Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
14th Edition
ISBN: 9781337399920
Author: Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Chapter 16, Problem 8P
To determine
The orbital time period for matter orbiting the black hole.
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Among the globular clusters orbiting a distant galaxy, one is moving at 534 km/s and is located 14 kpc from the center of the galaxy. Assuming the globular cluster is located outside most of the mass of the galaxy, what is the mass of the galaxy? Convert your answer to solar masses. (Hint: Use the formula for circular velocity,
Vc =
GM
r
;
make sure you convert relevant quantities to units of meters, kilograms, and seconds. Note: 1 pc = 3.1 ✕ 1016 m.)
Among the globular clusters orbiting a distant galaxy, one is moving at 417 km/s and is located 16 kpc from the center of the galaxy. Assuming the globular cluster is located outside most of the mass of the galaxy, what is the mass of the galaxy? Convert your answer to
solar masses. (Hint: Use the formula for circular velocity, V, = V
GM
; make sure you convert relevant quantities to units of meters, kilograms, and seconds. Note: 1 pc = 3.1 x 1016 m.)
solar masses (M.)
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.
Chapter 16 Solutions
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Ch. 16 - Prob. 1RQCh. 16 - Prob. 2RQCh. 16 - Prob. 3RQCh. 16 - Prob. 4RQCh. 16 - Prob. 5RQCh. 16 - Prob. 6RQCh. 16 - Prob. 7RQCh. 16 - Prob. 8RQCh. 16 - Prob. 9RQCh. 16 - Prob. 10RQ
Ch. 16 - Prob. 11RQCh. 16 - Prob. 12RQCh. 16 - How would you respond to someone who said, Oh,...Ch. 16 - Prob. 1PCh. 16 - Prob. 2PCh. 16 - Prob. 3PCh. 16 - Prob. 4PCh. 16 - Prob. 5PCh. 16 - Prob. 6PCh. 16 - Prob. 7PCh. 16 - Prob. 8PCh. 16 - Prob. 9PCh. 16 - Prob. 10PCh. 16 - Arrange the following in order of increasing size:...Ch. 16 - If the diameter of the Milky Way Galaxys visible...Ch. 16 - Prob. 1LTLCh. 16 - Prob. 2LTLCh. 16 - Prob. 3LTLCh. 16 - Prob. 4LTL
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- The best parallaxes obtained with Hipparcos have an accuracy of 0.001 arcsec. If you want to measure the distance to a star with an accuracy of 10%, its parallax must be 10 times larger than the typical error. How far away can you obtain a distance that is accurate to 10% with Hipparcos data? The disk of our Galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter. What fraction of the diameter of the Galaxy’s disk is the distance for which we can measure accurate parallaxes?arrow_forwardSuppose three stars lie in the disk of the Galaxy at distances of 20,000 light-years, 25,000 light-years, and 30,000 light-years from the galactic center, and suppose that right now all three are lined up in such a way that it is possible to draw a straight line through them and on to the center of the Galaxy. How will the relative positions of these three stars change with time? Assume that their orbits are all circular and lie in the plane of the disk.arrow_forwardThe best parallaxes obtained with the Hipparcos satellite have an uncertainty such that we believe measurements as low as 0.005 arc-seconds. What is the farthest distance a star can be to have an accurate distance from Hipparcos? 200 Parsecs The disk of our Galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter. Using the results from the previous problem, what fraction of the diameter of the Galaxy's disk is the distance for which we can measure accurate parallaxes? 0.0065 The Gaia satellite has greatly improved precision over Hipparcos, measuring parallaxes that are as small as 0.00025 arcseconds. How many times farther away is Gaia be able to measure distances to than Hipparcos?arrow_forward
- If the active core of a galaxy contains a black hole of 106?Θ (1 million solar masses), what will the orbital velocity be for matter orbiting the black hole at a distance of 0.33 AU? (Hint: use the formula for orbital velocity: ?=√???; where ?=6.67×10−11 ?3?? ?2 and ?Θ= 2.0×1030 ??. Note: 1 ??=1.50×1011 ?)arrow_forwardFigure 2 shows the "rotation curve" of NGC 2742. It plots the “radial velocity (V)" (how fast material is moving either toward or away from us) that is measured for objects at different distances (R = radius") from the center of the galaxy. The center of the galaxy is at 0 kpc (kiloparsecs) with a speed of 9 km/sec away from us. (These velocities have been corrected for the observed tilt of the galaxy and represent true orbital velocities of the stars and gas.) 200 100 U4779 -100 As you can see, one side of the galaxy is moving with a negative velocity (spinning toward us), while the other side has a positive velocity (spinning away from us). Using Newton's gravity equation, we will be able to determine the gravitational mass of the entire galaxy and how the mass varies versus distance from the galaxy's center. -200 -8 8 -4 Radius (kpc) Read the following text carefully and follow the instructions: Select five radii spaced evenly from 0-10 kpc across the galaxy. Your selections should…arrow_forwardIndicate whether the following statements are true or false. (Select T-True, F-False. If the first is T and the rest F, enter TFFFFF). A) If we find an O type star in our galaxy, it must be in the disk. B) The nearest large spiral Galaxy, similar in size to the Milky Way, is the Andromeda Galaxy (M31). It is located about 2 million light years from Earth. C) The disk of the Milky Way galaxy is about 100,000 light years in diameter. D) On very large scales, matter in the Universe is distributed in clumps and voids. E) Distances to most stars in the Milky Way are measured by parallax. F) RR Lyrae and Cepheid variable stars are used to measure the distance to nearby galaxies.arrow_forward
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