The Milky Way Galaxy Astronomy银河系天文学.pptVIP

* * * * * * * * * * * SgrA* is only 6AU in diameter – would fit inside the orbit of Jupiter and is smaller than Betelgeuse * Would stars be tidally ripped apart before entering a BH of this mass? In our homework, we found that a person would not be tidally ripped for BH mass greater than 2000. But for stars (larger and more gaseous than people), they would be ripped apart before falling into the BH. This is what produces the X-ray light we discuss in the next slide. * Spiral Structure Many external galaxies show spiral structure Hard to see the morphology of the MW (since we are in it!) Use other galaxies’ properties to determine the nature of the WM and determine we are in a spiral galaxy In other galaxies, HII regions and OB associations trace out spiral arms. ? Using spectroscopic parallax, we can place the nearby O and B stars at their proper distances. ? They appear to delineate spiral arms. ? Since O and B stars are young objects, spiral arms are associated with star formation. Problem: Can’t see very far in the optical… Spiral Structure Surveys of Giant Molecular Clouds (GMCs) are likely to trace the spiral arms since these are sites of star formation positions interior to Sun’s orbit in Galaxy have some distance ambiguity Less distance ambiguity outside of Solar orbit, and better evidence of arm-like morphology Spiral Structure The Galactic Nucleus Inner 500pc of Galaxy Extinction makes optical studies impossible - use radio or IR Observe ionized gas, line emission, dust, star clusters Stellar density is 107 stars per pc3 (compared to 0.1 in the solar neighborhood) If the Sun were near the GC Nearest star would be 1000AU away A million stars brighter than Sirius in the night sky Total starlight more than 200 times brightness of the full Moon The Galactic CenterOptical vs Radio observations 75pc 150pc The Galactic CenterRadio schematic Molecular material in inner 200pc relatively hot and dense: 104 per cm3 and 70 K High velocity dis