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Even if you haven’t thought about it much, space has played an important part in your life and will continue to play an important role far into the future. The vast expanses of the cosmos are the last great frontier for humanity, so we need to talk about what is out there, and how everything out there interacts with everything else. This article is here to give you an overview of each topic that you need to know about within space physics, as well as a very quick rundown of what you’ll learn in each. Make sure to go deep into the articles
Space physics is the branch of physics that tries to answer some of the oldest questions humans have ever had, such as what is our place in the universe? or where did we come from? These questions have been asked for thousands of years and are likely to continue being asked and answered for thousands more.
Within GCSE physics, space physics has a more clearly defined goal. You will have to learn about 4 topics within space physics: Our Solar System, The Life Cycle of a Star, Orbital motions and Redshift. Each of these topics has an associated explanation that goes into a lot more depth than we are going to cover in this one, so make sure you read them!
At GCSE level, space physics and astrophysics can be used completely interchangeably. You do not need to worry about any differences between the two. For now, you only need to know and use the term space physics and be aware that astrophysics is a field of research that means essentially the same thing. But just because you don't have to worry, doesn't mean that you can't go beyond the scope of your school curriculum and learn about how space physics and astrophysics are different now!
Outside of GCSE physics, astrophysics is the study of objects outside the solar system, such as supernovae, nebulae and black holes. Space physics, on the other hand, is the term given to a specific field of research that studies plasmas within our solar system, which includes subjects like planetary physics and solar physics.
Outside of GCSE physics, space physics more closely focuses on the magnetic fields of planets, how these magnetic fields interact with the solar wind, and how these changes can affect satellites in orbit. You don’t need to know about these yet though, so it’s best not to worry about them until they come up.
Let’s now take this opportunity to look at each topic within space physics and figure out what each one involves. As you learn each of these topics, you will also be able to start drawing links between them which should also strengthen your overall understanding of space physics.
Stars are some of the largest individual objects in the universe, and compared to a human lifespan they seem to live forever! Stars do still go through a life cycle, however, just like humans do.
Several of the elements in the periodic table are formed in the hearts of dying stars. This process is called supernova nucleosynthesis. Another type of nucleosynthesis is stellar nucleosynthesis, which covers all nuclei that are formed in a star at any stage of its life. In fact, most elements are formed because of a reaction or interaction involving stars. Check out the version of the periodic table below for the elements and where they can be formed.
A version of the periodic table, indicating the main origin of elements found on Earth, By Cmglee - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31761437
Companies and countries spend a lot of time, manpower, and money sending satellites into space to perform a variety of tasks. Some satellites are used for global navigation, like the GPS or GLONASS constellations. Other satellites may be used for satellite internet connections, like SpaceX's Starlink constellation. Importantly, every single one of these satellites has had its orbital speed calculated at one point or another in its life. We want to know the orbital speed of a satellite so that we can ensure that it remains in orbit.
If the orbital speed of any satellite ever dropped below the minimum speed to orbit the Earth, engineers would immediately want to know why that happened, as well as find a way to fix it. Because it is very likely that you either directly or indirectly use at least one of these satellites a day, calculating orbital speed is a daily part of life that you may never have considered, and essential to the modern world.
The force that causes objects to maintain circular orbits is gravity. Every object in the universe has a gravitational pull, however, you probably don't feel the gravitational pull of people or other relatively small objects, because it only really has a noticeable pull when the object has a very large mass, such as a planet.
Not only does every object in space exert a gravitational pull, but they also have an orbital motion that defines how the object moves through space. For a circular orbit, the speed of the orbit is constant, but the velocity is constantly changing. Remember, velocity is the speed of an object in a given direction. In the diagram below, the speed of the planet doesn't change but notice that the velocity changes between location 1 and location 2 due to the change in the direction of the object's motion as it moves from location 1 to location 2.
There are a few theories that explore how our universe came into existence. These theories are based on observations that astronomers have made and on looking at concepts such as red-shift and dark energy. As part of the red-shift topic, we'll also explore and explain the big bang theory.
Scientists are not completely sure why the rate of expansion of our universe is increasing, however, some have theorised that it is due to a phenomenon we have not yet fully discovered called dark energy.
Dark matter was theorised due to observations of galaxies rotating too quickly for the mass that they contain. We only know of its existence because it has a gravitational effect on nearby objects, but we have never directly observed it.
Space in physics, or outer space, is everything beyond the Earth and its atmosphere. It contains everything we know of, from the smallest particles up to the largest stars and black holes.
The topics of space physics are our solar system, the life cycle of a star, orbital motion and red-shift.
Space physics is about exploring how objects interact with each other in our universe, some of the rules they have to follow and understanding some of the best examples of how we as humans have gotten to where we are today.
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