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The Expanding Universe. The Hubble Law The Hubble constant H o is one of the most important numbers in cosmology because it may be used to estimate the.

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Presentation on theme: "The Expanding Universe. The Hubble Law The Hubble constant H o is one of the most important numbers in cosmology because it may be used to estimate the."— Presentation transcript:

1 The Expanding Universe

2 The Hubble Law The Hubble constant H o is one of the most important numbers in cosmology because it may be used to estimate the size and age of the universe It indicates the rate at which the universe is expanding. Although the Hubble "constant" is not really constant because it changes with time (and therefore should probably more properly be called the "Hubble parameter").

3 Hubble Expansion Law 1929, Edwin Hubble announced that almost all galaxies appeared to be moving away from us. This phenomenon was observed as a redshift of a galaxy's spectrum. This redshift appeared to have a larger displacement for faint, presumably further, galaxies. Hence, the farther a galaxy, the faster it is receding from Earth. The Hubble constant is given by H 0 = v/d v is the galaxy's radial outward velocity, d is the galaxy's distance from earth H is the current value of the Hubble constant.

4 Units Ho = 2.3 x 10 -18 s -1, this is SI units

5 Hubble Constant The units of the Hubble constant are "kilometers per second per megaparsec." In other words, for each megaparsec of distance, the velocity of a distant object appears to increase by some value. For example, if the Hubble constant was determined to be 50 km/s/Mpc, a galaxy at 10 Mpc would have a redshift corresponding to a radial velocity of 500 km/s. 1 parsec = 3.26 light years

6 Hubble Constant H 0 = 73.8±2.4 kilometers per second per megaparsec Turn this into SI units Ans = 2.4 x10 -18 s -1

7

8 The important bits

9 Red shift example Light from a distant galaxy is measured as 460 nm. On earth the same spectral line is measured as 430nm. Calculate the redshift, z Calculate the speed of the galaxy relative to earth

10 How far is the galaxy from earth ?

11 Where does it come from ? d = distance to galaxy c = speed of light

12 Redshift

13 Age of the Universe The inverse of the Hubble constant is time Ho = 2.3 x 10 -18 s -1 4.348 x 10 17 s ( keep the number in your calculator ! ) 1.38 x 10 10 years or 13.8 billion years

14 Fate of the universe 1. Closed universe: the universe will slow its expansion and eventually begin to contract. 2. Open universe: the universe will continue to expand forever. Gravity will determine what happens Dark matter is a proposal to explain why the galaxies rotate faster than the amount of visible mass dictates AND Dark Energy is a proposal to explain why the universe is expanding at a greater rate than the mass of all the galaxies predicts.

15 Doppler Effect The Doppler effect is the change in frequency you notice when a source of sound waves is moving relative to you. When the source moves towards you, more waves reach you per second and the frequency heard is increased. If the source moves away from you less waves reach you each second and the frequency heard decreases.

16 Doppler Effect, moving source and stationary observer fo = observed frequency fs = frequency of source v = speed of sound vs = speed of source v+vs when source moving away from observer ( frequency decreases) v- vs when source moving towards observer (observed frequency increases )

17 Source moving towards stationary observer A train travels at 44.7 ms -1 towards a stationary observer when the driver sounds the 415 Hz horn. Calculate the frequency of the sound as perceived by the observer. V sound = 340ms -1. F source =415Hz V source = 44.7 m s -1 V sound = 340 ms -1

18 Source moving away from stationary observer A trumpet player is marching at 0.85 ms -1 away from a stationary spectator at a football match. Calculate the frequency of sound the spectator hears if the note produced is 784 Hz. fs = 784 Hz Vs = 0.85 ms -1 Vsound = 340 m s -1

19 The BIG BANG http://www.lifeinuniverse.org

20 Early theories The universe started with a sudden appearance of energy which consequently became matter and is now everything around us. There were two theories regarding the universe The Steady State Universe: where the universe had always been and would always continue to be in existence. The Created Universe: where at some time in the past the universe was created.

21 Evidence Hubble’s work If the universe is expanding it seems reasonable to suggest that it was smaller in the past !

22 Evidence if the universe was initially very, very hot as the Big Bang suggests, we should be able to find some remnant of this heat. In 1965, Radioastronomers Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered a 2.725 degree Kelvin, (-270.425 degree Celsius) Cosmic Microwave Background radiation (CMB) which pervades the observable universe. This is thought to be the remnant which scientists were looking for. Penzias and Wilson shared in the 1978 Nobel Prize for Physics for their discovery.

23 Evidence the abundance of the "light elements" Hydrogen and Helium found in the observable universe are as predicted by the Big Bang model of origins. ( 75% Hydrogen and 25% helium )

24 Evidence Obler’s paradox Why isn't the night sky uniformly at least as bright as the surface of the Sun? If the Universe has infinitely many stars, then presumably it should be. ( Infinitely old ) After all, if you move the Sun twice as far away from us, we will intercept one quarter as many photons, but the Sun's angular area against the sky background will also have now dropped to a quarter of what it was. So its real intensity remains constant. With infinitely many stars, every element of the sky background should have a star, and the entire heavens should be at least as bright as an average star like the Sun.

25 Obler’s Paradox The Universe is young. Distant light hasn't even reached us yet. The universe must have had a beginning

26 The temperature of stellar objects The temperature of an object determines the frequency of light it emits ‘cold objects ‘ glow red As the temperature is increased they glow white hot

27 Stefan’s Law P = σT 4 Where stefans constant, σ, = 5.67 x 10-8 Wm -2 K -4. What this means is that by examining the spectrum of a distant star, its temperature can effectively be measured.

28 Some stars The higher the temperature the lower the peak wavelength Hotter objects emit more radiation per unit surface than cold ones.


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