STARS AND GALAXIES IN THE UNIVERSE

TYPES OF GALAXIES

1) ELLIPTICAL GALAXIES

Elliptical galaxies are shaped like a spheriod, or elongated sphere. In

the sky, where we can only see two of their three dimensions, these
galaxies look like elliptical, or oval, shaped disks. The light is smooth,
with the surface brightness decreasing as you go farther out from the
center. Elliptical galaxies are given a classification that corresponds to
their elongation from a perfect circle, otherwise known as their
ellipticity. The larger the number, the more elliptical the galaxy is. So,
for example a galaxy of classification of E0 appears to be perfectly
circular, while a classification of E7 is very flattened. The elliptical
scale varies from E0 to E7. Elliptical galaxies have no particular axis of
rotation.
2) SPIRAL GALAXIES

The most common type of galaxy is called a "spiral galaxy." Not surprisingly,
spiral galaxies look like spirals, with long arms winding toward a bright bulge at
the center. But be careful - if you looked at a spiral galaxy from the side, you
could mistake its shape for a circle, and so you'd have to use other criteria to
learn it was a spiral.

If you can clearly see the spiral shape, the galaxy is called a "face-on spiral." If
you instead see the galaxy from the side, it is called an "edge-on spiral." You can
recognize edge-on spiral galaxies because you can see their bright central
bulges. Face-on and edge-on spiral galaxies aren't really any different; they only
look different because of the angle from which you see them.

Some spiral galaxies have arms that are wound tightly, while other galaxies have
very loosely-wound arms. The difference between tightly and loosely wound
spirals is a genuine difference between the galaxies, and can be used to classify
spirals.

About 77% of the observed galaxies in the universe are spiral galaxies. Our own
galaxy, the Milky Way, is a typical spiral galaxy.
3) IRREGULAR GALAXIES

An irregular galaxy is a galaxy that does not have a distinct regular

shape, unlike a spiral or an elliptical galaxies. Irregular galaxies do
not fall into any of the regular classes of the Hubble sequence, and
they are often chaotic in appearance, with neither a nuclear
bulge nor any trace of spiral arm structure.
Collectively they are thought to make up about a quarter of all
galaxies. Some irregular galaxies were once spiral or elliptical
galaxies but were deformed by an uneven external gravitational
force. Irregular galaxies may contain abundant amounts of gas and
dust. This is not necessarily true for dwarf irregulars.
Irregular galaxies are commonly small, about one tenth the mass of
the Milky Way galaxy. Due to their small sizes, they are prone to
environmental effects like crashing with large galaxies and
intergalactic clouds.
 THE MILKY WAY

You must be heard and wondering what is the milky way about? So, basically The Milky Way Galaxy is most
significant to humans because it is home sweet home. But when it comes down to it, our galaxy is a typical
barred spiral, much like billions of other galaxies in the universe. We live in one of the arms of a large
spiral galaxy called the Milky Way. The Sun and its planets (including Earth) lie in this quiet part of the
galaxy, about half way out from the centre.

The Milky Way is shaped like a huge whirlpool that rotates once every 200 million years. It is made up of at
least 100 billion stars, as well as dust and gas. It is so big that light takes

100 000 years to cross from one side to the other.

The centre of the Galaxy is very hard to see because clouds of gas and dust block our view. Scientists think
that it contains a supermassive black hole that swallows anything passing too close.

Outside the main spiral are about 200 ball-shaped clusters of stars. Each 'globular cluster' is very old and
contains up to one million stars. The Milky Way belongs to a cluster of at least 40 galaxies. The so-called
Local Group has two large spiral galaxies – the Milky Way and Andromeda.
 the life cycle of a star (nebular
hypothesis)

All stars, whether they are gigantic like the supermassive stars or modest like our Sun, will start their life in the same

way. All stars start with a nebula. A nebula is a word meaning cloud. It literally is a cloud of dust and gases out in space.

The dust and gases clump together under the force of gravity. It may not seem large, but understand that these clouds

are not small. Infact, nebulae often do not create just one star system, but instead many. Stars form in a nebula like this

one in Orion’s sword.

For a star to form, gravity pulls gas and dust together. As more gas continues to accumulate, the material becomes

denser, the pressure and the temperature increase. At this point the nebula will glow hot under the pressure. When the

temperature at the center becomes hot enough, nuclear fusion begins. The ball of gas has become a star!

The star will remain in its main sequence state until it is ready to move into the red dwarf stage. It will do this when it

runs out of hydrogen to fuse in the core. Our Sun has a lifespan of about 10 billion years. It is currently about 5 billion

years old. Some where between its nine and ten billionth year it will swell to a red giant. Supermassive stars will go

through this same process. The difference being that the supermassive star may only live about 5 to 10 million years. To

put that in perspective, the last species of woolly mammoth went extinct about 10 million years ago here on Earth.
THE BIRTH OF STARS
A star is born when atoms of light elements are squeezed under enough pressure
for their nuclei to undergo fusion. All stars are the result of a balance of
forces: the force of gravity compresses atoms in interstellar gas until the fusion
reactions begin. And once the fusion reactions begin, they exert an outward
pressure. As long as the inward force of gravity and the outward force
generated by the fusion reactions are equal, the star remains stable.

Clouds of gas are common in our galaxy and in other galaxies like ours. These
clouds are called nebulae. A typical nebula is many light-years across and
contains enough mass to make several thousand stars the size of our sun. The
majority of the gas in nebulae consists of molecules of hydrogen and helium--but
most nebulae also contain atoms of other elements, as well as some surprisingly
complex organic molecules. These heavier atoms are remnants of older stars,
which have exploded in an event we call a supernova. The source of the organic
molecules is still a mystery.

THE death of stars

Most stars take millions of years to die. When a star like the Sun has burned all
of its hydrogen fuel, it expands to become a red giant. This may be millions of
kilometres across - big enough to swallow the planets Mercury and Venus.

After puffing off its outer layers, the star collapses to form a very dense white
dwarf. One teaspoon of material from a white dwarf would weigh up to 100
tonnes. Over billions of years, the white dwarf cools and becomes invisible.
Stars heavier than eight times the mass of the Sun end their lives very
suddenly. When they run out of fuel, they swell into red supergiants. They try to
keep alive by burning different fuels, but this only works for a few million years.
Then they blow themselves apart in a huge supernova explosion.
For a week or so, the supernova outshines all of the other stars in its galaxy.
Then it quickly fades. All that is left is a tiny, dense object – a neutron star or a
black hole – surrounded by an expanding cloud of very hot gas.
the relative size comparison between the
earth and the universe
 CLASSIFICATION OF STARS

Protostar

A protostar is what you have before a star forms. A protostar is a

collection of gas that has collapsed down from a giant molecular
cloud. The protostar phase of stellar evolution lasts about 100,000
years. Over time, gravity and pressure increase, forcing the
protostar to collapse down. All of the energy release by the
protostar comes only from the heating caused by the gravitational
energy – nuclear fusion reactions haven’t started yet.
 tauri star

A Tauri star is stage in a star’s formation and evolution

right before it becomes a main sequence star. This phase
occurs at the end of the protostar phase, when the
gravitational pressure holding the star together is the
source of all its energy. T Tauri stars don’t have enough
pressure and temperature at their cores to generate
nuclear fusion, but they do resemble main sequence stars;
they’re about the same temperature but brighter because
they’re a larger. T Tauri stars can have large areas of
sunspot coverage, and have intense X-ray flares and
extremely powerful stellar winds. Stars will remain in the T
Tauri stage for about 100 million years.

RED GIANT STAR

When a star has consumed its stock of hydrogen in its core, fusion
stops and the star no longer generates an outward pressure to
counteract the inward pressure pulling it together. A shell of
hydrogen around the core ignites continuing the life of the star, but
causes it to increase in size dramatically. The aging star has become
a red giant star, and can be 100 times larger than it was in its main
sequence phase. When this hydrogen fuel is used up, further shells
of helium and even heavier elements can be consumed in fusion
reactions. The red giant phase of a star’s life will only last a few
hundred million years before it runs out of fuel completely and
becomes a white dwarf.

WHITE DWARF STAR

When a star has completely run out of hydrogen fuel in its

core and it lacks the mass to force higher elements into
fusion reaction, it becomes a white dwarf star. The outward
light pressure from the fusion reaction stops and the star
collapses inward under its own gravity. A white dwarf shines
because it was a hot star once, but there’s no fusion
reactions happening any more. A white dwarf will just cool
down until it because the background temperature of the
Universe. This process will take hundreds of billions of
years, so no white dwarfs have actually cooled down that far
yet.

RED DWARF STAR

Red dwarf stars are the most common kind of stars in the
Universe. These are main sequence stars but they have such
low mass that they’re much cooler than stars like our Sun.
They have another advantage. Red dwarf stars are able to
keep the hydrogen fuel mixing into their core, and so they
can conserve their fuel for much longer than other stars.
Astronomers estimate that some red dwarf stars will burn
for up to 10 trillion years. The smallest red dwarfs are
0.075 times the mass of the Sun, and they can have a mass
of up to half of the Sun.

NEUTRON STAR

If a star has between 1.35 and 2.1 times the mass of the
Sun, it doesn’t form a white dwarf when it dies. Instead, the
star dies in a catastrophic supernova explosion, and the
remaining core becomes a neutron star. As its name implies,
a neutron star is an exotic type of star that is composed
entirely of neutrons. This is because the intense gravity of
the neutron star crushes protons and electrons together to
form neutrons. If stars are even more massive, they will
become black holes instead of neutron stars after the
supernova goes off.

SUPERGIANT STAR

The largest stars in the Universe are supergiant stars. These are
monsters with dozens of times the mass of the Sun. Unlike a
relatively stable star like the Sun, supergiants are consuming
hydrogen fuel at an enormous rate and will consume all the fuel in
their cores within just a few million years. Supergiant stars live fast
and die young, detonating as supernovae; completely disintegrating
themselves in the process.
As you can see, stars come in many sizes, colors and varieties.
Knowing what accounts for this, and what their various life stages
look like, are all important when it comes to understanding our
Universe.

SOLAR SYSTEM
 ASTRONOMICAL UNITS

 An Astronomical Unit (AU) is the average distance between Earth

and the Sun, which is about 93 million miles or 150 million
kilometers. Astronomical units are usually used to measure
distances within our Solar System.

LIGHT YEARS
 A unit of astronomical distance equivalent to the distance
that light travels in one year, which is 9.4607 × 1012 km
(nearly 6 million million miles).

HOW TO CONVERT UNITS BETWEEN

ASTRONOMICAL UNIT, LIGHT YEARS AND
KILOMETRES
GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS OF
PLANETS
PLANET MERCURY VENUS EARTH MARS

Distance from Sun 57.9 108.2 149.6 227.9

Relative mass 0.055 0.815 1 0.107
(x Earth)
Diameter (km) 4879 12104 12756 6794
Density 5.4 5.2 5.5 3.9
( g cm−3.)
Temperature 167 457 14 -55
(°C)
Time taken to orbit 88 days 224.7 days 365 days 687 days
Sun
Time taken for one 59 hours 243 hours 24 hours 25 hours
complete rotation on
its axis
Number of natural 0 0 1 2
satellites or moons
Main atmospheric None 96.5% CO2; 78% nitrogen; 96% CO2
content (no atmosphere) 3.45 21% oxygen; 1.9% nitrogen
nitrogen;0.1% 0.97 inert 1.9% argon;
argon, helium, gases and 0.2% oxygen,
sulphur dioxide, other carbon
water vapour substances; monoxide
0.03% CO2
Condition of planet's No colour, craters Orange, sandy More than Red, sandy nd
surface covered in fine and rocky, has 71%of its rocky, has big
dust, has plains, big plains, surface is plains, volcnoes
mountains and volcanoes and water and and wide craters
valleys wide craters 29% land

PLANET JUPITER SATURN URANUS NEPTUNE

Distance from Sun 778.3 1429 2871 4504
Relative mass 317.8 95.159 14.536 17.147
(x Earth)
Diameter (km) 142 984 120 536 51 118 49 528
Density 1.3 0.7 1.27 1.6
( g cm−3.)
Temperature 153 -185 -214 -225
(°C)
Time taken to orbit 11.9 29.5 84 164.8
Sun
Time taken for one 10 11 17 16
complete rotation on
its axis
Number of natural 67 62 27 14
satellites or moons
Main atmospheric 89.6% hydrogen; 965 hydrogen; 83.3% 80% hydrogen;
content 10.1% helium; 35 helium; hydrogen; 19% helium;
0.3% methane, 0.4% methane, 15.5%helium; 0.1% methane,
ammonia ,ethane, ammonia, 2.4% methane ethane
water ethane, water
Condition of planet's No hard No hard surface. No hard No hard surface.
surface surface.Only Only covered in surface. Only Only covered in
covered i n gas. gas covered in gas.
gas.

ROTATIONAL DIRECTION OF THE PLANETS

 natural satellites

A satellite is anything that orbits around a larger object. A natural

satellite is any celestial body in space that orbits around a larger
body. Moons are called natural satellites because they orbit planets.

The Moon orbits the Earth once every 27.3 days. This time period is
called the orbital period or sidereal period. However, the time from
one full moon to the next is 29.5 days (called the synodic period).
This extra time is because of the change in angle as the Earth
revolves around the Sun.

The Moon appears to move across the sky from east to west, in the
same direction as the Sun moves. However, this motion is apparent
and not true. The Moon is in fact orbiting the Earth in a west to east
direction. The reason that it appears to rise in the east and set in
the west is because of the Earth’s very fast axial rotation. The
Earth rotates once each day, and the Moon orbits the Earth once
every 27.3 days. This means that the Moon’s true orbital motion
around the Earth can be seen only indirectly. The distance moved by
the Moon in 1 day can be observed by comparing its position in the
sky at one time with its new position exactly 24 hours later.
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE EARTH

Has a lot of
water for all
living processes

Has high
Has gravity that Characteristics oxygen content
keeps objects
of the Earth for respiratory
from floating
process

Receives
sunlight for
plants to
conduct
photosynthesis
 METEOROID, ASTEROID, COMET

METEOROID

 A meteoroid is a floating piece of stone and metal that moves in

space.

 Appears in various sizes, which is from 10nm to 1 m.

 Made up of stones and metals such as iron and nickel.

 Originates from fragments of asteroids and comets.

 Its surface temperature in outer space is about 0 degree celcius.

ASTEROID

 An asteroid is a large metal and rocky body that travels

around the Sun in its own orbit.

 Size stars from 1 m to 1000 km.

 Made up of stones and metals such as iron and nickel.

  Has a cold surface temperature, approximately -73
degree celcius.

 Asteroid from and asteroid belt between the orbits of

Mars and Jupiter.

 Large asteroids such as Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vestaa

have diiameters of a few kilometres to 1000 kilometres.

 Asteroids are also known as small planets.

COMET

 A comet is a small body made up of a mixture of ice, gas

and frozen dust. It travels around the Sun in its own orbit.

 Consists of two main parts, a head and a tail.

 The length of the tail of a comet can reach up to 150 000
000 km.

 Comprises gas and water that freeze into ice, dust and
rocky particles.

 Travels around the Sun in its own elliptical orbit.

MOVEMENT OF METEOROIDS,
ASTEROIDS, COMETS
stars and galaxies
in the universe
 NAME: INSYIRAH BINTI M
ZAIRURLAIL

CLASS: 205

TEACHER: TEACHER FAUZANA