Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 20, Problem 11E
The mass of the interstellar medium is determined by a balance between sources (which add mass) and sinks (which remove it). Make a table listing the major sources and sinks, and briefly explain each one.
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What evidence can you cite that the interstellar medium contains both gas and dust? (Select all that apply.)
(1)The dust of the interstellar medium can be detected from the emission lines of elements heavier than iron.
(2)The dust of the interstellar medium can be detected by the extinction of light from distant stars.
(3)The dust of the interstellar medium can be detected by the scattering of blue light from distant or embedded objects.
(4)The gas of the interstellar medium can be detected from the radiation of ultraviolet photons.
(5)The gas of the interstellar medium can be detected from the radiation of photons of wavelength 21 cm.
(6)The gas of the interstellar medium can be detected from the absorption lines present in the light from distant stars, which must be caused by a medium of a density and temperature other than that of the stars emitting the light.
White Dwarf Size II. The white dwarf, Sirius B, contains 0.98 solar mass, and its density is about 2 x 106 g/cm?. Find the radius of the white dwarf in km to three significant digits. (Hint: Density = mass/volume, and the volume of a
4
sphere is Tr.)
3
km
Compare your answer with the radii of the planets listed in the Table A-10. Which planet is this white dwarf is closely equal to in size?
I Table A-10 I Properties of the Planets
ORBITAL PROPERTIES
Semimajor Axis (a)
Orbital Period (P)
Average Orbital
Velocity (km/s)
Orbital
Inclination
Planet
(AU)
(106 km)
(v)
(days)
Eccentricity
to Ecliptic
Mercury
0.387
57.9
0.241
88.0
47.9
0.206
7.0°
Venus
0.723
108
0.615
224.7
35.0
0.007
3.4°
Earth
1.00
150
1.00
365.3
29.8
0.017
Mars
1.52
228
1.88
687.0
24.1
0.093
1.8°
Jupiter
5.20
779
11.9
4332
13.1
0.049
1.30
Saturn
9.58
1433
29.5
10,759
9.7
0.056
2.5°
30,799
60,190
Uranus
19.23
2877
84.3
6.8
0.044
0.8°
Neptune
* By definition.
30.10
4503
164.8
5.4
0.011
1.8°
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES (Earth = e)…
Some interstellar Properties.
Use excel calculator to fill in the missing figures.
1 ly = 365 × 24 × 60 × 60 × 300, 000km/s = 9.46 × 10^12 km
Chapter 20 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 20 - Identify several dark nebulae in photographs in...Ch. 20 - Why do nebulae near hot stars look red? Why do...Ch. 20 - Describe the characteristics of the various kinds...Ch. 20 - Prepare a table listing the different ways in...Ch. 20 - Describe how the 21-cm line of hydrogen is formed....Ch. 20 - Describe the properties of the dust grains found...Ch. 20 - Why is it difficult to determine where cosmic rays...Ch. 20 - What causes reddening of starlight? Explain how...Ch. 20 - Why do molecules, including H2 and more complex...Ch. 20 - Why can’t we use visible light telescopes to study...
Ch. 20 - The mass of the interstellar medium is determined...Ch. 20 - Where does interstellar dust come from? How does...Ch. 20 - Figure 20.2 shows a reddish glow around the star...Ch. 20 - If the red glow around Antares is indeed produced...Ch. 20 - Even though neutral hydrogen is the most abundant...Ch. 20 - The terms H II and H2 are both pronounced “H two.”...Ch. 20 - Suppose someone told you that she had discovered H...Ch. 20 - Describe the spectrum of each of the following: A....Ch. 20 - According to the text, a star must be hotter than...Ch. 20 - From the comments in the text about which kinds of...Ch. 20 - One way to calculate the size and shape of the...Ch. 20 - New stars form in regions where the density of gas...Ch. 20 - Thinking about the topics in this chapter, here is...Ch. 20 - Stars form in the Milky Way at a rate of about 1...Ch. 20 - The 21-cm line can be used not just to find out...Ch. 20 - Astronomers recently detected light emitted by a...Ch. 20 - We can detect 21-cm emission from other galaxies...Ch. 20 - We have said repeatedly that blue light undergoes...Ch. 20 - Suppose that, instead of being inside the Local...Ch. 20 - Suppose that, instead of being inside the Local...Ch. 20 - A molecular cloud is about 1000 times denser than...Ch. 20 - Would you expect to be able to detect an H II...Ch. 20 - Suppose that you gathered a ball of interstellar...Ch. 20 - At the average density of the interstellar medium,...Ch. 20 - Consider a grain of sand that contains 1 mg of...Ch. 20 - H II regions can exist only if there is a nearby...Ch. 20 - In the text, we said that the five-times ionized...Ch. 20 - Dust was originally discovered because the stars...Ch. 20 - How would the density inside a cold cloud (T=10K)...Ch. 20 - The text says that the Local Fluff, which...
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- (a) Rank the following components of the interstellar medium in order of the wavelengths at which they are observed, longest wavelength first: clouds of neutral hydrogen, coronal gas, interstellar dust, nebulae. Longest to Shortest? (b) Rank the same material in order of decreasing temperature from hottest to coolest. Hottest to Coolest?arrow_forwardA molecular cloud is about 1000 times denser than the average of the interstellar medium. Let’s compare this difference in densities to something more familiar. Air has a density of about 1 kg/m3, so something 1000 times denser than air would have a density of about 1000 kg/m3. How does this compare to the typical density of water? Of granite? (You can find figures for these densities on the internet.) Is the density difference between a molecular cloud and the interstellar medium larger or smaller than the density difference between air and water or granite?arrow_forwardConsider a grain of sand that contains 1 mg of oxygen (a typical amount for a medium-sized sand grain, since sand is mostly SiO2). How many oxygen atoms does the grain contain? What is the radius of the sphere you would have to spread them out over if you wanted them to have the same density as the interstellar medium, about 1 atom per cm3? You can look up the mass of an oxygen atom.arrow_forward
- Describe how the 21-cm line of hydrogen is formed. Why is this line such an important tool for understanding the interstellar medium?arrow_forwardDescribe the characteristics of the various kinds of interstellar gas (HII regions, neutral hydrogen clouds, ultra-hot gas clouds, and molecular clouds).arrow_forwardSuppose that you gathered a ball of interstellar gas that was equal to the size of Earth (a radius of about 6000 km). If this gas has a density of 1 hydrogen atom per cm3, typical of the interstellar medium, how would its mass compare to the mass of a bowling ball (5 or 6 kg)? How about if it had the typical density of the Local Bubble, about 0.01 atoms per cm3? The volume of a sphere is V=(4/3)R3 .arrow_forward
- The Large Magellanic Cloud has about one-tenth the number of stars found in our own Galaxy. Suppose the mix of high- and low-mass stars is exactly the same in both galaxies. Approximately how often does a supernova occur in the Large Magellanic Cloud?arrow_forwardConsider the following five kinds of objects: open cluster, giant molecular cloud, globular cluster, group of O and B stars, and planetary nebulae. A. Which occur only in spiral arms? B. Which occur only in the parts of the Galaxy other than the spiral arms? C. Which are thought to be very young? D. Which are thought to be very old? E. Which have the hottest stars?arrow_forwardHow are giant molecular clouds (GMCs), the loci of most star formation, themselves formed out of diffuse interstellar gas? What processes determine the distribution of physical conditions within star-forming regions, and why does star formation occur in only a small fraction of the available gas? How is the rate at which stars form determined by the properties of the natal GMC or, on a larger scale, of the interstellar medium (ISM) in a galaxy? What determines the mass distribution of forming stars, the initial mass function (IMF)? Most stars form in clusters (Lada & Lada 2003); how do stars form in such a dense environment and in the presence of enormous radiative and mechanical feedback from other YSOs?arrow_forward
- Suppose that stars were born at random times over the last 1010 years. The rate of star formation is simply the number of stars divided by 1010 years. The fraction of stars with detected extrasolar planets is at least 11 %. The rate of star formation can be multiplied by this fraction to find the rate planet formation. How often (in years) does a planetary system form in our galaxy? Assume the Milky Way contains 3 × 1011 stars.arrow_forwardDescribe the life cycles of both low mass and high mass stars, understand how their properties change during each evolutionary stage and how their evolution can be represented on a Hertzsprung-Russell diagramarrow_forwardThe water molecules now in your body were once part of a molecular cloud. Only about onemillionth of the mass of a molecular cloud is in the form of water molecules, and the mass density of such a cloud is roughly 1.5x10-21 g/cm? (questions in picture)arrow_forward
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