SEUE1002

Fundamentals of Cosmology
Assoc. Prof. Tolgahan KILIÇOĞLU
Lecture 05
Milky Way Galaxy and Dark Matter
NASA/JPL-Caltech/ R. Hurt (SSC-Caltech)
 The Sun orbits around the center of the galaxy.

It takes 230 million years for the Sun to complete

one full revolution.

The Sun moves continuously at a speed of 230 km s-1

to make this movement happen!

As the sun is constantly forced to stay in the disk, it

makes a wobbling motion on its orbit.

https://astronomy.com/magazine/ask-astro/2020/07/in-which-direction-does-the-sun-move-through-the-milky-way
 Anatomy of the Milky Way

~100 000 ly
~3000 ly
26 000 ly

~20 000 ly
 Gas and Dust in the Galaxy
• Most of the gas and dust in the Milky Way's disk is in the region up
to 150 pc from the center.
• Gas is mostly composed of 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, and 2%
other elements by mass. Some cold and dense gas clouds can also
have a molecular structure.
• The total mass of the gas in the Galaxy is approximately 10% of the
stellar mass.
• The substance astronomers call dust contains very small solid
(condensed) clumps of carbon, oxygen, silicon, and other elements.
• Most of these dust lumps are graphite or silicate compounds.
ESA/Hubble & NASA • The grains are usually surrounded by a volatile layer such as water
vapor (H2O), ammonia (NH3) or carbon monoxide (CO). Dust grains
typically have a diameter of 10-7 - 10-6 m (0.1 µm - 1 µm).
• These sizes are close to the size of the particles of a smoke seen on
the earth.
• The total mass of dust in the galaxy is 0.1% of that of stars.
• The size of the dust particles in the galaxy is comparable to the
wavelength of light. Therefore, they can effectively scatter or absorb
light coming on them. A large part of the amount of dust restricts
our field of vision as it is on the disk at a distance of 150 pc around
the galactic center. These areas, which appear dark due to dust, are
called blackening zones. However, using technology, astronomers
can observe these regions with other wavelengths that are not
affected by dust.
ESO Barnard 68
 Populations in the Galaxy
• Population I
• They are young stars: their
ages range from roughly a
few million years to ten
billion years.
• They are usually found in the
disk and open clusters of the
galaxy (e.g., the Sun).
• Like almost all stars, they are
composed primarily of
hydrogen and then helium.
However, these stars also
contain a lot of metal.
• They orbit around the galactic
center in circular orbits.
• Population II
• They are old stars:
their age is usually
more than 12 billion
years.
• They are usually found
in spherical structures:
halo, bulge and
globular clusters.
• The amounts of metal
they contain are
generally quite low.
• They move in elliptical
orbits around the
center of the galaxy.
Cosmic Recycling in Milky Way • Stars are the metal factories of
the universe. Thanks to nuclear
reactions, they turn hydrogen
and helium into heavier
elements.
• The environment in which a star
is formed may not be metal rich
at first. However, when the star
formed and evolved and later its
life, the Planetary Nebula,
Supernova, etc. transforming into
objects, it throws the metals it
produces into space.
• In this way, new stars begin to
form from its residues. However,
these newly formed stars are of
course richer in metal compared
to the stars that preceded them.
• This cycle continues in this way
and with each new generation
the stars become richer in metal.
How to derive the mass of Milky Way?

http://spaces.imperial.edu/russell.lavery/ASTR100/Lectures/ASTR100Topic31.html
 How to derive the mass of Milky Way?

http://spaces.imperial.edu/russell.lavery/ASTR100/Lectures/ASTR100Topic31.html

NASA/JPL
How to derive the mass of Milky Way?
F F
𝐹 = 𝑚𝑎
Newton's second law of motion r
𝐹 𝐺𝑀𝑚
𝑎= 𝐹= 2
𝑚 𝑟
Newton’s gravitational law
𝐺𝑀𝑚
𝑟 2 𝐺𝑀
𝑎= = 2
𝑚 𝑟

𝑣 2 𝐺𝑀 𝐺𝑀
𝑎= = 2 𝑣=
𝑟 𝑟 𝑟
Let a small object orbit a large object in the universe. If the
speed of the small object and its distance from the large object
are known The mass of the large body can be easily calculated.
 How to derive the mass of Milky Way?
First, let's try to find the mass of the Sun using this method:

The distance of the Earth from the Sun is 1 AU or 1.496·1011 meters. The orbital speed of
the earth is 29800 m s-1. (Universal gravitational constant = G = 6.674·10-11 m3 kg-1 s-1).

𝐺𝑀 2
𝐺𝑀 𝑣 2𝑟
𝑣= 𝑣 = 𝑀=
𝑟 𝑟 𝐺

298002 ∙ 1.496 ∙ 1011 30

𝑀= −11
= 1.99 ∙ 10 kg
6.674 ∙ 10
 How to derive the
mass of Milky Way?

28 000 ly

230 km s-1
Practice
• If the distance of the Sun from the center of the galaxy is 28 000 ly
and it is orbiting around the center at a speed of 230 km s-1, give an
estimate about the mass of the Galaxy.
(G = 6.674·10-11 m3 kg-1 s-1 ).

𝐺𝑀 2
𝐺𝑀 𝑣 2𝑟
𝑣= 𝑣 = 𝑀=
𝑟 𝑟 𝐺
r = 28 000 ly = 2.65 ∙ 1020 m v = 230 km s-1 = 230 000 m s-1

2300002 ∙ 2.65 ∙ 1020 41 kg

𝑀= = 2.1 ∙ 10
6.674 ∙ 10−11
Roughly, 100 billion times the mass of
the Sun (1.99 ∙ 1030 kg or ~1011 M)!
Central Blackhole

If the velocities of the stars close to the central

region and their distance from the center are
determined, the mass of the object in the
center can be found.
Studies on these stars indicate that the mass
of the central body is 2.6 ∙ 106 M.
Black holes are the only objects in astronomy
that can have such large masses.
We therefore understand that there is a black
hole at the center of our galaxy, roughly 2.6
million times the mass of the Sun.
 • The velocity curves show
Dark Matter us that the rotation of the
galaxy is not like a solid
body or planets in the
Solar System.

• For such a rotational

motion, our galaxy must
contain a fairly large
amount of matter and the
amount of matter must
extend farther away from
the galaxy.

• Dark matter should be

about ten times the total
mass of stars in the
ESO/L. Dark matter halo galaxy!

• Dark matter is thought to be a type

of matter that does not interact
with light.
• However, It has a gravitational
force, just like normal matter.