OPTION D - ASTROPHYSICS
D3 Cosmology
The Big Bang Model
Suggest that the red-shift of light from galaxies indicates
that the universe is expanding.
In astronomy, the Doppler effect was originally studied in the
visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Today, the
Doppler shift, as it is also known, applies to electromagnetic
waves in all portions of the spectrum.
Also, because of the inverse
relationship between
frequency and wavelength, we
can describe the Doppler shift
in terms of wavelength.
Radiation is redshifted when its
wavelength increases, and is
blueshifted when its
wavelength decreases.
Suggest that the red-shift of light from galaxies indicates
that the universe is expanding.
In astronomy, the Doppler effect was originally studied in the
visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Today, the Doppler
shift, as it is also known, applies to electromagnetic waves in all
portions of the spectrum.
Astronomers use
Doppler shifts to
calculate precisely how
fast stars and other
astronomical objects
move toward or away
from Earth.
Suggest that the red-shift of light from galaxies indicates
that the universe is expanding.
Suggest that the red-shift of light from galaxies indicates
that the universe is expanding.
Why is Doppler effect so
important?
In 1920’s Edwin Hubble and Milton Humanson realised that
the spectra of distant galaxies showed a redshift, which means
that they are moving away from Earth.
So, if galaxies are moving away from each other then it they
may have been much closer together in the past.
Matter was concentrated in one point and some “explosion”
may have thrown the matter apart.
Big Bang
The Big Bang Model is a broadly accepted theory for the
origin and evolution of our universe.
It postulates that 12 to 14 billion years ago, the portion of
the universe we can see today was only a few millimetres
across.
It has since expanded from this hot dense state into the
vast and much cooler cosmos we currently inhabit.
We can see remnants of this hot dense matter as the now
very cold cosmic microwave background radiation which
still pervades the universe and is visible to microwave
detectors as a uniform glow across the entire sky.
Big Bang
The singular point at which space, time, matter and
energy were created. The Universe has been expanding
ever since.
Main evidence:
• Expansion of the Universe – the Universe is expanding (redshift)
it was once smaller it must have started expanding
sometime “explosion”
• Background radiation evidence of an hot Universe that
cooled as it expanded
• Helium abundance He produced by stars is little there is
no other explanation for the abundance of He in the Universe
than the Big Bang model.
Describe the discovery of cosmic microwave background
(CMB) radiation by Penzias and Wilson.
In 1960 two physicists, Dicke and Peebles, realising that there
was more He than it could be produced by stars, proposed that
in the beginning of the Universe it was at a sufficiently high
temperature to produce He by fusion.
In this process a great amount of highly energetic radiation was
produced.
However, as the Universe expanded and cooled, the energy of
that radiation decreased as well (wavelength increased).
It was predicted that the actual photons would have an
maximum λ corresponding to a black body spectrum of 3K.
So, we would be looking for microwave radiation.
Describe the discovery of cosmic microwave background
(CMB) radiation by Penzias and Wilson.
Shortly after this
prediction, Penzias and
Wilson were working
with a microwave aerial
and found that no
matter in what direction
they pointed the aerial it
picked up a steady,
continuous background
radiation.
Describe the discovery of cosmic microwave background
(CMB) radiation by Penzias and Wilson.
In every direction, there is a very low energy and very uniform
radiation that we see filling the Universe. This is called the 3
Degree Kelvin Background Radiation, or the Cosmic
Background Radiation, or the Microwave Background.
These names come about
because this radiation is
essentially a black body
with temperature slightly
less than 3 degrees Kelvin
(about 2.76 K), which
peaks in the microwave
portion of the spectrum.
Explain how cosmic radiation in the microwave region is
consistent with the Big Bang model.
Why is the background radiation an
evidence for the Big Bang?
The cosmic background radiation (sometimes
called the CBR/CMB), is the afterglow of the big
bang, cooled to a faint whisper in the microwave
spectrum by the expansion of the Universe for 15
billion years (which causes the radiation originally
produced in the Big Bang to redshift to longer
wavelengths).
OPTION D - ASTROPHYSICS
D3 Cosmology
Hubble’s Law
State Hubble’s law.
• Hubble’s Law states that distant galaxies are moving away from
the Earth with a speed that is proportional to their distance.
v Hd
Where:
d is the distance to the galaxy (in Mpc)
v is its recessional speed (in km s-1).
H is known as Hubble’s constant and
its average value is 72 km s-1 Mpc-1
This means that for every megaparsec
to a galaxy, the galaxy's speed away
from us will increase by 70
kilometers/second.
Discuss the limitations of Hubble’s law.
Hubble’s Law has a few limitations:
• It’s constant in space but varies with time. This means that the
rate of expansion of the Universe was not the same throughout
its expansion.
• There are uncertainties in the distances measured precisely
because it is quite difficult to measure distances to remote
galaxies accurately.
Explain how the Hubble constant may be determined.
Hubble’s Law is determined by:
• Measuring the distance to distant galaxies
• Measuring their recessional speed using Doppler effect
• Plotting a grapg of v against distance.
• Hubble’s constant is equal to the slop of the graph
Explain how the Hubble constant may be used to estimate the
age of the universe.
• If we assume that the expansion of the Universe has been
constant up to now, then gives an upper bound to the age of
the Universe.
• This is only an upper band as the Universe expanded faster at
the beginning (this would imply a younger Universe).
• The time , known as Hubble time, is about 14 billion years.
• The Universe cannot be older than this.
and
Explain how the Hubble constant may be used to estimate the
age of the universe.
• The value of Hubble’s time with H = 70x103 m s-1 Mpc-1 is
E.6.8 Solve problems involving Hubble’s law.
Explain the red-shift of light from distant galaxies.
• Due to the expansion of the Universe, the light received from
galaxies is red-shifted.
• The shift in a spectral line from a galaxy emission spectrum is given
by:
'
• The speed of the galaxy is given by: v
Where:
λ’ is the wavelength measured on Earth
c
λ is the wavelength emitted by the galaxy
c is the speed of light in vacuum
v is the recession speed of the galaxy
Solve problems involving red-shift and the recession speed of
galaxies.
• 1. The beginning of the universe .. the big bang
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOz4PkdY7aA
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• The History of the Universe in 10 Minutes
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ip5BAEfZuA
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• The First Second After The Big Bang - Universe Documentary 2014
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfpH3Zox6m4
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OPTION D - ASTROPHYSICS
D3 Cosmology
The development of the universe
Scale factor R
• It is difficult to say how big the Universe is, so it is
convenient to use a scale factor which gives a measure
not of how big it is but of how big it is relative to
today.
• So if the scale factor is 4 it means that the Universe is 4
times bigger than today. In an expanding Universe this
would imply sometime in the future.
• A scale factor of 1 means the present time.
• Red-shifted light from distant galaxies is shifted because
of the expansion on the Universe so we can calculate
the scale factor of the Universe at the time the light
was emitted from the change in wavelength.
Scale factor R
• If R(tobs) (R) is the scale factor at the time of observing
the light (now) and R(tem) (Ro)is the scale factor when
emitted then:
Δλ/λo= z =ΔR/Ro ; ΔR = R – Ro
So, z = R/Ro – Ro/Ro then z = R/Ro - 1
R - scale factor at time of observation
Ro - scale factor at time of emission
Cosmic Journeys - How Large is the Universe?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaX4iGw-b_Y
The distribution of galaxies in the universe.
