A CRASH COURSE IN ASTRONOMY

CONTENTS

Lesson 1 - Early History of Astronomy

Lesson 2 - Seeing Is Believing
Lesson 3 - Modern Astronomy
Lesson 4 - Big Numbers
Lesson 5 - Learning About Stars
Lesson 6 - Starry Eyed
Lesson 7 - Playing Connect the Dots
Lesson 8 - Visiting the Sun
Lesson 9 - Visiting The Inner Solar System
Lesson 10 - Outer Solar System
THE SUN

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A CRASH COURSE IN ASTRONOMY

Lesson 1: History, Ancient Astronomers to The Renaissance

The study of our Universe is not new, astronomy is the oldest science. People have been looking up, trying to
explain the universe for as long as there have been people. The earliest Astronomers were priests and holy
men, studying the movement of celestial bodies to determine celebrations and planting cycles.
The ancient Greeks were the first to start developing astronomy theories about the design of the Universe.
Previous observations of the moon had already led to the knowledge that the Earth was round. When coupled
with Plato's assertion that the sphere was the perfect geometrical shape, the original Geocentric, or EarthCentered view of the Universe was formed. While many earlier observers believed the heavens were a giant
bowl covering the Earth, this new philosophy, expounded by Astronomer Eudoxus and Philosopher Aristotle
in the 4th century BC, said the sun, moon, and planets hung on concentric spheres, all surrounding the Earth.
Although helpful to ancient people trying to make sense of an unknown universe, this model did not help in
properly tracking planets, the moon, or stars. Still, with few refinements, it remained the predominant scientific
view of the Universe for another 600 years.
In the 2nd century, Claudius Ptolemaeus (Ptolemy), a Roman astronomer working in Egypt added epicycles
to the Geocentric model. He said that the planets moved in perfect circles, attached to perfect spheres, that
all rotated around the Earth. While it was wrong, this theory could, at least, predict the paths of the planets
fairly well. This view remained in use for another 1400 years.
In the 16th century, Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish Astronomer, tiring of the cumbersome and imprecise
nature of the Ptolemaic Model, began working on a theory of his own. He theorized that the Sun was at the
center of the Universe, and that the Earth and other planets revolved around it. The Copernican Model of the
Universe, while still incorrect, did three main things. It explained the prograde and retrograde motions of the
planets. It took the Earth out of it's spot as the center of the universe. And, it expanded the size of the
Universe. (In a geocentric model, the size of the Universe is limited so that it can revolve once every 24
hours, or else the stars would get slung off due to centrifugal force.
While it was a major step in the right direction, Copernicus' theories were still quite cumbersome and
imprecise. His book, On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, which was published as he lay on his
deathbed, was still a key element in the beginning of the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment.
Lesson 2: History - A Renaissance in Science
The early theories of the Universe and astronomy, while very clever, all had the same problem. They were all
based on incorrect information and beliefs. To create an accurate model, you must first begin with accurate
data. Thanks to the observations of Tycho Brahe, his assistant, Johannes Kepler was able to determine that
the circle was not the correct geometric form to explain planetary motions. As a mathematician, he knew that
a circle is just a specialized ellipse. Utilizing non-circular ellipses, he was able to calculate orbits, which
correctly predicted planetary positions. He couldn't directly measure a planet's exact orbital sizes, but he was
able to measure the ratio by using his equation and Brahe's observations.
Kepler had explained how planets moved, but he still couldn't explain why. Up till this time, scientists believed
that objects tended to stay at rest. Observation had shown that all motion eventually ceases and unmoving
objects did not begin to move on their own. So, why would planets?
In the early 17th century, Galileo Galilei used surfaces of varying smoothness to slide blocks across. He
found that rough tables made objects slow down at a faster rate than smooth ones. Extrapolating from these
observations, he theorized that if a surface were completely smooth, objects would continue moving forever. If
you've studied physics, you'll recognize this as the basis for the theory of inertia. Objects in motion tend to
stay in motion in a straight line, and objects at rest tend to stay at rest, unless acted upon by an external
force. Now they knew why the planets were moving, but why in a circle? Why not keep traveling in straight
lines and fly off into deep space? This was answered by Sir Isaac Newton when he published Philosophiae
Naturalis Principia Mathematica. He theorized that the external force that kept the planets in orbit was the pull

of gravity. According to Newton, the same force that causes an apple falls to the ground also explains why the
moon continually "falls" around the Earth.
Meanwhile, our view of the Universe kept evolving. While Tycho Brahe's attempt to compromise with the
Copernican theory and the Ptolemaic model led to an awkward mess, his observations helped Johannes
Kepler calculate his three laws of planetary motion, which gave a more accurate picture. Galileo's discovery
of the moons of Jupiter with the newly invented telescope lent credence to the sun-centered model of the
solar system.
Starting with Brahe's years of observation, the work of Kepler, Galileo, and Newton were part of a new era of
science, where observation, not philosophy was king. Scientists no longer tried to match data to theory. This
would lead to a real renaissance in astronomy and cosmology as well as science in general.
Lesson 3: Astronomy Enters the Twentieth Century
Some people have called Tycho Brahe the Father of Modern Astronomy, but I tend to believe that title
belongs to Galileo Galilei. However, Brahe did advance the science more than anyone in the past, simply by
using his senses, rather than philosophy to study the sky. What Brahe began, his assistant, Johannes Kepler
expanded upon. His Laws of Planetary Motion were a major building block in the foundation of modern
astronomy. Galileo began the modern age of science, but others continued it. Here, in brief, are some of the
other bright lights that helped bring Astronomy to its current place.

Edmund Halley (1656-1742) was a British Astronomer who was also a big fan of Sir Isaac Newton.
After encouraging Newton to write his Principia, Halley then published it at his own expense. Not stopping to
rest on the fame of another, he went on to calculate the orbits of comets, including the one named after him.

Sir William Herschel (1738-1822), though born in Germany, was a British astronomer. He discovered
Uranus in 1781 coined the word asteroids. He also catalogued about 2000 nebulae, discovered several
satellites of Uranus and Saturn, studied the rotation of planets. Discovered and studied binary stars. He
discovered two satellites each orbiting Uranus and Saturn. He studied the rotation period of many planets, the
motion of double stars, and nebulae. He cataloged more than 800 double stars and contributed new
information on the constitution of nebulae. Herschel was the first to propose that these nebulae were
composed of stars. He is considered the founder of sidereal astronomy.

Albert Einstein (1879-1955) was a German-born American physicist and Nobel laureate. He may be
the most well-known scientist of the 20th century. In 1915, he developed his general theory of relativity, which
states that the speed of light is constant and that the curvature of space and the passage of time are linked to
gravity. Thinking the universe was unchanging, he inserted his "cosmological constant" into his calculations to
make them fit his belief.

Willem de Sitter Born: (1872 - 1934), a Dutch astronomer, removed Einstein's cosmological constant
and used the theory of relativity to show that the universe may always be expanding.

Georges-Henri Lemaitre: (1894 - 1966) was not only a Belgian astronomer, he was also a Jesuit
priest. Discovering the writings of Russian mathematician, Alexander Friedmann, Lemaitre took his solution
for an expanding universe and theorized that if the universe is expanding, if we follow it back to the starting
point, then our universe began as a great "cosmic egg" which exploded and expanded outward. Lemaitre is
called by some, the father of the Big Bang Theory.

Edwin P. Hubble (1889-1953), American Astronomer. In the 1920s, Albert Einstein stated, "I have
made my greatest blunder." This pronouncement came when Edwin Hubble demonstrated that the universe
was not static and Einstein's cosmological constant was not necessary. Utilizing improved telescopic devices,
he was also able to confirm that those "fuzzy" objects astronomers had seen for years were in fact other
galaxies.

Thomas Gold (1920 - Still alive) is an American astronomer. Though it is generally believed that
Gold's "Steady State" theory of the universe is incorrect, he has made many major contributions to our
knowledge of the universe, including the nature of pulsars as rotating neutron stars, and the origin of
planetary hydrocarbons.

That brings us into the twentieth century. There have been and are many other great brains in the field of
astronomy, but it's time to get away from history for now. We'll meet some of these other astronomers
throughout the rest of our lessons. Next lesson, let's look at numbers.
Lesson 4: It's A Big Universe
Our universe is huge, larger than most of us can even imagine. In fact, our solar system is beyond the grasp
of many. Our standard system of measurement just doesn't do astronomy justice, so let's look at a better way
to get a grip on astronomy distances for the solar system, galaxy and universe during this lesson on the
universe.
In perhaps a nod to our old belief of the Earth as the center of the universe, our first unit of measurement is
based on the distance of our home to the sun. We are 93 million miles from the sun, but it's much simpler to
say we're one astronomical unit (AU) from the sun. In our solar system, the distance from the sun to the other
planets can be measured in astronomical units as well: Mercury .38 AUs, Venus .72 AUs, Mars 1.52 AUs,
Jupiter 5.2 AUs, Saturn 9.54 AUs, Uranus 19.218 AUs, Neptune 30.06 AUs, and Pluto 39.5 AUs.
This works great within our own solar system, but as we move through our galaxy, distances grow ever
farther apart. That's why we created a unit of measure based on the distance that light travels in a year. We
call these units "light years," of course. A light year is 6 trillion miles. (6,000,000,000 miles)
The closest star to our solar system is actually a system of three stars called the Alpha Centauri System,
consisting of Alpha Centauri, Rigil Kentaurus, and Proxima Centauri, which is actually slightly closer than her
sisters. Alpha Centauri is 4.3 light years from Earth.
If we want to move beyond our "neighborhood," our nearest neighboring galaxy is Andromeda. At 2.2 million
light years, it's the most distant object that we can see without a telescope, and the only object outside our
own galaxy in the universe.
2.2 million light years is a huge distance, but merely a drop in the bucket to the size of our universe. In order
to measure larger distances, the parsec (Paralax Second) was invented. A parsec is approximately 3.258 light
years. Along with the parsec, larger distances are measured in kiloparsecs (thousand parsecs) and
megaparsecs (million parsecs).
One other way to denote very large numbers is something called scientific notation. This system is based on
the number ten and is written like this 1 X 101. This number equals 10. The small 1 located to the right of the
10 indicates how many times 10 is used as a multiplier. In this case once, so the number equals 10. So, 1 X
102 would be the same as 1 X (10 X 10) or 100. An easy way to figure a scientific notation number out is to
add the same number of zeros at the end as the small number to the right of 10. So, 1 X 105 would be
10,000. Small numbers can be written this way as well by using a negative power (the number to the right of
10). In that case, the number will tell you how many places to move the decimal point to the left. An example:
2 X 10-2 equals .02.
As I mentioned in a previous lesson, we're going to learn a little about a couple of other giants of astronomy of
the twentieth century here.

Dr. Carl Sagan (1934 - 1996): Perhaps no one has done as much to bring the wonders of astronomy
and our universe to the lay public as Dr. Sagan. It is appropriate to mention him here during a discussion of
how large the universe is, since the phrase for which he will always be remembered is "Billions and billions."
This was his way of expressing the incredibly large number of stars, planets, and galaxies, during the
production of his famous PBS TV series, "Cosmos." He was an astronomer, educator, author, pioneer in
exobiology, Director for Planetary Studies, and David Duncan Professor of Cornell University. As someone
once said, perhaps his greatest contribution to the world was his commitment to truth. He died of pneumonia
on December 20, 1996 after a two year battle with bone marrow disease.

Dr. Stephen Hawking (1942 - Still Alive): If anyone were to rival Dr. Sagan in popularity among lay
persons, it would have to be Dr. Stephen Hawking. Born in Oxford, England, he attended University College
there, earning a degree in physics despite his desire to study mathematics and his father's request that he
study chemistry. Despite being diagnosed with ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease) in
1963 (at which time, doctors didn't believe he would live to complete is degree), he earned his PhD in 1966.

In 1988, he published his famous "A Brief History of Time." By mid 1995 it had been on The Sunday Times
best-sellers list for 237 weeks. This broke the previous record of 184 weeks, a feat which is recorded in the
1998 Guinness Book of Records. Despite dire predictions by doctors over the years, Hawking is and married
with three children. He uses a wheelchair for locomotion. In 1985, he completely lost the use of his vocal
chords in an operation to assist his breathing. Today, he communicates through a computerized speech
synthesizer. He is also the editor of Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time: A Reader's Companion and
has written a number of other excellent books on astronomy. He presently holds Sir Issac Newton's chair as
Lucasian Professor of Mathematics at Cambridge University. Now that we've been amazed by the size of the
universe and met some great thinkers, next lesson, we'll start looking closer at some of those stars that are so
far away.
Lesson 5: The Universe Has Gas
Stars are massive shining spheres of hot gas*, the closest of which is our Sun. Those stars which you see
with your naked eye in the night sky all belong to the Milky Way Galaxy, the huge system of stars that
contains our solar system. There are around 5,000 stars which can be seen with the naked eye, though not all
stars are visible at all times and places. With a small telescope, hundreds of thousands of stars can be seen.
Larger telescopes can show millions of galaxies, many of which may each contain over 200 billion stars.
Today, scientists believe there are more than 1 x 1022 stars in the universe
(10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000). Many of these stars are so large that if they took our Sun's place, they
would engulf Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. Others, called white dwarf stars, are around the size of Earth,
and neutron stars are less than about 10 miles in diameter.
Our Sun is about 93 million miles from Earth, 1 Astronomical Unit (AU). The difference in its appearance from
the stars visible in the night sky is due to its close proximity. The next closest star is Proxima Centauri, which
is more than 20 trillion miles from Earth.
Stars come in a wide variety of colors, ranging from deep red, through orange and yellow to an intense whiteblue. The color of a star depends on its temperature. Cooler stars tend to be red, while the hottest ones are
blue.
Hipparchus, an astronomer we haven't met yet lived in the second century BC. He divided stars into six
brightness groups, which are called magnitudes. First magnitude is the brightest and sixth magnitude is the
faintest. This system, though a bit modified, is still in use. The difference in magnitude is measured
mathematically. Each star magnitude is 2.5 times brighter than the next lower star. This has expanded our
system into more than six levels, with the brightest stars now represented by negative numbers.
Lesson 6: Starry Eyed; Getting Started Star Gazing With a Sky Map
Stars are primarily made of hydrogen, smaller amounts of helium, and trace amounts of other elements. Even
the most abundant of the other elements present in stars (oxygen, carbon, neon, and nitrogen) are only
present in very small quantities.
Despite the wide spread use of phrases like "the emptiness of space," space is definitely not empty. It is full of
gasses and dust. This can even be see as clouds of dust obscure the view of many stars. This matter can
become compressed by any number of celestial events, including collisions and blast waves from exploding
stars, causing lumps of matter to form. If the gravity of these lumps of matter is strong enough, they can pull
in other matter for fuels and as they continue to compress, their internal temperatures are raised to such a
point that the hydrogen ignites in thermonuclear fusion. While the gravity continues pulling, trying to collapse
the star into the smallest possible size, the fusion stabilizes it, preventing further contraction. Thus, a great
struggle ensues for the life of the star, as each force continues to push or pull.
There are a number of different processes (thermonuclear fusion) which make stars produce light, heat and
energy. The most common happens when 4 hydrogen atoms combine into a helium atom. This releases
energy, which is converted to light and heat.
Eventually, most of the fuel, hydrogen, is exhausted. As the fuel begins to run out, the strength of the
thermonuclear fusion reaction declines. Soon (relatively speaking), gravity will win and the star will collapse

under its own weight. At that time, it becomes what is known as a white dwarf. As the fuel further depletes
and reaction stops all together, it will collapse further, into a black dwarf. This process can take billions and
billions of years to complete.
Towards the end of the twentieth century, astronomers began to discover planets orbiting other stars.
Because planets are so much smaller and fainter than stars, they are difficult to detect and impossible to see,
so how do scientists find them? They measure tiny wobbles in a star's motion caused by the gravitational pull
of the planets. Although no Earth-like planets have been discovered yet, scientists are hopeful. Next lesson,
let's take a look at some of these balls of gas.
OK, we know a little more about stars now. They're just big balls of gas. This lesson, Let's spend a little time
looking at them. Star gazing is many people's favorite part of astronomy. Stop! Don't rush off to the store to
buy a telescope just yet. For much of our star gazing, we don't need much equipment at all. We just need
some information and, perhaps, a red flashlight. Just like when we travel, we need a road map to find our
path, when we search the skies, we need a sky map to lead us to the stars. There are many very good maps
for sale at hobby shops that specialize in astronomy, but before spending money, check out the free maps
you can create here at About Astronomy & Space. These will work just fine for your first forays into the stars.
In order to have the best views of the sky, you should try to find a nice size field, preferably with as little light
around as possible to minimize the light pollution. Light pollution is any light around you which prevents your
eyes from adjusting to the dark, thereby making star gazing more difficult. Your back yard may work just fine.
Now, lie on your back. It doesn't matter which direction your head is pointed as long as you know how you're
oriented and orient your sky map accordingly. Next, just like when we travel, we need to find a "landmark" we
can recognize. Since most people can find the Big Dipper, let's look for it first. Great! Now, if you think of the
two stars which from the wall of the dipper opposite its handle as a pointer, they aim directly at Polaris, the
North Star, which in turn starts the handle of the little dipper. See, now you're star gazing.
Orient the sky map with the N pointed towards north. Now, locate the Big Dipper and Little Dipper on the map
and you're ready to set off on your exploration. If you can get a red flashlight, or place some red cellophane
over the lens of a standard flashlight, when you shine it on the map, your night vision won't be as affected as
with a white light. These instructions work fine for the northern hemisphere. If you are located south of the
equator, it's possible you'll want a different landmark. Probably the most easily recognizable constellation
which can be seen from the southern hemisphere is the Southern Cross. Once you locate this constellation,
use it to orient yourself on the sky map. Don't expect to see everything at once, it's a very large universe.
When you've had a little experience with star gazing, you can consider buying a telescope. Talk to someone
with more experience about the best telescope to buy. Don't worry too much about identifying the objects you
are viewing, just enjoy the splendor of the night sky. If curiosity does get the better of you, simply glance at
your map and you should be able to recognize many of the stars and/or planets that are visible. Remember
that the Earth is constantly moving, so allow for that movement as you look at the map.
Here is a listing of the 25 brightest stars. Remember that not all of these stars will be visible from where you
are or at the time you are looking. Click on the name of the star for more information, from the excellent web
site "Stars" created by Professor Jim Kaler of the University of Illinois.
Next lesson, we'll talk more about the stars and constellations you're viewing.
Lesson 7: Star Power - Playing Connect the Dots With Stars
What do you do with your free time when movies, television, and even radio haven't been invented, and won't
be for hundreds, or even thousands of years? In ancient days, people looked to the sky and the stars,
wondering about what they saw. This started long before the birth of astronomy. Besides star gazing, they
played a version of the modern kids game, connect the dots, and named patterns of stars after what they
reminded them of. Then they created stories about these constellations. Most of the constellations we discuss
today are over 2000 years old. As a matter of fact, the constellations Ursa Major and Uras Minor, the Big Bear
and the Little Bear, have been constellations since the Ice Ages. Most names, however, come from ancient
Greece. Although the Greek versions are mostly what we use today to describe the constellations, many
other cultures throughout the world created their own patterns and stories for the stars.
Last lesson, we had you locate the Big Dipper as a "landmark" in the sky. Although most people can
recognize the Big Dipper, it is not really a constellation. It is what is known as an asterism, or a group of stars.

It is actually part of a larger constellation called Ursa Major. Likewise, the Little Dipper is a part if Ursa Minor.
On the other hand, our "landmark" for the south, the Southern Cross is an actual constellation called Crux.
To find the constellations when they appear in the night sky, download a sky map from here at About
Astronomy & Space. To get more information about the various constellations, click here. A telescope is not
necessary to view constellations.
Next lesson, we'll take a look closer to home and study our own solar system.
Lesson 8: Visiting Close to Home
What is a solar system? It consists of a star, orbited by planets or smaller rocky bodies. The gravitational pull
of the star holds the system together. Our solar system consists of our sun, which is a star called Sol, nine
planets including the one we live on, Earth, along with the satellites of those planets, a number of asteroids,
comets, and other smaller objects. For this lesson, we'll concentrate on our star, the Sun. While some stars in
our galaxy are nearly as old as the universe, about 15 billion years, our sun is a second-generation star. It is
only 4.6 billion years old. Some of its material came from former stars.
Stars are designated by a letter and a number combination roughly according to their surface temperature.
The classes from hottest to coolest are: W, O, B, A, F, G, K, M, R, N, and S. The number is a subcategory of
each designation. Our Sun is designated as a G2 star. Astronomers describe Sol as a very ordinary star. It
acts just as would be expected from a star of similar size.
Star masses typically range from 0.3 to 3.0 times the mass of the Sun with most stars having masses similar
to that of the Sun.
Our solar system is part of a larger system known as a galaxy. The name of our galaxy is the Milky Way. The
Milky Way contains about 100 million stars, all revolving around a point known as the galactic center. We are
located in the outer part of the galaxy, approximately 1.6 1017 miles from the Galactic center. At our current
orbital speed of 140 miles/second, our solar system takes about 250 million years for one orbit around the
Galactic center.
Since its creation, our star has used up about half of the hydrogen in its core. Over the next 5 billion years or
so, it will grow steadily brighter as more helium accumulates in its core. As the supply of hydrogen dwindles,
the Sun's core must keep producing enough pressure to keep the Sun from collapsing in on itself. The only
way it can do this is to increase its temperature. Eventually it will run out of hydrogen fuel. At that point, it will
go through a radical change which will most likely result in the complete destruction of the planet Earth.
The sun should never be viewed directly, either with or without a magnifying device.
Permanent damage can be caused in a fraction of a second unless proper precautions are taken. There are
filters which can be utilized with many telescopes. (SUNGLASSES ARE NOT ADEQUATE!) Consult someone
with a lot of experience before attempting Solar viewing.
A very interesting phenomenon associated with the Sun is called an eclipse. It happens when our own moon
passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking out all or part of the sun from view. Even though a portion of
the sun is blocked, it is even more dangerous to view the sun during an eclipse than during a normal day.
In our next lesson, we'll take a closer look at the Inner Solar System.
Lesson 9: Continuing Our Visit
Before the late 1700s, people were aware of only five other planets besides the Earth; Mercury, Venus, Mars,
Jupiter, and Saturn. In 1781, Sir William Herschel, a German-born British musician and astronomer,
discovered Uranus using a telescope. Citing wobbles in the orbit of Uranus, two astronomers John Couch
Adams of Great Britain and Urbain Jean Joseph Leverrier of France, each independently calculated the
existence and position of a new planet in 1845 and 1846, respectively. Using Leverrier's calculations, Johann
Gottfried Galle of Germany first observed Neptune in 1846.

The final planet, Pluto was discovered by a massive telescopic search started in 1905 by American
astronomer Percival Lowell. He theorized the existence of a distant planet beyond Neptune because of slight
anomalies in the orbit of Uranus. The Lowell Observatory staff, continued the search started by the man it
was named for until the search ended successfully in 1930. An American astronomer, Clyde William
Tombaugh, found Pluto near the position Lowell had predicted. This lesson, we'll concentrate on the Inner
Solar System, the so-called Terrestrial Planets; Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars as well as the asteroid belt.
Next lesson, we'll look at the other planets of our solar system. Mercury, the second smallest planet, is the
closest planet to the Sun. Its average distance is approximately 36 million miles.
Mercury's diameter is 3,032 miles, and its volume and mass are about one-eighteenth that of Earth. Mercury
is approximately as dense as Earth and denser than of any of the other planets. Its gravity on the surface is
about one-third of the Earth's and about twice that of the Moon. Mercury's orbit takes it around the Sun
approximately every 88 Earth days. One Mercury day, the time it takes to revolve around its axis, is equal to
just under 59 Earth days. Mercury can be viewed with binoculars or even the naked eye, but it is always close
to the Sun and hard to see in the twilight sky.
Venus, the sixth largest planet, is the second in distance from the sun. It's average distance from the sun is
around 67 million miles. It has a diameter of around 7,500 miles. Conditions on the surface of Venus are fairly
stable, but would be very unpleasant for humans. The temperature is about 864 F and the surface pressure
is 96 bars (Compare that to 1 bar for Earth). Venus's atmosphere is nearly all carbon dioxide (CO2). It has a
cloud base at about 31 miles, made mostly of sulfuric acid. Besides the sun and the moon, Venus is the
brightest object in the sky. It is known as the morning star when it appears in the east at sunrise, and the
evening star when it is in the west at sunset. It is easily visible with the unaided eye, and when viewed
through a telescope, exhibits phases like the moon.
Lesson 10: Outer Solar System
Finally, we come to Pluto, the ninth (usually) planet of our solar system. The only planet discovered in the
twentieth century, it is by far the smallest, smaller, than seven of the moons of other planets in the system.
Pluto's trip around the sun takes approximately 247.7 Earth years, and about every 248 years, its orbit brings
it inside the orbit of Neptune for around 20 years. Due to Pluto's size, unusual orbit, and other facts, there
have been attempts to have it classified as something other than a planet, but as of this writing, Pluto remains
a planet.
Pluto can only be seen through large telescopes. Even the Hubble Space Telescope can only make out the
largest features on Pluto. It's the only planet not yet visited by a spacecraft. Comets and Meteors: Comets
have been known to man since we first began looking to the skies; however, it took some time to recognize
patterns in these visits. Sometimes called dirty snowballs, they are a mixture of ice and dust, which have
highly elliptical orbits about the sun. As a comet nears the Sun, some of the ice turns into gas, which along
with the freed loose dust make up the famous tail that streams behind the comet. Comets are only visible as
they near the sun. Each pass by the sun wears away more of the comet substance, which may eventually
leave a rocky object similar to an asteroid. In fact, some of the asteroids in our part of the galaxy may have
been comets at one time.
Perhaps the most famous comet is Halley's, which returns approximately every 75 - 79 years. Meteors are
basically space debris, often left behind by comets, that enters the atmosphere of the earth. The friction of the
atmosphere creates tremendous heat, causing the objects to glow and appear as what is often called a
shooting or falling star. Generally these objects burn up before they reach the ground, but if they make it, they
are called meteorites. Those that don't get caught in the earth's gravity and pulled into the atmosphere are
often called meteoroids. If you watch the sky, generally you can spot one or two meteors an hour.
Occasionally, during certain peak times, like the Leonid, Lyrid, Geminid, and Perseid meteor showers, you
may be able to see up to 100 per hour.

SOLAR SYSTEM FACT SHEET

THE SUN.-

The Sun's Atmosphere.The atmosphere of the Sun and most of its interior are made mostly of hydrogen and helium. In the
atmosphere, helium constitutes 73% of the mass while helium constitutes 25%, leaving only 2% for other
elements. For the Sun as a whole (both atmosphere and interior), hydrogen averages at 70.5%, helium at
27.5%, and all other elements at 2%. The Sun is completely in a gaseous phase. The gas, made of the
elements mentioned above, is either neutral or ionized depending on the atmospheric parameters at different
locations. In an ionized gas, also called 'plasma,' some or all electrons orbiting the nuclei are stripped from
the atoms, due either to violent collisions with other atoms or the absorption of light of sufficient energy. The
higher the temperature of the gas the more favorable the conditions for the formation of a plasma.
Photosphere.The boundary between the atmosphere and the interior of the Sun is a region about 1,000 km thick, called the
photosphere. Given that the radius of the Sun is 696,000 km, the photosphere is a relatively thin layer. Most
of the light that we receive from the Sun comes from this boundary, which we customarily associate with the
Sun's 'disk.' The existence of the photosphere is due to a drop in the 'opacity' of the gas in that region.
Opacity is an important concept, deserving a more detailed description. A gas is called opaque when
propagating photons can only travel short distances before being deflected. The net effect of these many
scatterings is a modification and randomization of the average wavelength of light in direct correspondence to
the temperature of the gas. The light, in other words, gets 'thermalized' by its interaction with the gas.
Transparent gas represents the opposite situation: scattering and absorption of light happens seldom,
allowing light to cover large distances without being deflected. While the interior of the Sun is opaque, its
atmosphere is largely transparent. In fact, the transition between opaque and transparent layers is what
defines the 'surface' of the Sun. The capacity of the gas to scatter light drastically diminishes at the base of
the photosphere. One can make a loose comparison between the surface of the Sun and the surface of a
cloud on Earth, where the 'border' of the cloud is defined by the opacity of the water droplets.

The spectrum of the Sun resembles pretty closely that of a black body at a temperature of 5,800 K. That is the
temperature of the gas at the base of the photosphere. The light coming from the interior of the Sun is
scattered many times below the photosphere, but from the base of the photosphere upward it is almost free to
travel without deflection, keeping its spectrum almost unchanged. The farther up one goes in the thin layer of
the photosphere, the colder the gas becomes. The temperature actually drops to about 4,200 K. As light
passes through the transparent and colder gas of the upper photosphere, dark lines appear in the solar
spectrum in the foreground of an otherwise featureless black body spectrum. This phenomenon was first
observed by Fraunhofer in the early 19th century. The dark lines correspond to the specific wavelengths at
which the various elements absorb light passing through the gas. The fact that one sees dark lines is
correlated with the lower temperature of the gas in the upper photosphere, as compared to its base: if the
temperature were increasing with height one would see bright lines superposed on the black body spectrum,
as Kirchhoff and Bunsen showed in their laboratory.
The photosphere is far from being a homogeneous surface. It shows what is called 'granulation.' The granules
are regions 1,500 km wide, on average. At the center of a granule the temperature of the photosphere is few
hundreds Kelvin degrees higher than at its edge. The surface of the Sun appears coarse-grained because it is
the outer edge of a vast convective region in the Sun's interior. The granules are simply 'bubbles' of hotter
gas coming from the interior. One also detects larger supercells, typically 30,000 km in size, which contain
several granules. This supergranulation is probably related to large scale currents involving the whole
convective zone of the Sun's interior (as we discuss later in the SparkNote).
Chromosphere.The layer of the atmosphere adjacent to the photosphere and extending outward to the corona is called
chromosphere. Its boundary is defined by an increase in the atmospheric temperature with altitude, in
contrast with the decrease seen in the photosphere. In about 2,000 km, the temperature of the chromosphere
increases from 4,200 K to 25,000 K. Its density, though, is only about 10-4 that of the photosphere.
Due to its low density, seen against the backdrop of the photosphere, the chromosphere is all but invisible.
Hence, it was only discovered when astronomers observed the Sun during solar eclipses. During such
eclipses, the disk of the Moon covers the photosphere and permits the view of the upper layers of the
atmosphere of the Sun, i.e. the chromosphere and the corona.
The chromosphere owes its name to its bright red color, against the dark background of the sky during solar
eclipses. Under these circumstances, its spectrum is made of several emission lines (no black body
component is expected from a transparent gas). Given the temperature and the composition of the gas, much
of the light comes from the red Balmer-a spectral line of the hydrogen, a fact that explains the prevalent color
of the chromosphere.
Corona .The Sun's corona extends to distances comparable to our star's radius. At wavelengths in the visible
spectrum, the corona is only visible during solar eclipses. It can also be seen by using 'coronagraphs,' which
block the sunlight from the photosphere directly within telescopes, thus simulating solar eclipses. The corona
is irregularly shaped and extends farther where there are disturbances in the underlying layers of the
atmosphere. The corona is very hot and extremely diluted. It can reach temperatures of few million Kelvins,
and a density 10-12 that of the photosphere. At the shorter UV and X-ray wavelengths, only accessible by
telescopes orbiting above Earth's atmosphere, the irregular shape of the corona is strongly correlated with the
distribution of the Sunspots and of the solar eruptions. The corona shines brightly in the X-ray region of the
spectrum, against the dark background of the photosphere: the photosphere emits as a black body at 5,800
K, which tapers off at wavelengths in the ultraviolet region of the spectrum.
The transparent hot gas of the corona emits a line spectrum, just like the spectrum of fluorescent light bulbs.
The emission is strong in the X-rays because of the extreme temperature of the gas. It is still not certain why
the corona is so hot. It seems likely that the gas is heated up by colliding with the particle streams generated
by the photosphere during solar eruptions. This would explain why the corona emits the strongest radiation in
correspondence with eruptions and sunspots.

10

Because of its temperature, the corona is a highly ionized gas. Oxygen, for instance, is often stripped of two
of its eight electrons. As a direct consequence of the ionization, the corona is electrically charged and its gas
particles are deviated in their motion when subjected to the Sun's strong magnetic field. The magnetic field is
a very important component of solar atmospheric activity. The temperature of the corona is so high that the
gravitational attraction of the Sun is not strong enough to keep the corona from escaping the Sun. The gas is
bound to the star mainly because of the trapping action of the star's magnetic field.
Sunspots, Prominences and Flares.As was noticed long ago through naked eye observation made by Chinese astronomers, and then by Galileo
using the telescope, the Sun is dotted by several spots. Spots are transitory phenomena that appear as
darker patches in the photosphere. They are irregular and their size can easily reach more than 10,000 km in
diameter. Spots are usually found in groups, and quite often the groups form pairs, oriented along the Sun's
parallels. Each spot is composed of a central dark region, called 'umbra,' surrounded by a lighter region,
called 'penumbra.' The cause of the darkness is simply related to the temperature of the gas. Temperatures
at the center of the umbra are usually around 3,000 K. The lower the temperature, the weaker the blackbody
emission of the photosphere. As an analogy, think of what happens when one turns down the voltage applied
to an incandescent bulb, thereby lowering the temperature of is filament. The lower the voltage, the dimmer
and redder the black body radiation emitted by the light bulb, in complete analogy with the sunspot being just
a colder region of the photosphere.
Flares and prominences are phenomena of the chromosphere and of the corona. They are associated with
the sunspot groups, and they are part of the same physical phenomenon. While spots are at times detectable
even without the aid of a telescope, flares and prominences are best seen either during solar eclipses or
using special filters that highlight their emission in the backdrop of the emission from Sun's photosphere.
Flares are localized eruptions that can emit great amounts of energy. They appear brightest in the X-ray
portion of the spectrum (at which the background of the photosphere is weaker), and are associated with the
sunspots. An individual flare can emit up to 1033 ergs of energy.
Prominences assume different shapes. They typically appear as arcs of gas following the magnetic field lines
associated with the sunspot groups, and they are of comparable size. Often prominences extend to well
within the Sun's corona, and sometimes some of the gas completely escapes the Sun's gravity--a
phenomenon called 'coronal mass ejection.' The ejected gas is highly ionized, just as are the prominences
that originate it. When the ions reach the Earth they often cause damage to our telecommunication satellites.
The Solar Activity Cycle .Much solar activity observes cycles, the best known of which lasts about eleven years. As was first noticed by
H. Schwabe in 1843, the average number of sunspots changes over time. Spots are nearly absent at the
'solar minimum,' reaching a peak at the 'solar maximum.' At the maximum it is not uncommon to count up to
ten groups of sunspots at one time. The distribution of the spots also changes. Near the solar minima, spots
are confined to a latitude of about 30-40 degrees North and South on the Sun's surface. As the cycle
progresses, the spots are gradually found closer to the Sun's equator, and they increase in number.
An explanation for the solar cycle, and all the phenomena associated with the sunspots, was given by H.
Babcock in 1960. The cycle is correlated with the distribution of the magnetic field in the outer layers of the
Sun's interior. At the solar minimum the field is roughly oriented along the meridians, and the Sun's magnetic
poles are not far from the poles of its rotation axis. Gradually, as the cycle progresses, the field lines are
stretched and deformed, winding more and more around the Sun, in a pattern resembling a winding coil.
The field lines gradually become more closely oriented with the Sun's parallels, and their distance from each
other decreases. Since the distance between field lines is correlated with the strength of the magnetic field, as
the cycle approaches a solar maximum the magnetic field increases in strength. As it turns out, the stretching
of the field lines is due to the differential rotation of the Sun. Closer to the equator, the Sun's outer layers
rotate with a period of about 25 days, while the period gradually increases to 27 days at mid-latitudes. Much
of the Sun's interior is plasma, i.e. charged particles. From studying the dynamics of charged fluids we know
that the magnetic field lines tend to move together with the plasma. `Since the differential rotation of the Sun
causes a lag in the rotation of regions farther away from the equator, one can intuitively see why the field lines
get stretched. As the plasma finds itself immersed in an increasingly strong magnetic field, it becomes

11

unstable, and it arches out of the Sun's surface forming the sunspot groups. Pairs of spot groups correspond
to places where the magnetic field arches out to the Sun's corona, in the shape of an O.
The disruptions in the magnetic field lead to great differences in the field's strength from place to place around
the sunspots. These disruptions are responsible for the motion of vast quantities of plasma that we see as
prominences. Flares are due to the collision of high energy plasma particles, where the particles are
accelerated to high speeds and kinetic energy by processes similar to those used in particle accelerator
laboratories on Earth. Flares occur in the vicinity of sunspot groups, where we find strong variable magnetic
fields. The mechanism that heats the corona to more than 106 K is correlated with these phenomena as well,
although the detailed processes responsible for the heating are not completely understood. Because of the
extreme temperature of the corona, its particles are held in the proximity of the Sun only where the magnetic
field lines form loops, causing the particles to move along an arched trajectory that takes them back to the
Sun's surface. At the poles of the Sun's magnetic field the high energy charged particles do escape the Sun,
which is why the corona is absent there.
The Sun continuously emits a steady stream of charged particles. This flow does not directly reach the Earth
because it is deviated by the Earth's magnetic field. Some particles, though, are able to penetrate this barrier
and hit the Earth's atmosphere, giving rise to the phenomenon called aurora, a colorful luminescence in the
night sky at high latitudes (such as Northern Canada and Scandinavia). The auroras happen preferentially
close to the magnetic poles of the Earth's magnetic field, since the charged particles tend to follow the
magnetic field lines.
The eleven-year cycle has been studied in great detail. The long-term activity cycles are less known because
they take place over periods of time for which we do not have a direct record. There is evidence indicating
that the long-term cycles of the Sun give rise to important oscillations in the Earth's climate. Between 1645
and 1715 no sunspots were detected at all. This sudden solar inactivity coincided with a decrease in
temperature on our planet, called the 'little ice age'. It is possible that the main ice ages are also correlated
with the Sun's activity, although this conjecture has not been sufficiently corroborated, and the Sun may be
just a co-factor in this equation.
The Sun's Interior.The structure of Sun's interior is the result of the hydrostatic equilibrium between gravity and the pressure of
the gas. These two forces combat and neutralize each other. The temperature and pressure inside the Sun
reflect such a balance. Gravity ten ds to squeeze the Sun towards its center, while the pressure of the gas
would dismember the Sun into the surrounding vacuum if left unchecked.
For the sake of discussion, think of the Sun's interior as comprised of several little cubic volumes of unit size.
The matter inside each volume is attracted to the center of the Sun, therefore weighing onto the underlying
gas. No actual motion occurs b ecause the weight of the gas in the unit volume is neutralized by an equal and
opposing force due to the pressure of the gas elements around the chosen cubic volume (think of it as a box).
There are six faces to the cube, and the force vector of the pressure on the side faces simply totals zero.
However, the two faces, facing downward and upward, correspond to a slightly different pressure, since the
pressure of the gas is a function of th e distance from the center of the Sun. The face oriented downward is
pushed upward by the pressure of the gas below, while the opposite happens to the face oriented upward.
The difference in the gas pressure at the two locations means that the total force acting on this volume of gas
is upward. In a situation of equilibrium, gravity exactly balances this 'pressure gradient,' and the gas can be
considered as approximately sta tic. From the laws of thermodynamics and the hydrostatic equilibrium we
can, using a computer, reconstruct the density, the pressure and the temperature inside the Sun, as a
function of the distance from its center. This can be done by starting from the surface of the Sun, using the
conditions we measure directly, and virtually 'peeling off' the Sun layer by layer in a computer simulation.
Though we do not have direct access to the interior of the Sun, plenty of indirect evidence supports the
results we get from the computer models. In particular, the Sun and the other stars evolve over time in a way
consistent with our expectations. More over, a detailed study of a new discipline called 'helioseismology' is
giving us direct insights about the internal structure of the Sun that strongly corroborate the computer models.

12

Energy Production.The closer to the center of the Sun, the higher are the values of density, temperature and pressure. At about
40% the radius from the center of the Sun (0.4 Rsun), the temperature is so high that the hydrogen nuclei
overcome their electrostatic repulsion and smash into each other. At very short distances nuclear forces
become important, and cause the hydrogen (H) nuclei to fuse into deuterium (D). Deuterium can further fuse,
and the net result of this chain of nuclear reactions is the fusion of four hydrogen nuclei into one nucleus of
helium (He). This process is only qualitatively similar to the nuclear fusion taking place in H-bombs, but in
both cases fusion liberates large quantities of energy. Three such reaction chains are active in the Sun. The
most common, producing about 85% of the energy, is the PPI chain: 1H + 1H?2D + e+ + ? 2D + 1H?3He + ?
3He + 3He?4He + 1H + 1H In this chain of reaction, 41H nuclei combine to form one 4He, and the reactions
also produce one antielectron e+, a neutrino ? and a ?-ray. Both the e+ and the ? are generated by the
nuclear process that transmutes a proton (hydrogen nucleus) into a neutron, while forming deuterium.
Gamma rays are high-energy photons--higher in energy visible light or even X-rays. The other two reaction
chains are less common. The PPII chain, which produces about 15% of the total energy, reads as follows: 1H
+ 1H?2D + e+ + ? 2D + 1H?3He + ? 3He + 4He?7Be + ? 7Be?7Li + e+ + ? 7Li + 1H?4He + 4He After being
liberated in the reaction, the e+ immediately gets annihilated by colliding with ordinary electrons in the
plasma, e+ + e-??, thus producing more ?-rays. The reaction 1H + 1H?2D is the one with the smallest
probability of occurring in a collision between nuclei: two H nuclei will transform into one D nucleus on a
typical time scale of more than a billion years. However, by the end of the Sun's 1010 years lifetime, about
1056 hydrogen nuclei will have undergone fusion.
The reaction chains that we have described are the predominant ways in which fusion occurs in the Sun.
They are not the only ways, however. Another, more complicated chain, called the CNO cycle, also
contributes some energy. In stars with a mass larger than that of the Sun, the CNO cycle is dominant
because the stellar core has a higher temperature. The CNO cycle involves nuclei of carbon (C), nitrogen (N)
and oxygen (O) as catalysts.
As we are going to discuss further, neutrinos easily escape from the Sun. The ?-rays, however, move only a
few centimeters before being intercepted and scattered by the particles in the plasma. The energy carried by
the photons is efficiently redistributed to the plasma and thermalized. Photons liberated in the fusion reactions
and the e+ + e- annihilations eventually escape the Sun, after about 10 million years of wandering in the star's
interior. Most of the photon energy becomes kinetic energy of the plasma, helping to keep the plasma at a
high temperature.
Energy Transport: Radiation and Convection Regions.On a macroscopic scale, the process of photon scattering we have just described is the main mechanism of
energy transport within much of the Sun's interior. It is customarily called 'radiative energy transport,' and it is
efficient in regions of the Sun where the change of temperature as a function of the radius is not too large.
Where the temperature differential of different layers becomes too great, 'convective energy transport'
becomes a more efficient mechanism of energy exchange between hotter and colder regions of the Sun.
Convection is best illustrated by the motions of the water in a boiling pot, or the by the weather phenomena in
the Earth's atmosphere. The basic idea is that cells of hot gas at the bottom rise up to the top, where they
cool down before plunging back. In the case of the Earth's atmosphere, the cells cool by radiating, since at
the top the radiative transport becomes efficient. In the case of the Sun, the bottom of the convective zone is
situated at about 0.7 Rsun, and the top is at the base of the photosphere: in complete analogy with Earth, the
cells rise up to the top of the convective zone where they cool down by radiational cooling.
The internal structure of the Sun is known by using computer models, as we previously mentioned, but the
predictions of the models are confirmed by the direct observations of a new branch of solar physics, called
'helioseismology.' Broadly speaking, the various motions in the Sun's interior, and the phenomena at the level
of the photosphere generate sound waves, which travel in the Sun in a way that completely resembles
earthquakes.
Delicate measurements of the vibrations and the way they propagate across the Sun can be used to scan the
structure of the Sun's interior, providing us with a profile of the physical conditions and of the motion of the
gas. Such measurements indicate that the Sun's convection zone indeed extends down to 0.7 Rsun. In the

13

convection region the Sun rotates differentially, just like at its surface. In the core and the radiative zone,
however, the Sun rotates like a rigid body, with a period of rotation of about 27 days.
The Solar Neutrino Problem.As we discussed previously, the nuclear reactions in the Sun's core generate neutrinos ?. Neutrinos are
weakly interacting electrically neutral particles with little or no mass. They travel long distances before being
scattered or absorbed. In other words, the Sun is transparent to neutrinos, and these particles simply escape
from it at the speed of light. It is immediately apparent that neutrino detection could be an excellent and direct
way to check our theoretical models of Sun's interior.
In the 1960s Raymond Davis designed an experiment to detect solar neutrinos. This was a tricky experiment,
since the 1011 neutrinos/sec hitting each cm2 of surface area on Earth mostly pass through our planet
without being deflected. Davis's experiment was set up in the depth of a gold mine, so that the mountain rock
would shield other particles, which would have confused the reading. In Davis's experiment, chlorine37 atoms
contained in a pool of C2Cl4 were struck by neutrinos and transformed into argon37 Ar atoms. The reaction
rate was very small, but over time the argon gas built up to detectable levels.
The results of Davis's experiment and of later ones designed to detect neutrinos coming from other nuclear
processes in the Sun are puzzling. Invariably, the experiments detect one third to one half of the expected
number of neutrinos, and the question arises: are our models of the Sun incorrect, or does some physical
process change the neutrinos during their flight and render them undetectable? Today's favorite candidate
theories involve the transmutation of the neutrinos during flight to a variety (the exact term is 'flavor') which is
undetectable by our experiments. This transmutation could naturally occur if the neutrinos had a small mass,
rather than being completely massless. There are hints, from other neutrino experiments, that neutrinos do
have a small mass, but the scientific debate on the solar neutrino problem is still raging.
The Sun's Fact sheet.Mass:
Radius:
Density:
Core Rotation period:
Composition:
Surface Temperature:

2 x 1033 g, or 330,000 Earth masses

696,000 km, diameter: 1,390,000 km.
1.64 g/cm3
27 days
70.5% H, 27.5% He and 2% all other elements
5800 K (surface) 15,600,000 K (core)

14

15

SOLAR SYSTEM FACT SHEET

MERCURY

VENUS

EARTH

MOON

MARS

JUPITER

SATURN

URANUS

NEPTUNE

PLUTO

Mass
24
(10 kg)

0.330

4.87

5.97

0.073

0.642

1899

568

86.8

102

0.0125

Diameter
(km)

4879

12,104

12,756

3475

6794

142,984

120,536

51,118

49,528

2390

Density
3
(kg/m )

5427

5243

5515

3340

3933

1326

687

1270

1638

1750

Gravity
2
(m/s )

3.7

8.9

9.8

1.6

3.7

23.1

9.0

8.7

11.0

0.6

Escape Velocity
(km/s)

4.3

10.4

11.2

2.4

5.0

59.5

35.5

21.3

23.5

1.1

Rotation Period
(hours)

1407.6

-5832.5

23.9

655.7

24.6

9.9

10.7

-17.2

16.1

-153.3

Length of Day
(hours)

4222.6

2802.0

24.0

708.7

24.7

9.9

10.7

17.2

16.1

153.3

Distance from
6
Sun (10 km)

57.9

108.2

149.6

0.384*

227.9

778.6

1433.5

2872.5

4495.1

5870.0

Perihelion
6
(10 km)

46.0

107.5

147.1

0.363*

206.6

740.5

1352.6

2741.3

4444.5

4435.0

Aphelion
6
(10 km)

69.8

108.9

152.1

0.406*

249.2

816.6

1514.5

3003.6

4545.7

7304.3

Orbital Period
(days)

88.0

224.7

365.2

27.3

687.0

4331

10,747

30,589

59,800

90,588

Orbital Velocity
(km/s)

47.9

35.0

29.8

1.0

24.1

13.1

9.7

6.8

5.4

4.7

Orbital
Inclination
(degrees)

7.0

3.4

0.0

5.1

1.9

1.3

2.5

0.8

1.8

17.2

0.205

0.007

0.017

0.055

0.094

0.049

0.057

0.046

0.011

0.244

Mean
Temperature (C)

167

464

15

-20

-65

-110

-140

-195

-200

-225

Surface
Pressure (bars)

92

0.01

Unkn.*

Unkn.*

Unkn.*

Unkn.*

Number of
Moons

39

30

21*

Ring System?

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Global Magnetic
Field?

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Unkn.

MERCURY

VENUS

EARTH

MOON

MARS

JUPITER

SATURN

URANUS

NEPTUNE

PLUTO

Orbital
Eccentricity

16

RIASSUNTO
UNITA DI MISURA
1 giorno
1 anno/luce
1 anno

86400 secondi
3500000 kilometri
31536000 secondi

IL SISTEMA SOLARE
Atmosfera
Mercurio
Venere
Terra
Marte
Giove
Saturno
Urano
Nettuno
Plutone

Polveri fini
Spessa azoto-CO2
Gasosa 800 km 78% N + 21% O
Tenue CO2+O2
Densa (ammoniaca + metano)
Densa (predomina il metano)
Metano e idrogeno
?
?

IL SOLE
Composizione chimica

Tipo di astro
Et
Temperatura
Diametro
Movimento
Futuro

73% idrogeno, 25% elio, 1,5% azoto, carbonio e ossigeno, 0,5% magnesio, silice e
ferro (elementi pi pesanti). Gas incandescente, che agisce come una grande
fornace nucleare entro la quale si realizza la fusione nucleare dell idrogeno in elio
E una stella media
5 miliardi di anni
(la temperatura delle stelle varia dai 2000C ai 50000 C)
1'390.000 kms
Si sposta verso la costellazione di Ercole alla velocit di 20km/sec
Ha combustibile sufficiente per altri 5 miliardi di anni

GALASSIA
Diametro
Forma
Movimento
Quantit di astri contenuti

100000 anni/luce.
a spirale
Ruota lla velocit di 300 km/sec e fa il giro completo in 200 millioni di anni
200 miliardi di astri

UNIVERSO
Et
17 milliardi di anni
Raggio
167 miliardi di bilioni di kms (167 X 10)
Quantit di Galassie
100 miliardi di galassie
contenute
Le galassie riempiono soltanto un centomillionesimo dello spazio delluniverso

17