Galaxies and The Big Bang

What are galaxies? How do they relate to the Big Bang Theory?

• Galaxies formed from the gas, dust, and matter propelled into space after the big bang that began the universe nearly 14 billion years ago.

• They are only a few million years younger than the universe.

• Big Bang Theory is the theory (that has been proven) that all matter in the universe was created from a huge explosion called the Big Bang & the universe has continued to expand outward ever since (and will continue to do so until the end of time.)

Four Types of Galaxies

• Spiral

• Elliptical

• Irregular

• Lenticular

Spiral Galaxy

Elliptical Galaxy

Irregular Galaxy

Lenticular Galaxy

Comparison of Galaxies

http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/default.htm?http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/concepts/galaxies.html

Spiral Galaxies: look like hurricanes

http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/default.htm?http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/concepts/galaxies.html

This image of the large spiral galaxy NGC 1232 was obtained with the Very Large Telescope (VLT). Its distance from Earth is about 100 million light-years. It contains more dark matter than visible matter.Credits: Spaceweek International

http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEM346WJD1E_OurUniverse_0.html

Spiral Galaxy: The Sombrero Galaxy (M104), an almost

edge-on spiral galaxy in the constellation of Virgo.(Image credit: Peter Barthel (Kapteyn Institute), Very Large Telescope, European

Southern Observatory.)

http://www.nmm.ac.uk/server/show/conWebDoc.412

                                                                                                                                      

These shape-shifting galaxies have taken on the form of a giant mask. The icy blue eyes are actually the cores of two merging galaxies, called NGC 2207 and IC 2163, and the mask is their spiral arms. The false-color image consists of infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope (red) and visible data from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope (blue/green).

NGC 2207 and IC 2163 met and began a sort of gravitational tango about 40 million years ago. The two galaxies are tugging at each other, stimulating new stars to form. Eventually, this cosmic ball will come to an end, when the galaxies meld into one. The dancing duo is located 140 million light-years away in the Canis Major constellation.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI/Vassar

Elliptical Galaxies: make up 80% of galaxies known to man

http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/default.htm?http://www.glyphweb.com/esky/concepts/galaxies.html

http://www.twcac.org/Graphics/4de5.jpg

Irregular Galaxies

       Four irregular galaxies, as observed by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Photo AURA/STScI/NASA/JPL (NASA photo # STScI-PRC94-39b)

http://www.britannica.com/eb/art-17808

Nebulae: Nurseries of Stars

http://www.astro.umd.edu/~miller/Gallery/nebulae/crab.jpg

The Red Spider Planetary Nebula

NGC6537

http://wmatem.eis.uva.es/~marsan/discover/nebulae/index.html

Orion

http://wmatem.eis.uva.es/~marsan/discover/nebulae/index.html

The Pillars of Creation, Eagle Nebula: the pillars are trillions of kilometers tall & are

made of gas and dust

http://my.opera.com/mariamagadalena/albums/showpic.dml?album=30467&picture=327479

Eagle EGGs in M16

Cygnus Loop

NGC3132: the Eight Burst Nebula

Cat’s Eye Nebula

http://my.opera.com/mariamagadalena/albums/showpic.dml?album=30467&picture=329731

Horse Head Nebula in Orion Constellation

http://my.opera.com/mariamagadalena/albums/showpic.dml?album=30467&picture=329732