The History of the Universe

Spaceship Earth

The Human Adventure of Astronomy

A brief view of the steps that led to us…

Each day represents about 38 million years

On the Cosmic Calendar, in what month did the Milky Way form?

A) February

B) May

C) July

D) September

E) December

On the Cosmic Calendar, in what month did our solar system form?

A) February

B) May

C) July

D) September

E) December

On the Cosmic Calendar, on what date did humans first appear on earth?

A) New Year’s Day

B) Valentine’s Day

C) Memorial Day

D) Halloween

E) New Year’s Eve

Motion of the surface of Earth due to rotation

~ 1000 mph

~ 780 mph

Motion of the Earth due to revolution

107,000 km/hr

(Astronomical Unit)

~ 67,000 mph

Motion of the solar system with respect to the galaxy

> 100,000 km/hr

And our galaxy moves with respect to other galaxies, too!

~ 480,000 mph

And galaxies move relative to each other…

The Local Group

> 350,000 mph

The flow of galaxies in our supercluster

500 million ly across

The raisin cake analogy for the expansion of the universe

The universe is expanding

A summary of all the motions…

Aristotle

Aristarchus

Ancient Views of the Universe

But the evidence wasn’t convincing

at the time…

CopernicusProposed the Sun-

centered model again

KeplerFirst to propose the

correct model of planetary orbits

GalileoProvided solid evidence that the

Earth orbits the Sun

Developments in the 1500’ and 1600’s

Harlowe ShapleyMeasured the size of our galaxy.

Showed we are not in the center of that, either.

Edwin HubbleMeasured distances to other galaxies.

Discovered the expansion of the universe.

Developments in the 20th century

And we continue to explore and extend our reach

Curiosity – Mars

Cassini – Saturn

New Horizons – Pluto, and beyond!

Astro-Cash Cab!

Jonathon Hazard

Jessica Chiles

Nick Smith

Derek DiThomas

Rebecca Lopez

1) True or False?

People who live in Alaska are moving faster than people who live in Ecuador.

2) Name one space probe we’ve put up to explore our solar system

3) On the Cosmic Calendar, in what month did the Sun and planets form?

March

June

September

December

4) The average distance from the Sun to

the Earth is called a(n) … ?