Overview

About Lesson 10

This is the lesson where I am going to try to answer some of the big questions in astronomy about the nature of our universe. In this lesson, we are going to focus on cosmology, which is the study of the structure and evolution of the universe as a whole. There are a lot of questions that many of us want answered about the nature of the universe, and astronomers have come up with answers for many of them. They are not always answers that satisfy us completely, but they are the answers that our observations of nature provide us.

What will we learn in Lesson 10?

By the end of Lesson 10, you should be able to:

• quantitatively relate the velocity of a galaxy and its distance using Hubble’s Law;
• describe how Hubble’s Law implies an expanding Universe;
• describe the evidence for the Big Bang as the origin of the Universe and the methods for estimating the age of the Universe;
• describe the evidence for substantial amounts of dark matter in the Universe;
• explain how observations of distant objects reveal the Universe is accelerating as it expands.

What is due for Lesson 10?

Lesson 10 will take us one week to complete.

Please refer to the Calendar in Canvas for specific time frames and due dates.

There are a number of required activities in this lesson. The chart below provides an overview of those activities that must be submitted for Lesson 10. For assignment details, refer to the lesson page noted.

Questions?

If you have any questions, please post them to the General Questions and Discussion forum (not email). I will check that discussion forum daily to respond. While you are there, feel free to post your own responses if you, too, are able to help out a classmate.