Chapter 25 - Star & The Universe

YALE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
CLASS – IX
PHYSICS
CHAPTER: 25 – ‘ STARS AND THE UNIVERSE’
THE SUN
The Sun is a medium mass star that is made up of 75% hydrogen, 24% helium and rest 1% is made of
other elements like oxygen and carbon.
The glowing Sun radiates energy of which 40% is visible light, 50% infrared and 10% is ultraviolet.
Sun is a stable star powered by the thermonuclear fusion reaction of hydrogen producing helium.
The temperature of the Sun is so hot inside that matter exists as plasma.
The Sun has a mass of 2 x 1030 kg which is defined as Solar Mass. It is 99.86% of the mass of Solar System.
STARS & GALAXIES

The force of gravity pulls stars together in groups. This group of stars is called galaxy.
Our galaxy is the Milky Way. It is a spiral galaxy. Our Sun is one of the billions of stars in Milky Way.
The distance between stars is measured is units called light years which is the distance travelled by the
light in one Earth year. 1 light year = 9.5 x 1015 m.
STELLAR EVOLUTION
Stars go through a life-cycle from young Protostar to elderly white dwarfs.
Stars are classified according to their colour, which is related to their temperatures.
Hot bodies radiate heat and this radiation exerts force called radiation pressure. The hotter the object the
higher is the radiation pressure.
Radiation pressure acts outward causing the star to expand whereas gravity acts inward, pulling matters
together and making the star to contract. These forces are opposite to each other.
A star becomes stable when the radiation pressure and the force of gravity become equal to each other.
CLASSIFICATION OF STARS
Stars can be classified according to their colour. The hottest stars will emit more high frequency light
whereas the coolest stars emit more light with lower frequencies. Low frequency light corresponds to the
red end of the visible light spectrum whereas high frequency light corresponds to the blue end. This
means that stars which emit blue light are hotter than stars which emit red light.
 Stars having very high temperature appear to be bluish.
 Stars having medium temperature appear to be yellowish.
 Stars having very low temperature appear to be reddish.
HOW DOES A STAR BECOME STABLE?
Stars are extremely hot bodies that radiate heat and this radiation exerts force called radiation pressure.
This radiation pressure acts outward causing the star to expand.
There is also a force of gravity that acts due to mass. The force of gravity acts inward, pulling matter
together and causing the star to contract.
Radiation pressure and gravity acts opposite to each other.
A star becomes stable when the radiation pressure equals the force of gravity.
LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR

Star formation is initiated when a cloud of dust and gas aggregates to form a nebula. Nebulae are mainly
composed of hydrogen. As the dust and gas particles are pulled closer together by the force of gravity, a
Protostar is formed. Its temperature rises, providing the right conditions for hydrogen nuclei to fuse and
make helium in the process of nuclear fusion. Nuclear fusion releases energy, keeping the core of the star
nice and hot.
The star goes through a very stable phase where the outward radiation pressure generated by nuclear
fusion is equal to the force of gravity which pulls the star inwards. Stars can spend several billion years in
this stable phase and this is the stage that our Sun is currently in. Eventually all the hydrogen will be used
up and the force of gravity will exceed the pressure generated by nuclear fusion.
The star will then be compressed due to gravity which will generate heat and this will result in the star
expanding. The expanded star will be much cooler and the surface will become red in colour. If the star
formed is small or medium in size (like our Sun) then it will be called a red giant. Larger stars will be
referred to as red super giants.
Red giants will transform into white dwarfs by ejecting its outer layer of gas and dust. Whatever that
remains after transformation will be a dense, hot core that will emit white light as its surface temperature
will have increased.
Red super giants will continue fusing more and more heavy elements, getting hotter eventually and
expanding until they explode into a supernova. The supernova will then expel dust and gas into space,
leaving behind a neutron star, or in the case of very big stars (having five times or more mass than our
Sun) it will turn into a black hole.
THE BIG BANG
The ‘Big Bang’ theory states that about 14 billion years ago the universe expanded from a single,
incredibly small point which rapidly expanded during a hot explosion and is still expanding today. This all
happened in an unimaginably small time - one billionth of a trillionth of a quadrillionth of a second - and
expelled matter faster than the speed of light. Literally in the blink of an eye, the universe was born.
The evidence supporting the big bang theory includes cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR)
and red-shift. CMBR is the energy left over from the original explosion while red-shift shows that the
universe is expanding.
COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION

CMBR is heat energy which is ‘left over’ from the big bang during the initial hot explosion. It has very low
frequency and is emitted from all parts of the universe, in all directions. As the universe expands and cools
down, the background also cools, causing the CMB radiation to have a lower frequency. This ‘left over’
radiation is strong evidence in support of the Big Bang theory.
DOPPLER EFFECT
Waves emitted from moving sources show a change in frequency (and wavelength) as they move relative
to an observer. This is the phenomenon which explains why the pitch of an ambulance siren changes as it
moves past a person and is referred to as the Doppler Effect.
Doppler Effect is defined as the apparent change in the frequency and wavelength of a wave due to the
motion of the source relative to an observer.
For the source moving toward, the frequency of the wave will increase while the wavelength will decrease.
For the source moving away, the frequency of the wave will decrease while the wavelength will increase.
RED SHIFT
Doppler Effect is also shown by a star emitting light waves. As it moves further away, the light it emits will
have a lower frequency. Lower frequencies of light correspond to the red end of the visible spectrum,
which is why we call it red-shift. This means that the further away the star is, the lower the frequency of
light it will emit.
Astronomers have discovered that the greater the distance a star is from Earth, the more it emits light in
the red part of the spectrum. This suggests that the stars are moving away from us and provides evidence
that the universe is expanding.
RED SHIFT CALCULATION

We can calculate how much the light emitted from a galaxy has ‘red-shifted’ using the following equation:
WORKED EXAMPLE – ‘RED-SHIFT’
Calculate the observed change in wavelength when light is emitted from a galaxy moving away from Earth
at a speed of 3.00 x 107 m/s and a wavelength of 250 x 10-10 m. The speed of light is 3.00 x 108 m/s.
Rearrange the equation to get 'change in wavelength‘.
Change in wavelength = (velocity of galaxy / speed of light) x reference wavelength
Change in wavelength = (3 x 107 / 3 x 108) x 250 x 10-10
Change in wavelength = 2.50 x 10-9 m.
HUBBLE’S LAW
Doppler Effect is used to work out how fast the galaxies are moving away from us.
The speed with which the galaxies are moving away is directly proportional to the amount of redshift of
light in the emission spectrum.
Hubble’s Law relates the speed of recession of the galaxies with the distance of separation.
Hubble’s Law states that the speed of recession of galaxies v from each other is directly proportional to the
distance of separation d of the galaxies.
The ratio of v to d is defined as Hubble’s constant H0
HUBBLE’S CONSTANT & AGE OF UNIVERSE

H0= recessional speed ÷ distance of separation
The current estimate of H0 = 2.2 x 10-18 per second
The reciprocal of Hubble constant is known as Hubble time.
Hubble time can be used to work out the age of the universe.
Time = Distance ÷ Speed
Time universe = d ÷ v = 1 ÷ H0
Age of Universe ≈ 4.5 x 1017 s ≈ 14.4 x 109 years

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YALE INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

STARS & GALAXIES

LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR

COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND RADIATION

RED SHIFT CALCULATION

HUBBLE’S CONSTANT & AGE OF UNIVERSE

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