Lecture11 CCST9012 2020

CCST9012
CCST9012 Our
Our Place
Place in
in the
the Universe
Universe
Chapter 12
The Big History of
the Earth and the Universe
Prof. Quentin A Parker
Director – Laboratory for Space
Research: www.lsr.hku.hk
The
The University
University of
of Hong
Hong Kong
Kong
Common
Common Core
Core Courses
Courses
1
CCST9012
Our Place in the Universe
Outline of this chapter
• Up to this point, we have focused on the structure, scale, and c

ontents of various components in the Universe.
• For this chapter and the next, we will look at our place in the u
niverse from another perspective: time
2
CCST9012
Outline of this chapter

• We will discuss the history of the Earth and the solar system
– The Age of the Earth
– Formation of the Earth and solar system
– Relation of the Earth with its surroundings
– A history of the ever-changing Earth (next week)
– A history of living inhabitants of the Earth (next week)
– Finding life in the other places in the universe (next week)
3
CCST9012
Age of the Earth: dating biblical creation

• For a long time in history, the age of the Earth w
How can we approach this difficult
as identical to the age of the universe.
question with the scientific method?
• The Bible contains many genealogical records, m
aking possible backdating the date of Creation.
• In 1650, Archbishop James Ussher of Ireland me
Pay attention
ticulously calculated how knowledge
that the Creation occurred from
at the night before
manyOctober 23rd, 4004
different B.C., putti
branches of science
ng the Earth atcontribute
about 6000 years
to ourold.
current
knowledge.
• This point of view was highly influential and for a
long time influenced the thinking of many scien
tists, including Kepler and Newton.
4
Credit: The Jewish National and University Library
• Newton, who had deep interest and respect for the bible, wrote ‘The
Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms’ in 1728.
• Vigorously defended the idea that the world was created in ~4,000 BC
• Predicted the world would end in the year 2060 AD.
• Often attributed his scientific findings to his biblical worldview.
5
CCST9012
Dating age: tree rings

• Tree-rings study
– Paleoclimatology, archeology,
biogeochemistry, etc.
• Annual rings
– earlywood, latewood
Earlywood Latewood
(produced earlier in (produced later in
growing season, growing season,
lighter in color) darker in color)
Gymnosperms larger cells, thinner smaller cells, thicker

(e.g., conifer) cell walls cell walls
Angiosperms larger vessels smaller vessels
(e.g., aspen)
Credit: NOAA Paleoclimatology Program
6
CCST9012
• Matching characteristics of Dating age: Crossdating

tree rings pattern over diff
erent specimens in similar
environments can give the
exact year of the formatio
n of each ring (even for de
ad wood)
• Can date objects up to 11,
000 years ago
Already longer than 6000 years!

Credit: Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research,
The University of Arizona 7
CCST9012
Age of the Earth: Thermal physics

• In 1862, Lord Kelvin calculated the time required
for the Earth to cool from a white-hot, molten gl
obe to its present. Earth’s age estimated from th
e heat conduction from the core to the surface.
• Age of the Earth using this approach was estima
ted at ~20-40 million years.
• Though incorrect, this represented a major shift
to a rigorous and scientific approach to finding t
he true age of the Earth.
8
CCST9012
Age of the Earth: Geological method

• By the 19th century, it was realized that t
he Earth was shaped by slow processes
such as erosion and deposition over a m
uch longer time scale.
• Through rainfall, fresh water leaches di
fferent chemical elements from the rock
s and carry them to the oceans.
• Since oceans have no outlet, dissolved s
alt is accumulated over time and the oc
eans become salty.
9
CCST9012
Age of the Earth: Geological method

Turns out this is not quite correct,
• Assuming that there is no removal me e.g., dried salt bed from dried
chanism, the age of the Earth can be e ocean
stimated.
• Irish geologist John Joly (1857-1933) e
stimated the Earth to be 80-90 million
years old.
• His value was significantly bigger than
the biblical estimate, but still a massiv
e underestimate compared with the m
odern value.
Dried salt bed in New Mexico, USA
10
CCST9012
Age of Earth: radioactive dating

• Radioactive decay: U parent daughter
nstable nucleus tend
s to decay, eventuall
y becoming a stable
nucleus
and others ... 11

CCST9012
Radioactive decay: a good clock

• Radioactive decay of nuclei occurs
randomly, but at a constant rate
– Different nuclei have different
(average) decay rates
– Half-life: time taken for half of
the parent matter to decay
• A very good radioactive clock
– Process not affected by changi
ng environments, such as tem
perature, humidity, etc
– Now used to calibrate other m
ethods.
12
CCST9012
Some possible radioactive clocks

Parent Daughter Half-Life (years)
Samarium-147 Neodymium-143 106,000,000,000
Rubidium-87 Strontium-87 48,800,000,000
Rhenium-187 Osmium-187 41,600,000,000
Thorium-232 Lead-208 14,000,000,000
Uranium-238 Lead-206 4,500,000,000
Potassium-40 Argon-40 1,250,000,000
Uranium-235 Lead-207 704,000,000
Samarium-147 Neodymium-143 108,000,000
Iodine-129 Xenon-129 17,000,000
Aluminium-26 Magnesium-26 740,000
Carbon-14 Nitrogen-14 5730 13
CCST9012
Radiometric dating
• The absolute age of a material since its formation
can be obtained by measuring the ratio of the par
ent to daughter nuclei
• The value of the ratio can give the time lapsed (pr
ovided that the change is caused by decay only)
– The present ratio can be measured
– The initial ratio mostly fixed by knowledge of the
material and of the nuclei
– Fixing the ‘initial’ ratio is like setting the clock
need to set the clock

14
CCST9012
Carbon dating
• Carbon-14 (Half-time 5730 years) is produced in the atmosphere by
cosmic rays and is roughly constant over time.
• When a living organism is alive, the ratio of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12
(initial ratio) is roughly the same as in the environment, through the
constant exchange of organic and inorganic carbon molecules with t
he environment.
• After something dies, carbon-14 decays to
nitrogen-14 (present ratio)
• Can estimate age of carbonaceous
materials up to 50,000 years ago
(important for dating events in human
History) 15
CCST9012
Carbon dating
16
CCST9012
Carbon 14 dating
• C14 is being created in the atmosphere all the time by interaction of high energy
“cosmic rays” with nitrogen.
• The C14 produced combines with oxygen to form radioactive CO2
• This CO2 is absorbed by plants by photosynthesis and animals then get
the radioactive carbon by eating the plants
• When the animal or plant dies, it stops exchanging carbon with its environment, an
d thereafter the amount C14 begins to decrease via natural radioactive decay to th
e N14 isotope of nitrogen
• Measuring the amount of C14 in a sample from a scrap of wood or bone gives data
used to estimate when the animal or plant died
• The older the sample the less C14 there is
• The half-life of C14 is about 5,730 years and the oldest dates that can be reliably m
easured are ~50,000 years.
• After this the residual C14 becomes too hard to measure with current technology
17
CCST9012
Carbon dating – famous recent example

• Researchers at University of Leicester claimed in Feb 2013 to have d
iscovered the grave of King Richard III (1452 – 1485).
• The main evidence comes from DNA evidence by comparison of the
excavated corpse with an 18th-generation descendent of Richard III.
• Supporting evidence provided by Carbon-14 dating of the corpse.
68% confidence it is 1475-1530
18
CCST9012
Carbon dating
19
CCST9012
Carbon dating: technology
20
CCST9012
Age of earth: radioactive dating

• Two issues: accurate nuclear physics data and finding th
e oldest rock
• 1907: 92-570 million years, Bertram Boltwood
– Uranium to Lead decay in rocks
• 1927: 1.6-3 billion years, Arthur Holmes (same method)
• 1929: 3.4 billion years, Ernst Rutherford (same method)
• 1947: 3.35 billion years, Arthur Holmes
– Lead isotopes on earth
• 1956: 4.55 billion years of solar system, Clair Patterson
– Lead-Lead isotope dating of Canyon Diablo meteorit
e
Modern estimate of the age of the earth
21
CCST9012
Earth’s relation with its surroundings

• For a long time in history, scientists did not have a clear understanding of
the Earth’s connection with its environment.
• Earth was seen as an isolated body, the same as other planets, while the
sky is just empty space which has no relation with the Earth.
• It was believed that craters on Earth and the Moon were volcanic in origin.
• Most scientists rejected the possibility of craters formed by impacts of
meteorites, which are rich in iron.
• It was believed that all natural landforms had been created slowly, over
thousands or even millions of years, rather than via a series of catastrophic
moments.
These two hypotheses should be tested with the scientific method.22
CCST9012
Canyon Diablo Crater, also known as Barringer Crater, is the

largest crater in Arizona at 1 km wide and 170m deep.
• In 1891, Grove Gilbert (the most renowned geologist then), tested
the two hypotheses on crater formation at the Canyon Diablo Crater.
• Small balls of meteoritic iron randomly mixed with ejected rocks
were found at the rim, supporting the impact theory.
• He assumed the meteorite had to be as big as the crater itself.
However, he could not find the huge amount of iron expected, 
against the impact theory.
23
CCST9012
Canyon Diablo Crater, also known as Barringer Crater, is the

largest crater in Arizona at 1 km wide and 170m deep.
• In 1960, Eugene Shoemaker discovered a new mineral at the crater,
which formed only under extremely high pressure and temperature
• Craters are created by impact from extraterrestrial objects
• Modern theory suggests the meteorite must have been completely
vaporized upon impact, thus explaining the absence of large iron ore,
and creating a crater of size much bigger than the meteorite itself. 24
CCST9012
The Earth is not a closed system

• The Earth, Moon,
Mercury, and Mars are
full of craters from past
collisions with asteroids
and comets
• Bombardment
continues today
• Meteorites: remnants of
meteoroids
The Earth is not an

isolated object. Relation between the size and frequency of
meteorites impacting the Earth 25
CCST9012
Meteorites
• Bits of the solar system*
(mainly from asteroids) that
have fallen on Earth
• Asteroid >1 km, producing
craters 10-20 km in diameter,
occur once every 100,000 yr
On Feb 15, 2013 a 20m-diameter asteroid
entered the Earth’s atmosphere over Russia and
exploded at ~30 km in the air, creating damages
over a wide area.
* We now know that some asteroids come from outside our solar 26
system
CCST9012
The earliest and most precise clock

• The earliest piece of mineral dated
in the solar system is a meteorite.
• Chemical considerations show that it

must have condensed directly from
the gas nebula that made up the
Sun, and thus are the oldest objects
to have originated in the Solar
System.
• Using radioactive dating, its age is

determined to be 4.567 billion
years.
This is the current best estimate of the solar system’s age. 27
CCST9012
Formation of the Solar S

ystem
• The Sun and the solar system
(including the Earth and other
planets) are believed to be
formed in a rotating disk of gas
and dust from the solar nebula.
• The raw material building the
Earth and the Solar system are
the same.
• In this theory, the age of the Sun
and the Earth should be the
same (4.567 billion years old).
28
CCST9012
An illustration of interdisciplinary studies
• Determining the age of the Earth relies on our knowledge in a

stronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, and geology.
• The answers must be compatible with each other.
29
CCST9012
30
CCST9012
Discussions
• Why was it so difficult to accept that the earth is old for a long
period of time in history?
• Concepts of time: what is human’s place in this cosmic history?
31
CCST9012
Double lecture break
32
CCST9012
CCST9012
The finite (and very fast) speed of light

• For a long time it was not known whether light travels instantaneously or at a
very fast (but finite) speed.
• Galileo believed light travels at a finite speed, and proposed an experiment:

He and his assistant would both carry a lantern at 1 mile apart. When one
flashes the lantern, the other immediately responds by opening the shutter
as soon as he saw the light. The first observer could then time how long it
took for him to see from the other observer.
• The experiment did not work as they did not
realize how the huge speed of light is (It
takes 1/100,000 sec for the 1 mile round
trip).
Question: Why did the scientific method
not work this time?
33
James Clerk Maxwell
(1831 – 1879)
• In 1873, Maxwell united
the equations governing
electricity and
magnetism:
electromagnetism
• He showed light is
actually a
electromagnetic wave
with oscillating electric
and magnetic
components.
• In his theory, light 34
CCST9012
CCST9012
The finite (and very fast) speed of light

James Clerk Maxwell
• Modern speed of light is defined to be
(1831-1879)
c = 299,792.458 km/sec
• The speed of light being finite means
that for distant objects in the universe,
what we observe is not how the object
is, but how it was.
• In another way, the light we receive on
earth from an object at 1 light year away
left that object one year ago.
35
Light = Electromagnetic
waves
36
CCST9012
Look-back Time
• The speed of light (299,790 km/sec)
is very fast, but finite.
• For daily phenomena on Earth, the
distances are small enough that
light signals appear instantaneous.
• However, distance between galaxies
are measured in multi-millions of
light-years. Thus, the time for light
to travel from distance galaxies to As we study increasingly more
us on Earth is not negligible. distant objects, we also look back
at the history of the universe.
37
CCST9012
Born in Ulm,
Germany
Graduated in
1900 from the
Polytechnic
Institute of
Zurich,
Switzerland
Worked as a 38
CCST9012
CCST9012
Einstein and the Universe

• In 1916, he published another groundbreaking theor
y, the general theory relativity, in which mass an
d energy mold the shape of space and the flow of t
ime.
• In 1929, Edwin Hubble made the discovery that the
universe is not static, but expanding.
• Combining this discovery with the theory of genera
l relativity, a totally new perspective of the nat
ure of the universe was developed.
39
CCST9012
CCST9012
New Perspectives on Space and Time

• One unexpected problem: Albert Einstein
– In Newton’s theory of gravity, the force (1879-1955)
of gravity spreads instantaneously.
– Maxwell’s theory suggests that light tr
avels at c, the cosmic speed limit.
• Understanding the universe requires a ne
w perspective of concepts such as space
and time.
• It arrives in the form of the theory of gen
eral relativity from Albert Einstein.
• Einstein later recalled its discovery the “h
appiest moment in his life”
40
CCST9012
CCST9012
General Theory of Relativity

• New understanding of the world: space is not an empty void, but an invisibl
e structure called space-time.
• Space-time is a 4-D structure whose shape is curved by the presence of matt
er.
• In general relativity, the Earth is not attracted to the Sun by a force, but rath
er simply follows the structure of curved space-time near the Sun.
• Prediction from the theory of gravitation by Newton would be found to be a
n approximation when the effect of gravity is not intense. 41
CCST9012
CCST9012
General Relativity and the Evolution of Universe

• Einstein and other theorists realized soon
after discovery of general relativity that it
could also be used to study evolution of the
entire universe.
• It was postulated that the mechanical view of
the universe of Newton should imply the
universe to be static and unchanging, and the
universe has existed since infinity and will
continue to do so.
• This belief had been held for so long just like
the idea the Earth was not moving or the Sun Albert Einstein (left) and
was stationary. It was difficult to believe the Willem de Sitter (right) in 1932
universe can change. http://www.aip.org/history/cosmology
42
/ideas/expanding.htm
CCST9012
Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)

• 1910: Graduated from Univ of Chicago
studying astronomy, mathematics, and
philosophy
• Spent three years at Oxford on a Rhodes
scholarship, studying law, Spanish, and
literature (instead of science as a promise
to his dying father) for his Master degree.
• 1917: PhD in astronomy at Univ of Chicago
• Offered a staff position in Mount Wilson
Observatory in 1919, giving him access to
the 100-inch Hooker telescope, the biggest
telescope at the time.
43
CCST9012
From
Lec
Our Place in the Universe ture
9
Distance in the sky
• To uniquely position an object in the universe, we
need 3 coordinates: 2 from the position on the ce
lestial sphere (good accuracy)
• The difficult coordinate is distance: A very brigh
t object from far away appears equally bright as a
dimmer one closer to Earth.
• If the intrinsic brightness of a class of objects is u
niform and known (standard candles), then we Finding distances
can derive the distance from its apparent brightn essential for
ess using inverse square law understanding
nature of objects.
44
CCST9012
From
Lec
Our Place in the Universe ture
9
Cepheid Variables as Standard Candles
re
id sa
• In 1908, a type of variable star, phe
d Ce ter.
Cepheid variables (or Cepheids) was erio righ
p b
found that its intrinsic brightness is ger- ally
n
related to its variation period Lo rinsic
int
• Distances to these objects can be
inferred by comparing its observed
and intrinsic brightness.
• Once they were calibrated, Cepheids
became one of astronomy’s most Cepheids are keystones to
useful standard candles. measuring distances in the
universe (more on this later)
45
CCST9012
Enlarging the size of the universe

• In 1925 (5 years after the Great
Debate), using the 100-inch Hooker
telescope, Hubble was able to identify
Cepheid variables in M31 and measure
their brightness in great details.
• He found M31 to be almost a million
light years away, putting it far beyond
the Milky Way! The curve of luminosity of the first
Cepheid variable star discovered by Edwin
• This marked the triumph of the island Hubble in M31 (d = 2.5 M light year)
universe hypothesis: Milky Way is just
We live in one among many
one of many galaxies in the universe.
galaxies 46
http://www.aip.org/history/cosmology/ideas/island.htm
CCST9012
M31 (Andromeda)
47
© J. Ware
CCST9012
Expanding the length scale of the universe

• Copernicus moved Earth and its inhabitants from the center of the s
olar system in the 16th century, but humanity retained a privileged p
osition in the center of the Milky Way, the sole galaxy.
• Now we know that our galaxy, the Milky Way, is not alone. There are
many distant galaxies situated far beyond our galactic borders.
• The Earth is not the center of the universe. The Sun is not either. Ou
r place in the universe was even further demoted, our Milky Way be
coming just one of many galaxies in the vast ocean of space. The visi
ble universe was enlarged by an inconceivable factor.
Are we special in the universe?

48
A static and infinite universe
• Let’s now move to another two long-conceived concepts:
– while there are motions of planets and moons, the universe as a
whole has long considered to be static, with the celestial sphere
of stars lining up the edges according to Aristotle.
– Whether the universe should be infinite was not even a question
worth discussing.
• Up till the end of the 19th century, discoveries of lots of different obje
cts in the sky led to a vast universe with multitude of celestial object
s. However, no evidence suggests to scientists that we should questio
n the static and finite nature of the universe.
49
CCST9012
CCST9012
Wave from a moving source

• Doppler Shift: wavelength (or frequency)
of a wave, such as the tone of a sound or t
he color of light, changes whenever the so
urce of the wave moves (Example: A moving amb
ulance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imoxDcn2Sgo)
• When an object moves towards us, crests

of the waves we see are compressed, mak
ing wavelength shorter (bluer).
• For an object moving away the separatio
n between crests is stretched, making the
wavelength longer (hence redder).
50
CCST9012
CCST9012
blue end red end

• Spectra of distant object
are taken, with the
observed spectral line
wavelengths compared to
those measured in lab
• The amount of wavelength
shift reveal how fast the
star is receding (redshift),
or approaching (blueshift).
• This became one of the
most valuable tool for
studying the dynamics of
the universe. 51
Dynamics of the
Universe
• To understand the structure o
f the universe, in addition to
distance, we also need to kno
w the dynamics of distant gal
axies.
• The technique used was to m
easure the shift of the freque
ncy of light due to their relati
ve motion to the Earth
• It was found that almost all g
alaxies are moving away from
Light from galaxies shifted
the Earth towards longer wavelength
52
CCST9012
CCST9012
Hubble's Law
• Hubble found distances to galaxies
far enough away to plot a velocity
versus distance relationship.
• In his 1929 paper, Hubble analyzed
distances to 24 galaxies out to 6
million light years.
• Hubble found a linear relationship:
the farther the galaxy, the faster it
is moving away from us, which is
now commonly referred as the The original graph published by Hubble, the relation has
now become known as the Hubble’s Law. This initial
Hubble Law, and the ratio between value of Hubble constant was off by almost by a factor
the two, Hubble constant. of ten because of wrong distance calibration of Cepheids.
53
http://apod.nasa.gov/diamond_jubilee/d_1996/hub_1929.html
CCST9012
CCST9012
Are we at the center of the universe?

This plot ignored the nearby galaxies
• Expansion of the universe is such that
everything seems to be leaving from us.
Does that mean we are the center of the
universe?
• Hubble’s result does not necessarily
imply we are at the center of the
universe! The whole universe is
expanding and it is doing so equally at all
places, as far as we can tell.
• It is the same as to ask “Are we the
center on the Earth’s surface?”
Our Earth occupies no special place in the Universe

54
http://courses.atlas.uiuc.edu/spring2010/ASTR/ASTR596/Lectures/Lect3.html
Inflating balloon is a good analogy for
understanding the expansion of the universe.
The galaxies on the surface of the balloon are
effectively at rest, and yet as the universe
expands, the distance between any two
galaxies increases. The galaxies themselves do
not increase in size.
55
Scientific American
CCST9012
CCST9012
Does the Universe have a beginning?

• If we accept that the universe is expanding, then
there are a few issues that need to be settled:
– Observations of distant objects imply looking
back at the past due to the finite speed of
light
– Thinking back in time, the galaxies must have
been closer to each other earlier.
– It is natural to ask whether there was a
beginning of the universe when everything
was very close to each other.
• Scientists could contemplate the universe’s
The beginning of the
creation, the moment when it all began. universe is a scientific
theory that can be tested.
56
CCST9012
CCST9012
Does the Universe have a beginning?

• Georges Lemaître (1894-1966), a Belgium
astronomer and priest, contemplated what the
beginning of universe might have been like.
• Lemaître mentally put the expansion of space-
Thou
time in reverse, until all matter ultimately merged gh
exper t
and formed a compact bright fireball, which he iment!
named the “Primeval atom.”
• In 1946, George Gamow assumed expansion and
Robert Herman (left), Ralph Alpher
cooling of a universe from an initial state of (right), and George Gamow (center), as
nearly infinitely hot and dense density. the genie coming out of the bottle of
"Ylem," (from a medieval word for
• The Universe is believed to have a beginning. matter)
57
CCST9012
CCST9012
Origin of the Universe

• The universe has a beginning : a day without yesterday. For many, though, a
singular moment of creation was philosophically distasteful.
• “The notion of a beginning of the present order of Nature is repugnant to me,”
said Eddington, “when some of us are so misguided as to try to get back billions
of years into the past that we find the sweepings all piled up like a high wall
and forming a boundary – a beginning of time – which we cannot climb over.”
• There were also scientific hurdles: the universe’s age based on Hubble’s initial
results suggested the universe was younger than the Earth (recall radiometric
dating), BUT you cannot be older than your parents! (Turns out the slope of
Hubble’s initial figure was wrong by a factor of 10.)
• Fred Hoyle, an opponent of the theory of expanding universe, coined the term
“Big Bang” in 1948 to belittle it. This term is now widely accepted.
58
CCST9012
CCST9012
The remnant of the Big Bang

• The Big Bang theory requires more evidence than the thought experiment of
running the universe back in reverse to a hot and dense beginning.
• Carl Sagan, (author of The Pale Blue Dot), said in in his TV series Cosmos,
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.”
• In the Big Bang theory, the very early universe was dominated by light, and
remnant of this light was predicted to be still present today — a cosmic
background light (radiation) permeating all space.
• As the universe expanded this radiation would cool down, and would be
barely above absolute zero temperature at the present time. This prediction
was made in 1948 but no one followed up on it.
59
CCST9012
CCST9012
The remnant of the Big Bang

• In 1964 Penzias and Wilson, engineers at a
telephone company, studied the microwave
noise they observed everywhere in the sky.
They spent months investigating possible
sources but got nowhere. Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson,
who were originally radio engineers,
in front of their microwave antenna
• They had indeed been listening to the faint
reverberation of the Big Bang all along, known
as the cosmic microwave background.
• Since then, the Big Bang theory is now a
widely accepted model of the beginning of A view of the sky as would have been
seen by the microwave receiver of
the universe Penzias and Wilson.
60
Cosmic microwave background
(CMB) radiation
• The cosmic microwave background radiation is the light l
eft over from the Big Bang.
• It is one of the most important telescopic discoveries of t
he 20th century
• It was first observed in 1965 by Arno Penzias and Robert
Wilson at the Bell Telephone Laboratories in Murray Hill,
New Jersey.
• The whole Universe is bathed in this afterglow light.
• This is the oldest light in the Universe and has been trav
eling across the Universe for ~14 billion years.
• The patterns in this light across the sky encode a wealth
of details about the history, shape, content, and ultimate
fate of the Universe. 61
Colours indicate "warmer" (red) and "cooler" (blue) spots. The microwave light captured is
from 379,000 years after the Big Bang, over 13 billion years ago 62
COBE results
CMBR fits a BB curve at
Differential microwave radiometer DMR 63

The WMAP Angular power spectru
m!
64
CCST9012
CCST9012
From
prev
io us le
cture
Periodic table of the universe by mass
Why these two elements
dominate?
Numbers in
parts per 10,000
65
CCST9012
CCST9012
Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

• In the Big Bang theory, the universe was dens
er and hotter the further back in time. All ma
tter were in the form of basic particles (quar
k-gluon mixture) .
• When temperature dropped, particles such as
protons, neutrons, and helium nuclei (2 proto
n and 2 neutron) could be formed.
• This big bang nucleosynthesis was over when
the universe was only 3 minutes old
• Hydrogen and helium are the building blocks f
When the universe was very very
or other elements through stellar nucleosynt young (10-4 sec), it was superhot and
hesis (previous Chapter) everything ‘melted’ together to form a
primordial “soup” of basic particles 66
CCST9012
CCST9012
The cosmic abundance of elements

• In addition to the expansion of the universe, the cosmic abundance of
elements provide another test of the Big Bang theory
• The Big Bang theory can explain the relative abundances of hydrogen and
helium (9:1 ratio in number; 4:1 ratio in weight), and other light elements
from 3He and D (~0.001% of hydrogen), to 7Li (~10-10), providing an accurate
quantitative test of the theory.
• The existence of deuterium (D): Nuclear processes in a star always cause
deuterium to be destroyed, and never created. Yet deuterium is seen
throughout the universe, which can only be explained by the Big Bang theory
(qualitative test).
Tests for scientific theories can be both qualitative and quantitative.

67
CCST9012
CCST9012
Periodic table of the universe by weight

Numbers in parts per 10,000
Formed soon after big bang
Formed through nuclear

burning inside stars
68
CCST9012
CCST9012
History told us not to believe in our own perception
• The powerful belief in a static universe could only be overturned

by the weight of accumulating observations.
• It was again very similar to Copernicus's time when he claimed
the Earth is moving.
• Luckily, this time, the change and acceptance didn’t take
thousand of years.
“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe

around him and calls the adventure Science.” Edwin P. Hubble
69
CCST9012
CCST9012
Summary
• Einstein’s theory of relativity unified space and time, and is the
best theory today which can be used to describe the universe
• Hubble’s discovery is consistent with a model in which the
universe is expanding.
• This implies a dynamic, not a static, universe.
• Cosmology has become a subject of scientific study, can be
predicated and tested.
• Big Bang model is the best model today to explain the beginning
of the universe, currently estimated at 13.8 billion years ago.
70
CCST9012
CCST9012
Discussions
• What do you think Aristotle would think if you propose to him
that the universe has a beginning? Can you guess what his
responses would be?
• Do you think discussions of the topic “the beginning of
universe” should be classified as scientific or philosophical or
religious?
• How do you think a scientific literate intellectual (such as
students in this class!), should answer the question “So what
happened before the big bang?”
71

Lecture11 CCST9012 2020

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Lecture11 CCST9012 2020

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

CCST9012

Outline of this chapter

• Up to this point, we have focused on the structure, scale, and c

Outline of this chapter

Age of the Earth: dating biblical creation

Dating age: tree rings

Gymnosperms larger cells, thinner smaller cells, thicker

• Matching characteristics of Dating age: Crossdating

Already longer than 6000 years!

Age of the Earth: Thermal physics

Age of the Earth: Geological method

Age of the Earth: Geological method

Age of Earth: radioactive dating

and others ... 11

Radioactive decay: a good clock

Some possible radioactive clocks

need to set the clock

Carbon dating – famous recent example

68% confidence it is 1475-1530

Carbon dating: technology

Age of earth: radioactive dating

Earth’s relation with its surroundings

Canyon Diablo Crater, also known as Barringer Crater, is the

Canyon Diablo Crater, also known as Barringer Crater, is the

The Earth is not a closed system

The Earth is not an

The earliest and most precise clock

• Chemical considerations show that it

• Using radioactive dating, its age is

Formation of the Solar S

An illustration of interdisciplinary studies

• Determining the age of the Earth relies on our knowledge in a

Double lecture break

The finite (and very fast) speed of light

• Galileo believed light travels at a finite speed, and proposed an experiment:

The finite (and very fast) speed of light

Einstein and the Universe

New Perspectives on Space and Time

General Theory of Relativity

General Relativity and the Evolution of Universe

Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)

Enlarging the size of the universe

Expanding the length scale of the universe

Are we special in the universe?

Wave from a moving source

• When an object moves towards us, crests

blue end red end

Are we at the center of the universe?

Our Earth occupies no special place in the Universe

Does the Universe have a beginning?

Does the Universe have a beginning?

Origin of the Universe

The remnant of the Big Bang

The remnant of the Big Bang

CMBR fits a BB curve at

Differential microwave radiometer DMR 63

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

The cosmic abundance of elements

Tests for scientific theories can be both qualitative and quantitative.

Periodic table of the universe by weight

Formed through nuclear

History told us not to believe in our own perception

• The powerful belief in a static universe could only be overturned