The Universe and the Solar System
Theories on the Origin of the Universe
Big Bang Theory
According to the
big bang theory,
around 13.7
billions of years
ago, there was
nothing and
nowhere. Then suddenly, due to random fluctuations in
an empty void, there was a great explosion or expansion.
The explosion sent space, time, matter and energy in all
direction.
❑ The Universe originated in a very dense and hot
state, has constantly expanded until now
❑ Universe was concentrated at a Singularity
❑ Before its creation, space and time didn´t existed, so
they are relative to it
❑ Universe expanded tremendously fast and it’s
temperature increased
Events of the Big Bang
❑ Inflationary epoch (10-35 to 10-36 s)
❑ Formation of the universe (10-6 s)
❑ Formation of the basic elements (3 s)
❑ Radiation era (10, 000 years)
❑ Matter domination (300, 000 years)
❑ Birth of stars and galaxies (300 million years)
The big bang
timeline includes
the existence of
the four
fundamental forces
❑ Strong force –
short-ranged
(10-13 cm)
attractive force which binds the nucleus
❑ Electromagnetic force – long-range force that binds
atoms which can either be attractive or repulsive
❑ Weak force - short-ranged force present in
radioactive decay
❑ Gravitational force – weak, long-ranged, and
attractive force which binds the solar system
Evidences for the Big Bang Theory
Expanding Universe
❑ In 1929, Edwin Hubble announced his significant
discovery of the “redshift” and its interpretation
that galaxies are moving away from each other,
hence as evidence for an expanding universe, just as
predicted by Einstein’s Theory of General Relativity.
❑ He observed that spectral lines of starlight made to
pass through a prism are shifted toward the red part
of the electromagnetic spectrum, i.e., toward the
band of lower frequency; thus, the inference that
the star or galaxy must be moving away from us.
Cosmic Microwave Background
❑ There is a pervasive cosmic microwave background
(CMB) radiation in the universe. Its accidental
discovery in 1964 by Arno Penzias and Robert
Woodrow Wilson earned them the physics Nobel
Prize in 1978.
❑ It can be observed as a strikingly uniform faint glow
in the microwave band coming from all directions-
blackbody radiation with an average temperature of
about 2.7 degrees above absolute zero.
Abundance of light elements
❑ Elements like helium, hydrogen, with trace amounts
of lithium and beryllium found in the observable
universe agrees with the hypotheses of the big bang
theory.
Steady State Theory
This holds that
the universe looks
essentially the
same from every
spot in it and at
every time.
❑ Universe has no beginning and no end.
❑ Matter is continuously created out of nothing.
❑ Support began to decline in 1960s (leftover
radiation from Big Bang was discovered)
Oscillating Theory
❑ Most astronomers agree that
the Universe is expanding.
❑ Some believe that at some
stage in the future, the
❑ Universe will stop expanding
and begin to contract.
❑ Oscillating means forward
and backwards motion or
expansion and contraction of
the Universe.
❑ Universe collapses under its own weight – The Big
Crunch.
❑ Expansion of the Universe – The Big Bang
Intelligent Design Origin of the Solar System
Intelligent design refers to a scientific research program ❑ Encounter Hypothesis
as well as a community of scientists, philosophers and ❑ Nebular Hypothesis
other scholars who seek evidence of design in nature. ❑ Protoplanet Hypothesis
The theory of intelligent design holds that certain
features of the universe and of living things are best Any GOOD hypothesis about the origin of the solar
explained by an intelligent cause, not an undirected system must explain most - if not all - of its
process such as natural selection. characteristics:
❑ ID is not “creationism,” because it clearly lacks some 1. All of the planets orbit the sun in the same
crucial distinguishing features of creationism and direction, and in the same plane
the specific religious concerns that drive 2. The planets closest to the sun are small and rocky,
creationism. have few moons
❑ E.g., ID does not “explain” the fossil record by 3. The planets further from the sun are large and
claiming that the Biblical flood accounts for it contain more gas and icy materials
❑ E.g., ID does not deny the “Big Bang” theory— 4. Most of the Moons orbit their planets in the same
indeed, some of the most interesting “design” direction as the planets orbit the sun
arguments assume the truth of the “Big Bang” 5. Oldest meteorites are about 4.566 billion years old
theory Any model or theory for the formation of the Solar
❑ E.g., ID does not deny the great antiquity of the System must have a set of explanations for large-scale
earth and universe and small-scale properties.
Large-Scale:
Creationism 1. the planets are isolated in orderly intervals
Creationism, the belief that the universe and the various 2. orbits are nearly circular
forms of life were created by God out of nothing (ex 3. orbits are in the same plane
nihilo). It is a response to modern evolutionary theory, 4. all planets revolve prograde
which explains the emergence and diversity of life Small-Scale:
without recourse to the doctrine of God or any other 1. Most planets rotate prograde
divine power. Mainstream scientists generally reject 2. The systems of moons can be divided into regular
creationism. objects (spherical) with direct orbits versus irregular
Genesis: Beginnings objects with eccentric orbits
❑ Definition of Creation: to make something out of 3. Terrestrial planets have;
nothing ❑ high densities
❑ Author: Moses (he also wrote Exodus, Leviticus, ❑ thin or no atmospheres
Numbers, and Deuteronomy—known as the ❑ rotate slowly
Pentateuch) ❑ rocky, poor in ices and H/He
❑ Beginning of the world set by Biblical scholars is Small-Scale:
around 6,000 years old 4. Jovian worlds have;
❑ Length of creation: 7 days ❑ low densities
The Hebrew word used for each day is Yom which refers ❑ thick atmospheres
to a 24 hour day, not any other length of time ❑ rotate rapidly
❑ many moons
Biblical creationists believe that the story told in Genesis ❑ fluid interiors, rich in ices, H/He
of God’s six-day creation of all things is literally correct. ❑ Most of outer SS objects (not just jovian
Others, such as old-Earth creationists, believe that a worlds) are ice-rich
creator made all that exists, but they may not hold that
the Genesis story is a literal history of that creation. Both
types of creationists, however, believe that changes in
organisms may involve changes within a species (often
understood as the “kind” mentioned in Genesis 1:24) or
downward changes such as negative mutations, but they
do not believe that any of these changes can lead to the
evolution of a lower or simpler species into a higher or
more-complex species. Thus, the theory of biological
evolution is disputed by all creationists.
Encounter Hypothesis Protoplanet Hypothesis
One of the earliest ❑ About 4.6 billion years ago, in the Orion arm of the
theories for the Milky Way galaxy, a slowly-rotating gas and dust
formation of the cloud dominated by hydrogen and helium starts to
planets was called contract due to gravity.
the encounter ❑ As most of the mass move to the center to
hypothesis. In this eventually become a proto-Sun, the remaining
scenario, a rogue materials form a disc that will eventually become
star passes close to the planets and momentum is transferred outwards.
the Sun about 5 ❑ Due to collisions, fragments of dust and solid matter
billion years ago. begin sticking to each other to form larger and
Material, in the larger bodies from meter to kilometer in size. These
form of hot gas, is proto-planets are accretions of frozen water,
tidally stripped from ammonia, methane, silicon, aluminum, iron, and
the Sun and the other metals in rock and mineral grains enveloped
rogue star. This in hydrogen and helium.
material fragments ❑ High-speed collisions with large objects destroys
into smaller lumps which form the planets. This much of the mantle of Mercury, puts Venus in
hypothesis has the advantage of explaining why the retrograde rotation.
planets all revolve in the same direction (from the ❑ Collision of the Earth with large object produces the
encounter geometry) and also provides an explanation moon. This is supported by the composition of the
for why the inner worlds are denser than the outer moon very similar to the Earth's Mantle
worlds. ❑ When the proto-Sun is established as a star, its solar
wind blasts hydrogen, helium, and volatiles from the
However, there are two major problems for a theory of inner planets to beyond Mars to form the gas giants
this type. One is that hot gas expands, not contracts. So leaving behind a system we know today.
lumps of hot gas would not form planets. The second is
that encounters between stars are extremely rare, so
rare as to be improbable in the lifetime of the Universe
(15 billion years)

Nebular Hypothesis
A second
theory is called
the nebular
hypothesis. In
this theory, the
whole Solar
System starts as
a large cloud of
gas that
contracts under
self-gravity.
Conservation of
angular
momentum
requires that a
rotating disk
form with a large concentration at the center (the proto-
Sun). Within the disk, planets form.