From the Large Scale Universe to the Milky Way

From the Large Scale Universe to The Milky Way Jason Norton SCI/151 Benjawan Kjornrattanawanich May 28, 2012 Cosmology is the study of the universe as a whole. Describe the foundation of modern cosmology. Cosmology is the branch of study in relation to the origin and nature of the universe (Farlex, 2012). The thoughts and opinions on how the universe began over the years was one of spiritual and scientific. Through beliefs of the Bible and followers of the faith it is believed that God created the universe and everything in it. From a scientific view it is believed that the universe was created by The Big Bang.Throughout time many astronomers and scientists pushed the envelope to prove that the universe was not created by God but instead created by one force in space that over time has further developed what is on Earth and out in the universe. Most of the scientists and astronomers back in time were followers of the religion and almost had their own beliefs lead them into the wrong direction. It was not until such people as Galileo, Copernicus, and Sir Isaac Newtown that further proved The Big Bang Theory caused the creation of the universe.Galileo theory of the Earth revolving around the sun had him almost executed by the Roman Catholic Church. Galileo’s use of the telescope marked him as a modern science marvel. His discoveries spanned from the moons of Jupiter to the moon. In relation to cosmology, Galileo’s contributions to the understanding of the universe and how it begun helped shape the modernization of cosmology. It was not until later that Galileo’s contributions were proven to be liable and relative. Present-day cosmology continues to make theories and observations in attempt to prove out or further discover the realms of the universe.The Big Bang theory is a part of cosmology. Explain the Big Bang theory and provide an example of one experiment scientists performed that supported it. The Big Bang Theory has been thought to have begun approximately 15 billion years ago with an explosion that created where people live and everything around us in the universe. This matter and energy in space was held in one area and when the Big Bang happened it helped to lay the foundation of the universe. It help to create and layout the universe and continues to this day to still happen based on scientific observations.Edwin Hubble has credited with the source of the foundation behind the Big Bang with the use of the Hubble Telescope. Hubble’s observations and discoveries of the Milky Way Galaxy and beyond just scratched the surface for astronomers and scientists when it relates to what is out there. An example of one experiment scientists performed that supported the Big Bang theory was, â€Å"Einstein's General Theory of Relativity (1916) is a generalization of Newton’s Law of Gravity. Gravity is described as a distortion of space and time.The Cosmological Principle is an assumption that matter in the uni verse is uniformly distributed when averaging over large-scales, and that the distribution of matter is homogeneous and isotropic. This laid the foundation of the Big Bang Model, which was â€Å"Big Bang Theory = General Theory of Relativity + Cosmological Principle† (Welser-Sherrill, 2007, pg. 1) The Milky Way is just one galaxy that resulted from the Big Bang. Describe the structure of the Milky Way and how dark matter influences it. The Milky Way’s structure is that of a spiral with approximately 400 billion stars.The Milky Way contains gas and dust among its three distinct makeup components; halo, nuclear bulge, and the disk. 1. The halo is a makeup of the oldest stars. 2. The nuclear bulge (center of the galaxy) its view cannot be seen clearly because of the dust and gases. 3. The disk section of the galaxy is where the Earth lies along with the Sun and other planets and stars. The halo section of the galaxy is the larger part of the galaxy but due to dust and gas es it is not clear just like the nuclear bulge.This material, which is not clear, is known as dark matter. Dark matter which is not visible is believed to help influence the gravitational effects on other matter within the galaxy. When was dark energy discovered? How has that discovery changed our view of the universe? In the late 1990s dark energy was observed through a supernova causing the expansion rate of our universe to accelerate. This dark energy has changed the view of the universe because scientists expected the expansion to slow down but in fact it is going faster due to this energy.What is a theory of everything? What does it aim to do to our understanding of the universe as a whole? â€Å"The theory of everything is believed to believe the ultimate theory of the universe of which a set of equations capable of describing all phenomena that have been observed, or will ever be observed† (Laughlin ; Pines, 2012, pg. 1). This theory will help improve the understanding of what makes up the universe, which is not explained or well-known. Some of those areas would be black holes, evolution of the universe, and etc.References Farlex. (2012). Cosmology. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from the Free Dictionary Website: http://www. thefreedictionary. com/cosmology Welser-Sherrill, L. (2007). A History of the Universe. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from the Star Teach Astronomy Education Website: http://www. starteachastronomy. com/universe. html Laughlin, R. , ; Pines, D. (2012). The Theory of Everything. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from the Star Teach Astronomy Education Website: http://www. pnas. org/content/97/1/28. full