The Most Amazing Things in the Universe beyond our Solar System

1. The Most Amazing Things in the Universe beyond our Solar System Nebulas Black Holes Neutron Stars and Pulsars The Biggest Known galaxy and star Extrasolar Planets The Largest Supercluster

2. Nebulas • Nebulas are the birthplace of stars. They contain the hydrogen needed to form stars. • Nebulas collapse when gravity in the center pushes the gas inward. This forms a protostellar disk. The beautiful Orion nebula The Tarantula nebula

3. Nebulas: The Star Is Born • As the nebula collapses, the center becomes very hot: 1,650°C. It begins to glow. • 10 million years later, nuclear fusion happens when hydrogen is fused into helium. Once this happens, the star is born. Stars are being born in the Tarantula nebula

4. Nebulas: The Crab Nebula • Not all nebulas are places where stars are born. The Crab nebula is the remnant from a star that died. The Crab Nebula

5. Supernovas • Supernovas are the explosion that happens when a massive star dies. • When the massive star dies, it produced iron. During a supernova, the matter is spit out and what’s left is a core. A Supernova Explosion A supernova

6. Pulsars and Neutron Stars • Pulsars are small 10 – 20 kilometer sized stars that are super dense, super small, and super heavy. • Neutron Stars and Pulsars have temperatures of 50,000°C at its surface. At the center, it can be 100 million degrees centigrade. • Pulsars are a special kind of neutron stars that emit radio waves and other forms of radiation.

7. Pictures Of Pulsars and Neutron Stars A Neutron Star Pulsar PSR J1614-2230 A Neutron Star’s Interior & Surface Pulsar PSR B1257+12 and It’s Planets

8. The Biggest Known Star • The biggest known star is VY Canis Majoris. • VY Canis Majoris is not a giant, or supergiant star. It’s a hypergiant star. VY Canis Majoris in comparison to the Sun

9. Red Giants and Supergiants When stars burn their hydrogen, they are using fuel. When the hydrogen runs out, the star begins burning helium. The star becomes redder and much bigger. This indicates the warming of the star. The core becomes hotter. Once the star becomes big enough, it becomes a red giant. If it continues to expand, it may become a supergiant or even a hypergiant. However, these are very rare.

10. Pictures Of Red Giants and Supergiants A Red Giant A Red Supergiant’s Inside A Red Supergiant

11. Star Temperatures

12. The Death of Mid-Sized Stars • Once all hydrogen is burned, the star starts to burn helium. The star becomes a red giant. After helium, it burns carbon, oxygen, and so on until it gets to iron. Now the star will get unstable. It will contract and shrink until it becomes a white dwarf. When the Sun becomes a red giant, the surface of the Earth will melt.

13. The Death of Large Stars • Supernovas are the explosion that happens when a massive star dies. • When the massive star dies, it produced iron. During a supernova, the matter is spit out and what’s left is a core. A Supernova Explosion A supernova

14. The Kinds of Dwarfs A Brown Dwarf A Red Dwarf A Yellow Dwarf A White Dwarf A Black Dwarf

15. Extrasolar (Exoplanets) Planets • Our Solar System is not unique. This means that there are other Solar Systems just like ours in the Universe. • However, astronomers hope to find a planet that can sustain life. In other words similar to Earth. Extrasolar planets orbiting a star

16. 51 Pegasi’s Planet • Astronomers have detected a planet orbiting the star 51 Pegasi. This planet is seven times the size of Earth and orbits very near its star. • It’s only about 7 million kilometers away. One year there takes just four days. (Imagine your birthday ) • The planet is probably a hot ball of molten rock with temperatures of more than 1000°C. The planet orbiting 51 Pegasi

17. 70 Virginis’s Planets • Astronomers have detected planets orbiting a star called 70 Virginis. • One planet has nine times the mass of Jupiter. It may be a brown dwarf. • It orbits it’s star about half the distance between Earth and the Sun. The temperature may be 85°C. Therefore, liquid water may exist. Planet orbiting 70 Virginis

18. CoRoT-7’s Planet • CoRoT-7b is the first earthlike planet discovered orbiting the star CoRoT-7. The planet is only about 1.7 times the diameter of Earth. • However, CoRoT-7b orbits its star twenty times closer than Earth orbits the Sun. The temperature there is probably 1800 – 2600°C. • Also, the atmosphere may contain oxygen (O), potassium (K), and sodium (Na). CoRoT-7b orbiting CoRoT-7

19. GJ 1214’s Planets • GJ 1214b is another earthlike planet found orbiting GJ 1214. GJ 1214 is very small and dim though. However, the planet still gets a lot of heat. • The temperature is about 200°C on GJ 1214b. However, GJ 1214b has a super thick atmosphere which may allow water to flow. GJ 1214b orbiting GJ 1214

20. Gliese 581’s Planet • Maybe the best match to earth anyone has found is the planet Gliese 581d orbiting Gliese 581. • The star Gliese 581 is much smaller and dimmer than the Sun. it’s only 0.2% as luminous as the Sun. • Life may exist on Gliese 581d. However, you might not want to live there. Gliese 581d orbiting Gliese 581

21. The Largest Galaxy • The largest galaxy known to astronomers is IC 1101. It is a Spiral Galaxy like the Milky way but sixty times larger. • The Milky Way contains about 200 – 400 billion stars and is about 100,000 light-years across. • IC 1101 has much more stars and is 5.6 – 6 billion light-years across. IC 1101 Galaxy

22. Black Holes • Black Holes are regions in the universe where there is huge gravity so that nothing can escape. • Black Holes can suck up asteroids, meteoroids, dust, and other things. • Supermassive Black Hones can suck up entire stars and Solar Systems. A Supermassive Black Hole

23. Quasars • Quasars are caused when Supermassive black holes spit out huge amounts of matter and energy that it forms jets of energy waves. • Quasars used to be in the center of every galaxy. In the beginning, Supermassive black holes suck up everything until huge jets of energy come out. • Quasars are one of the brightest things in the Universe. A Quasar

24. The Largest Supercluster • The Group that has the Milky Way, Andromeda Galaxy, and the Large Magellanic Cloud is the Local group. • The Local group is part of another cluster called the Virgo Supercluster. • The largest supercluster known is the Sculptor Supercluster. It’s over 250 million light years long. A small part of the Sculptor Supercluster