Geography

Universe
● The universe is a huge wide-open space that holds everything
from the smallest particle to the biggest galaxy.
● The study of the origin and evolution of the universe is known as
Cosmology. The word cosmology comprises two words, cosmos
(Universe) and logos (science).
● A celestial body can be defined as any natural body outside the
Earth's atmosphere. The bodies glow in the night sky.
● Celestial bodies (heavenly bodies) include Planets, Stars,
Satellites, Comets, Asteroids, Meteors and Meteorites, and
Galaxies.

Galaxy
● A galaxy contains stars, gas, and dust which are held together as
a group by gravity.
● There may be millions, or even billions, of stars in one galaxy.
There are billions of galaxies in the universe.
● Our galaxy is called the Milky Way (or the Akash Ganga). It is
spiral in shape and contains 100 billion stars and one of these is
our Sun. Andromeda is our nearest galaxy.
● The latest known galaxy is the Dwarf Galaxy.

The Solar System

● The Solar System consists of the sun, the eight planets and their
satellites (or moons), and thousands of other smaller heavenly
bodies such as asteroids, comets, and meteors.
● The Sun is at the center of the solar system and all the planets
revolve around it in elliptical orbit. It is the nearest star to the
Earth.
● Eight planets (excluding Pluto) and their respective satellites.
● Five Dwarf planets (Ceres, Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea).
● Makemake is a dwarf planet that lies in the main asteroid belt.
● Interstellar debris such as asteroids, meteoroids, and comets.
● The electrically charged gases are called Plasma.
 ● Interplanetary dust particles are cosmic dust that
pervades between planets in the Solar System.
● Components other than these are known as Small Solar
System Bodies (SSSB).

Unit Meaning

Light year Distance covered by light in a year

Astronomical unit Distance between sun and earth 14.98 crore km

Parsec Distance between Earth and an astronomical body

Sextant To measure the height of planets

The Sun
● The Sun is at the center of the Solar System.
● It is the nearest star to the Earth.
● It is composed of 71% Hydrogen, 26.5% Helium, and 2.5% other
elements. Energy generation on the sun is due to nuclear fusion
(discovered by Hans Bethe).
● All changes in the weather of the earth are caused by the Sun.
● The surface temperature of the Sun is 6000°C.
● The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in the solar system
and due to this, the Sun exerts immense gravitational pull to
keep the planets rotating around it in definite elliptical orbit.
● The shining surface of the Sun is called Photosphere.
● It appears like a disc, radiates energy, and acts as a source of
energy.
● Above the Photosphere is the red-colored Chromosphere and
beyond it is the magnificent corona, which is visible during
eclipses.
● The Sun emits short-wave electromagnetic radiation.
● It reaches the earth's surface in 8 minutes and 16 seconds.
Planets
● Planets are opaque bodies that continuously revolve around and
are lit by the Sun.
● There are eight planets in the Solar System.
● The sequence of planets according to their size (in descending
order) is Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth, Venus, Mars,
and Mercury.
● The sequence of planets according to their distance from the Sun
is Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune.
● Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are called terrestrial planets and
Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are called gaseous planets.
● Jupiter, Saturn, and Uranus have rings around them. These are
belts of small debris.

Classification of Planets

Inner Planet Outer Planet

They are called Terrestrial or Rocky planets They are called Jovian or gaseous
planets.

They include Mercury, Venus, Earth, and They include Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus,
Mars. Neptune, etc.

They are nearer to the Sun They are far away from the Sun.

They have very few natural satellites They have a large number of natural
satellites (or Moons)

Mercury
○ Mercury is the closest planet to the sun.
○ It is an extremely hot planet.
 ○ It is nearest to the sun. It is also the smallest planet.
○ It does not have any satellites.
○ It has the shortest year of 88 days among the planets.

Venus (also known as Lucifer)

○ Venus is the second planet from the Sun and the third
brightest object in Earth's sky after the Sun and Moon.
○ Venus is known as the Evening Star as well as Morning Star.
○ Venus is known as the Earth’s twin because of the same
size and mass. It also rotates clockwise like Uranus.
○ It rotates from east to west in a clockwise direction.
○ Venus is the hottest planet in our Solar System. It is even
hotter than Mercury.
○ Venus is surrounded by a thick cloud cover, hence known as
the Veiled Planet. (Veil means unclear/cover)
○ Venus has no water on it. There is no sufficient oxygen on
Venus.

Mars
○ Called a Red planet because of its Iron-rich red soil and pink
sky.
○ Two satellites- Phobos and Demos.

Jupiter
○It is the largest planet in the solar system.
○Also known as Winter Planet as its average temperature is very
low (- 148°C)
○It has 67 satellites, the largest being Ganymede in the solar
system.
○ In early 1610, Galileo Galilei discovered with his newly invented
telescope that Jupiter has four moons
○Jupiter has the shortest day because it spins fastest on its axis.
○Red Spot is found on the planet.
 ○The satellites of Jupiter were discovered by Galileo. It has the
largest no of satellites.

The Earth
○The Earth is a unique and densest planet. In size, it is the 5th largest
planet.
○Pythagoras (572-500 B.C.), a Greek philosopher and
mathematician, was among the first to suggest that the Earth was
shaped like a globe.
○Rotation: Earth’s Period of rotation on the Polar Axis is 23 hrs. 56
minutes 4.09 seconds.
○It is also called a Solar Day.
○The direction of Rotation is from West to East.
○The Rotation of the Earth has the following implications such as:
● Causation of day and night.
● Change in the direction of winds and ocean currents.
● Rise and fall of tides every day.
● A difference of one hour between the two meridians, which
are 15° apart.
○Revolution: Earth’s sidereal period or the time taken in completing
one orbit around the Sun is 365.25636 days. Its orbital speed is
29.8 km/s per second.
○The axis of the earth, which is an imaginary line, makes an angle
of 661/2 degrees with its orbital plane and 23 ½ degrees with its
perpendicular.

○Earth is slightly flattened at the poles. That is why its shape is

described as a GEOID.

Saturn
○It is the second-largest planet in the Solar system.
○Saturn is also known as a flat planet.
○It is surrounded by a set of eight rings, which are made up of
primordial dust and ice particles.
 ○After Jupiter, Saturn 82 (53 confirmed, 29 provisional) has the
maximum number of moons.
○Titan is the largest satellite of Saturn.
○Christiaan Huygens was the first to accurately describe the rings of
Saturn as a disc around the planet in 1655.

Uranus
○It is about four times the size of the Earth.
○It was discovered by Sir William Herschel in 1781.
○Uranus appears greenish because of methane gas present in
its atmosphere.
○Uranus rotates from East to West on its axis, which is opposite to
other planets except Venus.
○The axis of Uranus has a large inclination so that it appears to be
lying down, hence it bears the name 'A planet on its Side'.

Neptune
● It is the 8th planet in the Solar system.
● Neptune is the windiest planet in the solar system.
● The temperature on the surface of Neptune remains low.
● It takes 165 years to complete one revolution around the sun.
● Neptune is very similar to Uranus and can be considered
as its twin.
● It is surrounded by methane rings of sub-zero temperature.

The Moon
○The moon is the natural satellite of the Earth.
○The study of the Moon is called Selenology.
○The Moon is also known as the fossil planet.
○In 1969, Neil Armstrong (spacecraft Apollo 11) landed on the surface
of the moon.
○'Sea of tranquility', made of plain dust particles, is on the rear
side of the moon, which always remains dark.
 ○Moon does not have light of its own, it reflects the sun's light. It
reaches the earth in 1.3 seconds.
○The moon does not have conditions favorable for life. It has
neither water nor air.

Perigee: The point on the Moon's orbit closest to Earth.

Apogee: The point farthest away from the Earth.

Perihelion: On around January 3rd, Earth is closest to the sun and the
distance is around 147.5 million Kilometers. This is called Perihelion.
Aphelion: On about July 4th earth is Farthest from the Sun and this is
called Aphelion.
The speed of Earth is fastest at Perihelion and slowest at Aphelion
(Kepler’s Second Law).

Solar Eclipse
● Also known as the eclipse of the sun, it occurs when the moon comes
in between the sun and the earth.
● As a result, the moon blocks the light of the sun from reaching the
earth’s surface and casts a shadow on it.
● This occurs in a new moon phase. We can observe up to 5 solar
eclipses per year.

Lunar Eclipse
● Also known as the eclipse of the moon, it occurs when the earth
comes in between the sun and the moon.
● As a result, the Earth blocks the light of the sun from reaching the
moon’s surface and casts its shadow on the moon. It occurs on a
full moon day.
● We can observe up to 3 lunar eclipses per year.
In a solar or lunar eclipse, the region of the earth's shadow is divided into
three parts. The three parts are –
Umbra: The region where a total solar eclipse occurs.
Penumbra: Here, a partial eclipse occurs.
Antumbra: A bright ring of sunlight shine around the Moon (annual ring).

Tides
● Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels around the world.
● There are two high tides and two low tides each day.
● The size of the high and low tides changes over the month.
● During a full moon or a new moon, the difference between the high
and low tide is at its greatest. This is because when the Earth, the
Sun, and the Moon are in a line, the gravitational pull is at its
strongest.
● The time difference in the occurrence of two successive tides at a
given place on the ocean surface is 12 hours and 26 minutes.
● It is caused by the combined effects of:
○ The gravitational force exerted on Earth by the Sun
○ The gravitational force exerted on Earth by the Moon
○ Rotation of the Earth
Spring Tides
● Spring tides are formed when the sun and the moon are in line with
each other and pull the ocean surface in the same direction. This
leads to higher high tides and lowers low tides and such a tide is
called a spring tide.
● In a lunar month, it occurs twice. It is also known by the name of ‘King
Tide.’

Neap Tides
● It occurs seven days after the spring tide. The prominent point is that
the sun and the moon are at the right angle to each other.
● This tide occurs during the first and the last quarter of the moon.
● The gravitational pull of the moon and the resulting oceanic bulge is
canceled out by the gravitational pull of the sun and its resulting
oceanic bulge.
● Also, in contrast to spring tides, the high tides are ‘lower’ and the low
tides are comparatively ‘higher’ in neap tides.
Note: Highest tides occur in the Bay of Fundy, Canada.

Constellations
● A group of stars that form a recognizable shape in the night sky is
called a constellation.
● They were devised by ancient men for navigation purposes. Some of
the important constellations are:
● Ursa Major: Ursa Major constellation is also known as Great Bear,
Big Bear, Big Dipper, or Plough. The Indian name of the Ursa Major
constellation is Saptarishi.
The Ursa Major is also called the Big Dipper because it resembles a
dipper (a bowl with a handle), which was used to drink water in the
olden days.

Black Hole and SuperNova

● A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even
light cannot get out.
 ● Gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space.
This can happen when a star is dying.
● The concept of a Black hole was formulated by S. Chandrashekhar. He
fixed a molecular mass limit for stars, known as the Chandrashekhar limit.
● A supernova is the explosion of a star. It is the most enormous explosion
that takes place in space.
● Supernovas are often seen in other galaxies. But supernovas are difficult to
see in our own Milky Way galaxy because dust blocks our view.
● In 1604, Johannes Kepler discovered the last observed supernova in the
Milky Way.
Comets

○Comets are made up of frozen gases which hold together rocky

and metallic materials.
○A comet is characterized by a long luminous tail, which emits light
but this is visible only when the comet's orbit passes close to the
Sun.
○Comets move around the Sun in regular orbits, but their orbits are
elongated ellipses that take them hundreds and, sometimes even
thousands of years to complete one revolution around the Sun.
○A comet becomes visible only when it travels close to the Sun. Its
ice melts to a head of gas called a Coma and dust particles are
also swept back to form a dust tail.

Asteroids

● Apart from the stars, planets, and satellites, numerous tiny bodies also
grate around the sun in an elliptical path. These bodies are called
asteroids.
● They are found between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
● The largest asteroid is the Ceres.
● NASA has launched the Don Mission for the study of asteroids.
● Near Schumacher is the first plane that landed on an asteroid.
Meteor or Meteorite

● A meteorite is a solid piece of debris from an object, such as a

comet, asteroid, or meteoroid that originates in outer space and
survives its passage through the atmosphere to reach the surface of
a planet or moon.
● When meteoroids enter Earth's atmosphere (or that of another planet,
like Mars) at high speed and burn up, the fireballs or “shooting stars”
are called meteors.
● When a meteoroid survives a trip through the atmosphere and hits
the ground, it's called a meteorite.

Equinox
● The equinox is one of the two times in a year when the sun crosses
the plane of the earth's equator, and day and night are of equal length
i.e., the 21st March Vernal Equinox and 23rd September Autumnal
Equinox

Summer Solstice
● After the March equinox, the Sun appears to move
northward and is vertically overhead at the Tropic of Cancer
on 21st June. This is known as the Summer Solstice.
● In it, the Northern Hemisphere will have its longest day and
shortest night. The Southern hemisphere will have the
shortest day.
Winter Solstice
● By 22nd December, the Sun is overhead at the Tropic of
Capricorn. This is the Winter Solstice when the Southern
Hemisphere will have its longest day and shortest night.