UNIT N

SECTION 19.1 THE MILKY WAY REVEALED

Spiral galaxy
o Has spiral arms, which are part of a flat disk of stars that surround a bright central
bulge
o Entire disk surrounded by a dim, round halo
o Has about 200 globular clusters (where the most prominent stars are)
o 100,000 lgt years across, Sun is 28,000 from center
Is very large and influences a couple smaller galaxies as well
How stars orbit our galaxy
If star is in the disk, it orbits around the center of the galaxy while bobbing up and down
o Gravity pulls the star down until it is too far below the disk, when it starts to pull
up on the star
Creates thickness of galaxy
If star is in halo or bulge, it orbits in a relatively random elliptical path, make the area
appear puffier
Using orbits we can determine mass of the galaxy, finding that most mass is far away
from the center and does not give off light (dark matter)
SECTION 19.2 GALACTIC RECYCLING
Star-gas-star cycle: basically, stars expel gas into space, where it mixes with the
interstellar medium and eventually forms new stars
Gas from Dying Stars
Stars return their mass to space thru stellar winds and death events like nebulae and
supernovae
o High speed gas ejected by supernovae sweeps up surrounding interstellar material
and make bubbles: clouds of hot, ionized gas around exploding star
o Supernovae also create shock waves that can sweep up gas and distribute it
o Supernovae can release cosmic rays: particles (such as electrons or protons) that
move about the speed of light and can cause genetic mutation
Superbubbles and Fountains
Superbubble formed from many individual bubbles
o Can result from many massive stars exploding around the same time
If the superbubble is big enough and leaves disk of galaxy, there is no gas to slow it
down, only gravity can slow it, and it erupts like a volcano (galactic fountain)
o Gas eventually falls back down on the galaxy
Cooling and Cloud Formation
Atomic hydrogen gas: normal hydrogen gas (mixed with a few other elements) that is
cool and not in a bubble
o Can map distribution by knowing it emits a wavelength of 21 centimeters
o Can be found in large warm clouds and small dense clouds
o Matter is mostly in warm clouds, which eventually clumps together and radiate
more, forming small cooler clouds

As clouds cool, H atoms come together and form molecules making molecular clouds
o Are heavy and dense and settle at center of the Milky Way disk
o Molecular clouds separate and form stars
Where do stars form in the galaxy
Active star formation in areas where there are hot and massive stars
o They die too fast to move from the region
o Ionization nebulae: cloud of gas that glows because neighboring hot stars radiate
it with UV photons that ionize H atoms
Spiral Arms: contain many molecular clouds and ionization nebulae
o Contain young stars and interstellar material required to make them
o Spiral density waves: matter doesnt coil tightly around center of galaxy b/c extra
dense matter slows stars and gas in the disk down periodically to keep it from
going too fast
SECTION 19.3 HISTORY OF THE MILKY WAY
Disk population: both young and old stars, all have heavy-element proportions of about
2%
Spheroidal population: stars in the halo and bulge, old and low in mass, heavy-element
proportions of as low as .02%
o Halo contains almost no gas
o Formed early before many supernovae
Formation of the galaxy
Began as a protogalactic cloud: contained all the H and He that is now in stars
o Collapsed due to gravity
o Speroidal population formed first
o Angular momentum forced remaining gas to settle into a flattened, spinning disk
Probably formed from a few protogalactic clouds
SECTION 19.4 GALACTIC CENTER
Cloud of gas and a cluster of millions of stars w/in central 1000 years
Need radio, infrared, and X-ray telescopes to see center b/c clouds of gas and dust
prevent us from seeing visible light
Most likely a black hole in the center with 4 million solar masses, packed into size of our
solar system