CHAPTER 11

STARS 恒星 AND GALAXIES 星系 IN THE UNIVERSE 宇宙

Stars and Galaxies in the Universe
1 Astronomy天文学 is a scientific科学 study 研究involving observations观察 and of events事件 that occur
发生outside the Earth 地球and its atmosphere.大气层
2 The early早期的 astronomers天文学家 studied and recorded the movement of celestial 天体的objects in outer
space外太空 systematically.系统地
3 When modern space telescope 望远镜were invented被发明, astronomers found 发现more celestial objects in
outer space. In the early 1900’s, astronomers from the United States discovered 发现the Andromeda
仙女座galaxy.

Galaxies星系
1. A galaxy is a gathering聚集 of dust灰尘, gases as well as billions数十亿 of stars and planets星球 that are held
together by gravity吸引力
2. Billions of galaxies exist存在 in the universe宇宙.
3. Galaxies have different shapes and characteristics.
4. There are three types of galaxies.

Types of Galaxies Characteristics

Elliptical 椭圆的 galaxy • Has a shape that is oval 椭圆形or round圆形
• Bright at the core and dim暗淡 at the sides
• Consists mainly of old stars
• Example: Ursa Major 北斗星and Messier 87

Spiral 螺旋的 galaxy  Disc-shaped圆盘形 with spiral arms 臂

 Usually, the old stars are at the centre while the young
stars at the edges边缘.
 Example: The Milky Way银河 and Andromeda仙女座

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 Irregular 不规律 galaxy  Does not have a definite明确的 or specific shape
 The size of galaxy may change
 The smallest galaxy consists of dusts and gases
 Consists mainly 主要of young stars and nebulae
 About 10% of galaxies that exists are irregular galaxy
 Examples: Small Magellanic Cloud星云 and Large
Magellanic Cloud

Milky Way 银河系

1 The Solar System太阳系 is located 位置于in the Milky Way.
2 The Milky Way is a spiral-shaped galaxy.
3 The diameter is approximately大约 100 000 light years光年 and the thickness is approximately 10 000 light
years.
4 Consists of billions of stars, star clusters星团, gases and cosmic dusts宇宙尘. Star clusters are groups of stars
that travel together in outer space.
5 The Solar System is located at the Orion 猎户座Arm臂 of the Milky Way.

Stars恒星
1 Stars are astronomical bodies天文体 that consist of hot gases which are able to release 释放heat热 and
light.光
2 Stars consist of gases and dusts such as hydrogen氢 and helium氦.
3 Stars generate产生 energy through nuclear reactions核反应.
4 Stars are grouped together in the galaxy.
5 The distance距离 between stars and the Earth is measured测量 in light years光年.
6 A light year is the distance travelled 跑by light in a year, which is 9.5 billion十亿 km.

The Sun太阳 as a Star

1. The Sun is a star because it：
(a) is a huge 巨大 sphere 球体 consisting mostly of hydrogen and helium gases
(b) produces heat energy and light energy through nuclear fusion核聚变
2. The Sun appears 似乎very large, bright and hot because it is the nearest star to the Earth compared to other
stars.

Life Cycle of a Star

Thr Birth of a Stars

1. Stars are formed from nebulae星云. A nebula is a big cloud which consists of dust and gases such as
hydrogen and helium.
2. The particles of these gases and dust combine结合 due to the gravitational attraction 吸引力between them.
As more of the particles accumulate堆积, the gravitational attraction increases. This causes the nebula to
shrink收缩 and become compressed压缩 into a ball of gas.

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3. The ball of gas becomes smaller and more compact 紧密due to the increasing gravitational attraction. The
temperature in the core 中心of the ball increase.
4. When the temperature in the core of the ball becomes sufficiently 足够high, nuclear fusion occurs to
produce helium gas as well as a lot of heat and light energy.
5. The ball of gas starts shining闪耀 and a new star is formed. The formation of a star takes 用上millions of
years.
6. Once the star is stable稳定, its size does not change.
7. The young star will continue to develop and becomes a star with a moderate中等 size such as the Sun or
becomes a large star.
8. The star keeps on shining for thousands or millions of years until all the hydrogen gas is used up用尽.

The death of a star

1 The life cycle of a star depends on its size.
2 A star with a small mass has a longer life cycle than a star with a large mass.

The Death of a medium-sized star such as Sun

When hydrogen in a star is used up, the When the gravitational force becomes weak,
nuclear reactions will stop. During this the outer layer expands膨胀. The star
period, the star is said to be dying.死亡 becomes bigger and a red giant star红色巨星
is formed.

When all helium atoms are used up, the star The outer layer of the star breaks up 分裂and
cools冷却 and leaves a dark body called a drifted 漂流向to outer space.
black dwarf.黑矮星 The core cools down and the star shrinks into
a white dwarf白矮星

The Death of a star bigger than the Sun

After the hydrogen in the core of a star is
used up, the gravitational force of the star
becomes weaker, So, the outer layer of the
star expands. The star becomes a red giant
then becomes a supergiant.超巨星
The red supergiant explodes爆炸. The strong
explosion is known as a supernova.超级新星
During the explosion, the outer layer外层 of
the star is expelled to the outer space. The
remaining mass contracts收缩 and forms
either:

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a) A dense稠密 core中心 called neutron b) A very dense core that even light cannot
star中子星. Neutron star will lose消失 its heat escape 逃跑 from it. This region is known as
and becomes cold. a black hole 黑洞, an object that cannot be
seen in outer space.

Relative Size Comparison between the Earth and the Universe

Definition of a Star
1. A star is made up of dust灰尘 and gases such as hydrogen and helium.
2. Stars release their own heat energy and light energy which are produced through nuclear fusion.核聚变

Characteristics of Stars
1. Stars can be classified分类 according to their colour, temperature, size, brightness, mass, density and
chemical composition化学成分.
2. Temperature and colour
(a) The colour of a star depends on the temperature on its surface.
(b) The hottest star is blue in colour while the coldest star is red in colour. The Sun has a moderate适度的
temperature. Hence, it is yellow in colour.

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 Colour Surface temperature (°C) Example of star
Blue >25 000 Spica角宿一
Whitish-blue蓝白
11 000 - 25 000 Rigel参宿七
Bluish - white
White 7 500 - 11000 Sinus, Vega
Yellowish-white 6 000 - 7 500 Procyon南河三, Capella
Yellow 5 000 - 6 000 Sun
Orange 3 500 - 5000 Arcturus大角星
Red <3 500 Betelgeuse参宿四, Antares
Surface temperature and colour of some stars

Brightness
1 The brightness of a star depends on its surface temperature, and distance from the Earth.
2 Sirius天狼星 and Rigel参宿七 are examples of bright stars.

Size
(a) Stars have various sizes according to their diameter.
(b) The arrangement of stars in increasing order of size is neutron star 中子星, dwarf star 矮星, the Sun,
giant star 巨星 and supergiant star 超级巨星.

Mass 质量and density密度

(a) All stars are mainly主要 made of gases. Therefore, their mass do not differ分别 much.
(b) The densities of stars are very different because there are great differences in their sizes (volumes).
(c) The density of the neutron star is very high while giant and super-giant stars are less dense.

Chemical composition
(a) The chemical composition of a star can be determined by analyzing分析 the light emitted发出 by the
star. The analysis can be done using a spectroscope分光镜.
(b) Most stars have roughly 大致上the same composition as the Sun. The stars are mostly made up of
hydrogen and helium gases.
(c) Some stars may contain含有 substances such as iron, calcium and carbon.
(d) Young stars have a lot of hydrogen while old stars usually have a lot of iron.