Understanding Our Universe
3rd Edition
ISBN: 9780393614428
Author: PALEN, Stacy, Kay, Laura, Blumenthal, George (george Ray)
Publisher: W.w. Norton & Company,
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Question
Chapter 15, Problem 27QAP
To determine
The mechanism of formation of spiral arms; the reason for the formation of stars in the spiral arms.
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An important part of the lifecycle of galaxies like the Milky Way is the self regulation of formation of future generations of stars. Which statement best describes this process?
A) Massive stars explode as Supernovae, heating nearby gas which then can't form stars, and even forcing the gas out of the galaxy in asuperbubble.
B) Low mass stars like our Sun explode as Supernovae, heating nearby gas which then can't form stars, and even forcing the gas out the galaxy in asuperbubble.
C) Stars fuse new elements in their cores which mix with nearby gas clouds, preventing the collapse of the clouds and hence stopping new starformation.
D) The stars lock up material in their cores (like White Dwarf and Neutron Stars) meaning they can act as gravitational seeds for future starformation.
A galaxy's rotation curve is a measure of the orbital speed of stars as a function of distance
from the galaxy's centre. The fact that rotation curves are primarily flat at large galactocen-
tric distances (vrot(r) ~ constant) is the most common example of why astronomer's believe
dark matter exists. Let's work out why!
Assuming that each star in a given galaxy has a circular orbit, we know that the accelera-
tion due to gravity felt by each star is due to the mass enclosed within its orbital radius r and
equal to v?/r. Here, ve is the circular orbit velocity of the star. (a) Show that the expected
relationship between ve and r due to the stellar halo (p(r) xr-3.5) does not produce a flat
rotation curve. (b) Show that a p(r) ∞ r¯² density profile successfully produces a flat ro-
tation curve and must therefore be the general profile that dark matter follows in our galaxy.
How astronomers determine the distance of a galaxy? Explain.
Chapter 15 Solutions
Understanding Our Universe
Ch. 15.1 - Prob. 15.1CYUCh. 15.2 - Prob. 15.2CYUCh. 15.3 - Prob. 15.3CYUCh. 15.4 - Prob. 15.4CYUCh. 15 - Prob. 1QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 2QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 3QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 4QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 5QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 6QAP
Ch. 15 - Prob. 7QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 8QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 9QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 10QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 11QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 12QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 13QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 14QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 15QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 16QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 17QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 18QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 19QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 20QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 21QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 22QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 23QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 24QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 25QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 26QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 27QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 28QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 29QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 30QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 31QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 32QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 33QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 34QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 35QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 36QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 37QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 38QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 39QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 40QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 41QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 42QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 43QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 44QAPCh. 15 - Prob. 45QAP
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- The figure below shows the spectra of two galaxies A and B. Please can i get help with this questions below: 1. Which of these galaxies has ongoing star formation? How can you tell?2. One of these galaxies has Hubble type E3 while the other is SBb. Which is which? What does the 3 inE3 tell you about the galaxy? What does the SB in SBb tell you about the galaxy?3. What effects would dust have on the two spectra?4. Which galaxy would you expect to have more far-infrared emission? Explarrow_forwardIdentify a feature of the Whirlpool Galaxy that is visible in all several types of light. Explain what this meansarrow_forwardWhich of the following best describe the reasons we have to infer that a supermassive blackhole lurks in the centre of our galaxy? Stars keep disappearing from view as they get swallowed up in the galactic centre. Tight orbit of stars around an invisible companion & giant bubbles of cold, star forming gas have been expelled from galactic centre. We can measure the gravitational waves coming from such an enormous black hole. O Tight orbit of stars around an invisible companion & giant bubbles filled with gamma rays expelled from the galactic centre.arrow_forward
- Suppose the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy merges completely with the Milky Way and adds 150,000 stars to it. Estimate the percentage change in the mass of the Milky Way. Will this be enough mass to affect the orbit of the Sun around the galactic center? Assume that all of the Sagittarius galaxy’s stars end up in the nuclear bulge of the Milky Way Galaxy and explain your answer.arrow_forwardBriefly describe the main parts of our Galaxy.arrow_forwardIf the diameter of the Milky Way Galaxys visible disk, 80,000 ly, is represented in a model by a dinner plate with a diameter of 10 inches, what is the model distance to galaxy M31, 2.6 millionly away? What is the model distance to the Virgo galaxy cluster, 16 Mpc away? (Convert answers to feet.)arrow_forward
- Suppose the stars in an elliptical galaxy all formed within a few million years shortly after the universe began. Suppose these stars have a range of masses, just as the stars in our own galaxy do. How would the color of the elliptical change over the next several billion years? How would its luminosity change? Why?arrow_forwardWhat are the two best ways to measure the distance to a nearby spiral galaxy, and how would it be measured?arrow_forwardWhat evidence can you give that we live in a galaxy?arrow_forward
- Using the information provided in Table 18.1, what is the average stellar density in our part of the Galaxy? Use only the true stars (types OM) and assume a spherical distribution with radius of 26 light-years. Stars within 21 Light-Years of the Sunarrow_forwardConsider the following five kinds of objects: open cluster, giant molecular cloud, globular cluster, group of O and B stars, and planetary nebulae. A. Which occur only in spiral arms? B. Which occur only in the parts of the Galaxy other than the spiral arms? C. Which are thought to be very young? D. Which are thought to be very old? E. Which have the hottest stars?arrow_forwardThe globular clusters revolve around the Galaxy in highly elliptical orbits. Where would you expect the clusters to spend most of their time? (Think of Kepler’s laws.) At any given time, would you expect most globular clusters to be moving at high or low speeds with respect to the center of the Galaxy? Why?arrow_forward
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