Origin of Stars, Earth, Moon, Oceans and Life

How long ago was the Earth created from the big bang?

14 billion years ago

When did the afterglow light pattern happen?

400000 years ago

What happened after the big bang happened

1. There was only hydrogen and a little bit of helium

2. Gravity pulls hydrogen together and compresses it so intensely that it ignites thermonuclear fusion within the star. Lighter elements fuse together to form heavier elements like carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous up to iron, along with heat and star light. This happened when the core temperature reaches 10 million kelvin

3. When large stars explode, elements heavier than iron (e.g. copper and gold) are formed and spread through the newly form nebular of dust

how do new stars, planets and humans form

when large stars explode, they form nebular clouds of gas and dust containing a mix of light and heavy elements that are pulled back together by gravity to form new stars and planets and us

Different generation of stars

1. 1st gen = made from hydrogen

2. 2nd and 3rd gen = made from hydrogen and heavier elements contained in the nebulae

what are the planets closest to the sun called and made of

terrestrial planets, they are made from rocky materials that withstand the heat of the sun

what are planets further away from the sun called

gas and ice giants

what happens to the sun when it dies

• it will run out of hydrogen fuel

• before it dies, it will expand in size beyond the orbit of earth, vaporizing earth and all its life

• all vaporized atoms that were once part of the sun and earth and make up our bodies today will contract back to make new stars and new plants

how was the moon formed

• earth was hit by a mars-sized object

what is the spin axis of the moon

a 23 degree angle with orbital plane

atmosphere of early earth

• mostly consisted of hydrogen and helium since most gases were lost to space

atmosphere today

• outgassing from volcanoes have released h2o, co2, so2, n2, h2, cl2 in the atmosphere (an anaerobic atmosphere)

• when photosynthetic life evolved later on, this produced a modern o2-rich atmosphere

what are the theories for why there is water on earth

• water formed in place when the earth formed and later outgassed and condensed

• water was brought to earth by comets after earth formed and cooled (but the isotopic formulation of water doesn’t match when scientists sent a space probe in 2014)

• water brought to earth by ice-ladened asteroids that bombarded the early earth (most prevailing theory)

which era had the first life (that existed in the ocean)

eoarchean - 4 billion years ago

which era did the oxygen atmosphere form

mesoarchean, 3 billion years ago where there was bacterial photosynthesis

when did the first multicellular life form

paleoproterozoic - 2 billion years ago

when did the first life on land happen

during the cambrian explosion 550 million ago

when did the asteroid impact end dinosaurs and gave rise to mammals

cenozoic 65 million years ago

when did the age of fish / vertebrae occur

devonian

(most of ithaca’s rocks were formed during this period)

names of all the oceans

1. pacific

2. indian

3. atlantic

4. southern

5. arctic

what is the average depth of the ocean

4km

latitude

degrees of angles from the equator northward and southward

longitude

degrees of angles west and east from the prime meridian (which crosses greenwich)

what is created during thermonuclear-fusion

heavier elements plus heat and visible light (among other radiation)

where is the only place in the universe where elements heavier than helium and hydrogen can be created

inside of stars where nuclear fusion of lighter elements creates heavier elements like carbon (atomic number 12) and iron (atomic number 26)

when are elements heavier than iron formed

when large stars explode

how did the solar system form

• 4.6 billion years ago, rock-forming elements condensed into small solid grains as the nebula cooled

  • grains accreted to planetesimals

  • planetesimals accreted to form the earth

what stage of life is the sun and earth

midlife

if you were to scale the earth down to the size of a beach ball ½ meter diameter, how thick will the ocean be

0.15mm

if you were to scale the earth down to the size of a beach ball ½ meter diameter, how thick will the atmosphere be

0.45mm

what is the latitude and longitude of los angeles

34 degrees N, 118 degrees West
or +34 North, -  118 Longitude