What Is the Universe?

The universe is everything that exists, from the

smallest particles to the largest ones, together with
all matter and energy. The universe includes
visible and invisible things, such as dark matter,
the great, secret component of the cosmos. The
search for dark matter is currently one of the most
important tasks of cosmology. Dark matter may
literally determine the density of all of space, as
well as decide the destiny of the universe. Did you
know that, second by second, the universe grows
and grows?
The universe, marvelous in its majesty, is an ensemble of a
hundred billion galaxies. Each of these galaxies (which tend to be
found in
large groups) has billions of stars. These galactic concentrations
surround empty spaces, called cosmic voids. The immensity of the
cosmos can be better grasped by realizing that the size of our
fragile planet Earth, or even that of the Milky Way, is insignificant
compared to the size of the remainder of the cosmos.
EARTH Originated, together with the solar system, when the
universe was already 9.1
billion years old. It is the only known planet that is home to life.
Originating nearly 13.8 billion years ago in an immense
explosion, the universe today is too large to be able to conceive.
The innumerable stars and galaxies that populate it promise to
continue expanding for a long time.
Though it might sound strange today, for many years, astronomers
thought that the Milky Way, where the Earth is located,
constituted the entire universe. Only recently—in the 20th century
—was outer space recognized as not only much vaster than
previously
thought but also as being in a state of ongoing expansion.
The burning ball that gave rise to the universe remained a source
of permanent radiation. Subatomic particles and antiparticles
annihilated each other. The ball's high density spontaneously
produced matter and destroyed it. Had this state of affairs
continued, the universe would never have undergone the growth
that scientists believe followed cosmic inflation.
1. Scientists theorize that, from nothing, something infinitely
small, dense, and hot appeared.
All that exists today was compressed into a ball smaller than the
nucleus of an atom.
2. At the closest moment to zero time, which physics has been
able to reach, the temperature is extremely
high. Before the universe's inflation, a superforce governed
everything.
3. The universe is unstable. Only 10-38 seconds after the big-
bang, the universe increases in size more than a trillion trillion
trillion times. The expansion of the universe and the division of its
forces begin.
4. The universe experiences a gigantic cool down. Gravity has
already become distinguishable, and the electromagnetic force and
the strong and weak nuclear interactions appear
5. Protons and neutrons appear, formed by three
quarks a piece. Because all light is trapped within the web of
particles, the universe is still dark.
6. The electrons and their antiparticles, positrons, annihilate each
other until the positrons disappear. The remaining electrons form
atoms
Theories on the Origin of the Universe
* Genesis one of the books of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old
Testament, describe how God separated light from darkness, created
the sky, land, sea, moon, stars, and every living creature in a span of
six days.
* The Hindu text Rigueda describes the universe as an oscillating
universe in which a “ cosmic egg” or Brahmanda containing the
whole universe – including the sun, moon, planets, and space
* Anagoras believed in primordial universe and explain that the
original state of the cosmos was a primordial mixtures of all
ingredients
* Leucippus and Democritus believed in atomic universe. They
held that the universe was composed of very small, indivisible and
indestructible atoms
• In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton describe the universe as a static,
steady-state, infinite universe. In his description of the universe,
matter at a large scale is uniformly distributed.
• French philosopher Rene Descartes outlined a Cartesian vortex
model of the universe. His model involved a system of huge
swirling whirlpools of fine matter.
•Albert Einstein was no different from Newton
The Big-Bang theory
This theory was proposed by Edwin Hubble (1889-1953)
Hubble proposed that the primordial mass of the universe
was once concentrated in an extremely hot and dense fireball
called YLEM which underwent a gigantic explosion billions of
years ago. After its explosion and cooled causing the formation of
subatomic particles.
As the YLEM continued to expand, it also continued to cool
giving way for gases to condense, forming the galaxies. As
condensation of gases continued, stars, planets and satellites were
formed.
The big bang theory helped solve the enigma of the early
moments of the universe. What has yet to be resolved is the
mystery surrounding the future that awaits. To unravel this
mystery, the total mass of the universe must be known, but that
figure has not yet been reliably determined. The most recent
observations have removed some of this uncertainty. It seems that
the mass of the universe is far too little to stop its expansion. If
this is this case, the universe's present growth is merely the last
step before its total death in complete darkness
The Steady State theory
This theory was proposed by three scientists: Herman Bondi,
Thomas Gold and Fred Hoyle. The theory suggests that there is no
beginning nor end to the universe

The Oscillating Universe theory

In this theory Fred Hoyle suggests that the universe is expanding
as in the big-bang, but its expansion would slow down and would
eventually come to a halt because of mutual gravitational
attraction. The galaxies would begin to contract, bringing back the
materials to the original fireball, and another explosion would
commence again.
Inflationary Universe
American physicist Alan Guth proposed a model of the universe
based on big bang theory as horizon and flatness problems
Multiverse
Russian-American physicist Andrei Linde developed the concept
of inflationary universe from his chaotic inflationary theory in
1983. This theory sees the universe as just one of the many
“bubbles”
Origin of The Solar System
Models of the solar system
In the 16th century, a Greek philosopher named Claudius Ptolemy
developed a Geocentric idea about the universe. Ptolemy
believed that the earth was the center of the universe and that the
sun, moon, and planets revolved around it.
The wisdom and courage of a young Polish lawyer, economist,
physician and monk of a Polish Church by the name of
Copernicus revolutionized Ptolemy’s idea and introduced the
Heliocentric model of the universe. After careful observations,
gathering of data and mathematical calculations, Copernicus was
convinced that the sun is the center of the solar system and the
different planets including the earth revolve around it
The Solar System
Among the millions and millions of stars that form the Milky Way
galaxy, there is a medium-sized one located in one of the galaxy's
arms—the Sun. To ancient people, the Sun was a god; to us, it is
the central source of energy that generates heat, helping life exist.
This star, together with the planets and other bodies that spin in
orbits around it, make up the solar system, which formed about
4.6 billion years ago. The planets that rotate around it do not
produce their own light. Instead, they reflect sunlight. After the
Earth, Mars is the most explored planet. Olympus Mons, the
largest volcano in the entire solar system. It is almost two-and-
a-half times as high as the tallest peak on the Earth, Mount
Everest.
Attracted by a Star
Planets and their satellites, asteroids and other rocky objects, and
an incalculable number of comet like objects, some more than 1
trillion miles (1.6 trillion km) from the Sun, make up the solar
system. In the 17th century, astronomer Johannes Kepler
proposed a model to interpret the dynamic properties of the bodies
of the solar system. According to this interpretation, the planets
complete elliptical trajectories, called orbits, around the Sun. In
every case, the movement is produced by the influence of the
gravitational field of the Sun. Today, as part of a rapidly
developing field of astronomy, it is known that planet or planet
like bodies also orbit other stars.
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Theories of the origin of the solar system
A. The Planetesimal Theory
This theory was first proposed by French scientist, Georges Comte
de Buffon in 1778. According to this theory, ages ago, the sun
collided with another star, the collision caused large masses of
materials from two stars to be thrown in space. Eventually the
materials cooled and condensed to form small bodies which, in the
course of time, became planets
B. The Companion Star Theory
A Modern British astronomer named Fred Hoyle proposed that the
sun once a companion star. This star explode when collided with the
sun and its materials were held by the sun’s gravitation. From this
various planets and other bodies in the solar system were formed.
The Nebular Hypothesis
This was proposed by Marquis de Laplace, a French astronomer in
1796. According to this theory, the source of the material of the solar
system was a vast, saucer-shaped nebula, similar to protostar. This
nebula was swirling slowly in space. The swirling nebula eventually
cooled and shrank causing it to spin faster in space. The spinning caused
rings of materials to break away from its outer edge. The rings gave rise
to planets and the center of the nebula condensed and become the sun
The orbits of planets
Each member of the solar system has a definite orbit around the sun.
the orbits of the planets are the result of the delicate balance of forces
existing between the sun and the planets. We call this force
gravitational pull. On the other hand another force, the force of the
planet’s own inertia, tends to throw the planets off into space,
preventing them from being attracted to the sun
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• The design of the universe

• Light year (ly)is defined as the distance which beam of light

travels in one year at the speed of 186,000 miles per second (or
300,000 km/sec ) What then does it mean when astronomers say
that Alpha Centauri, the nearest star to our solar system is 4.3
light years away ? This means that the light we see from Alpha
Centauri is the light which left the star four years and three
months ago travelling at a speed of 186,00 miles per second
before the light reaches our eyes.

• Our sun is only 93 million miles away from us. In light year, it
is only 8 light minutes away from us.
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• Anatomy of Galaxies
• Galaxies are rotating groups of stars, gas, and dust. More than
200 years ago, philosopher Immanuel Kant postulated that
nebulae were island-universes of distant stars. Even though
astronomers now know that galaxies are held together by
gravitational force, they have not been able to decipher what
reasons might be behind galaxies' many shapes. The various
types of galaxies range from ovals of old stars to spirals with
arms of young stars and bright gases. The center of a galaxy has
the greatest accumulation of stars. The Milky Way

• Galaxy is now known to be so big that rays of light, which travel

at 186,000 miles (300,000 km) per second, take 100,000 years to
cross
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• CLASSIFYING GALAXIES ACCORDING TO HUBBLE

• ELLIPTICAL These galaxies are elliptical in

shape and have little dust and gas. Their masses fall
within a wide range.
• SPIRAL In a spiral galaxy, a nucleus of old stars is
surrounded by a flat disk of stars and two or more spiral
arms.
• IRREGULAR an Irregular galaxies have no defined

shape and cannot be classified. They contain a large

amount of gases and dust clouds.
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• Galactic Clusters

• Galaxies are objects that tend to form groups or

clusters. Acting in response to gravitational force, they
can form clusters of galaxies of anywhere from two to
thousands of galaxies. These clusters have various
shapes and are thought to expand when they join
together. The Hercules cluster, was discovered by
Edmond Halley in 1714 and is located approximately
25,100 light-years from Earth. Each dot represents a
galaxy that includes billions of stars.
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• Galaxies also differ in size. Some as called dwarf galaxies and

they have diameters of about 10,00- light years or less. Others
are called giant galaxies and they are 100 million light years or
more in diameter

• It has been estimated that 75% of the galaxies composing the

universe are spiral, 21% are elliptical and 4% are irregular
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• The Milky Way “spilled milk”

• In the early 1900’s Harlow Shapely, an American astronomer
provided an accurate scientific concept about the Milky Way
galaxy. As he was mapping the location of the different star
cluster above and below the galaxy, he discovered that the center
of the Milky Way is located in the region of the constellation
Sagittarius (The Archer) which can be seen in the southern sky
during summer. Today modern astronomers describe our galaxy
as a spiral system filled with about 100 billion stars with our sun
located about 2/3 of the way to the center (about 30,000 light
years) with the center about 5,00 light years thick
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Other Galaxies
• The universe is populated with more than 10 billion galaxies, These galaxies
are sometimes referred to as “ island universe” or “extra galactic nebulae”.
Some galaxies are fairly close to us, others are so remote that they appear as
cloudlike patches of light. Using a 200-inch optical telescope such as one in Mt.
Palomar in California, galaxies as far as 2 billion light years can be detected.

• The Large Magellanic Cloud is an example of irregular galaxy that is nearest

to us about 150,000 light years. It is situated at the South celestial Pole near the
constellation Dorado.

• The Small Magellanic Cloud is slightly farther – 180,000 light years. It is also
situated at the South Celestial Pole near the constellation Tucana. Both the
LMC and SMC can be see using the aided eyes.

• Andromeda is a spiral galaxy like ours. This appear to the aided eyes as a hazy
5th magnitude star. It is slightly larger than our galaxy and about 2,250,000
light years away from us.
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• Stars are huge massive spheres of glowing light

• PROPERTIES OF STARS

A. Distance Stars vary in distance. Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel was

the first to introduce a method of measuring the distances of stars.
The apparent change in the position of the stars due to change in the
position of the observer is called parallax

a. The farther away the star is, the smaller is the parallax angle
formed.

b. The greater the change in the position of the observer is, the bigger
is the parallax angle formed

Stellar parallax measurements are done primarily by photograph. Other

nearby stars are so distant that they would exhibit no parallax at all
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• The great distance of stars can also be expressed using another

unit called parsec (parallax per second). This unit is based upon
the parallax method of measuring stellar distances. Parsec is
defined as the distance at which an object has a parallax of one
second. Parsec = 1/sec. Let us use Alpha Centauri , another
neighbor of the sun as an example of finding parsec. Alpha
Centauri, has a parallax of 0.75 second

• Distance in parsec = 1/sec

• = 1/0.75

• = 1.33 parsec
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• B. Magnitude - This refers to the brightness of stars

Apparent magnitude The brightness of the star as it appear to

an observer on earth

Absolute magnitude devise used by modern –day astronomers

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• C. Size Stars are classified as supergiant, giant or dwarf. Although these terms describe the
sizes of stars. Stars with absolute magnitude brighter than 1 are called giants, those with absolute
magnitude less than 1 are called dwarfs.
Supergiants are those stars which are brighter than the giants. Although some giants are larger
than the supergiants

D. Color and Temperature

Color and Temperature of Some Stars
Color Surface Temperature Examples
red 1,500 -3,000 0C Betelgeuse, Antares
orange 5,000 0C Arcturus
yellow 6,000 0C Sun, Canopus
white 7,500- 11,000 0C Vega
bluish white over 25,000 Rigel
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• E. Composition
Most stars are composed of 72% hydrogen 25 % helium

3% 0f all the other elements( iron, carbon, nickel, etc.)

Bluish-white star have high temperature that can burn hydrogen.
Red stars have cool temperature enough only to burn carbon and
titanium oxide
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• The evolution of a star depends on its mass. The smallest ones,

like the Sun, have relatively long and modest lives. Such a star
begins to burn helium when its hydrogen is depleted. In this way,
its external layers begin to swell until the star turns into a red
giant. It ends its life as white dwarfs, eventually fading away
completely, ejecting remaining outer layers, and forming a
planetary nebula.

• A massive star, because of its higher density, can form elements

heavier than helium from its nuclear reactions. In the final stage
of its life, its core collapses and the star explodes. All that
remains is a

hyper dense remnant, a neutron star. The most massive stars end
by forming black holes.
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The Life Cycle of Stars

Within the region in space called the interstellar space (space between stars)
are clouds of dust and gas called the nebulae

(singular, nebula). The nebulae are composed of 72% hydrogen

25% helium and 3% heavy elements in the form of icy crystals

A. Birth Stage Gravitational force causes hydrogen atoms in the

nebulae to accidentally come together. The ball of hydrogen
atoms contracts in response to its own gravitational pull, thus
increasing its pressure, temperature, and density until it ignites.
This glowing ball of gas is a beginning star, a protostar
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• B. Infancy Stage
Contraction continues in response to self-gravitational pull. This causes
the protostar to shrink to about a trillion kilometers to 250 million
kilometers in diameter. This temperature is high enough to initiate a
thermonuclear reaction. The protostar is now called star.

C. Maturity Stage
This is called the stable stage which may last for millions or billions of
years depending on the mass of the stars

D. Later Stage
This is the stage where most of the hydrogen atoms have been converted to
helium.
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• E. Last stage
• In this stage, the star now has a helium core and an outer
envelope or shell composed of hydrogen. The heat causes the
hydrogen in the outer shell surrounding the core to burn. The
energy released by burning of the hydrogen in the shell causes
the shell to expand. Continuous contraction due to gravitational
force likewise compresses the core until its temperature reaches
about 100 million degrees centigrade.

• As a result, gravity overwhelms the core until the star’s outer

core blast off forming a supernova and its materials are thrown
into space. The remaining core may eventually become a
neutron star or a pulsar.
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Incredible space objects

Neutron stars are remnants of massive star that collapsed.

Some have been observed to be rotating rapidly and shooting out jets of gases
containing X-rays. Gamma rays and radio waves. The jets of gases streams out
about ten billion kilometers in space .

• NEUTRON STARS When a star's initial mass is between 10 and 20 solar

masses, its final mass will be larger than the mass of the Sun.

Despite losing great quantities of matter during nuclear reactions, the star
finishes with a very dense core. Because of its intense

magnetic and gravitational fields, a neutron star can end up as a pulsar. A

pulsar is a rapidly spinning neutron star that gives off a

beam of radio waves or other radiation. As the beam sweeps around the
object, the radiation is observed in very regular pulses.
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Pulsars (Pulsating Radio Sources) these are neutron stars flickering

with radio pulses. Just like ordinary neutron star, they also emit
radiation

• PULSARS The first pulsar (a neutron star radiating radio waves) was
discovered in 1967. Pulsars rotate approximately 30 times per second
and have very intense magnetic fields. Pulsars emit radio waves from
their two magnetic poles

when they rotate. If a pulsar absorbs gas from a neighboring star, a hot
spot that radiates X-rays is produced on the pulsar's surface.

Quasars (Quasi-stellar Radio Sources) These objects are 20,000 times

brighter than a star of magnitude 18. Discovered in 1960, quasars are
strong sources or radio waves.
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• D. The black hole, by exerting such powerful gravitational

force, attracts everything that passes close to it, letting nothing
escape.

• Since even light is not exempt from this phenomenon, black

holes are opaque and

invisible to even the most advanced telescopes.

• Some astronomers believe that super massive black holes might

have a mass of millions, or even billions, of solar masses.
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• For a long time stars were a mystery to humans, and it was

only as recently as the 19th century that astronomers began
to understand the true nature
of stars. Today we know that they are gigantic spheres of
incandescent gas—mostly hydrogen, with a smaller
proportion of helium. As a star radiates light, astronomers
can precisely measure its brightness, color, and
temperature.
Because of their enormous distance from the Earth, stars
beyond the Sun only appear as points of light, and even the
most powerful telescopes do not reveal any surface
features
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• Stellar Evolution

• Stars are born in nebulae, which are giant clouds of gas

(mainly hydrogen) and dust that float in space. Stars can
have a life span of millions, or even billions, of years. The
biggest stars have the shortest lives, because they consume
their nuclear fuel (hydrogen) at a very accelerated rate.
Other stars, like the Sun, burn fuel at a slower rate and may
live some 10 billion years. Many times, a star's size
indicates its age. Smaller stars are the youngest, and bigger
stars are approaching their end, either through cooling or by
exploding as a supernova.
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• 1. PROTOSTAR A protostar has a dense, gaseous core

surrounded by a cloud of dust.

2. STAR star is finally born. It fuses hydrogen to form helium

and lies along the main sequence.

3. RED SUPERGIANT The star swells and heats up.

Through nuclear reactions, a heavy core of iron is formed.

4. SUPERNOVA When the star can no longer fuse any more

elements, its core collapses, causing a strong emission of energy.

5. BLACK HOLE If the star's initial mass is 20 solar masses

or more, its nucleus is denser and it turns into a black hole,
whose gravitational force is extremely strong.
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• When a star exhausts its hydrogen, it begins to die.

The helium that now makes up the star's core begins
to undergo nuclear reactions, and the star remains
bright. When the star's helium is depleted, fusion of
carbon and oxygen begins, which causes the star's
core to contract. The star continues to live, though its
surface layers begin to expand and cool as the star
turns into a red giant. Stars similar to the Sun (solar-
type stars) follow this process. After billions of years,
they end up as white dwarfs. When they are fully
extinguished, they will be black dwarfs, invisible in
space.
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• A supernova is an extraordinary explosion of a giant star at the

end of its life, accompanied by a sudden increase in brightness
and the release of a great amount of energy. In 10 seconds, a
supernova releases 100 times more energy than the Sun will
release in its entire life. After the explosion of the star that gives
rise to a supernova, the gaseous remnant expands and shines for
millions of years. It is estimated that, in our Milky Way galaxy,
two supernovae occur per century.
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The last stage in the evolution of a star's core is its

transformation into a very dense, compact stellar body.

Its particulars depend upon the amount of mass involved in its

collapse. The largest stars become black holes, their density so
great that their gravitational forces capture even light. The only
way to detect these dead stars is by searching for the effects of
their gravitation.

• Discovery of Black Holes The only way of detecting the

presence of a black hole in space is by its effect on neighboring
stars. Since the gravitational force exerted by a black hole is so
powerful, the gases of nearby stars are absorbed at great speed,
spiraling toward the black hole and forming a structure called an
accretion disk. The friction of the gases heats them until they
shine brightly. The hottest parts of the accretion disk may reach
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• When a small star dies, all that remains is an expanding gas shell
known as a planetary nebula, which has nothing to do with the
planets. In general, planetary nebulae are symmetrical or
spherical objects. Although it has not been possible to determine
why they exist in such diversity, the reason may be related to the
effects of the magnetic field of the dying central star. Viewed
through a telescope, several nebulae can be seen to contain a
central dwarf star, a mere remnant of its precursor star.
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• The Solar System

• Models of the solar system

• In the 16th century, a Greek philosopher named Claudius Ptolemy

developed a Geocentric idea about the universe. Ptolemy believed
that the earth was the center of the universe and that the sun, moon,
and planets revolved around it.

• The wisdom and courage of a young Polish lawyer, economist,

physician and monk of a Polish Church by the name of Copernicus
revolutionized Ptolemy’s idea and introduced the Heliocentric
model of the universe. After careful observations, gathering of data
and mathematical calculations, Copernicus was convinced that the
sun is the center of the solar system and the different planets
including the earth revolve around it
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•Geocentric Model Before telescopes, binoculars, and modern

observatories existed, little was known about the Earth. Many
believed that the Earth was fixed and that the Sun, the Moon,
and the five known planets orbited it in circles. This
geocentric model was promoted by the Egyptian astronomer
Claudius Ptolemy, who in the 2nd century AD compiled the
astronomical ideas of the ancient Greek astronomers (in
particular, those of Aristotle, who had proposed the Earth as
the center of the universe, with the celestial objects revolving
around it). Although other ancient astronomers, such as
Aristarchus of Samus, proposed that the Earth was round and
rotated around the Sun, Aristotle’s ideas were accepted as true
for 16 centuries, and at times Aristotle’s ideas were defended
and preserved by the Roman Catholic Church.
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• Heliocentric Model In 1543, a few months before his death, Nicolaus Copernicus
published the book Derevolutionibus orbium coelestium, inaugurating what is
now known as the Copernican Revolution. The Polish astronomer developed the
heliocentric theory (from helios, the Greek word for “the Sun”), which
contradicted the geocentric theory. Copernicus’s new postulate inverted the
traditional relationship of the Sun and the Earth, identifying the Sun as the center
of the universe and the Earth as one of many solar satellites. Copernicus argued
that spheres moved in endless, circular orbits. Since the universe and all the
celestial bodies were thought to be spherical, he argued that their movements must
also be circular and uniform (the Ptolemaic system considered the planets’ circuits
to be irregular). Copernicus reasoned that, since the movements of the planets
appeared to be irregular, the Earth must not be the center of the universe. These
discoveries were contrary to the views promulgated by the Roman Catholic
Church. In fact, both Roman Catholics and Protestants suppressed any writings
advocating these beliefs. When Galileo Galilei was brought to trial by the Roman
Catholic Church for advocating the Copernican theory, he was forced to
renounce his views.
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• Outer Planets

• Planets located outside the asteroid belt. They are enormous gas
spheres with small solid cores. They have very low temperatures
because of their great distance from the Sun. The presence of
ring systems is exclusive to these planets. The greatest of them is
Jupiter: 1,300 Earths could fit inside of it. Its mass is 2.5 times as
great as that of the rest of the planets combined
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• NEPTUNE
DIAMETER 30,775 MILES (49,528 KM)

• MOONS 13

Triton, Proteus, Nereid

• URANUS
DIAMETER 31,763 MILES (51,118 KM)

MOONS 27

Titania, Oberon, Umbriel ,Ariel, Miranda ,Puck

SATURN

DIAMETER 74,898 MILES (120,536 KM)

• MOONS 50+

Titan, Rhea, Iapetus, Tethys

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• JUPITER
DIAMETER 88,846 MILES (142,984 KM)

MOONS 60+

Ganymede, Callisto, Io, Europa

• Asteroid Belt
The border between the outer and inner planets is marked by millions
of rocky fragments of various sizes that form a band

called the asteroid belt. Their orbits are influenced by the

gravitational pull exerted on them by the giant planet Jupiter. This
effect also keeps them from merging and forming a planet.
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• Inner Planets

Planets located inside the asteroid belt. They are solid bodies in
which internal geologic phenomena, such as volcanism, which
can modify their surfaces, are produced. Almost all of them have
an appreciable atmosphere of some degree of thickness,
according to individual circumstances, which plays a key role in
the surface temperatures of each planet.
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• MARS
• DIAMETER 4,217 MILES (6,786 KM)

MOONS 2

Deimos, Phobos

• EARTH
• DIAMETER 7,926 MILES (12,756 KM)

MOONS 1

• VENUS
• DIAMETER 7,520 MILES (12,103 KM)
• MOONS 0

• MERCURY
• DIAMETER 3,031 MILES (4,878 KM)

• MOONS 0
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• The Sun at the center of the solar system is a source of light and heat.
This energy is produced by the fusion of atomic hydrogen nuclei, which
generate helium nuclei. The energy that emanates from the Sun travels
through space and initially encounters the bodies that populate the solar
system. The Sun shines thanks to thermonuclear fusion, and it will
continue to shine until its supply of hydrogen runs out in about six or
seven billion years.

• The Sun is a giant ball of gases with very high density and

temperature. Its main components are hydrogen (90%) and

helium (9%). The balance of its mass is made up of trace elements, such
as carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, among others. Because of the
conditions of extreme temperature and pressure on the Sun, these
elements are in a plasma state.
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• Surface and Atmosphere

The visible portion of the Sun is a sphere of light, or photosphere,
made of boiling gases emanating from the solar core. The gas
flares form plasma, which passes through this layer. Later the gas
flares enter a vast gas layer called the solar atmosphere. The
density of this layer decreases toward its outermost region.
Above the photosphere lies the solar atmosphere—the
chromospheres and the corona. The energy

generated at the core moves through the surface of the

photosphere and solar atmosphere for thousands of years in
search of an exit into space.
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• PHOTOSPHERE

The visible surface of the Sun, a boiling tide,

is thick with gases in a plasma state. In its uppermost layer, its

density decreases and its

transparency increases, and the solar radiation

escapes from the Sun as light.

The spectrographic study of this layer has allowed scientists to

confirm that the main components of the Sun are hydrogen and
helium.