The sky is clear at night with some bright twinkling objects in it. These objects appear as fixed points of light due totheir great distance from the earth, but in real sense they are large and are in motion. Some of these bodies are called stars. Stars exist in groups, known as galaxies, held together by gravity. The sun is a<soa star and it produces a huge amount of energy daily. A galady is a collection of a large number of stars that are held together by the force of gravity. The galaxy that comprises of our solar system is known as the Milky Way Galaxy. The nearest galaxy to us is the Andromeda galaxy. Other galaxies include Ciger galaxy, Pinwheel galaxy, the Sombrero galaxy and others.
The Milky way galaxy can be seen in the night sky with naked eyes either as not being cloudy, with no strong lights nearby or no moonlight, during some time in the year. Measurement in the stars and galaxies.
Physical quantities such as mass and distance of the stars and galaxies are very huge. This makes it hard to measure them with the conventional (S.I) units of the quantities. For this reason, the scientists came up with other larger units that can easily accommodate these large quantities as shown below; Unit Abbreviation What it is used to measure Light year Ly A light year is a unit of astronomical distance equivaient tothe distance light travelsin one year. 1ly=3.Ox 10°365.25x24x3600= 9.5x10m Astronomical year Au This isa unit of length roughly the distance from the Earth to the sun, about 150million kilometres Solar mass The mass of a star is measured in terms of the mass the sun, with one solar mass unit being equal to the mass of sun. eg a star whose mass is twice that of the sun is said to have two Solar masses. Solar radius The radius of stars isalso measured with respect tothe radius of the sun, with one solar radius being equal to the radius of the sun. eg a star whose radius is three times that of the sun is said to have a radius of three solar radii.
Assignment Convert the following; (a) 7 au to m (b) 6x10 km to au (c) S ly to km (d) 19xl0' to ly
1 How the sun produces the energy needed for life to survive on Earth. protons ol Solar energy is created by nuclear fusion that takes place in the sun, Fusion occurs when process emitS an hydrogen atoms violently collide in the sun's core and fuse to create a helium atom. This enormous amount of energy. Energy from the Sun makes life possible on Earth. It is responsible for photosynthesis in plants, ViSIon in animals andmany other natural processes, such as the movements of air and water that create weather. Most plants need at least some sunlight to grow, so without light, there would be no plants, and without plants, there wouldnot be oxygen for us to breathe. Infrared radiation from the Sun is responsible for heating the Earth's atmosphere and surface. Without energy rom the Sun, the Earth would freeze. There would be no winds, ocean currents, or clouds to transport water.
Appearance of the sun
Scattering of radiations from the sun affects the color of light coming from the sun and sky. The short wavelength blue and violet are scattered by molecules inthe atmosphere much more than other colors of tha spectrum. This is why blue and violet light reaches our eyes from all directions on a clear day. But becaus We can't see violet very well, the sky appears blue.
Scattering alsoexplains the colors of the sunrise and sunset. Because the sun is low on the horizon, sunlight passcs through more air (atmosphere) at sunset and sunrise than during the day, when the sun is higher in the sky. More at1mosphere means more molecules to scatter the violet and blue light away from your eyes. If the path is longenough, allof the blue and violet light scatters out of your sight. The other colors continue on iheir way to your eyes. This is why sunsets are often yellow, orange, and red. And becausered has the longest wavelength of any visible light, the sun is red when it's on the horizon, where its extremely long path through the atmosphere blocks all other colors. Our sun's surface temperature is about 600 k. In the Earth's atmosphere, the sun looks white, shining, with about equal amounts of blue and red light. It looks _omehow also yellow as seen on Earth's surface because our planet scatters some of the blue light making thà sky appear blue and the sun appears yellow. Amount of energy produced by the sun. Sunlight is the largest energy source to reach the Earth but, despite this, the intensity of the energy that reaches the Earth's surface is relatively low due to the radial spreading of solar radiation as it travels from the distant Sun. More of this sunlight is lost in the Earth's atmosphere and due to clouds, which between them scatter as much as 54% of the incoming light. As a result, the sunlight that reaches the ground is around 50% visible light and 45% infrared radiation with the rest being made up of small amounts of ultraviolet and other types of electromagnetic radiation. Therefore, The sun produces a large amount of energy. However, only a small raction of this energy reaches the earth. because most of it is reflected and scattered from other surfaces and absorbed by other molecules, which convert it to heat.
The amount of heat reaching the Earth is about 1338 watts per sguare metre. This is known as the solar Constant.
Solar constant is the amount oI solar energy received on Earth per unit area.
2 around 15million degrees Celsius. The nuclear fusion reactions release energy, which produces heat and Lght, maintaining the core temperature so the fusion reaction is self-sustaining.
During the main sequence stage, an equilibrium is achieved in the star. The outward Force created from the expanding Pressure due to nuclear reactions is balanced with the inward gravitational force trying to collapse the star under its own mass. This is the most stable stage in a star's life cycle, as the star reaches a constant size where the outward pressure balances the gravitational contraction.
If the protostar mass is not large enough, it never gets hot enough for nuclear fusion to occur - therefore the star does not emit Light or heat and forms what we call a brown dwarf, which is a substellar object.
Allstars follow a similar initial lifecycle, however, a star's behaviour following the main sequence is highly dependent on its mass. We consider two'general mass categories of stars; sun-like stars (average stars) and Imassive stars, that is;
If the mass of a star is at least 8to 10 times the mass of the Sun, the star is considered to be a massive star. If the mass of a star is more similar to the size of the Sun, the star is considered to be a sun-like star (average star).
Stars with larger masses are much hotter, appearing brighter in the sky - however, they also burn through their hydrogen fuel much faster, meaning their lifespans are much shorter than average stars. Because of this, large hot stars are also the rarest.
Stage 4; Red giant.
When the star hydrogen responsible for the nuclear reactions runs down, the star expands, cools and becomes ared giant. The massive stars become red supcrgians since they are exiremely massive. Atter this the star then dies out by becoming a black dwarf with no more luminous characteristics. In summary, all stars are formed out of clouds of gas and dust, known as nebulae. Nuclear reactions occurring at the centre of the stars make them shine brightly for many years. Small stars burn their fuels slower than massive stars, therefore they last for several billion years. When the hydrogen responsible for the nuclear reactions begins to run out with time, they expand, cool and change colour tobecome red giants. From this stage, they undergo a death phase that sees them pass through a planetary nebulae phase to a wà dwarf which cools down with time and stops glowing to become a black dwarf. What a supernova isand how it a rise. When the pressure drops low enough in a massive star, gravity suddenly takes over and the star collapses in just seconds. This collapse produces the explosion we call a supernova. Supernovae are so powerful they create new atomic nuclei.
A supernova is a violent explosion that takes place at the end of a star's life cycle - and considered as the biggest explosion in space that humans can ever witness. Supernovas are so bright that their peak luminosity can be compared to that of the entire galaxy before fading off over several weeks or months. Thisexplosion then leaves behind either ablack hole or a neutron star.
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In addition to heat and light, the sun also emits a low-density stream of charged particles (mostly elecro and protons) known as the solar wind, which travels throughout the solar system at about 450 kms . Ine Solar wind and the much higher energy particles released bythe sun can cause challenges on earth suCn as power surges and disturbance of radio waves.
The variation in color and brightness of the stars in the Milky way in terms of their size and distance from Earth.
Stars have a wide range of apparent brightness measured here on Earth. The variation in their brightness 1s caused by both variations in their surface temperature and variations in their distance. Just like a burning flame, there are different colors seen and they are associated to the temperature of that region. Also, the bigger the star, the brighter it is. The apparent brightness of stars varies with their size and distance from the observer. Anear by faint star can appear to be just as bright to us on Earth as a distant star.
Sirús, also called the Dog star is the brightest star in the night sky. The bright component of the blue-white Sirus star is 25.4 times as bright as the sun
The different stages in the life cycle of a star.
Stars are large celestial bodies that mainly consist of hydrogen and helium, the two lightest elements. They can have different sizes and temperatures and produce energy through continuous nuclear fusion reactions Occurring in their core.
We benefit from the energy reieased by our local star, the sun, as it heats and illuminates the earth. Stars are formed in a nebula and go through different stages in their life cycle depending on their mass. These stages will be explained in more detail below.
The lifecycle of a star is the sequence of events that takes place in the life of a star from its formation to its end. The lifecycle of stars depends on their mass. All stars, regardless of their mass, are formed and behave similarly until they reach their main sequence stage. The initial three stages that occur for a star to enter its main sequence are described below
Stage 1: Formation of astar
A star is formed from a nebula, which is a huge cloud of interstellar dust and a mixture of gases, mostly comprising hydrogen (the most abundant element in the universe). The nebula is so vast that the weight of the dust and gases start to cause the nebula to contract under its own gravity
Stage 2: Protostar
Gravity pulls the dust and gas particles together to form clusters in the nebula, which results in particles gaining kinetic energy and colliding with each other. This process is known as accretion. The kinetic energy of the gas and dust particles increases the temperature of matter in the nebula clusters to millions of degrees Celsius. This forms a protostar, an infant star. Stage 3: Main sequence of a star
Once a protostar has reached ahigh enough temperature through accretion, nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium begins in its core. This main sequence begins once the temperature of the protostar core reaches 3 Nhat are neutron stars and black holes are and how arethey were formed.
Neutron stars are formed when amassive star runs out of fuel and collapses. The very central region of the star - the core collapses, crushing together every proton and electron into a neutron. Throughout much of their lives, stars maintain adelicate balancing act. Gravity tries to compress the star while the star's internal pressure exerts an outward push. And nuclear fusion at the star's core causes the outer pressure. In fact, this fusion burning is the process by which stars shine.
Aneutron star bas an abnormally strong magnetic field known as a magnetar, this can pull any metallic material from your pocket from as far away as the moon.
Ablack hole is an area of such immense gravity that nothing -not even light- -can escape fromn it. Black holes form at the end of some stars' lives. The energy that held the star together disappears and it collapses in on itself producing a magnificent explosion.
TOPIC: SATELLITES AND COMMUNICATION
Topic outline Types of artificial satellite, particularly geostationary satellites Explain: " how they are used in GPS navigation systems "the value of photographs such as those taken by the Hubble Space Telescope. "the purpose of the International Space Station and its role in space exploration
Satellite A satellite is a body moving around a larger body in a curved path. This path is called orbit. Theearth revolves around the sun (which is bigger than the earth), so it is a satellite. The moon revolves around the earth so it is a satellite.
NB Asatellite that revolves aroundastar is called a planet , while that which revolves around a planet is called a moon.
Classification of satellites Satellites are classified into two i.e (i) Artificial satellites e.g (1) Natural satellites e.g moon, earth, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, Pluto, Uranus etc
Artificial satellites Artificial satellites are machines that are launched into space and orbit around a body in space to do a specifc purpose. Artificial satellites are classified according to their function.
