The Nature of Galaxies

Chapter 17

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Other Galaxies

• External to Milky Way– established by Edwin Hubble– used Cepheid variables to measure distance

• M31 (Andromeda Galaxy) far outside Milky Way

• Three basic types:– elliptical– spiral– irregular

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Elliptical

Spiral

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Irregular

Spiral Galaxies• Similar to Milky Way:

– thin disk + nuclear bulge + halo

– Disk contains:• dust and gas

– H II regions, H I regions, molecular clouds

• spiral arms

• active star formation

• open clusters

• mixture of young & old stars

– Halo contains:• old stars

• Globular Clusters

– Bulge contains:• old stars

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Spiral Galaxies

QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressorare needed to see this picture.QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Barred Spiral Galaxies• Some spirals have bar in center

– “barred spirals”

Elliptical Galaxies

• Shape ranges from:– spherical to ellipsoidal

• Characteristics:– no disk or spiral arms– old reddish stars

• similar to halo or bulge in spirals

– little gas or dust– little star formation

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Irregular Galaxies• No specific shape

– often appear chaotic

• Often have intense star formation– gravitational interaction with other

galaxies?

• Mixture of old and new stars

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Interacting Galaxies

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aYUV420 codec decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

Cartwheel Galaxy

Simulation by C. Mihos et al., CWRU

NASA/HST

Galaxy Masses

• For spirals:– use Doppler shift; measure galaxy

rotation

– make rotation curve

– calculate mass using Kepler’s Law

• For ellipticals:– use Doppler shift; measure stellar orbital

velocities

– calculate mass using Kepler’s Law

• Results– Giant ellipticals and spirals are most

massive;

– irregulars & dwarf ellipticals least massive

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

Mass-to-Light Ratios

• ratio of mass to luminosity– for Sun,

• M/L = 1

– average star• M/L = 2 to 3

– for entire Galaxy• M/L ~ 100

• 90% of galaxy mass is unseen

Extragalactic Distances• Compare apparent and absolute brightness

• Variable Stars:– Cepheids, RR Lyrae

• Standard Candles:– brightest stars, supernovae, planetary nebulae

• Galaxy techniques:– For spirals:

• rotation rate gives mass

• mass depends on number of stars, hence luminosity

– For ellipticals:• range of stellar velocities depends on mass (hence luminosity)

Fifteen years ago, a quasar was observed that was found to be located 8 billion light years away. If our universe is approximately 15 billion years old, when did the quasar emit the light that we observe?

A. 15 years agoB. 7 billion years agoC. 8 billion years agoD. 15 billion years ago

Galaxy Motion

• Galaxy spectra:– absorption lines redshifted

– more distant galaxies have larger redshift

• ALL galaxies moving away

QuickTime™ and aTIFF (Uncompressed) decompressorare needed to see this picture.

The Hubble Law

• Hubble Law: – The more distant the galaxy, the faster it is moving away.

v = H d (H is the Hubble constant, d is distance)

Implications of Hubble Law

• Every galaxy moving away• Farther away = faster• Conclusion:

– Universe is expanding

• Predicted by Einstein’s Theory of Relativity• Are we at center? NO

– universe same in all directions– there is no center!

The Expanding Universe• A uniformly expanding universe

– explains Hubble law• example: expanding loaf of raisin bread

• Galaxies (like raisins) not moving, not expanding• Space is expanding