Term
| Describe what happened during the Big Bang, and explain how we know it happened |
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Definition
| According to the big bang theory, the universe blinked violently into existence 13.77 billion years ago (Figure 22.1.1). The big bang is often described as an explosion, but imagining it as an enormous fireball isn’t accurate. The big bang involved a sudden expansion of matter, energy, and space from a single point. But during the big bang, space itself was created. |
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Term
| Explain solar system formation |
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Definition
| The Sun and the planets formed together, 4.6 - (3.77), billion years ago, from a cloud of gas and dust called the solar nebula. A shock wave from a nearby supernova explosion probably initiated the collapse of the solar nebula. The Sun formed in the center, and the planets formed in a thin disk orbiting around it. |
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Term
| Explain how the Moon formed, and how we know |
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Definition
| The Earth formed over 4.6 billion years ago out of a mixture of dust and gas around the young sun. It grew larger The giant-impact theory is most widely accepted today. This proposes that the Moon formed during a collision between the Earth and another small planet, about the size of the planet Mars. The debris from this impact collected in an orbit around Earth to form the Moon. |
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Term
| Summarize the progress so far in the hunt for habitable-zone planets outside of our solar system |
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Definition
| With the Kepler Mission, Transiting Exoplanet Survey System (TESS), and James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), there has been a vast examination of exoplanet exploration and advances in the technological data collected that provides us with new information that is constantly revealing the mysteries of nearby solar systems. There has been millions of planets detected and with the new technology the telescopic systems are identifying the components within those individual planets that potentially would support living organisms as we understand them to be supported on earth now. |
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