The Universe and the

Solar System

“Origin”
Origin of the Universe
Creation Myths

Symbolic narratives of the beginning of

the world as understood by a culture.
It is handed down from generation to
generation through oral traditions.
Origin of the Universe
Scientific Theories
1. Big bang
2. Steady state Theory
3. Inflation Theory
4. String Theory
5. M Theory
 BIG
BANG!
 Proposed by Alexander Friedman and
Georges Lamaitre
 13.7 Billion years ago (Gya) there was
nothing and nowhere.
 Due to random fluctuation in an empty
void, great explosion and expansion
occurred.
 All matter and energy crammed into a tiny
compact point called SINGULARITY.
BIG BANG: TIME
10 s
-35

Formation
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300 000300
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NUCLEOSYNTHESIS.
 4 FUNDAMENTAL FORCES

1.Strong Nuclear Force

2.Electromagnetic Force
3.Weak Nuclear Force
4.Gravitational Force
 Evidences for Big Bang
Theory
1. Galaxies moving away
Edwin Hubble ,1924, found out that stars gather together forming
galaxies. By determining their velocities based on the amount of light
they emit, he found out that galaxies are moving away each other.
2. Presence of Cosmic Microwave Background
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson 1960, discovered a background
radio emission from every direction in the sky. The energy is speculated
to be remnant from the formation of the universe.
 Evidences for Big Bang
Theory

3. Abundance of Light Elements

Elements like helium, hydrogen, with trace amounts of lithium
and beryllium found in the observable universe.
The ratio of these light elements match to what was expected
from the big bang nucleosynthesis.
 WEAKNESS OF Big Bang
Theory
1. Flatness
The Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy (WMAP) revealed that the geometry of the
universe is nearly flat unlike what big bang assumes.
2. Monopole
The big bang theory predicted the production of heavy stable magnetic monopoles
in the early universe. However, there were no magnetic monopoles that have been
observed.
3. Horizon
According to Big bang, distant regions of space in opposite directions of the sky are
so far apart that they could never have been in casual contact with each other.
However, based in the CMB these regions must have had contact with each other.
 ORIGIN of
A GALAXY is defined as
gravitationally-bound system

the SOLAR
of stars, stellar remnants,
interstellar gas, and dark
matter.
SYSTEMEx. Milky Way
 THEORIES
Descartes’ Vortex Theory
Buffon’s Collision Theory
Kant-Laplace Nebular Theory
Jeans-Jeffreys’ Tidal Theory
Solar Nebular Theory
Descartes’ Vortex Theory
• Rene Descartes
• Solar system was formed into bodies with
nearly circular orbits because of the whirlpool-
like motion in the pre-solar materials.
• Orbits of the planets are the primary whirlpool
and the satellites are the secondary whirlpool
motion.
Buffon’s Collision Theory
• George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon
• They proposed that the planets were
formed by the collisions of the sum with a
giant comet.
• The resulting debris formed into planets
that rotate in the same direction as they
revolved around the sun.
 Kant-Laplace Nebular Theory
• Immanuel Kant, Pierre Simon Laplace
• They proposed that a great cloud of gas
and dust, called nebula, began to collapse
because of gravitational pull.
• As the clouds contracted, it spun more
rapidly leading some regions to contract on
their own becoming the sun and the
planets.
• Flaw: assumed that angular momentum of
 Jeans-Jeffreys’ Tidal Theory
• Sir James Hopwood Jeans and Harold
Jeffreys
• Suggested a dualistic theory in which the
sun and planets were produced by
different mechanisms.
• Proposed that the planet were formed
from the substance that was torn out of
the sun pulled out by a speeding massive
 Solar Nebular Theory
• Focused to solve the flaw in Kant and Laplace’s
theory.
• Solar system was formed due to the condensation of
hydrogen interstellar gas and dust cloud.
• A supernova exploded causing the collapse creating a
compressed center that became a protostar that
became a sun.
• The remaining gas and dust cloud form disk-shaped
bodies called solar nebulae due to rotation.
•
 SOLAR
SYSTEM
 The Solar System
PLUTO
Not to  (Dwarf Planet)
Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the inner planets.
scale
They are also known as terrestrial planets.   NEPTUNE

URANUS

SATURN Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, 
MARS Neptune, and Pluto are 
JUPITER the outer planets. 
EARTH

VENUS Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, 
and Neptune are also 
MERCURY
known as gas giants or 
Jovian planets.
SUN
Pluto is a big ball of ice. 
 

Between Mars and Jupiter there is a 
large number of rocks orbiting the sun. 

Each rock is known as an ASTEROID. 
COMETS OR METEOROIDS
This ring of rocks is called the Asteroid 
Belt.

| The Solar System | Sun | Mercury | Venus | Earth | Mars | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto (Dwarf Planet) 
| Asteroids | Comets | Meteors, Meteoroids, and Meteorites | End Show |
 SOLAR SYSTEM: An Overview
• The solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy – a huge disk 
and spiral­shaped aggregation of about at least 100 billion stars and 
other bodies;
• Its  spiral  arms  rotate  around  a  globular  cluster  at  the  center  of  a 
supermassive black hole;
• The  solar  system  revolves  around  the  galactic  center  once  in  about 
240 million years. 
• Radioactive  dating  of  meteorites,  suggests  that  the  Earth  and  solar 
system are 4.6 billion years old;
 SOLAR SYSTEM: Large Scale Properties
1. Much of the mass of the Solar System is concentrated at the 
center (SUN) while angular momentum is held by the outer 
planets. 
2. Orbits of the planets are elliptical and are on the same planes. 
3. All planets revolve around the sun. 
4. The periods of revolution of the planets with increasing distance 
from the sun; the innermost planet moves fastest, outermost, the 
slowest
5. All planets are located at regular intervals from the sun. 
 SOLAR SYSTEM: Small Scale Properties
1. Most planets rotate prograde – counterclockwise when viewed 
from above earth’s north pole. 
2. Inner terrestrial planets are made of materials with high melting 
points such as silicates, iron, and nickel. They rotate slower, 
have thin or no atmosphere, higher densities, and lower 
contents of volatiles – hydrogen, helium, and noble gas. 
3. The outer planets are called gas giants because of the dominance 
of gases and their larger size. They rotate faster, have thick 
atmosphere, lower densities and fluid interiors rich in H, He and 
ices(water, ammonia and methane). 
 SOLAR SYSTEM: Small Scale Properties
4.  The satellite of Jupiter and Saturn are nearly identical in their arrangements 
with the Solar system. 
5. The solar system also contains asteroids and comets. 

ASTEROIDS are made up of rocks and are sometimes referred to as minor 
planets. Atmosphere free and orbit around the sun. 
They are grouped in an area called main asteroid belt which located between mars 
and Jupiter. Ex. Ceres and near­Earth asteroids (NEAs).

COMETS are composed mainly of ice (frozen water and gas) and nonvolatile dust 
(silicate minerals and carbon grains). They become active when they come near 
the sun. 
Where do comets originate?
 KUIPER BELT
Often called as the solar system’s “Final Frontier”
Because it is the outermost region of the solar system.
Short period comets like Halley’s comet come from the Kuiper belt 
which orbits the sun less than 200 years.

OORT CLOUD
Located farther than the Kuiper belt. 
Remains unexplored. 
Long period comets are said to come from this region which orbit the 
sun more then 200 years up to million years. 
Any object which orbiting beyond Neptune is called trans­Neptunian 
object (TNO).