once a lady called Bright,
Who could travel faster than light:
She went out one day,
In a relative way,
And came back the previous night.”10
a. Velocity of Light
The experimental findings of Michelson and Morley indicated the

absoluteness of the speed of light. The velocity of light in vacuum remains the same
in all frames of reference, but changes in matter depending on the index of refraction
of the matter. In vacuum the velocity of light is invariably about:
3 X 10 10 cms per sec 11 (i.e. 30000000000 cms per sec).

300000 Kms per sec.
186000 miles per sec.
When the velocity of a body equals to that of light, its dimension in the
direction of motion becomes zero.12
b. Relativity of Motion
“Let us imagine a raven flying through the air in such a

manner that its motion, as observed from the [railway]
embankment, is uniform and in a straight line. If we were
to observe the flying raven from the moving railway
carriage, we shall find that the motion of the raven would
be one of different velocity and direction, it would still be
uniform and in a straight line.”13
10
Amara Barani Dev, “Celebrating Einstein’s Contributions”, Science and Technology :
Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, Vol.58, (31st Jan, 05), p. 4.
Classical Physics of Newton propagated the absoluteness of space, time and motion. cf.
N.C. Panda, Op.Cit., pp. 17-18.
11
Bernard Jaffe, Michelson and the speed of light, (New York : Pyramid books, 1962), p.
71.
12
N.C. Panda, Op.Cit.., p. 66.
13
Albert Einstein, Relativity, trans. Robert W. Lawson, (New York : Crown Publishers Inc.,
1952), p. 12.
4
Motion is relative and it makes sense only from one particular frame of
reference. Therefore there is no absolute motion. The same applies to rest.14
c. Relativity of Length
“A rigid meter – rod moving in the direction of its length

is shorter when in motion then when at rest, the more
quicker it is moving, the shorter is the rod.”15
When the velocity of the meter – rod equals to that of light then the length of
the rod is zero or infinite.16
d. Relativity of Time
“As a consequence of its motion the clock goes [ticks]

more slowly than when rest.”17
Time becomes zero when the object moves at the speed of light. Thus any
person who moves at the speed of light is immortal.18
i. Illustration
A and B are twin brothers. When they are 20- yrs old, A climbs a space – ship
and travels at 9/10 th the speed of light. A returns to the earth at the age of 46, while
his twin – brother B has attained the age of 80.19
14
Cf. Felix D’Souza, “Philosophy of Science”, Class Notes, p. 15.
15
Albert Einstein, Op.Cit., p. 35.
16
Cf. N.C. Panda, Op.Cit., p. 61.
17
18
N.C. Panda, Op.Cit., p. 60.
19
Ibid.
9/10th the speed of light is 3,00,000 X 9 = 2,70,000 Kms per sec.
10
5
e. Relativity of Space
When Einstein says, “Space is Relative”, he means there by the dimensions

of length, breadth and height to be relative. Space, as an entity, as a subtle form of
matter is not relative, however.20
i. Space – Time
The idea about Newtonian Space and Time were discarded by Einstein.21
Combining Space and Time Einstein conceived the ‘Space – Time Continuum.’ Space
is not independent of time and vice-versa. Thus all events and objects are four
dimensional i.e. length, breadth, height and time.22
f. Relativity of Mass
The mass of a moving body measures more as its velocity increases. This
increase in mass is continuous until, at the speed of light, the mass becomes infinite.23
g. Equivalence of Mass and Energy
When the velocity of mass equals to that of light it becomes energy.24 At the
speed of light mass is reduced to radiation or pure energy hence we have Einstein’s
famous formula:
E = MC2. .25
20
21
Newtonian space was absolute and had three dimensions, viz. length, breadth and height.
Newtonian time was also absolute. It flowed unidirectional from the past to the future through the
present. Ibid.
22
Ibid., pp. 375-376.
23
Ibid., pp. 60-61.
24
Cf. Ibid., p.62.
25
Felix D’Souza, Op.Cit., p. 17.
6
People had earlier never considered that matter was in any way convertible to
energy.26 Mass is nothing but a form of energy. Energy can be transformed into mass
and mass into energy. Mass at rest is solid, mass in velocity is energy.27
i. Example
If one kilogram of coal is converted entirely into energy it would yield 25

billion kilowatt hours of electricity, or as much as all the power plants in the U.S
could generate by running steadily for two months.28
h. Activity and Mass are Inseparable
Matter does not exist without activity. The existence of matter and its activity
cannot be separated, because they are one and the same. 29
All matter is made up of atoms. Even the nuclear particles of an atom, being
confined to very small dimensions, move almost at the speed of light.30 Hence activity
and mass are inseparable.
4. General Theory of Relativity
In 1915, Albert Einstein formulated the general Theory of Relativity.31 He

wrote,
“You will soon become convinced of the General Theory
of relativity as soon as you have studied it. Therefore I
will not write a word of defense.”32
26
C. Sivaram, “Einstein in our lives”, Science and Technology : Deccan Herald, ed.
K.N.Shanth Kumar, Vol.58, (21st March, 05), p. 4.
27
With the advent of nuclear transformation processes, which result from the bombardment
of elements by alpha particles, protons, deuterons, neutrons or gamma rays, the equivalence of mass
and energy expressed by the relation E = MC2 has been amply confirmed. Albert Einstein, Op.Cit.,
p. 48.
28
Cf. Lincoln Barnett, The Universe and Dr. Einstein, (Virginia : Time – Life Books Inc.
1982), p. 54.
29
30
Ibid.
31
Amara Barani Dev, Op.Cit., p. 4.
32
Ibid.
7
This theory shook the mighty pillars of Newtonian gravity.
a. New Interpretation of Gravity
To explain the gravitational field Einstein combined the concept of inertia and
gravitation.33
“The gravitational mass of a body is equal to its inertial
mass.”34
“The earth produces in its surrounding a gravitational

field, which acts on the stone and produces its motion to
fall.”35
Matter is always associated with gravitational field.36 Gravity curves both

space and time and the curvature depends on the massiveness of the object.37
Therefore all bodies have their own gravitational field according to their size. The
curvature of space – time in the vicinity of a massive body is more pronounced.38
b. Motion and the Perihelion of Mercury
All planets, with the exception of Mercury, revolve in their elliptical orbits.39
Mercury deviates from its course each year by a slight exasperating degree.40
The new theory of gravitation proved that the intensity of the sun’s
gravitational field acts upon the tiny planet by enormous speed causing the whole
ellipse of Mercury’s orbit to execute a slow but inexorable swing around the sun at
the rate of one revolution in 3,000,000 years.41
33
Cf. Celestine N. Bittle, Op.Cit., p. 439.
Every particle in the universe attracts every other particle with a force directly proportional
to the square of the distance between them. According to Newton, this gravitational force was created
by God and this acts instantaneously over a distance. N.C. Panda, Op.Cit., p. 18.
34
35
Ibid.
36
37
38
Ibid.
39
Cf. Lincoln Barnett, Op.Cit., p. 75.
40
Ibid., pp. 75-76.
41
Cf. Ibid., p. 76.
8
Diag.1.
The path of mercury around the sun. 42
c. Deflection of Light by a Gravitational Field
“In general, rays of light are propagated curvilinearly in

gravitational fields.”43
Light like any material object, travels in a curve when passing through the
gravitational field of a massive body.44
Diag.2.
Gravitational deflection of light. 45
42
Lincoln Barnett, Op.Cit., p. 76.
43
Albert Einstein, Op.Cit., p. 75
44
45
9
“We should expect that a ray of light which is passing
close to a heavenly body would be deviated towards the
latter.”46
According to General Theory of Relativity, the light from stars surrounding

the sun should be bent inward, toward the sun, in traversing the sun’s gravitational
field, hence the images of those stars should appear, when observed on earth, to be
shifted outward from their usual positions in the sky.47
Diag.3.
Deflection of star light by Sun’s gravity. 48
d. Black Hole
When a star starts collapsing the distance between its particles decreases and
hence the mutual attraction rapidly increases.49 The star becomes denser and denser
and the force of gravity on its surface becomes stronger and stronger,50 so much so
that a cubic inch in a black hole would weigh a ton on earth.51 As a result the space-
46
47
48
Ibid.
49
We shall see more about black holes in the next chapter.
50
Ibid..
51
10
time around the star becomes more and more curved.52 In this process comes a stage
where nothing, not even light can escape the star’s surface.53
B Quantum Mechanics
Quantum Mechanics was first introduced by Max Plank in 1900. during his
attempt to overcome one of the difficulties of the theory of thermal radiation his ideas
on Quantum Mechanics grew.54 An entirely new world was opened – the world of the
ultra small, of atoms, atomic nuclei and elementary particles.55
This theory was re-developed and reformulated by many great physicists –

Albert Einstein, Louis de Brouglie, Erwin Schrödinger – who continued to base their
theories on ‘quanta’.
1. Quantum
Max Planck through experiment in thermal radiation came to the conclusion

that an atom never emits any energy continuously, but only intermittently, in definite
quantities or parcels which he termed as ‘Quantum’.56 Quantum in Latin means
‘discrete portion’ or ‘quantity’.57
a. Quantum Mechanics
The word mechanics signifies the ‘principle of operation’ and hence Quantum
Mechanics means ‘the operation of quanta’.58
52
53
Ibid.
54
Cf. Vitaly Rydnik, The ABC’s of Quantum Mechanics, trans. George Yankorsky,
(Moscow : Peace Publishers, N.D), p. 10.
55
Cf. Ibid.
56
Celestine N. Bittle, Op.Cit., p. 61.
57
Vitaly Rydnik, Op.Cit., p. 17.
58
Ibid.
11
2. Planck’s constant
Plank formulated an equation to show that each quantum carries an amount of

energy:
E = hv.
E stands for energy, v is the frequency of radiation an h is Plank’s constant.59
The strange thing about h is the units in which it is measured; energy
multiplied by time (seconds) i.e. ergs.60 Plank’s h is a very small constant:
6.6 X 10 –27 ergs. 61
In any process of radiation the amount of emitted energy, divided by the

frequency is always equal to h.62
3. Nature of Light
Before, light was considered to be traveling in the form of waves, but with the
dawn of Quantum Mechanics it was proved that light comes in a bundle or quantum
called photon.63 It was Einstein who revolutionized this thinking.64 Every time one of
these light quanta hits an electron, it gives in the same amount of energy and therefore
the same velocity.65 The question arose as to what was the ultimate nature of light
because some experiments still proved the wave nature of light.66 Further research
proved that particles behave like waves, and waves like particles, and therefore it was
concluded by Louis de Brouglie that light consists of a dual nature, of both wave and
particles, and therefore wavicle.67
59
Lincoln Barnett, Op.Cit., pp. 13-14.
60
John Gribbin, In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat, (London : Black Swan, 1984), p. 43.
61
Vitaly Rydink, Op.Cit., p. 71.
62
63
Cf. James Trefil, Reading the Mind of God, (Sydney : Anchor Books, 1989), pp. 72-73.
64
Cf. John Gribbin, Op.Cit., p. 47.
65
Ibid.
66
Cf. Celestine N. Bittle, Op.Cit., p. 63.
67
Cf. Ibid.
12
4. Nature of Matter
Nearly everything is made-up of matter, and all matter is composed of

68
atoms. Atoms in turn are made-up of electrons, neutrons and protons.69 All these
particles are wavicle in nature as that of light.70 De Brouglie proposed that such waves
produced in the motion of all bodies, including those not electrically charged.71 It was
proved that waves were associated with the motion of electrons and other particles of
matter at all times.72 Therefore, matter is no more either particle or wave but
wavicle.73
5. Energy: The Ultimate Substance
Most of the things are made-up of matter, matter is made up of molecules and
molecules are made up of atoms. Atoms consist in three elementary particles :–
The Electron – negatively charged electrical energy.
The Proton – positively charged electrical energy.
The Neutron – neutral energy.74
Thus each atom within itself is a complex of electrical energy.75
‘The climax of all discoveries resulted in the conclusion that the fundamental;
stuff in the universe is Energy. Energy is not only the force that keeps all in
continuous motion; it is also the fundamental substance out of which the universe is
made.’76
68
69
Cf. Ibid., p.16.
70
Cf. Felix D’Souza, Op.Cit., p. 24.
71
Vitaly Rydnik, Op.Cit., pp. 68-69.
72
Cf. Vitaly Rydnik, Op.Cit., p. 93
73
Cf. Ibid., p. 77.
74
Cf. Juliet Lee – Franzini, “Matter and Antimatter”, The New Encyclopedia Britannica, ed.
Warren E. Preece, Vol.XI, (Geneva : Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1974), p. 703.
75
76
Ibid.
13
C Black Hole Physics
In 1988, Stephen Hawking took the world by storm with the publication of his
book A Brief History of Time. Most of the contents were the discoveries that
Hawking made regarding the universe from the latter half of 1960. His work has had a
strong influence in the department of modern cosmology and in our understanding of
‘Black Holes.’77 Some people have declared that Stephen Hawking is the successor of
Einstein.78
1. Physics of Black Holes
Einstein in his General Theory of Relativity had proposed that there existed
Black Holes and Stephen Hawking proved it.
When a star exhausts its nuclear fuel, there remains nothing to maintain the
outward pressure and the star begins to collapse because of its own gravity.79 As the
star shrinks, its gravitational field at the surface becomes stronger and its escape
velocity increases.80 By the time the radius shrinks to 30 Kms, the escape velocity
increases to 300000 Kms per sec.81
77
Don N. Page, “Hawking”, The Encyclopedia Americana, ed. Mark Cummings, Vol.13,
(Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), p. 883.
78
Michio Kaku and Jennifer Thompson, Op.Cit., p. 137.
79
Cf. Stephen Hawking, Black Holes and Baby Universe, (London : Bantam Books, 1998),
p. 93.
80
Cf. Stephen Hawking, Op.Cit., p. 93.
81
Cf. Ibid.
14
Diag.4.
The formation of Black Holes. 82
2. Event Horizon
“… the surface area of the event horizon, the boundary of

a black hole, has the property that it always increases
when additional matter or radiation falls into a black
hole.”83
Diag.5.
Expansion of a single black hole.
82
Kitty Ferguson, Stephen Hawking : A Quest for a Theory of Everything, (London : Bantam
Books, 2001), p. 63.
83
Stephen Hawking, Op.Cit., p. 94.
15
“Moreover, if two black holes collide and merge to forma
single black hole, the area of the event horizon around the
resulting black hole is greater than the sum of the event
horizons around the original black hole.”84
Diag.6.
The collision of two black holes. 85
Hawking’s discovery reminded people about the second law of

86
thermodynamics.
3. Black Holes Ain’t so Black
“Black holes are not completely black!”87
“…a body with a particular temperature must emit

radiation … so black holes ought to emit radiation.”88
84
Stephen Hawking, Op.Cit., p. 94.
85
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, (London : Bantam Books, 1998), p. 107.
86
Cf. Kitty Ferguson, Op.Cit., p. 73.
Laws of Thermodynamics :
1. Conservation of Energy – In a system of constant, energy can neither be created
nor destroyed. The total energy remains the same.
2. Law on Entropy – Entropy is a measure of disintegrated energy or wasted energy.
The useful energy is gradually decreasing and the wasted energy is
gradually increasing.
3. Absolute Zero – The lowest temperature theoretically possible is -273.16 ºC
or Oº K or -459.67 ºF. This can never be attained and if attained there will
be no chemical reaction.
Cf. Stanley W. Angrist, “Thermodynamics”, The Encyclopedia Americana, ed. Mark
Cumming, Vol. 26, (Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), pp. 646-647.
87
Stephen Hawking, Black Holes and Baby Universe, p. 17.
16
What we actually see as a black hole emission don’t actually come from the
black hole but from the space just outside the black hole’s event horizon.89 When a
pair of particles appears at the event horizon the negative energy particles fall into the
black hole.90 The fact that its energy is negative means that we have energy subtracted
from the black hole.91 What happens to the energy? It is carried off into space with a
positive energy particle.92 The question arises; how can something escape from a
black hole if nothing can escape from a black hole? The Uncertainty Principle allows
particles to travel faster than light for a short distance which enables particles and
radiation to get out through the event horizon and escape from the black hole.93 Such
radiations are emitted from both rotating and non-rotating black holes.94
The radiation that’s emitted by black holes in this manner is now called
Hawking Radiation.95
4. Hartle – Hawking No – Boundary Proposal
“I went around the world, and I didn’t fall off.”96
This proposal of no – boundary was made by Jim Hartle and Hawking. They
said that there are no boundaries to space and time.97 The concept of ‘ past ’ ends in
the early universe just as the concept of ‘ North ’ ends at the north – pole, without a
boundary or an edge of which to fall – without a beginning.98
88
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p. 110.
89
Cf. Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p. 111.
90
Cf. Kitty Ferguson, Op.Cit., p. 97.
91
Ibid.
92
Ibid.
93
Cf. Stephen Hawking, Black Holes and Baby Universe, p. 109.
Uncertainty Principle was formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927 who said that
according to the laws of classical mechanism if both the position and the momentum of each particle of
a physical system are precisely known at a given instant in time, then the entire future behavior of that
physical system is determined. Arthur Komar, “Uncertainty Principle”, The Encyclopedia Americana,
ed. Mark Cummings, Vol.27,(Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), p. 355.
94
95
Kitty Ferguson, Op.Cit., p. 79.
96
97
Cf. Kitty Ferguson, The Fire in the Equations, (Michigan : William B. Eerdman’s
Publishing, Company, 1995), p. 112.
98
Ibid.
17
“The boundary condition of the universe is that it has no
boundaries.”99
‘No boundaries’ might seem to imply ‘infinite’, but in fact it doesn’t.100 In the
case of the surface of the earth is not infinite in size.101 So it is with Hartle – Hawking
universe, space is not infinite, nor is time.102
5. Evolution of the Universe and its Fate
“… if the universe is really completely self-contained,

having no boundary or edge, it would have neither
beginning nor end: it would simply be.”103
In 1920, Edwin Hubble and Milton Humason discovered that every galaxy,
except for galaxies that are clustered closest to us, is increasing in distance from us104
and except for cluster of galaxies every galaxy is increasing in distance from the
other.105 Basing on this in 1970, Hawking and Roger Penrose said that if the universe
is continuously expanding, there must have been a time when distance between
everything in the universe would be zero: a singularity.106 A state of singularity is
beyond our understanding as in this stage no laws or theories would make any sense
at all.107
Hawking also predicted the fate of the universe in a reversed way, where
everything that started with the Big Bang would end in a Big Crunch.
“The universe would expand to a very large size and

eventually it would collapse into what looks like a
singularity in real time.”108
99
100
Kitty Ferguson, The Fire in the Equations, p. 112.
101
Ibid.
102
Ibid.
103
Stephen Hawking, A Brief History of Time, p. 149
104
Cf. Kitty Ferguson, The Fire in the Equations, p. 93
105
Cf. Ibid., p. 94.
106
Cf. Ibid., p. 101.
107
Cf. Ibid., p. 24.
108
18
Diag.7.
109
From Big Bang to Big Crunch.
D Superstring Theory.
Superstring theory is at present the favoured candidate for unifying the forces
of nature.110 It implies simplicity, elegance and mathematical consistency and
creativity.111 It sees the fundamental structure of the universe not as point – like
particles (such as electrons and photons) but as tiny vibrating strings or loops of
strings.112
There are many who have pioneered this theory but the main brain is John
Schwarz.
1. Vibrating String: The Ultimate Building Blocks of the Universe
The Superstring Theory assumes that the ultimate building blocks of nature
consist of tiny vibrating strings.113 This means that all particles and sub-particles are
109
110
Kitty Ferguson, The Fire in the Equations, p. 128.
111
Ibid., p. 61.
112
Ibid., p. 42.
113
19
ultimately made-up of strings.114 Superstring theory is one in which all particles are
pictured as having a tiny string – like structure buried inside them, with different
particles corresponding to different types of vibrations of the strings.115 It is assumed
that these strings are 100 billion billion times smaller than a proton, which our
measuring devices are too crude to observe.116 Just as how a violin string ‘unites’ all
the musical tones and rules of harmony so do ‘strings’ ‘unite’ the universe.117
2. The Unification of Everything
The fundamental forces and various particles found in nature are nothing more
than different modes of vibrating strings.118 Everything is just a different vibratory
resonance of vibrating strings.119 The four forces are just different manifestations of a
single force.120
a. Example
Gravitational interaction is caused by the lowest vibratory mode of a circular

string (a loop) and higher excitations of the string create different forms of particles
which make matter.121
b. Illustration
“Take a glass of water and heat it until it boils and turns
into steam. Water, normally a liquid, can turn into steam,
a gas, with properties quite unlike any liquid, but it is still
water. Now freeze the glass of water into ice. By
withdrawing heat, we can transform this liquid into a
solid. But it is still water – the same substance – merely
turned into a new form under certain circumstances.”122
114
Cf. Michio Kaku and Jennifer Thompson, Op.Cit., p. 4.
115
James Trefil, Op.Cit., p. 203.
116
117
Cf. Ibid.
118
Ibid.
119
Cf. Ibid.
120
Ibid., p. 8
121
Cf. Ibid., p. 5.
122
Ibid., pp. 8-9.
20
3. Cause of the Big Bang
Superstring theory predicts that before the Big Bang there existed a ten-
dimensional universe123which was in false vacuum and therefore unstable.124 It was
because of this unstableness that it ‘cracked’ into two pieces – a four dimensional
universe (our universe) and a six dimensional universe.125 This ‘cracking’ is the Big
Bang.
a. Analogy
‘Imagine a soap bubble that is vibrating slowly. If the vibration becomes

strong enough, the soap bubble becomes unstable and fissions into two or more
smaller soap bubbles. Imagine that the original soap bubble represents the ten
dimensional universes, and that one of the smaller soap bubbles represents our
universe.’126
4. Cause of Dark Matter
Dark matter makes up 90 percent of the universe.127 It is invisible, tasteless

and has no smell but can be detected only by its weight.128 Superstring theory says
that the process of fissioning from a ten dimensional universe down to smaller
universes probably created Dark Matter.129
123
124
Cf. Ibid., p. 142
125
Ibid., p. 12.
The six – dimensional universe, according to Superstring theory, has shrunk to an
incredible small size (100 billion billion times smaller than the nucleus of an atom) that it can never be
reached by humans. Ibid.
126
Ibid.
127
Ibid., p. 143.
128
Ibid., p. 13.
129
Ibid.
21
Part II
Scientific Method
A. Electromagnetic Radiations
Telescopes are a great help for us to study the vast universe. Since there are
many types of electromagnetic radiations in the universe, telescopes have been
modeled to capture such radiations. By being able to view the universe in the entire
electromagnetic spectrum we are able to know our universe better.
1. Electromagnetic Radiations
Electromagnetism is made-up of electric and magnetic phenomena, which are

intimately related.130 Radiation can be defined broadly as energy or emission of
energy or propagation of energy.131 Radiation can be emitted or propagated through
matter and space.132
Electromagnetic Radiation is the transmission of energy in the form of paired

electric and magnetic fields through waves.133
Electromagnetic Radiation provides a great boost to the study of

Astrophysics.134
130
Cf. C.D. Graham Jr, “Magnet and Magnetism”, The Encyclopedia Americana, ed. Mark
Cummings, Vol.18, (Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), p. 99.
131
Cf. Stephen E. Binney, “Radiation”, The Encyclopedia Americana, ed. Mark Cummings,
Vol.23, (Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), p. 137.
132
Cf. Ibid.
133
Cf. R. Bruce Lindsay, “Electromagnetic Radiation”, The Encyclopedia Americana, ed.
Mark Cummings, Vol.10, (Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), p. 156.
134
Cf. Su -Shu Huang, “Astrophysics”, The Encyclopedia Americana, ed. Mark Cummings,
Vol.2, (Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), p. 588.
22
2. Production of Electromagnetic Radiation
All electromagnetic radiations are produced from atoms. When the electron in
the higher orbit ‘leaps’ to a lower orbit ( an orbit closer to the nucleus) the energy
difference between the initial and final states is emitted by the atom in the form of a
photon.135
3. Electromagnetic Spectrum
Electromagnetic radiation can be characterized by its frequency or its

wavelength.136 There is a broad range or spectrum of frequency.137 The main
electromagnetic radiations are:
Radio Radiation
Infrared Radiation
Visible Light
Ultraviolet Radiation
X. Radiation
Gamma Radiation.
Diag.8.
The Electromagnetic Spectrum.
135
Cf. James Trefil, Op.Cit., p. 76.
The closer the electron comes to the nucleus, more the energy it acquires. Cf. Ibid., pp.
75-76.
136
Cf. R. Bruce Lindsay, Op.Cit., p. 156.
137
Cf. Ibid.
23
a. Radio radiation
The wavelength of radio radiation boarders around many miles.138
All objects in space, from smallest atoms to giant galaxies, emit radio
waves.139 The sources of radio radiation are heat, energetic nuclear particles
(especially energetic electrons ) and stars.140 By using radio telescopes it is possible
for us to detect objects which are invisible to optical telescopes.141
By studying radio radiation objects such as quasars, pulsars, complex

interstellar molecules and radiation remaining from the primordial fire ball was
discovered.142
b. Infrared Radiation.
The wavelength of infrared radiation boarders around tens and thousands of

atoms.143
All heated objects emit infrared radiation.144 To observe infrared radiation the
telescope must be cooled, otherwise it will not detect the radiation.145
Infrared radiation helps us to study planets, comets, forming stars and other
cool objects.146
138
Cf. James refill, Op.Cit., p. 84.
139
Cf. Frank D. Drake, “Radio Astronomy”, The Encyclopedia Americana, ed. Mark
Cummings, Vol.23, (Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998), p. 175.
140
Cf. Ibid.
141
Ibid.
142
Cf. Ibid.
143
144
Cf. Michael A. Seeds, Astronomy : The Solar System and Beyond, (Spain : Thomson
Books / Cole, 2003), p. 83.
145
Cf. Ibid.
146
Cf. Michael A. Seeds, Op.Cit., p. 82.
24
c. Visible Light
The wavelength of visible light boarders around four thousand to eight

thousand atoms.147
The human eye is sensitive only to the narrow band of radiation that falls
between the red and violet148 which makes-up all visible light. The other radiations
are a little too long to excite the retina to an impression of light, though the skin
detects their impact as heat.149
Visible light is a minute section of the electromagnetic spectrum so what we

come to know through our normal vision is only a small part of reality.
d. Ultraviolet Radiation
The wavelength of ultraviolet radiation boarders around hundreds of atoms.150
To observe ultraviolet radiation, the telescope must get above the ozone layer
as the ozone layer absorbs all ultraviolet radiation151that comes toward earth.
Ultraviolet radiations help us to study hot excited regions in space, hot stars
and hot gasses.152 It also helps us to know about the distribution of gas in the
interstellar medium, its chemical composition and its temperature.153
e. X Radiation
The wavelength of X radiation boarders around one atom.154
147
Cf. James Trefil, Op.Cit., p. 84
148
149
Ibid.
150
Cf. James Trefil, Op.Cit., p. 84
151
152
Cf. Ibid.
153
Cf. Ibid., p. 279.
154
25
X radiation is produced from very hot regions in stars and from violent events,
such as matter smashing into a neutron star.155 To observe X radiation, a telescope
must go inner space.156
X radiation observation can detect region of very hot gas apparently produced
by exploding stars.157
f. Gamma Radiation
The wavelength of gamma radiation boarders around the size of the nucleus of
an atom.158
Gamma radiations are produced by most violent events in space.159 For

example: the massive gravitational field of black hole or neutron stars forcefully pull
in objects gamma radiation is produced.160
155
Michael A. Seeds, Op.Cit., p. 83.
156
Ibid., p. 85.
157
158
159
160
Cf. Ibid., p. 342.
26
CHAPTER II
BASIC PROPERTIES OF THE UNIVERSE
A. Substance in the Universe
As far as we know, everything is matter. Solid, liquid and gas are the only three
forms of matter. Matter as such is a combination of various elements, which in turn
are composed of atoms. Even atoms are composed of sub-atomic or elementary
particles.
1. Origin of Substance
All the material that exists in the universe come from the Big Bang.161
Everything in the universe is made up of the same elements but only in varied forms,
shapes, sizes etc.162
In the cosmic egg only quarks and leptons existed and after the Big Bang
when the universe began to cool particles were formed, then atoms. Then clouds of
gas and dust and now finally in a more concrete form, matter.163
2. Composition of Substance
a. Elements
An element is,
“Any of the distinct varieties of matter, each of which is
composed solely and exclusively of atoms whose nuclei
have the same electric charge. The characteristic
properties of any element are determined by the number
of electrons, neutrons and protons it contains. Variations
in the number of neutrons in the nucleus of the atoms of
an element; namely, atoms having the same atomic
161
Frank Close, Particle Physics, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004), p. 10.
162
Cf. Michael A. Seeds, Op.Cit., pp. 103-104.
163
Cf. Ibid., pp. 423-424.
We shall see about the cosmic egg, quarks and leptons later in this chapter.
27
number, but differing in atomic mass. On the other hand,
any change in the number of protons in the nucleus of an
atom transfers the atom into that of another element with
a different atomic number.” 164
There are a hundred and twenty-one known elements. The first is Hydrogen
with the atomic number 1 and the last is Unbiunium with the atomic number 121.
Periodic Table of the Elements

Diag
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Group
Period
1 1 2
H He
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Li Be B C N O F Ne
3 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Na Mg Al Si P S Cl Ar
4 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
K Ca Sc Ti V Cr Mn Fe Co Ni Cu Zn Ga Ge As Se Br Kr
5 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
Rb Sr Y Zr Nb Mo Tc Ru Rh Pd Ag Cd In Sn Sb Te I Xe
6 55 56 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86
Cs Ba Lu Hf Ta W Re Os Ir Pt Au Hg Tl Pb Bi Po At Rn
7 87 88 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118
Fr Ra Lr Rf Db Sg Bh Hs Mt Ds Rg Uub Uut Uuq Uup Uuh Uus Uuo
Non-metals
Metaloids
Metals
57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70
Lanthanides
La Ce Pr Nd Pm Sm Eu Gd Tb Dy Ho Er Tm Yb
164
Robert W. Marks, The new physics and chemistry dictionary and handbook , (New Bork:
Bantam Books, Inc.,1967), pp. 84-85.
28
89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102
Actinides
Ac Th Pa U Np Pu Am Cm Bk Cf Es Fm Md No
The names of elements until number 103, Laerencium, can be easily found
while the remaining are difficult to find. However through the kind favor of Dr. S.
Alfred Antao, Reader of S.P. Chowgule College, Goa, I was able to gather the latest
list165 of the remaining elements.
The latest list of the remaining elements of the periodic table which can be
listed in the future also are:
SYMBOL NAME ATOMIC. No. MASS No.

Rf Rutherfordium 104 261
Db Dubnium 105 262
Sg Seaborgium 106 263
Bh Bohirum 107 264
Hs Hassium 108 265
Mt Meitnerium 109 266
Ds Darmstadtium 110 269
Rg Roentgenium 111 272
Uub Unumbium 112 277
Uut Ununtrium 113 279
Uuq Ununquadium 114 285
Uup Ununpentium 115 287
Uuh Ununhexium 116 289
Uus Unanseptium 117 291
Uuo Unanoctium 118 293
Uue Unanennium 119 295
Ubn Unbilinium 120 318
Ubu Unbiunium 121 320
165
Cf. S. Alfred Antao, “Letter to Br. Andrew”, Letter, (13th Dec, 05).
29
b. Atoms and Molecules
i. Atoms
Every atom essentially consists of a nucleus and one or more electrons.166 The
atom has a rich labyrinth of inner structure.167 For a brief understanding of the atom
we shall divide it into two: Nucleus and Electrons.
• Nucleus
The nucleus is built up of protons and neutrons. The proton is positively
charged and provides the total positive charge of the nucleus. The more the protons,
the greater the charge and more the capacity to hold more electrons. The neutron is
electrically neutral and has a lesser mass than a proton. Neutrons add to the mass and
stability of the nucleus.168
• Electrons
The electron is negatively charged.169 Because of the positive charge of the
nucleus the electrons gyrate around the nucleus170 at the speed of 2,97,000 kms/sec.171
The path of the electron around the nucleus is called orbit or energy level.172 The
closer the electron is to the nucleus the lesser the energy, and ,the farther the electron
is from the nucleus the more the energy.173 Electrons travel only on permitted
orbits.174 When an electron jumps to an outer orbit, it gains energy, but the nucleus
pulls the electron back to its original orbit and in this process when the electron jumps
to inner orbit, the excess energy is ejected in the form of a photon.175
166
Cf. Robert W. Marks, Op.Cit., p. 27.
167
Cf. Frank Close, Op.Cit., p. 2.
168
Cf. Ibid., pp. 3-4.
169
Cf. Ibid., p. 4.
170
Cf. Ibid., p. 2.
171
Felix D’Souza , Op.Cit, p. 24.
172
Cf. Robert W. Marks, Op.Cit, p. 27.
173
Cf. N.C Panda, Op.Cit., pp. 37-38.
174
175
Cf. Vitaly Rydnik, Op.Cit., p. 61.
30
Atoms are mostly empty space because the average distance diameter between
the nucleus and electron in an ordinary hydrogen atom is like a grape seed placed in
the middle of 4.5 football fields (placed lengthwise).176
ii Molecules
A molecule is a group of atoms bonded to one another.177 Molecules are

formed when electrons swap between atoms and link the atoms together.178
c. Dark Matter
There is a mysterious form of matter existing in the universe with properties

unlike any found in the universe.179 Nobody is sure about the properties of this
missing matter.180 If is termed as “Dark Matter.”181
Dark Matter which constitutes 90 percent of the universe182 has weight, but is
invisible, tasteless and odorless.183 Some scientists believe that Dark Matter could
consist of some subatomic particles that do not act electromagnetically, and therefore
remains invisible.184 Some say that Dark Matter could be composed of neutrinos.185
Whatever it is, it is mysterious.
3. Building Blocks of Nature
As mentioned before, all is atoms. So far we had analyzed only two parts of
the atom i.e nucleus and electron. Now we shall proceed further. We shall begin by
analyzing the nucleus.
176
Cf. Michael A Seeds, Op.Cit., p. 89.
177
Robert W. Marks , Op.Cit., p. 133.
178
Frank Close, Op.Cit., p. 3.
179
180
Paul Davis, The mind of God, (Singapore: A Touchstone Book, 1992), p. 51.
181
Cf. Micho Kaku and Jennifer Thompson, Op.Cit., p.12.
182
Cf. Ibid., p. 143.
183
Cf. Ibid., p. 13.
184
185
Cf. Ibid..
31
The nucleus consists of protons and neutrons. Protons and neutrons in turn are
made of yet smaller particles called quarks.186 Quarks are indivisible (at least till
today). The electron, which circles the nucleus, too is indivisible. Therefore electrons
and quarks appear to be basic particles with no deeper constituents.187
The analysis goes further. Each particle appears in a sort of mirror form,
which is an ‘anti’ version of the particle.188 They are called ‘anti-particles.’ They have
the same characteristics like the particles.189 The only difference between particles
and anti-particles is that the sign of the charge in particles is reversed in the anti-
particles.190
To make things even more interesting it is said that there exists ‘super-
particles,’ but this remains hypothetical because till date the existence of such ‘super-
particles’ is not verified.191
a. Categories of Particles
Quarks – Fundamental particles. Seeds of hadrons.192

Hadrons - Particles made up of quarks and /or antiquarks, which feels the
strong interaction.193
Lepton – Particles fundamental like quarks which do not feel the strong
force.194
Baryons – Class of hadron; category; made of three quarks.195
Nucleons – Particles of the hadron category, which constitute the nucleus of
an atom.196 They are protons and neutrons.
Hyperons – Particles of the hadron category, other than the nucleons.197
186
Frank Close, Op.Cit., p. 7
187
Ibid..
188
Cf. Ibid., p.43
189
Ibid..
190
Cf. Ibid.
191
Cf. Ibid., p.119
192
Ibid., p136
193
Ibid., p.135
194
Ibid..
195
Ibid., p.133
196
Cf. B.K. Ridley, Time, Space and Things, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1995),p. 30
197
Cf. Ibid..
32
Mesons – Class of hadron; made of a single quark and an anti-quark.198
Bosons – Generic name for particles with integer amount of spin, measured in
units of Plank’s constant.199 The carriers of forces and mesons come
under bosons.200
Ferminos – Generic name for a particle with half – integer amount of spin,
measured in units of Plank’s constant.201 Baryons, leptons and quarks
come under ferminos.202
b. Tables of Some Elementary Particles
It is rather difficult to list the entire particle zoo because more and more
elementary particles are being discovered. Every two years or so, a consortium of
about 100 elementary-particle-physicists come together to publish a voluminous
listing of elementary particles and their properties. The published work is about 1100
pgs long.203 However with the help of certain books204 and the aid of Dr. N.
Krishnan, a fellow at the TATA Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, I was
able to formulate the tables graphed below.
Some Particles
Table I
Baryons Anti-Baryons
Name Symbol Name Symbol
Proton P Anti-Proton
Neutron N Anti-Neutron
Lambda Λ Anti-Lambda
198
199
Ibid., p. 133.
Particle spin = measure of rotary motion, or intrinsic angular momentum, of a
particle; measured in units of Planck’s constant. Ibid., p. 136.
200
B.K. Ridley, Op.Cit., pp. 28-29.
201
Frank Close, Op.Cit.., p. 134.
202
B. K. Ridley, Op.Cit., pp.28-29.
203
Cf. N. Krishnan, “Letter to Brother Andrew”, Letter, (4th Dec, 05).
204
Cf. Fritjof Capra, The Tao of physics, (London: Flamingo, 1992), pp. 87-302.
Cf. B. K. Ridley, Op.Cit., pp. 26-36.
Cf. N. C. Panda, Op.Cit., pp. 44-54.
Cf. Vitaly Rydnik, Op.Cit., pp. 281-286.
Cf. Robert W. Marks, Op.Cit., pp. 145-149.
Cf. Frank Close, Op.Cit., pp. 1- 119.
33
Delta ∆ Anti-Delta
Sigma Σ Anti-Sigma
Xi Ξ Anti-Xi
Omega Ω Anti-Omega
Table II
Mesons Anti-Mesons
Pion π Anti-Pion
Kaon Anti-Kaon
Phi Anti-Phi
Dee D Anti-Dee
Psi Ψ Anti-Psi
Upsilon ϒ Anti-Upsilon
Rho ρ Anti-Rho
Omega ω Anti-Omega
Eta η Anti-Eta
Among these particles mentioned, some come in all three electrical charges
(+,o,-), while some come in any two and some in one only.
Some Elementary Particles

Table III
Quarks Anti-Quarks
Flavor (Type) Symbol Flavor (Type) Symbol
Up u Anti-Up
Down d Anti-Down
Strange s Anti-Strange
Charmed c Anti-Charmed
Bottom (Beauty) b Anti-Bottom
Top (Truth) t Anti-Top
34
All these quarks come in three colors: Red, Blue and Green.
Table IV
Leptons Anti-Leptons
Electron e- Positron e+
Electron neutrino Ve Electron anti-neutrino
Muon µ- Anti- muon µ+
Muon neutrino Vµ Muon anti- neutrino µ
Tauon T- Anti- tau T+
Tau neutrino VT Tauon anti- neutrino T
Carriers of Four Forces

Table V
Force Carrier
Strong Gluons
Electromagnetic Photons
Weak Intermediate Vector Bosons(W+,W-,Zo)
Gravitation Graviton
Some other particles
Table VI
Some other particles
Higgs boson
Heavy bosons
Axion
35
A. Forces in the Universe
1. Force
The word force is derived from the Latin word ‘fortis,’ meaning strong.205
Force is the physical agent, or effort, required to change the state of motion of a
body.206 The change may consist of imparting motion to a body at rest, accelerating
(positively or negatively) a body already in motion or changing the direction of
motion.207
2. The Four Fundamental Forces
In our universe there are about a decade of forces. Some are easily noticeable,
while some are not. However there are four fundamental forces which stand out from
the rest, while the others are somehow attributed to these four. The four fundamental
forces are:
a. Gravity
b. Electromagnetic force
c. Strong nuclear force, and,
d. Weak nuclear force.
3. Gravity
Gravity is an attractive force that binds together the solar system, keeps the
earth and the planets in their orbits, and prevents stars from exploding.208 In our
universe, gravity is the dominant force that extends trillions upon trillions of miles,
out to the farthest stars; this force, which causes an apple to fall to; the ground and
keeps our feet on the floor, is the same force that guides the galaxies in their motions
through the universe.209
205
Robert W. Marks, Op.Cit, p. 91.
206
Ibid..
207
Ibid..
208
209
Ibid., p. 6.
36
Gravitational force is universal because every particle feels the force of
gravity according to; its mass or energy.210 Gravity has two special properties:
-it can act over large distances.
-it is always attractive.211
The particle ‘graviton’ is the carrier of this force.212
The meson force can be categorized under the gravitational force as it appears
to hold the various parts of the atomic nucleus together.213
a. Escape Velocity
Every mass has an escape velocity according to its size. Escape velocity is the
velocity needed to escape from the gravitational pull of a celestial body.214 Escape
velocity depends on two things:
i) The mass of the celestial body
ii) The distance from the centre of the mass to the escaping object. The closer
to the centre, the more the velocity required, the farther away from the
centre, the lesser the velocity required.215
4. Electromagnetic force
The electromagnetic force interacts only with electrically charged particles.216

It holds together the atom.217 If makes the electrons to orbit around the nucleus,218 and
determines the structure of the orbits of the electrons.219
The electromagnetic force is stronger than the gravitational force, though it

does not have much dominance over heavenly bodies (like gravitation), it dominates
210
211
Ibid..
212
213
214
215
Cf. Ibid., p. 338.
216
217
218
Cf. Ibid..
219
Cf. Ibid..
37
the small scale of atoms and molecules.220 The purest form of electromagnetic
radiation is light, X-rays, radar etc.221
The particle ‘photon’ is a carrier of the electromagnetic force.222
The frictional and chemical force which holds atoms together in molecules;
the cohesive force which; binds larger particles of matter; and the elastic force which
causes bodies to maintain their shapes are categorized under the electromagnetic
force.223
5. Strong Nuclear Force
The strong nuclear force holds the quarks together in the proton and neutron,
and holds the protons and neutrons together in the nucleus of an atom.224
The strong nuclear force has two properties:

a) Confinement: binds particles together into combinations that have no color.
b) Asymptotic freedom: helps to understand and define quarks and gluons.225
The particle which carries the strong nuclear force is called a gluon.226
The strong nuclear force is the cause for the stars to shine because, the sun,
being a huge nuclear furnace is a result of the unleashing of the strong force within
the nucleus.227 On earth, if such things are caused, the results will be catastrophic.228
6. The Weak Nuclear Force
The weak nuclear force disrupts neutrons and protons, causing the nucleus of
one atomic element to transmute into another through beta radioactivity.229 It helps in
220
221
222
223
224
225
Cf. Ibid., p. 78.
226
227
228
Cf. Ibid..
229
38
the conversion of the protons into helium in the initial stage in the sun.230
The energy released by the weak force can also be used to create heat.231 The
intense heat found in the interior of the earth, which can erupt in volcanic fury if it
reaches the earth’s surface, is partially caused by the decay of radioactive elements
deep in the earth’s core.232
The particles that carry this force are the intermediate rector bosons – W+,W-
and Zo.233
7. The Origin of the Forces
The origin of the four forces can be well understood through this diagram.
Diag. Origin of forces234
8. The Importance of these Forces
Without the four forces, life would be unimaginable: the atoms of our bodies
would disintegrate, the sun would burst and the atomic fires lighting the stars and
Beta Radioactivity = nuclear or particle transmutation caused by the weak force, resulting in
the emission of a neutrino and an electron or positron – also known as beta decay. Ibid.., p. 133.
230
231
232
Cf. Ibid..
233
234
39
galaxies would be snuffed out.235
B. Origin of the Universe
The universe, as we know it, is filled with mysteries. Even more mysterious is
the origin of the universe. Many theories have been postulated in regard to the origin
of the universe, such as:
-Inflationary model, by Alan H Guth.
-Bubble in effervescent vacuum, by J. Richard Gott III.
-Steady State theory, by Sir Fred Hoyle.
-Big Bang theory, by Abbe Georges Lamaitre.236
-Singularity theory, by Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose.237
Among these, the theory which gives the most probable explanation and is
widely accepted is the Big Bang theory.
1. Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang did not occur in a specific place but it filled the entire volume of
the universe from the first moment.238 Modern cosmologists have been able to
reconstruct the history of the early universe to reveal how energy and matter
interacted as the universe began.239
Lamaitre stated that before the big bang could occur, all mass was compressed
into a small volume which he termed as “Cosmic Egg.”240 This egg had tremendous
density and internal pressure, as a result of which it exploded in an enormous
cataclysmic outburst.241 This bursting is called as Big Bang.
The standard big bang view of the cosmology starts from three basic
assumptions:
235
236
J. Antonio Vaz, From Nought to Eternity, (Not published), pp.2-3.
237
Cf. Kitty Ferguson, Fire in the Equations, p. 101.
238
The Big Bang theory too has got some variations.
239
Ibid..
240
241
Ibid..
40
a) The universe is homogeneous and isotropic: the same everywhere and in every
direction.
b) Each cluster of galaxies seems to be moving away from the other: so the
universe is expanding on a grand scale. To explain this, most of the scientists
cite the analogy of an expanding balloon with spots speeding evenly on its
surface.
c) If space-time is expanding then at some time in the past space-time and matter
must have been tremendously compressed.242
I would now like to present the possible progress of the universe since the big
bang:
a) Time Zero
The history of the Universe cannot be explained at time zero because we

cannot understand the physics of matter and energy under such extreme conditions.243
b) 0.00001 seconds
At 10 millionths of second, the universe was filled with high-energy photons,

having a temperature well over 1 trillion (1012) k and a density greater than
5x1013g/cm3 (nearly the density of an atomic nucleus).244
The early universe was a dynamic soup of energy flickering from photons into
particles and back again into photons because the then photons had enough energy to
produce proton-antiproton pairs, and when collided, converted their mass back into
photons.245
c) 0.0001 seconds
At one ten-thousandth of a second, the temperature had fallen to 1trillion

(1012) k. The gamma rays had fallen below the energy equivalent to the mass of a
242
Christopher Ray, Time, Space and Philosophy, (London: Routledge, 1991), p. 197.
243
244
Ibid..
245
Cf. Ibid..
41
proton or a neutron, so the gamma rays could no longer produce such heavy
particles.246 The particles combined with their antiparticles and quickly converted
most of the mass into photons.247
d) 4 seconds
The universe continued to expand, and the hot gas and radiation continued to
cool and formed electrons, protons and neutrons.248
e) 2 minutes
At this time, protons and neutrons could link to form deuterium, the nucleus of
a heavy hydrogen atom.249
f) 3 Minutes
Deuterium converts into helium due to further reactions.250
g) 30 minutes
The universe cooled sufficiently and nuclear reaction stopped.251 About 25 %

of the mass was helium nuclei and the rest was in the form of protons – hydrogen
nuclei.252
h) 3,00,000 years
Stage of recombination because radiation and matter were locked together.253

At this time the free electrons were captured by atomic nuclei; gas became transparent
246
247
Ibid..
248
Ibid..
249
Ibid., p. 424.
250
Cf. Ibid.. p. 424.
Deuterium = a stable isotope of hydrogen with a mass about double that of the usual
isotope.
251
Ibid..
252
Ibid..
253
Ibid..
42
and the radiation was free to travel through the universe.254 The temperature at this
time was 3,0000k255.
i) After 3,00,000 years
Now the universe began to be dominated by matter, and gravity began to act
upon matter.256 Matter then cooled and collected into clouds and eventually gave birth
to galaxies in clusters and super clusters.257
j) 14000000000 years
14 billion years is the present.258 The universe is still expanding.259
Diag: After the Big Bang
254
255
Cf. Ibid..
256
Ibid..
257
Cf. Ibid., p. 310.
258
Ibid..
259
Ibid., p. 209.
43
C. Structure of the Universe
The universe is structurally and systematically ordered. Everything has its own
place and pace. We shall now proceed to understand the structure of the universe.
1. Meteorites
Meteorites must be produced by dust and debris released by the icy head of the
comet.260 Our solar system is filled with meteorites which can fall into earth’s
atmosphere at speeds of 10 to 40km/s.261 Friction with the air heats the meteoroids to
glow and vaporize.262 Meteorites which strike earth in rare cases could be fragments
of planetesimals of fragments of asteroids.263
There are two kinds of meteorites that strike earth:

a) Iron meteorite-composed of solid chunks of Iron and nickel.
b) Stony meteorite-composed of silicate masses that resemble earth rocks.264
A Meteorite
260
261
Cf. Ibid..
262
Cf. Ibid., pp. 207-210.
Planetesimal = One of the small bodies that formed from the solar nebula and
eventually grew into protoplanets. Ibid., p. 494.
263
Cf. Ibid., p. 208.
264
Ibid.. p. 213.
44
2. Asteroids
Asteroids are the remains of planetesimals fragmented by collision with one

another,265 which were unable to form a planet at 2.8 AU from the sun because of the
gravitational influence of Jupiter.266
Asteroids are of irregular shapes which rotate.267 They reflect varying amounts
of sunlight according to their albedo, and their brightness varies.268 The largest
asteroid, Ceres, is about 30 % the diameter of our moon.269
Asteroids can be classified into three:

a) S-Type – Reddish spectra and highest albedo. Composed mainly of chrondrules.
b) M-Type – Higher albedo, but not as much as S-Type. Composed mainly of iron
nickel alloys.
c) C-Type – Low albedo and dark like sooty coal. Composed mainly of carbon.270
An Asteroid
265
AU = Astronomical Unit.
266
Cf. Ibid., p. 211.
267
Cf. Ibid., pp. 211-212.
268
Ibid., pp. 211-212.
269
Cf. Ibid., p. 212.
270
Cf. Ibid., p. 214.
45
3. Comets
Unlike asteroids which are dark rocky worlds and meteors which are flitting
specks of fire, comets are great ships at sea which move with grace and beauty.271
Comets are one of the small icy bodies that orbit the sun and produce tails of gas and
dust when they approach the sun.272 Comet tails point generally away from the sun,
but their precise direction depends on the flow of the solar wind and the orbital
motion of the nucleus.273
Parts of a comet
i. Nucleus – Small fragile lump of porous rock containing ices of water, carbon
dioxide, ammonia and so on.274 Comet nucleus can vary from 10 to 100 kms in
diameter.275
ii. Coma – The cloud of gas and dust that surrounds the nucleus.276 It can be over
10,00,000 kms in diameter, bigger than the sun.277
iii. Tails – Comets have two tails
Gas tail- Caused by ionization of atoms by the ultraviolet light in sunlight.278
Gas tail mainly contains water, carbon-dioxide, carbon monoxide,
hydrogen, oxygen and carbon.279
Dust tail- Produced by dust from the vaporizing ices of the nucleus.280
Comets fall in from the Oort Cloud, a spherical cloud of icy bodies believed to
extend from 10,000 to 100,000 AU from the sun.281 Short-period comets come from
the Kuiper belt, a disk of icy planetesimals beyond the Jovian planets which extends
from 30 to 100 AU from the sun.282
271
272
Ibid., p. 217.
273
Ibid..
274
Ibid..
275
Ibid..
276
Ibid..
277
Cf. Ibid..
278
Cf. Ibid.. p. 217.
279
Ibid..
280
Ibid.. p. 218.
281
Cf. Ibid., p. 219.
282
C. Sivaram, “Why the Moon Matters to Earth”, Science and Technology : Deccan Herald,
ed. K. N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (10th Jan, 05), p. 3.
46
Comet Hale- Bop
4. Satellite
There are something like a hundred odd satellites accompanying the planets of
our solar system.283 Here By satellite I mean the natural satellite i.e moon, and not
artificial satellites. Satellites are heavenly bodies which revolve round their mother
planets.284
a. Earth’s Moon
The best acceptable hypothesis for the origin of Earth’s moon is the ‘Large
Impact Hypothesis’ which supposes that our moon formed when a planetesimal, at
least as large as Mars, smashed into the proto – earth, and ejected debris into a disk
around earth where it formed our moon.285
The moon influences earth in many ways. The gravity of the moon is the cause
of raising ocean tides.286 When the moon was closer to the earth it created huge tides
283
284
285
C. Sivaram, Op.Cit., p. 3.
286
Cf. Ibid..
47
which filled the earth everywhere with water.287 As it moved away from the earth the
tides reduced uncovering the submerged continents.288 The giant luna tides mixed the
primordial organic soup and created nutrient rich pools to trigger living organisms,
and that is why marine life is the first form of life on earth.289 The moon also
influences biotic life on earth.290
The moon’s tidal drag slows down the

earth’s rotation by sixteen milliseconds per
century, and this has been verified through the
means of atomic clocks.291 Due to this, the leap
year will cease to exist in a few million years.292
Conservation of angular momentum implies that
the moon should be moving away from the earth
at about 3 cms a year.293
5. Planets
Planets are celestial bodies that rotate and revolve around the sun.
The best known theory regarding planet formation is the ‘Solar Nebula
Theory.’294 This theory states that as a rotating cloud of gas contracted a star began to
take shape deep in the centre.295 The remaining cloud of gas began to flatten into a
spinning disk around the forming star.296 As the star grew hotter it blew away the
surrounding gas and dust.297 Planets began growing by the sticking together of solid
bits of matter.298 When the planet became big enough it began capturing gas from the
287
Cf. C. Sivaram, Op.Cit., p. 3.
288
Cf. Ibid..
289
Cf. J. B. Lobo, Home Encyclopedia, (Not Published), p. 378.
290
Ibid..
291
Cf. Ibid..
292
Cf. Duli Bagra, ‘Amazing facts”, North East Sun, ed. Vishwa Bandhu Gupta, vol. 11,
No. 2, (Aug 15- 31, 05), p. 64.
293
294
Cf. Ibid..
295
Cf. Ibid..
296
Cf. Ibid..
297
Ibid., p. 117.
298
Cf. Ibid..
48
solar nebula by the process of gravitational collapse.299 When the star became
luminous enough it blew away the remaining gas and dust leaving the planets
behind.300
Our solar system has nine planets which can be

classified into two groups:
i) Terrestrial Planets – They are small dense rocky worlds
with little or no atmosphere. They are the inner four
planets-Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars.
ii) Jovian Planets – They are large, low density, worlds
with thick atmospheres and have liquid interiors. They are
the outer four planets- Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and
Neptune.301
Pluto however does not fit in either of these because being small it has a low
density which makes it difficult to classify it as a planet.302
6. Stars
a Formation of Stars
The various stages in the formation of star are possibly as follows:

i) A cloud or region of enhanced density in the interstellar medium becomes
unstable and starts contracting under the influence of its gravitational field.
ii) As the density increases, the gravitational attraction becomes stronger, and the
cloud commences to collapse. The radiation now fails to escape and the
temperature begins to rise. Fragmentation now ceases and the cloud has now
become a cluster of protostars.
299
Cf. Michael A. Seeds, Op.Cit., pp. 104-105.
300
Cf. Ibid., p. 112.
301
Cf. Ibid..
302
Cf. Edward Harrison, “Origin and evolution of the Universe”, Encyclopedia Britannica,
ed. Warren E. Preece, Vol.18, (Chicago : Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1977), pp. 1009-1010.
Main sequence = When the main production of energy in a star is through hydrogen-
fusion. N. C. Panda, Op.Cit., p. 198.
49
iii) The pressure inside the protostars is now sufficient to halt collapse and a
period of relatively slow contraction commences. The temperature now varies
from 2,000oK-3,000oK.
iv) At this stage, energy is required to disassociate and ionize hydrogen. To
supply this energy; the protostar enters a second phase of rapid collapse.
When the hydrogen and helium get ionized, and the protostar has a radius
roughly equal to that of the earth’s orbit, collapse ceases and slow contraction
recommences.
v) In the last stage, the contracting protostar approaches the main sequence and
reaches it when its central temperature has risen to several million degrees
Kelvin, and nuclear energy becomes available by the conversion of hydrogen
to helium.303
For a star such as the sun these five stages take a total time of approximately
107 yrs, and if the mass of the star is less than 9 % that of the sun, the internal
temperature is never high enough to convert hydrogen into helium.304
i. Second Generation Stars
Second generation stars are those stars which are formed out of the gas and
dust of a supernova explosion.305 Our sun is second generation star.306
b. Kinds of Stars
Stars are classified according to their spectrum.307 There are many kids of stars
but mainly they are classified under the following characteristics.
303
Cf. Edward Harrison, Op.Cit., p. 1010.
304
Cf. N. C. Panda, Op.Cit., pp. 192-193.
We shall come to know about ‘supernovas’ in the ‘fate of stars.’
305
Cf. Ibid.. p. 193.
306
307
Ibid., p. 255.
Balmer series = A series of spectral lines produced by hydrogen in the near-
ultrariolet and visible parts of the spectrum. The three largest-wavelengthy Balmer lines are visible to
the human eye. Ibid., p. 488.
50
Diag. Kinds of Stars308
Spectral Class Approx. temp. Hydrogen balmer lines Other Spectral Features
O 40,000oK Weak Ionized helium
B 20,000oK Medium Neutral helium
A 10,000oK Strong Ionized calcium weak
F 7,500oK Medium Ionized calcium weak
G 5,500oK Weak Ionized calcium medium
K 4,500oK Very weak Ionized calcium strong
M 3,000oK Very weak Titanium oxide strong
c. Fate of Stars
The fate of stars can be predicted by knowing their sizes. Smaller the size,
longer the life. The fate of a star is such: ‘it may die; it may disappear from the space
which it once occupied.’309
i. Red Giants
These are stars which are very big and have passed the main sequence stage.310
They are red in color with a surface temperature of 2,000oC.311
Procedure
• During the process of hydrogen fusion, the helium which is produced gets
collected in the centre because of its density.
• The helium ball condenses and the star contracts.
• Temperature rises, helium fusion begins and more complex nuclei forms.
• The heat produced through helium fusion is added to the heat produced by the
hydrogen and due to this the overheated outer layers of the star expand
enormously.
308
N. C. Panda, Op.Cit., p. 198.
309
Cf. Ibid..
310
Cf. Ibid.. p. 198.
311
Cf. Ibid., pp. 198-200.
51
• With the expansion of the outer layers of the star, it cools to a mere red heat.
• After helium fusion ends, iron fusion begins, and when this ends the nuclear fire is
extinguished.
• No more expansion is possible. Contraction begins and ultimately the star
collapses.312
ii. White Dwarf
White dwarfs are the fate of those stars between 0.5M to 1.44M.313
Procedure
• When a star exhausts all its nuclear fuel, if collapses due to its own gravity and
becomes a white dwarf.314
• The star does not shrink completely because the electrons within the white dwarf
act ‘degenerately’, and the ‘degenerate electron pressure’ resists further
compression.315
However, stars bigger than 1.4M could end up as white dwarfs if after an
explosion, in which they cast off their outer layers, the nucleus remains to be below
the Chandrasekhar limit.316
iii. Neutron Star
Stars between 1.44M to 3M end up as neutron stars.317
Procedure
• With the exhaustion of its thermonuclear fuel it shrinks under its own
gravitational influence.
312
Cf. N. C. Panda, Op.Cit., p. 200.
The mass unit of our sun is expressed according to the unit 1M. All other stars are
measured by this measure. Cf. Ibid.,
1.4 M is known as ‘Chandrashekar limit’ which states that no star more than 1.4
times the mass of our Sun could become a white dwarf in the ‘normal conditions.’ Ibid.
95 % of stars are within Chandrashekar limit. Cf. Ibid., p. 201.
313
Cf. Ibid..
314
Cf. Ibid..
315
Cf. Ibid.. p. 201.
316
Cf. Ibid..
317
52
• The protons and electrons within the star get converted into neutrons and the star
ultimately ends up consisting only of neutrons.
• The star shrinks till the neutrons come in close contact with one another.
• Spinning neutron stars with short, precisely timed radio bursts are called
pulsars.318
iv. Supernova
A star having a mass more than 3M may either end up as a supernova or a
black hole.319
Procedure
‘A massive star, after using up it nuclear fuel, undergoes an implosion and an
explosion. Its core collapses under its own gravitational attraction and thus
releases energy which causes the outer envelope to explode. Depending on the
mass of the imploding core, it may form a white dwarf of a neutron star. The
exploding envelope throws enormous quantities of energy outwards in the form of
electrons, protons, nuclei and electromagnetic radiation.’320
v. Black Holes
As an object collapses, its density and the strength of its surface gravity
increases and if an object collapses to zero radius, its density and gravity become
infinite.321 Mathematicians call this point as a singularity.322
Black holes are a fate of a star having a mass more than 3M.323 Black holes
are invisible holes in space which suck in everything within their gravitational forces.
Nothing can escape a black hole, not even light. When a star collapses to a singularity
it is called a black hole.324 The black hole is totally beyond the view of on outside
318
319
Ibid..
320
321
Ibid..
322
323
324
Cf. Ibid..
We have seen the formation of Black holes in the first chapter.
53
observer because there is no way for anything to come out of a black hole, not even
light.325 We can only detect a black hole by detecting the X-rays emitted by the heated
matter flowing into the black hole.326
vi. Unpredictable Red Dwarfs
Stars having a mass of less then 0.5M are called red dwarfs.327 The fate of
red dwarfs cannot be known because they being small stars could survive for 100
billion years or more, while our universe is just 14 billion years old.328 Hence, only
those born after another 86 billion years could know the fate of red dwarfs.
Diag. Some Stars
Our Sun
Nebula Dying Star (Cat’s eye)
325
326
Cf. Ibid., p. 310.
327
Cf. Ibid..
328
Ibid., p. 491.
54
7. Galaxy
A galaxy is a large system of stars, star clusters, gas and dust and nebulae
orbiting a common centre of mass.329 Galaxies occur in clusters. Collisions among
galaxies can form new stars.330
Classification
a) Elliptical Galaxies-round or elliptical, containing no visible gas or dust, and
lack not, bright stars.
b) Spiral Galaxies-Contain a disk and spiral arms, gas and dust and hot, bright
stars.
c) Barred Spiral Galaxies-elongated nucleus with spiral arms springing from the
end of the bar.
d) Irregular Galaxies-chaotic mix of gas, dust and stars, with no obvious nuclear
bulge or spiral arms.331
Diag. Some Galaxies
Cartwheel Galaxy Sombrero Galaxy
329
330
Ibid..
331
Cf. Ibid,, pp. 376-377.
55
Whirlpool Galaxy
D. Units of measurement between large heavenly bodies
1. 1 Astronomical Unit = 1.495979x1011 m

= 92.95582x106 miles
2. 1 Light year (ly) = 6.3240x104 AU

= 9.46053x1015 m
= 5.9x1012 miles
3. 1 Parsec (pc) =206265 AU

= 3.085678x1016 m
=3.261633 ly
4. 1 Kilo parsec (kpc) = 1000 pc.
5. 1 Mega parsec (Mpc)= 1000000 pc.332
E. Life in the Universe
Until now in the entire universe, earth is the only place where life is found. In
the entire universe there probably can be another place where life exists, other than
earth. But it is near to impossible to detect life on other planets of other solar systems
because planets don’t have a light of their own and hence we can only detect the stars
332
56
and not their planets. Dr. Jayant V. Narlikar, the Indian Astrophysicist, believes that
life must certainly exist elsewhere in the universe.333 Since it is so big, it is highly
unlikely that we are the only living beings in it.334 Movies such as E.T, Alien, Star
Wars, Men in Black, Independence Day, Koi Mil Gaya (Hindi) etc. attempt in
confirming our belief about life in other solar systems.
Let us view the development of life on earth in the following chart. 335
333
J. Antonio Vaz, Op.Cit., p. 23.
334
Ibid..
335
57
Earth harbors trillions of species of various categories and sizes, but the most
dominant is the Human Being.
Communications between humans and life in other solar systems can be

possible only through the medium of electromagnetic radiation, and that too, through
radio waves. But still, in order to transmit these signals we must first find a probable
place for a possible response. The moment we receive a response we can convincingly
say that we earthlings are not the only ones in the universe.
58
CHAPTER III
GRASPING THE PRESENT
A. Particle physics
1. Hydrino!!! The surprise in Physics.
Dr. Randell Mills claims to have built a prototype power source that generates
up to 1000 times more heat than conventional fuel. His claim is that he has produced
a new form of hydrogen, the simplest of all atoms, with just a single proton circled by
one election. In his ‘hydrino’, the electron sits a little closer to the proton than
normal.336
According to Quantum Mechanics, electrons can only exist in an atom in

defined orbits, and the shortest distance allowed between the proton and electron in
hydrogen is fixed. The two protons cannot get any closer.337 This revelation or
discovery in physics can only mean that either Dr. Randell Mills is correct or
Quantum Mechanics is correct.
2. Cat - State: Physics
The Cat – State was first proposed by Einstein, which he had called “spooky
action at a distance” in 1935.338
This fall scientists announced that they had put half dozen beryllium atoms
into a "cat state." To a physicist, a "cat state" is the condition of being in two
diametrically opposed conditions at once; occurs when the quantum properties of two
or more particles are correlated. These atoms were each spinning clockwise and
counterclockwise at the same time. The idea that measuring the properties of one
336
Cf. Alok Jha, “Power source that turns physics on its head”, Deccan Herald, ed.
K.N.Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (6th Nov, 05), p. 1.
337
338
Cf. Dennis Overbye, “ ‘Cat State’ catches on Albert Einstein”, Science And Technology :
Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 59, (10th Jan, 06), p. 3.
59
particle could instantaneously change the properties of another one (or a whole bunch)
far away is strange to say the least -- almost as strange as the notion of particles
spinning in two directions at once. The beryllium feat was led by Dietrich Leibfried at
the National Institute of Standards and Technology, in Boulder, Colombia.339
B. Meteorites, asteroids and comets
1. Meteorites
Meteorites usually don’t fall to earth, but if they fall they create a huge
impact. On 26th January 2005, a 4.5-kilogram meteorite landed in rice fields in
northwest Cambodia. Its noise was like a bomb exploding and it dug 40 cms into the
ground.340
2. Asteroids
The visits of asteroids on earth have known to be devastating. It is believed

that a 6-mile diameter asteroid is the cause for ending the dinosaur life on earth when
it hit the Gulf of Mexico.341
On 29th September, 05 earth got its closest shave of the century when a major
asteroid Toutatis-4179 passed the earth 1549719 kms away.342 If it had to collide with
earth billions would have lost their lives.
In order to avoid asteroids from colliding with earth two astronauts, Stanley
Love and Edward Lu, have come up with a proposal to deflect the course of an
asteroid by using the gravitational pull of a nearby spacecraft to drag the asteroid
away.343
339
Dennis Overbye, “ ‘Cat State’ catches on Albert Einstein”, Op.Cit., p. 3.
Beryllium = a hard white metallic element used in the manufacture of light corrosion-
resistant alloys (Symbol: Be. Atomic No. 4).
340
Cf. AFP., “Meteorite lands in Cambodia”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar, Vol.
th
41, (27 Jan, 05), p. 12.
341
Cf. NASA., “By Toutatis! It’s going to be a near thing”, The Times Of India, ed. K.R.
Ramesh, vol. 14, (29th Sept, 05), p. 1.
342
Cf. Ibid..
Toutatis-4179 has a size of 4.5x2.4x1.9 kms and a mass of 5.0x1013 kg. Ibid..
343
Cf. AFP., “Gravity plan to deflect the earth-threatening asteroid”, The Times Of India,
ed. K.R. Ramesh, Vol.14, (11th Nov, 05), p. 9.
60
3. Comet
Comets are believed to be existing since the formation of the solar system.
Some scientists believe that comets were the source of water and organic material to
all terrestrial planets.
On July 4th 05 astronomy made a remarkable progress when Deep Impact (a

satellite) was crash-landed on Comet 9P/ Tempel 1.344 The purpose was to know
comets better. This collision widened our knowledge about comets.
Before it was believed that comets were

hard, dirty balls of solid dust and ice but this
was just a hypothesis. We can now convincingly
say that comets are mostly empty, as 75-80% of
the nucleus is empty.345 The occupied region
consists of fine, extremely fragile particles of
dust and ice which are held together loosely
with pores.346 The comets also harbor organic
molecules believed to be building blocks of life.347 Deep Impact
C. Satellites or moons
1. Titan: Saturn’s moon
On 14th January 05 the Huygens space probe hurled through the atmosphere of
titan where it later landed. The Cassini spacecraft carried the Huygens.348
‘Titan, discovered by Dutch Astronomer, Christiaan Huygens in 1955, is the

only moon in the solar system with an atmosphere; one made up of methane and
344
Cf. Ian Sample, “Comets are fluffy balls of powder”, Science And Technology : Deccan
Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, Vol. 58, (13th Sept, 05), p. 3.
345
Cf. Ibid..
346
Cf. Ibid..
347
Cf. Ibid..
348
N. N., “Attempting to unravel Saturn’s Titan”, Science And Technology : Deccan Herald,
ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (17th Jan, 05), p. 3.
61
nitrogen…It’s atmosphere is similar to earthly smog … It is thought to be a model of
the early earth, before life began and oxygen was produced by plants…’349
It was because of these features that the biggest moon of Saturn was made a
target. Scientists are eager to find out why and how the atmosphere of Titan contains
methane.
Titan was believed to have liquid methane and ethane on it, but the first three
photos of Titan showed a wide-open plain studded with rocky objects which could be
ice boulders. Some drainage channels and bright areas and dirty patches were also
seen.350 Density measurements suggest that Titan is half rock silicate and half water
351
ice.
Scientists believe that organic chemical reactions taking place on Titan

resemble the processes that gave rise to life on earth 4 billion years ago.352 Scientists
are combing Titan in search of life. It is true that earthlike life will not be found, but
however the search continues for finding even any “weird life” forms. Unlike Earth
that harbors water for life Titan is believed to harbor liquid hydrocarbons which are
in fact better than water for supporting life.353 Steven A. Benner,
a professor of Chemistry at the University of Florida, says that
Water inspite of all its virtues has drawbacks because it attacks
DNA and causes it to fall apart while other enzymes do the fixing
of the damages caused by water. He says that liquid
hydrocarbons like methane and propane do a good job of
dissolving organic compounds.354 Therefore the search for life on
Titan is not mainly for DNA forms of life but for RNA forms of
Life.355
349
N. N., “Attempting to unravel Saturn’s Titan”, Op.Cit., p. 3.
350
Cf. Reuters, “Huygens finds ice boulders on shorelines of Titan”, Science And
Technology : Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, Vol. 58, (16th Jan, 05), p. 1.
351
N. N., “Attempting to unravel Saturn’s Titan”, Op.Cit., p. 3.
352
Cf. Reuters, “Huygens finds ice boulders on shorelines of Titan”, Op.Cit., p.3.
353
Cf. Carl Zimmer, “In search of life on Titan”, Science And Technology : Deccan Herald,
ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (17th Jan, 05), p.3.
354
Cf. Ibid.
355
Ibid..
62
2. Tethys: Saturn’s moon
The spacecraft Cassini after having ejected

Huygens, which landed on Titan, performed back-to-back
flybys of Saturn’s moons Tethys and Hyperion.
Tethys has got a scarred ancient surface. It is an

icy land of steep cliffs and craters, giant rifts, a
thoroughly hammered surface because of impacts and has
got bright crater floors. Its diameter is 1,071 kms.356
3. Hyperion: Saturn’s moon
Hyperion is a strange spongy looking body with dark-floored craters. Its

surface is dotted with craters and modified by some process. It has some difference in
composition of materials, which gives it an orange
tint. The dark material on the moon is creating a lot of
curiosity among scientists. 357
Hyperion is 266 kms across and has an

irregular shape. Its interior is mainly empty space. It
spins in a chaotic rotation. It is also called “Rubble-
pile moon”.358
4. Enceladus: Saturn’s moon
Scientists have come across an unexpected

phenomenon in space when they found a hot-spot at the south
pole of Enceladus which should not be there. The South Pole
is hotter than the equator and the scientists don’t know why.
They expected the temperature to be around 80o k at the
356
Cf. NASA., “Scarry and spongy moons”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar, Vol.
rd
41, (3 Oct, 05), p. 7.
357
Cf. Ibid..
358
Cf. Ibid..
63
South Pole but instead it is 91o k near a series of fissures. The best hypothesis to solve
the problem is to say that it is an ‘active’ moon.359
5. New Moons of Pluto.
Until now Pluto was known to be having a single moon Charon but now the
Hubble Telescope has spotted two more moons twice as far away from Charon and
many times fainter.360 They are yet to be named. These findings are yet to be
confirmed.
6. Gabrielle: Xena’s moon
The possible 10th planet in our solar system, Xena, has

its own moon, which has been named as Gabrielle. Gabrielle is
estimated to orbit close to Xena, making a circuit perhaps every
14 days. It is 60 times fainter than Xena.361
D. Planets
1. Mars
We are desperately in search of life in our universe, not that we feel lonely but
for finding a better meaning and purpose for existing. This year when the Mars
Express Spacecraft landed on Mars the visible information sent increased the
expectations of life on Mars among scientists.
The pictures sent by Mars Express Spacecraft showed structures called plates
that look similar to ice formations near earth’s poles. There is an estimation that there
could be submerged ice at about 800-900 kms in size and 45 mts. deep on average. At
the equator too, scientists believe that ice could possibly be hidden under the volcanic
359
Cf. Reuters., “Hot spot on Saturn’s moon”, The Hindu, ed. N. Ram, vol. 128, (1st Sept,
05), p. 22.
Active moons are those moons which harbor volcanoes and geysers. Io of Jupiter
and Triton of Neptune are two moons which are active. Cf. Ibid..
360
Cf. N. N., “Pluto has three moons”, Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, Vol. 58,
nd
(2 Nov, 05), p. 10.
361
Cf. Reuters., “Xena has its own moon Gabrielle”, The New Indian Express, ed.
R.Shankar, Vol. 41, (4th Oct, 05), p. 11.
64
ash, while a frozen sea of ice was discovered near the equator. If these hypotheses
prove true then Mars is the best place to search for life.362
Scientists believe that there was and even could be life on Mars. With the
finding of methane and formaldehyde, hints of life on Mars are getting stranger. The
percentage of methane found makes scientists to believe that there surely could be life
on Mars, at least bacterial.363 Scientists also believe that water vapor destroyed ozone
on Mars. Some scientists doubt the existence of life on mars and say that it is useless
to search for life, because Mars does not have any liquid water for creatures to
survive, neither does it have a greenhouse effect.364
Dr. Vittorio Formisano said,
“I believe that, until it is demonstrated that non-

biological process can produce this (methane), the only
way to produce so much methane is life. My conclusion is
there must be life in the soil of Mars.” 365
Mars is not dead for it has plentiful reserves of water because in some places
water comes out from aquifers underground, which may be due to lingering sources of
heat.366
The finding of formaldehyde can lead to two

conclusions that either Mars is extremely geologically
active, or harbors colonies of microbial life; because the
sources of methane are active geological processes
beneath the planet’s surface or a population of methane
generating microbes.367
362
Cf. N.N., “Frozen surface under Mars’ surface”, The Hindu, ed. N. Ram, Vol. 128, (24th
Feb, 05), p.15.
363
Cf. Reuters., “Hints of life on Mars getting stronger”, The Hindu, ed. N. Ram, vol. 128,
(3rd Mar, 05), p. 15.
364
Cf. Roxanne Khamsi, “Greenhouse effect absent on Mars”, Science And Technology :
Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (21st Feb, 05), p.3.
365
Cf. PTI., “There may be life on the Red Planet”, Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar,
vol. 58, (19th Feb , 05), p.13.
366
Cf. AFP., “Red planet still holds surprises”, Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol.
th
58, (10 Sept, 05), p.13.
367
Cf. Mark Peplow, “Maritan debate rages on,” Science And Technology : Deccan Herald,
ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (21st Mar, 05), p.3.
65
2. Saturn
Saturn’s rings, which are mainly water ice mixed with smaller amounts of
dust and rocky matter, have their own atmosphere. The atmosphere is composed
mainly of oxygen molecules. The rings are very thin - no more than 1.5 kms -
although they are 250000 kms or more in diameter.368
3. Pluto
Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto on February 18, 1930 but since its
discovery its status as a planet has been in a dilemma.369 Some scientists say that
Pluto being small, distant and poorly observed should be down graded from being a
planet to a mere Kuiper Belt Object. Michael Shara, the chairman of the astrophysics
department at the Hayden Planetarium in New York says,
“We remain convinced that Pluto is not a planet. But one

of the Kuiper Belt Objects.”370
To know Pluto better, NASA has sent its first mission to Pluto. It will take
nine years for the 1,054 pound spacecraft, traveling at the speed of 36,000 mph, to
complete the three billion mile journey. The space-craft New Horizons is estimated to
reach Pluto on 14th July, 2015.371
4. Xena
Xena is the 10th Planet of our solar system. It was first spotted on 31st October
03 and then discovered on 8th January 05 by Mike Brown and colleagues. Xena was
formerly known as 2003-UB313.372
368
Cf. PTI., “Saturn rings have own atmosphere”, The Times Of India, ed. K.R. Ramesh,
vol. 14, (20th Aug, 05), p. 11.
369
Cf. AP., “Mystery shrouds Pluto”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar, Vol. 41,
th
(15 Feb, 05), p. 11.
370
Cf. John Noble Wilford, “Pluto: Planet or not, the debate rages on.”, Science And
Technology : Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 57, (29th Nov, 04), p.3.
371
Cf. Warren E, Leary, “New Horizons take off on Pluto mision.”, Deccan Herald, ed. K.N.
Shanth Kumar, vol. 59, (21st Jan, 06), p.13.
372
Cf. AFP., “Looks like a tenth planet”, The Hindu, ed. N. Ram, vol. 128, (31st July, 05),
p. 20.
66
Xena is larger than Pluto, covered in methane ice and lies nearly 15 billion
kms from the earth. It is the farthest object ever discovered to orbit around the sun.373
Xena measures around 2302 kms in diameter and its orbit

are at a 45o angle to the rest of the solar system.374 It’s tilted way
out of plane.
To be more convincing that Xena is a planet, astronomers

have discovered a moon orbiting around Xena, which they named as Gabrielle.375 Still
some disregard Xena as a planet, but if Xena which is much bigger than Pluto is
denied this status then surely Pluto too will have to be dropped out as a planet.376
5. Exoplanets
Exoplanets or extra-solar planets are those planets which orbit a star other
than our sun.377
a. Planet 2M1207b
Planet 2M1207b is a giant planet, 5 times massive than the mass of Jupiter
which is orbiting a brown dwarf known as 2M1207A at a distance nearly twice as far
373
Cf. AFP., “Looks like a tenth planet”, Op.Cit., p. 20.
374
Cf. Ibid.
375
Cf. Reuters., “Xena has its own moon Gabrielle,” Op.Cit., p. 11
376
Cf. AFP., “Bad news for Pluto as ‘10th planet’ is seized up”, The New Indian Express,
ed. R.Shankar, vol. 42, (2nd Feb,, 06), p. 11.
377
Cf. AP., “It’s a huge new planet”, The Hindu, ed. N. Ram, vol. 128, (1 May, 05), p. 18.
67
as Neptune is from the sun.378 This is the first time astronomers have had convincing
answer regarding Exoplanets. It was first spotted last year and confirmed this year. It
lies in 225 lys from earth in the constellation Hydra.379
b. Earth like exoplanet
U.S space scientists say they have discovered the smallest earth-like planet
outside our solar system that could have an atmosphere. The scientists described the
new planet as a ball of rock made of the same materials as earth. The researchers said
the planet might be the first rocky one found orbiting a star similar to our sun.380
c. OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb
Astronomers say that they have briefly glimpsed the most Earth-like planet
yet to be discovered outside the solar system. It is a ball of rock and ice only about
5.5 times as massive as Earth, smaller
than any of the 160 previously discovered
exoplanets, and is orbiting a dim reddish
star 21,000 light-years from here. The
planet, smaller than Neptune and dubbed
OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, resides about
234 million miles from its star. At that
distance, its surface temperature would be
minus 370 degrees.381
The work was largely that of two teams that have built far-flung observing
networks to exploit a feature of Einstein’s general theory of relativity. The theory says
a massive object can act as a gravitational lens, bending and magnifying the light
from more distant objects in space. Dr Beaulieu explained, “If only a small fraction of
the stars had such planets, we would have never detected this small planet.”382
378
Cf. AP., “It’s a huge new planet”, Op.Cit., p. 18.
379
Cf. Ibid.
380
Cf. IANS, “Planet beyond solar system”, The Navhind Times, ed. Arun Sinha, Vol. 43,
th
(10 July, 05 ), p. 12.
381
Cf. AFP., “New Earth-like planet discovered”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar,
vol. 42, (27th Jan, 06), p. 12.
382
Cf. Ibid.
68
E. Stars and solar systems
1. Lynx-Arc
Behind the distant cluster of galaxies the

biggest, brightest and hottest star-forming region ever
seen has been sighted called Lynx-Arc.383 Lynx-Arc
contains around a million blue-white stars that have a
surface temperature of around 80000o C, which in fact
are twice as hot as similar stars in our Milky Way
galaxy. Lynx-Arc lies 12000 million lys away from earth.384
This arc was discovered when a study of a distant cluster of galaxies was
carried out with major x-ray, optical and infrared telescopes.385
2. Wild West Landscape
The Hubble space telescope has uncovered for the first time a population of
embryonic stars in the small magellanic cloud, a companion galaxy of a Milky
Way.386 The smallest of these infant stars is only half the mass of the sun. The picture
of these stars after development resembled a Wild West Landscape.387
3. Big baby stars
Dozens of massive stars, destined for a short but brilliant life, were born less
than a light year away from the Milky Way’s central black hole, one of the most
hostile environments in our galaxy. There is however no threat on them because they
are far enough not to come under the gravitational pull of the black hole.388
The X-rays they emit helped the Chandra X-ray observatory detect the stars.
383
Cf. MU., “A boom of light in space”, Sunday Express Magazine : The New Indian
Express, ed. Manoj Kumar Sonthalia, Vol. 39, (9th Nov, 03), p. 19.
384
Cf. Ibid.
385
Cf. Ibid.
386
Cf. Tim Radford, “ Hubble pictures like “Wild West landscape’”, The Hindu, ed. N. Ram,
vol. 128, (2nd Feb, 05), p. 20.
387
Cf. Ibid.
388
Cf. Reuters., “Big stars are born near Milky Way”, The New Indian Express, ed.
R.Shankar, Vol. 41, (17th Oct,, 05), p. 12.
69
4. Pillars of creation
The Spitzer space telescope has detected

colossal pillars of cool gas and dust in a region known
as W5, in the constellation Cassiopeia, 7000 lys away
dominated by a single massive star.389
It is an intimate look at the star forming process.

These pillars are formed by radiation and winds from
hot massive stars, and contain hundreds of newborn
stars. These pillars are dubbed as “Pillars of creation”, and “Cosmic mountain of
creation”.390
5. Outcast star
Warren Brow says,
“We have never before seen a star moving fast enough to

completely escape the confines of our galaxy”.391
This escaping star is a blue star about three times as massive as the sun in the
constellation Hydra known formerly and numbingly as SDSSJ090745.0 (PLUS)
24507, fondly called “Outcast”. The star is probably some 196000 lys from the center
of the Milky Way,392 i.e. 30000 lys from the center, already in the suburbs.
The star is heading for the emptiness of intergalactic space. The trail leads
straight back to the center of the galaxy where exists a monstrous Black Hole.393 How
could this star escape the black hole?
389
Cf. AFP., “NASA’s Spitzer telescope captures young stars”, The Times Of India, ed.
K.R. Ramesh, vol. 14, (11th Nov, 05), p. 11.
390
Cf. Ibid.
391
Cf. Reuters., “Star zooming out of Milky Way”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar,
Vol. 41, (10th Feb, 05), p. 11.
392
Cf. NYT., “A star leaves the galaxy”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar, Vol. 41,
(23rd Feb, 05), p. 11.
393
Cf. Ibid.
70
• Under certain circumstances a star can be directed at high speed from a
close miss with a black hole.
• Even still, if a pair of stars orbiting each other pass close to a black
hole, enormous tidal forces could rip the two apart, sending one into the maw and
the other out into space with renewed vigor. To understand this better let us
analogously examine two ice-skaters holding handing and twirling. One falls
down, the other goes flying out.
• Unless the star was an interloper and never belonged here.394
6. Star in Top gear
Astronomers have found a rather young hot massive star named HE0437-5439
moving at more than 2.6 million kms per hour. It is far out in the halo of the Milky
Way going towards the Doradus constellation. Its composition is similar to that of the
sun. Data reveals that the star did not form in the Milky Way, but happened to be
there while on its interstellar or intergalactic travel.395
Astronomer suggest that the star was either kicked out from the large
magellanic cloud due to a black hole, or it could be the result of the merging of two
star from the time of its journey from the center of the galaxy to its present place.396
7. Astonishing weight
Astronomers usually deduced the masses of stars from their luminosity. A

new way of finding out masses is to measure the orbit.397 When astronomers were
studying star AB Doradus C, its luminosity showed that its mass should be about 50
times as massive as Jupiter, making it a brown dwarf, a failed star. But on the basis of
its orbit they were able to determine that AB Doradus C, was actually 93 times as
394
Cf. NYT., “A star leaves the galaxy”, Op.Cit., p. 11.
395
Cf. N.N., “Look out, this star’s on the run”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar,
Vol. 41, (14th Nov, 05), p. 7.
396
Cf. Ibid.
397
Dennis Overbye, “Tiny star’s weight raises big astronomical questions”, Science And
Technology : Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (31st Jan, 05), p.3.
71
massive as Jupiter and therefore a small star.398 Therefore this smallest star ever to be
reliably weighed has tipped the scales at almost twice its mass.
This new finding calls for a revision of the definitions of stars and planets.
8. Monster starburst
A cosmic explosion just across the Milky Way from earth gave off as much
energy in one tenth of a second as the sun does in 100000 yrs. Even at a distance of
50000 lys the explosion was powerful enough to bounce off the moon and disturb
earth's upper atmosphere. It interfered with many satellites, and overloaded receptors
on some spacecraft.399
The blast observed on 27th Dec, 04 came from a rare neutron star, an exotic
type known as magnetar, with an ultra strong magnetic field in the constellation of
Sagittarius.400 Fortunately for us the nearest known magnetar is about 13000 lys away.
The blast was brightest in the gamma-ray range and was not at all visible in
the optical light range.401 The burst was briefly brighter
than the full moon. If it had occurred within a few light
years from earth it would have literally fried the
planet.402
Kevin Hurley said,
"It was the mother of all magnetic flares - a true

monster".403
398
Cf. Dennis Overbye, “Tiny star’s weight raises big astronomical questions”, Op.Cit., p.
3.
399
Reuters, “Spy monster explosion in Milky Way”, The New Indian Express, ed.
R.Shankar, Vol. 41, (21st Feb, 05), p. 11.
400
Cf. Ibid.
401
Cf. Ibid.
402
Cf. N. N., “Monster starburst is brighter than moon”, Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth
Kumar, vol. 58, (19th Feb, 05), p.11.
403
Ibid.
72
The blast was caused by an eruption on the surface of a known exotic kind of a
neutron star called SGR1806-20.404
9. Smallest star
OGLE-TR-122b is the smallest star discovered. It weighs 95 times more than

Jupiter but is only 16% as large because of its great density.405
It was observed in March 2004 in the direction of the Carina constellation in

the Milky Way and has an incandescent core thus shining on its own. The star orbits
around another star similar to the sun and takes one week to complete its
revolution.406
10. Black Holes
a. Black holes causing eruptions
Chandra x-ray observatory detected a powerful eruption of energy that was

generated by a massive black hole.407 The black hole in the galaxy cluster called
MS0735.6+7421 is believed to have swallowed about 300 million solar masses of gas
over the last 100 million years.408
The explosion was caused by gravitational energy release during which

enormous amounts of matter fell toward a black hole. Most of the matter was
swallowed but some of it was violently ejected.409
There are two possibilities as to regarding the source of that matter:

• A host galaxy which cooled catastrophically being swallowed by the
black hole.
404
Cf. N. N., “Monster starburst is brighter than moon”, Op.Cit., p. 11.
405
Cf. IANS,, “Smallest star found, say astronomers”, The New Indian Express, ed.
R.Shankar, Vol. 41, (5th Mar, 05), p. 11.
406
Cf. Ibid.
407
Cf. Chidanand Rajghatta, “NASA detects biggest blast in space”, The Times Of India,
ed. K.R. Ramesh, vol. 14, (8th Jan, 05), p. 1.
408
Ibid.
409
Ibid.
73
• One black hole falling into another black hole.410
Two vast cavities extend away from the super massive black hole in the
cluster’s central galaxy. The size of the cavities are about 650000 lys across, thus
indicating the power of the explosion.411
b. Black holes as answers to problems
A British team had found that a gas mixture comprising of hydrogen, helium
and heavy metals like iron was pushed out from the inner region of some galaxies in a
unique way and there was no explanation for this phenomenon.412
Two scientists Biman Nath and Suparna Roy Chowdury hypothesize that
black holes not only eat up everything, but also throw up massive amounts of energy
in a show of cosmic burp after savoring their galactic meals. The gases were being
pushed out by the black holes.413 What comes out might be a mixture of subatomic
particles; either a combination of positron and election or a mixture of proton and
electron.414
c. Black Holes: An Illusion.
George Chapline, a physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

in California, says that Black holes do not exist.415 He says that, massive stars which
were believed to form into Black Holes, actually lead to the formation of stars that
contain dark energy of which most of the universe is made.416
410
Cf. Chidanand Rajghatta, Op.Cit., p. 1.
411
Cf. Ibid..
412
Cf. Kalyan Ray, “B’lore scientists probe the abyss,” Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth
Kumar, vol. 58, (22nd Feb, 05), p.9.
413
Cf. Ibid.
414
Cf. Ibid.
415
Cf. Philip Ball, “Black Holes do not exist”, Science And Technology : Deccan Herald, ed.
K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (11th Apr, 05), p.4.
416
Cf. Ibid.
74
11. Small Wonder: Another solar system?
Astronomers say that they have found a miniature solar system in the making-
A failed star, brown dwarf, OTS44 seems to be surrounded by the tiny disk of dust
that could someday form planets, which could perhaps even be briefly capable of
supporting life.417
The star, 500 lys away in the constellation Chamaeleon, is about 15 times as
massive as Jupiter and is the smallest star like object to be found with such a disk. It
has a temperature of 3,600o F and is also the coolest.418
12. Sun-like star
A sun-like star located 137 light years away about 30 million yrs old and
possessing an asteroid belt was spotted by astronomers. The star is said to have
swirling debris around it where terrestrial planets similar to earth may be forming.419
13. New theory on death of stars
A bold new idea that questions the fundamental physics of a dying star four to
five times the mass of our sun—as Albert Einstein knew it—has come to international
notice. The trio of cosmologists from ‘The Tata Institute of Fundamental Research’
who refute Einstein’e General theory of Relativity which proposed that a dying star
four or five times more than the Sun does not explode but turns into a singularity are
Pankaj Joshi, Rituparno Goswamiand and Parampreet Singh. Joshi says,
“It’s an exciting development at the very foundation of all

of black hole physics. Our test predicts that a dying,
shrinking star of a mass four or five times more than the
Sun, goes dim. In its last microseconds, it throws away all
417
Cf. NYT., “Another Solar system?”, The New Indian Express, ed. R.Shankar, Vol. 41,
th
(9 Feb, 05), p. 11.
418
Cf. NYT., “Another Solar system?”, Op.Cit., p. 11.
419
Cf. N. N., “Astronomers see sun-like star”, Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar,
vol. 58, (16th Dec, 05), p.14.
75
its matter in an explosive burst that can be observed like a
flash or fireball.’’420
F. Galaxy
1. Dark galaxy
The galaxy VIRGOHI21, in the Virgo cluster, 50 million lys away is made
almost entirely of dark matter.421 It is the first galaxy found to have no stars at all
because no gas has been converted into stars. Researchers have found hydrogen
swirling in the galaxy and through calculating found it out to be large.422
H. Possibility of life
1. In search of neighbours
US astronomers have come up with a short list of five stars near the Milky
Way galaxy that they say are most likely to support extra-terrestrial life. The stars
were chosen based on the number of criteria including size, composition, age and
color that would make them similar to the sun and enable planets resembling earth
to orbit them.423 The most promising star is about 26 light years away from earth
in the constellation Canes Venatici.424
420
Cf. Reshma Patil, “Indian team rewrites idea of dying star”, The New Indian Express,
ed. R.Shankar, Vol. 42, (9th Feb, 06), p. 10.
421
Mark Peplow, “A galaxy with no stars”, Science And Technology : Deccan Herald, ed.
K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 58, (28th Feb, 05), p.5.
422
Cf. Mark Peplow, “A galaxy with no stars”, Op.Cit., p. 5.
423
AFP., “ET: Five ‘suns’ shortlisted”, Deccan Herald, ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar, vol. 59,
(21st Feb, 06), p.13.
424
Cf. Ibid.
76
CONCLUSION
As I have begun, so will I end. In the introduction I had mentioned that what I
was presenting was just a “human” point of view. The reason is that we may be, with
our human intelligence finding the universe as we search it out to be. All astronomy,
cosmology, theories and the electromagnetic spectrum are discovered and formulated
by man, therefore the universe continues to remain a mystery. All probing in space
may just result in what we expect to find. Do our expectations determine what we
find? Even what we know about the present state of the universe is it what it really
is? Is what we grasp an entirety? To understand what I would like to conclude let us
view the following diagrams.
Diag. 1. Bird or Rabbit?
What do you see in this picture? Is it a rabbit or a

duck? Well, it is a duck if you see it as a duck. It is
a rabbit if you see it as a rabbit.
Diag. 2. Puzzling cube.
77
Front and back
• Which is the front side of the cube? Is it 1234? Is it ABCD?
• Which is the back side of the cube? Is it 1234? Is it ABCD?
Dot
• Is the dot on the cube or not?
• If it is on the cube then on which side of the cube? Is it 1234? Is it on 1AD4?
If the dot is not on the cube then is it in front of the cube? Is it at the side of the cube?
How far from the cube?
Well, these two diagrams indeed are puzzling. There is a lot more that we have
to know even about what we know. Things like the origin of the universe, the origin
of the cosmic egg, dark matter, etc. leaves us all in a dilemma. Yet we cannot deny
what we have come to know. The knowledge that we have gained through the help of
science and technology is indeed the best, but the question lies: is it “The
Knowledge”?
By knowing how vast the universe is we know how small we are, but no
matter how vast and mysterious the universe may by, we know it to the best “from our
perspective."
78
BIBLIOGRAPHY
PRIMARY SOURCES
BOOKS
Einstein, A., Relativity. Trans. Robert W. Lawson. New York : Crown Publishers
Inc., 1952.
Hawking, S., A Brief History of Time. London : Bantam Books, 1998.
-----, Black Holes and Baby Universe. London : Bantam Books, 1998.
SECONDARY SOURCES
BOOKS
Barnett, L., The Universe and Dr. Einstein. Virginia : Time–Life Books Inc. 1982.
Bittle, C. N., From Aether to Cosmos. Milwaukee : The Bruce Publishing Company,
1947.
Close, F., Particle Physics. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Davies, P., The Mind Of God. Singapore: A Touchstone Book, 1992.
Ferguson, K., Stephen Hawking : A Quest for a Theory of Everything. London :

Bantam Books, 2001.
-----, The Fire in the Equations. Michigan : William B. Eerdman’s Publishing

Company, 1995.
Capra, F., The Tao Of Physics. London: Flamingo, 1992.
Gribbin, J., In Search of Schrödinger’s Cat. London : Black Swan, 1984.
Jaffe, B., Michelson and the speed of light. New York : Pyramid Books, 1962.
Kaku, M. and Thompson J., Beyond Einstein. Auckland : Anchor Books, 1995.
Lobo, J.B., Home Encyclopedia. Not Published.
Marks, R. W., The New Physics And Chemistry Dictionary and Handbook. New
York: Bantam Books, Inc., 1967.
79
Panda, N.C., Māyā in Physics. Delhi : Motilal Banarsidas Publishers Private
Limited, 1991.
Ray, C., Time, Space And Philosophy. London: Routledge, 1991.
Ridley, B.K., Time, Space And Things. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1995.
Rydnik, V., The ABC’s of Quantum Mechanics. Trans. George Yankorsky.

Moscow : Peace Publishers, N.D.
Seeds, M. A., Astronomy : The Solar System and Beyond. Spain : Thomson Books /
Cole, 2003.
Trefil, J., Reading the Mind of God. Sydney : Anchor Books, 1989.
Vaz, J. A., From Nought To Eternity. (Not Published).
ARTICLES
AFP., “Looks like a tenth planet”. The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram. Vol. CXXVIII. (31st
July, 05). p. 20.
AFP., “Bad news for Pluto as ‘10th planet’ is seized up”. The New Indian Express.
Ed. R.Shankar. Vol. XLII. (2nd Feb, 06). p. 11.
AFP., “ET: Five ‘suns’ shortlisted”. Deccan Herald, Ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar. Vol.
LIX. (21st Feb, 06). p.13.
AFP., “Gravity plan to deflect earth-threatening asteroids”. The Times Of India. Ed.
K. R. Ramesh Vol. XIV . (11th Nov, 05). p. 9.
AFP., “NASA’s Spitzer telescope captures young stars”. The Times Of India. Ed.
K. R. Ramesh Vol. XIV . (11th Nov, 05). p. 11.
AFP., “New Earth-like planet discovered”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R.Shankar.
Vol. XLII. (27th Jan, 06). p. 12.
AFP., “Red planet still holds surprises”. Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar.
Vol. LVIII. (10th Sept, 05). p. 13.
AFP., “‘Meteorite’ lands in Cambodia”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R. Shankar.
Vol. XLI. (27th Jan, 05). P. 12.
80
Angadiyil, J. M., “Analytic Rationality, Quantum Physics and The Logic of God”.
Divyadaan. Ed. Ivo Coelho. Vol. XIII. No.1. Nashik: Divyadaan, 2002. p. 1-
15.
Angrist, S. W., “Thermodynamics”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed. Mark

Cumming. Vol. XXVI. Connecticut: Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 646-652.
Antao, S. A., “Letter to Br. Andrew”. Letter. (13th Dec, 05).
AP., “ It’s a huge new planet”. The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram. Vol. CXXVIII. (1st May,
05). p. 18.
AP. “Mystery shrouds Pluto”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R. Shankar. Vol. XLI.
(15th Feb, 05). p. 11.
Ball, P., “Black holes do not exist”. Science and Technology : Deccan Herald. Ed.
K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (11th Apr, 05). p. 4.
Bagra, D., “Amazing facts”. North East Sun. Ed. Vishwa Bandhu Gupta. Vol. XI.
No. 2. (Aug 15-31, 05). p. 64.
Binney, S. E., “Radiation”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed. Mark Cummings.

Vol. XXIII. Connecticut: Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 137-143.
D’Souza, F., “Philosophy of Science”. Class Notes. pp. 10-32.
Dev, A. B., “Celebrating Einstein’s Contributions”. Science and Technology :

Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (31st Jan, 05). p. 4.
Drake, F. D., “Radio Astronomy”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed. Mark

Cummings. Vol. XXIII. Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 175-178.
Graham Jr, C. D., “Magnet and Magnetism”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed.
Mark Cummings. Vol. XVIII. Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 97-
104.
Harrison, E., “Origin and Evolution of the Universe”. The New Encyclopedia
Britannica. Ed. Warren E. Preece. Vol. XVIII. Geneva : Encyclopedia
Britannica, Inc., 1974. pp. 1009-1010.
Huang, Su –Shu., “Astrophysics”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed. Mark

Cummings. Vol. II. Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 588-593.
IANS., “Planet beyond Solar system”. The Navhind Times. Ed. Arun Sinha. Vol.
XLIII. (10th July, 05). p. 12.
IANS., “Smallest star found, say astronomers”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R.
Shankar. Vol. XLI. (5th Mar, 05). p. 11.
81
Jha, A., “Power source that turns physics on its head”. Deccan Herald. Ed.
K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (6th Nov, 05). p. 1.
Khamsi, R., “Greenhouse effect absent on Mars”. Science and Technology : Deccan
Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (21st Feb, 05). p. 3.
Komar, A., “Uncertainty Principle”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed. Mark

Cummings. Vol. XXVII. Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 355-
356.
Krishnan, N., “Letter to Brother Andrew”. Letter. (4th Dec, 05).
Leary, W. E., “New Horizons take off on Pluto mision.”. Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.
Shanth Kumar. Vol. LIX. (21st Jan, 06). p.13.
Lee–Franzini, J., “Matter and Antimatter”. The New Encyclopedia Britannica. Ed.
Warren E. Preece. Vol. XI. Geneva : Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc., 1974. p.
703-705.
Lindsay, R. B., “Electromagnetic Radiation”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed.

Mark Cummings. Vol. X. Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 156-
162.
MU., “A boom of light in space”. Sunday Express Magazine: The New Indian
Express. Ed. Manoj Kumar Sonthalia. Vol. XXXIX. (9th Nov, 03). p. 19.
NASA., “By Toutatis! It’s going to be a near thing”. The Times Of India. Ed. K. R.
Ramesh. Vol. XIV . (29th Sept, 05). p. 1.
NASA., “Scarry and Spongy moons”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R. Shankar.
Vol. XLI. (3rd Oct, 05). p. 7.
N.N. “Frozen sea under Mars’ surface”. The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram. Vol. CXXVIII.
(24th Feb, 05). p. 15.
N.N., “Astronomers see sun-like star”. Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar.
Vol. LVIII. (16th Dec, 05). p. 14.
N.N., “Attempting to unravel Saturn’s Titan”. Science and Technology : Deccan

Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (17th Jan, 05). p. 3.
N.N., “Monster starburst is brighter than the moon”. Deccan Herald. Ed.
K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (19th Feb, 05). p. 11.
N.N., “Pluto has three moons”. Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII
8. (2nd Nov, 05). p. 10.
82
N.N., “Look out, this star’s on the run”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R. Shankar.
Vol. XLI. (14th Nov, 05). p. 7.
NYT., “A star leaves the galaxy”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R. Shankar. Vol.
XLI. (23rd Feb, 05). p. 11.
NYT., “Another solar system?”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R. Shankar. Vol.
XLI. (9th Feb, 05). p. 11.
Overbye, D., “Tiny star’s weight raises big astronomical questions”. Science and
Technology : Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (31st Jan,
05). p. 3.
-----, “ ‘Cat State’ catches on Albert Einstein”. Science And Technology : Deccan
Herald. Ed. K.N. Shanth Kumar. Vol. LIX. (10th Jan, 06). p. 3.
Page, D. N., “Hawking”. The Encyclopedia Americana. Ed. Mark Cummings. Vol.
XIII. Connecticut : Grolier Incorporated, 1998. pp. 883-884.
Patil, R., “Indian team rewrites idea of dying star”. The New Indian Express, Ed.
R.Shankar. Vol. XLII. (9th Feb, 06). p. 10.
Peplow, M., “A galaxy with no stars”. Science and Technology : Deccan Herald.
Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (10th Jan, 05). p. 3.
-----, “Maritan debate rages on”. Science and Technology : Deccan Herald. Ed.
K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (21st Mar, 05). p. 3.
PTI., “Saturn rings have own atmosphere”. The Times Of India. Ed. K. R. Ramesh
Vol. XIV. (20th Aug, 05). p. 1.
PTI., “There may be life on the red planet”. Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar.
Vol. LVIII. (19th Feb, 05). p. 13.
Radford, T., “Hubble pictures ‘like wild west landscape’”. The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram.
Vol. CXXVIII. (2nd Feb, 05). p. 20.
Rajghatta, C., “NASA detects biggest blast in space”. The Times Of India. Ed. K. R.
Ramesh. Vol. XIV. (8th Jan, 05). p. 1.
Ray, K., “B’lore scientists probe the abyss”. Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth
Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (22nd Feb, 05). p. 9.
Reuters., “ Hints of life on Mars getting stronger”. The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram. Vol.
CXXVIII. (3rd Mar, 05). p. 15.
Reuters., “ Hot spot on Saturn’s moon”. The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram. Vol. CXXVIII.
(1st Sept, 05). p. 22.
83
Reuters., “Relaunching Physics”. The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram. Vol. CXXVIII. (12th
Jan, 05). p. 20.
Reuters., “Big stars are born near Milky Way’s black hole”. The New Indian
Express. Ed. R. Shankar. Vol. XLI. (17th Oct, 05). p. 7.
Reuters., “Huygens finds ice boulders and shorelines on Titan”. Science and
Technology : Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (16th Jan,
05). p. 1.
Reuters., “Spy monster explosion on Milky Way”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R.
Shankar. Vol. XLI. (21st Feb, 05). p. 11.
Reuters., “Star zooming out of Milky Way”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R.
Shankar. Vol. XLI. (10th Feb, 05). p. 11.
Reuters., “Xena has its own moon Gabrielle”. The New Indian Express. Ed. R.
Shankar. Vol. XLI. (4th Oct, 05). p. 11.
Sample, I., “Comets are fluffy balls of powder”. Science and Technology : Deccan
Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (13th Sept, 05). p. 3.
Sivaram, C., “Einstein in our lives”. Science and Technology : Deccan Herald. Ed.
K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVIII. (21st March, 05). p. 4.
-----, “Why the moon matters to earth”. Science and Technology : Deccan Herald.
Tharoor, S., “Was there such a one as this?”. Magazine : The Hindu. Ed. N. Ram.
Vol. CXXVIII. (3rd July, 2005). p. 3.
White, M. and Gribbin, J., “A Brief History of Stephen Hawking”. Reader’s Digest.
Ed. Ashok Mahadevan. Vol. CXLIII. No.856. (August, 1993). pp. 165-192.
Wilford, J. N., “Pluto: Planet or not, the debate rages on”. Science and Technology :
Deccan Herald. Ed. K.N.Shanth Kumar. Vol. LVII. (29th Nov, 04). p. 3.
Zimmer, C., “In search of life on Titan”. Science and Technology : Deccan Herald.
84

Our View On The Present State of The Universe

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Our View On The Present State of The Universe

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

AN ESSAY ON

OUR VIEW OF THE

A paper submitted in partial fulfillment

DEENA SEVA ASHRAM

C. BLACK HOLE PHYSICS

A. SUBSTANCE IN THE UNIVERSE

B. FORCES IN THE UNIVERSE

C. ORIGIN OF THE UNIVERSE

D. STRUCTURE OF THE UNIVERSE

E. UNITS OF MEASUREMENT BETWEENLARGE HEAVENLY

F. LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE

B. METEORITES, ASTEROIDS AND COMETS

E. STARS AND SOLAR SYSTEMS

In my essay I am presenting a scientific way of looking at the universe, and

I have divided my presentation into three chapters. In the first chapter, I

THE MEANS OF KNOWING OUR UNIVERSE

Many of the great breakthroughs of the past century such as Quantum

“When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems

Relativity reveals that appearance is relative. It is a question of cognitive

3. Special Theory of Relativity

The experimental findings of Michelson and Morley indicated the

3 X 10 10 cms per sec 11 (i.e. 30000000000 cms per sec).

“Let us imagine a raven flying through the air in such a

“A rigid meter – rod moving in the direction of its length

“As a consequence of its motion the clock goes [ticks]

When Einstein says, “Space is Relative”, he means there by the dimensions

g. Equivalence of Mass and Energy

If one kilogram of coal is converted entirely into energy it would yield 25

h. Activity and Mass are Inseparable

4. General Theory of Relativity

In 1915, Albert Einstein formulated the general Theory of Relativity.31 He

a. New Interpretation of Gravity

“The earth produces in its surrounding a gravitational

Matter is always associated with gravitational field.36 Gravity curves both

b. Motion and the Perihelion of Mercury

The path of mercury around the sun. 42

c. Deflection of Light by a Gravitational Field

“In general, rays of light are propagated curvilinearly in

Gravitational deflection of light. 45

According to General Theory of Relativity, the light from stars surrounding

Deflection of star light by Sun’s gravity. 48

This theory was re-developed and reformulated by many great physicists –

Max Planck through experiment in thermal radiation came to the conclusion

Plank formulated an equation to show that each quantum carries an amount of

In any process of radiation the amount of emitted energy, divided by the

Nearly everything is made-up of matter, and all matter is composed of

5. Energy: The Ultimate Substance

1. Physics of Black Holes

The formation of Black Holes. 82

“… the surface area of the event horizon, the boundary of

Expansion of a single black hole.

The collision of two black holes. 85

Hawking’s discovery reminded people about the second law of

3. Black Holes Ain’t so Black

“Black holes are not completely black!”87

“…a body with a particular temperature must emit

4. Hartle – Hawking No – Boundary Proposal

“I went around the world, and I didn’t fall off.”96

5. Evolution of the Universe and its Fate

“… if the universe is really completely self-contained,

“The universe would expand to a very large size and

1. Vibrating String: The Ultimate Building Blocks of the Universe