Week 8: Timeline of Our Universe

Learning in Lab:

This week during lab we listened to six different presentations that cover the timeline of our universe. We started with the origin of the universe, which was my presentation, and we described that our universe was created at one single point called the Big Bang. During the Big Bang, Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation was left behind and protons and electrons combined to from hydrogen atoms. We understand today that space is continuously expanding. Then, we learned about the lifecycle of stars as they go from a nebula to a protostar, to the main sequence and transition into either a high mass or low mass star. Our sun is considered a low mass star. The more mass something has, the greater gravitational pull they have. Then, we learned about galaxies and how there are billions of galaxies out in space. Galaxies have several different shapes such as spiral, elliptical, and irregular. Our galaxy is spiral and our sun is placed on one spiral of the galaxy. Next, we learned about the origin of the Earth and how it was created from a mixture of dust and gas from a newly born sun about 4.6 billion years ago. The first 500 million years of Earth's existence was considered the Dark Age because there was no light. The next topic was Black Holes, and we learned that a black hole is an astronomical object with a gravitational pull so strong that not even light can escape it. Finally, we learned about the past, present, and future findings of the Earth. It was cool to look at where space knowledge is going in the future by learning more about Gateway and SpaceX. 

Lifecycle of Stars

Learning in Lecture:

Big Questions: 

During this weeks lecture, we looked further into the topics that we covered in our presentations during lab. A common misconception about the origin of the Universe, is that the Big Bang was an actual explosion. In reality, a subatomic particle inflated into a gigantic size and spread into what we know as our universe. I also learned that light did not happen until about 300,000 years after the Big Bang. Our sun formed from a stellar nebula, most likely after a star underwent supernova. A common misconception about the origin of the Earth is that it was created during the Big Bang, but it actually formed from dust and debris from another star. Our planet is in the Milky Way galaxy and we are located on Orion's Arm because our galaxy is a spiral shape. Black Holes are formed when a Super Red Giant star undergoes supernova and then forms a Black Hole. Black Holes are super dense and nothing, including light, can escape. We finished lecture by learning about past, present, and future space travel. I thought it was interesting to learn about women's contribution to space travel and how it has evolved since the Cold War.

 

Origin of Earth

Textbook Connections:

1. What did you learn?

This chapter talks more about the timeline that we discussed in our lab section. The pressbook lays out the time line as: The Big Bang -> the first black holes form -> mass star formation -> milky way formation -> the Sun, Earth, and Moon formation. The Big Bang happened around 13.7 billion years ago, and everything that was ever to exist came from one subatomic particle. Within a fraction of a second, the tiny particle stretched and inflated into a huge size where space, time, and particles of the universe were created. Edwin Hubble describes that the universe is still expanding to this day. Also, Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation is leftover from the Big Bang. The stars were created when particles in a nebula start to attract and their mass increases. The star then ignites and becomes fully functioning, when a start dies it creates a supernova. When a very massive star goes through supernova, it will create a black hole. The origin of our Earth is concluded to have formed from force of the suns energy that blew off the gas clouds around the four inner planets and combined to create Earth. Galaxies os a collection of billions of stars, gas and dust in space. There are probably 100 billion galaxies in the entire universe. The Milky Way is where our solar system is located and is a spiral-shaped galaxy. Finally, the past, present, and future of space travel starts when the Soviet Union launched Sputnik during the Cold War. Then, the United States launched Explorer 1 and NASA is created. In 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 2, and in 1962 the Soviets orbit Gagarin. During this same time, the United States claim they will put a man on the moon and they orbit the Earth for the first time. Finally in 1969, the United States launches Apollo 11 and land the first man on the moon. 

2. What was most helpful?

An aspect of this chapter that was most helpful for me was the timelines for our Universe and the timeline of space travel. It helps me put into perspectives the order of events that got us to where we are today. I also liked learning about the women that were involved in space travel during this time. We rarely talk about the impact that women have in science and I appreciated learning about their contributions. 

3. What do you need more information on?

I would like to get more information on how galaxies are pertinent to our universe. I understand that we are located within the milky way and we are in one part of the spiral shape, however it is hard for me to visualize what our galaxy and other galaxies are like. 

4. What questions, concerns, or comments to do you have? 

One question that I have is how can we take all of this information and create an interactive activity for K-6 students to understand the relevant content they need.