From here to the edge of the observable Universe

Aims

This course aims to:

• bring you up to date on our current understanding of the contents, size, nature and evolution of our universe
• give you a sense of your place in time and space, within the Universe
• give you a perspective in which to judge and appreciate media reports on astronomy

Course content

In this course we tell the story of our Universe from when it was a millionth of a second old until the present day and consider how it might end. 

To do this we use light, which thanks to its finite speed, allows us to look back in time as we look deep in space. Using the James Webb telescope, we are seeing back to when the Universe was about 1/20 its present age. 

We will follow the emergence of hydrogen and helium a few minutes after the Big Bang, through the first generation of stars, which may have been 1000 times the mass of the Sun, up to the present day. 

Stars make up galaxies, which at their centres contain thousand million Solar mass black holes that govern their evolution. Galaxies form clusters that are immersed in giant haloes of gas so hot they emit X-rays, as well as halos of mysterious dark matter, which outweighs all other matter in the cluster. 

On the very largest scale, the evolution of the Universe is dominated by the even stranger vacuum energy, about which we know even less. 

The story of the birth and death of stars is the story of the battle of matter against gravity, a battle that gravity always wins, with either a whimper or a bang. It is also the story of the origin of all the elements that make up everything we see around us, including ourselves.

We will take a more detailed look at our nearest star the Sun and see how it varies and how it affects our climate. From there we will tour the great variety of planets in our solar system. We will then look at the multitude of other solar systems and how different they are from our own.

Despite our solar system being one third of the age of the universe, it is still an active environment, with comets and asteroid collisions that occasionally have serious consequences for our Earth. 

Finally, we will consider if we are the only self-aware beings in our Universe and if so why this may be. 

What to expect on this course

In the past, my students have come from a wide range of educational backgrounds. It is my hope that there will be something new and interesting for everyone, whatever your level of knowledge.

I will present the course in the conventional lecture style with myself in front and the audience facing me. The course will be richly illustrated with images and diagrams. I will provide copies of the most significant diagrams.

There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion where appropriate.

Course sessions

1. The Scale and Contents of the Universe 1: We will look at the hierarchy of structures from stars, star clusters to galaxies and clusters of galaxies. The finite speed of light allows us to look back in time as we look ever deeper in space. The spectrum of light brings us a message about the composition and physical conditions in the objects we study. To see the hottest and coldest parts of the universe, we must go beyond visible light and use Xray, infrared and radio waves. As we look at the Universe on ever greater scales we will see the influence of dark matter and vacuum energy in shaping the past and future of the Universe. 

    

2. A visit to the Institute of Astronomy: If possible, we will make a visit to the Institute of Astronomy and if the weather is clear look at the Sun. If this is not possible we will look around the Institute and visit some of the antique telescopes on the site.

    

3. The Scale and Contents of the Universe 2: We will continue our exploration ever farther back to its origin and on the way consider the nature of Black Holes and their important role in the evolution of galaxies. Finally, we will show how we can reproduce the evolution of the Universe from when it was a few hundred thousand years old to the present day, using a small number of parameters, including the influence of vacuum energy and dark matter.

    

4. The Birth and Death of stars and Origin of the elements 1: We will see how hydrogen and helium were formed within the first few minutes after the formation of our Universe. The force of gravity then counters the expansion of the Universe forming the first stars. The Webb Space Telescope is providing evidence that the first stars were more massive and evolved more rapidly than future generations of stars, enriching the Universe with the first heavy elements. After 9 thousand million years our Sun was born. We will then look in more detail at the evolution of solar mass stars and how they end their lives.  

    

5. The Birth and death of stars and Origin of the elements 2: In this lecture we will see how stars more than about five times the mass of the Sun explode as super novae, creating more heavy elements. We will then look at the most massive stars and how they create black holes or neutron stars and are responsible for the bursts of gamma rays seen at random across the sky. Many stars form in close pairs and as they age they can exchange matter, causing them to evolve in quite different ways including producing pairs of neutron stars that eventually merge creating the heaviest elements, including gold. We will end by showing how the material we see around us has been cycled through several generations of stars.  

    

6. The Sun a detailed study of a Star and its effect on the Earth: The Sun is the closest star to us and is responsible for the Earths climate. It is a normal star, which is slowly converting the hydrogen in its core to helium. It is now about 30% brighter than when it was born. It has sunspots that come and go every 11 years and over the centuries these cycles vary in strength. We will see how the Sun works and look at the evidence that it affects our climate on both short and long-time scales as well as producing dramatic auroral displays. We will also look at how the Earth’s climate is currently changing.

    

7. Solar Systems; Ours and Others 1: After considering the origin of our solar system we will take a tour through its wide variety of environments, ranging from the dry cold deserts of Mars, the lead melting environment of Venus and the icy wastes of Pluto. 

    

8. Solar Systems; Ours and Others 2: We will continue our tour of the objects in our Solar System before seeing how it compares with the more than 5000 planetary systems found around other stars. Including the possible discovery by the James Webb Space Telescope, of dimethyl sulphide in the atmosphere of a distant planet. A chemical associated with phytoplankton on Earth.

    

9. Asteroids and Earth impacts: On average, every 5,000 years an object, large enough to make a crater 1 km in diameter, strikes the Earth. Some of these impactors are derived from comets and some from asteroid collisions. We will look at past impacts, including that of 1906 that demolished 40 million trees, which may be related to even larger events in the last 10,000 years. We will examine the origin of these impacts and see what is being done to predict and prevent them.

    

10. Are we Alone?: In previous lectures, we have seen that we live in a Universe perfectly suited to our existence. On Earth, life is found in rocks, ice and boiling water, suggesting it would be impossible to destroy, before the Sun becomes a red giant and destroys the Earth. Yet space is silent, suggesting that though simple life may be common, technologically advanced life might be very rare. We will present the evidence, then take a closer look at the development of life on Earth. We will consider how to detect life and in particular intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe and use the Frank equation to predict the probability that there is intelligent life elsewhere and if not why this might be.  

Learning outcomes

As a result of the course, you will gain a greater understanding of the subject and you should be able to:

• have a deeper understanding of the world around us
• better understand media reports of new astronomical discoveries
• have a broader perspective of our own significance and possible future, not only on our Earth, but within the wider Universe

Required reading

There is no required reading for this course. See Course materials for supplementary reading once registered.