Test 4 Flashcards
solar system
radar ranging
nearby stars
parrallax
Milky Way
main-sequence fitting
nearby galaxies
Cepheids
galaxy clusters
distant standards (white dwarf supernova or Tully-Fisher relation)
anything farther than galaxy clusters
Hubble’s Law
Planck Epoch
a mystery partly because we lack a quantum theory of gravity; the first phase of the big bang theory
The Grand Unification Epoch
forces except for gravity are unified; the second phase of the big bang theory
The Inflationary Epoch
Universe expands rapidly - smaller than a proton to bigger than a melon - supported experimentally; the third phase of the big bang theory
The Electroweak Epoch
weak and electromagnetic forces act as one; the fourth phase of the big bang theory
The Quark, Hadron, and Lepton Epoch
what we think of as “normal” elementary particles form and survive; the fifth phase of the big bang theory
Photons, Nucleosynthesis and the Cosmic Background Radiation
Atoms form (Hydrogen and Helium) and Cosmic Background radiation decouples from matter; the sixth phase of the big bang theory
Dark Ages
Atoms exist but stars don’t; the seventh phase of the big bang theory
“Modern” Era
Stars form; quantum fluctuations at the time of inflation determines the distribution of matter in the universe. Denser areas are where stars will form. Gravity is the major large-scale force; the eighth phase of the big bang theory
Harlow Shapely Method
used cepheid variables to find the center of the Milky Way
