The following are few articles on Milkyway Galaxy

The Milky Way

Galaxy

Our Home Away

From Home
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-1

Galaxies
Group of stars are called galaxies
Our star, the Sun, belongs to a system called
The Milky Way Galaxy
The Milky Way can be
seen as a band of stars
in the night sky
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-2

The Milky Way Galaxy

The Milky Way is basically a disk of stars with a large
central bulge

The central bulge contains the galactic nucleus

Most of the stars in the Milky Way are contained within the
Galactic Disk
The plane of the Galactic Disk is almost perpendicular to
the plane of our Solar System
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-3

Milky Way Dimensions

The central bulge which contains densely packed older

stars is ~ 16,000 light years in radius
The radius of the galactic disk is ~ 50,000 light years
The disk contains mainly young stars as well as
interstellar gas and dust
The thickness of the galactic disk is ~ 2,000 light years
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-4

Where is Our Solar System?

Initial attempts to find our solar system's location
were to simply count the numbers of stars in
various regions of the sky
What was found was that there were equal numbers
of stars in all regions

Therefore, the solar system is at the center of the

galaxy
This is incorrect!
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-5

Where is Our Solar System?

Why is this result incorrect?
Assumed that space was a vacuum
However there is a large amount of interstellar dust
This interstellar dust absorbs the light from
the stars and if a star is far enough away, its
light is totally absorbed Interstellar Extinction
Interstellar dust is also denser towards the
center of the galaxy
So how did we find our location?
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-6

Where is Our Solar System?

The globular clusters that surround the Milky
Way were the Key
Within these globular clusters are Cepheid variable
stars

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-7

Cepheid Variable Stars

Cepheid Variable stars are stars whose
luminosity varies precisely as a function of time
Typical classical Cepheids pulsate with periods of
a few days to months

Variability comes from a dynamic balance between

gravity and pressure - they have large oscillations
around stability
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-8

Cepheid Variable Stars

The usefulness of these stars comes from their
periodluminosity relation

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-9

Where is Our Solar System?

Using the measured variation and the measured
apparent luminosity of these Cepheid Variables, it
is possible to deduce the distance to these globular
clusters
Then using the known directions and the measured
distances it was seen that the globular clusters were
spherically centered about some point that was not
the Earth

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-10

Where is Our Solar System?

It was found that the Solar system was ~ 30,000
light years from this central point
We are not at the Center

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-11

Our Galactic Year

It has been determined that our Sun is moving at a
speed of ~200 km/sec
Using this speed and an orbital radius of 28,000 light
years, it takes the Sun 250 million years to make one
complete trip around the center of the galaxy
This time of 250 million years is
called the Galactic Year
Using the time it takes to go around the galaxy
and the age of our Sun, we have gone around
~60 times
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-12

Structure of the Milky Way

The general shape is a flat disk, 2000 light years
thick and 100,000 light years in diameter, with a
central bulge
Is there any internal structure to the Milky Way?
Are the stars spread uniformly or distributed
otherwise?
Standard atomic transitions yield visible and
ultraviolet radiation
These wavelengths cannot be used because of
interstellar extinction
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-13

Structure of the Milky Way

The key to determining the structure of the Milky
Way is atomic hydrogenconsisting of an electron
orbiting a nucleus made up of only a proton
Both the proton and the electron have Spin which can
be considered as an inherent angular momentum
The spins of the proton and electron can be aligned
in one of two ways
Antiparallel
Parallel

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-14

Structure of the Milky Way

The energy for the state where the spins are parallel is higher
than for the state where the spins are anti-parallel
The hydrogen atom, if it is in the spin parallel state, can make
a transition to the spin anti-parallel state releasing energy
When a transition does a occur, energy is released
corresponding to a wavelength of 21 cm, which is in the radio
portion of the electromagnetic spectrum
This radiation can pass through the interstellar medium
unaffected
In 1951 the first radio telescope was built to detect the 21 cm
radiation from the hydrogen transition
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-15

Structure of the Milky Way

The key to using this 21 cm radiation is the
Doppler shift
A hypothesis is first formulated as to the
structure of the galaxy
Then predictions are made and then compared to
the experimental data

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-16

Structure of the Milky Way

Simplest Hypothesis:
Galaxy is a uniform non-rotating disk
All the radiation will be 21 cm
Measure the energy as a
function of direction
Relative intensity as a function
of direction gives the relative
densities
Should then correlate with known densities as a
function of position
This is not what is seen
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-17

Structure of the Milky Way

Slightly more complicated hypothesis:
Uniform density with galaxy rotating
Radiation will be Doppler
shifted by an amount
dependent on the radial
velocity along the line of sight
Since the density is uniform, the
energy received will be at
uniformly distributed
wavelengths
Again this is not what is seen
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-18

Structure of the Milky Way

More complicated hypothesis:
Galaxy is rotating and has non-uniform density
Radiation is Doppler shifted
by an amount dependent
upon the velocity along the
line of sight
Since Density is non-uniform,
prominent peaks in the energy
distribution as a function of
wavelength
This is in fact what is seen
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-19

The Spiral Milky Way Galaxy

From the shifted wavelengths, the components of the
velocities along the line of sight can be determined
From these radial
velocities, the fact that
the Milky Way Galaxy
is a spiral structure was
determined

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-20

Galactic Structure
This artists conception shows the various parts of our
galaxy, and the position of our Sun

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-21

Galactic Structure
The galactic halo and globular clusters formed very
early
The halo is essentially spherical
All the stars in the halo are very old, and there is
no gas and dust
The galactic disk is where the youngest stars are, as
well as star formation regions
emission nebulae and large clouds of gas and
dust
Surrounding the galactic center is the galactic
bulge, which contains a mix of older and younger
stars
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-22

Galactic Structure
This infrared view of our galaxy shows much more
detail of the galactic center than the visible-light view
does, as infrared is not absorbed as much by gas and
dust

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-23

Galactic Structure
Stellar orbits in the
disk move on a plane
and in the same
direction
Orbits in the halo
and bulge are much
more random.

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-24

The Formation of the Milky Way

Any theory of galaxy formation should be able to
account for all the properties below

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-25

The Formation of the Milky Way

The formation of the
galaxy is believed to be
similar to the
formation of the solar
system, but on a much
larger scale

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-26

Galactic Spiral Arms

We have see from measurements of the position and
motion of gas clouds, that the Milky Way has a spiral
form

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-27

Why The Spiral Arms

We have determined that the Milky Way Galaxy
has spiral arms
Other galaxies also have spiral arms,
and other galaxies do not
Some galaxies that have spiral arms,
have arms that are poorly defined
Data show that the stars on the outside edge of
our galaxy are moving at approximately the same
velocity as stars that are closer inward
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-28

Why The Spiral Arms

If the spiral arms are an actual part of the
structure of a spiral galaxy, then the spiral arms
should have wound up tightly by now
Why not?
But they have not!

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-29

Why The Spiral Arms

The spiral arms are not a physical reality in
the normal sense
What the Milky Way has is a pattern of
spiralness that is moving through the galaxy like waves in water
There are density waves moving through the stars
and interstellar dust, temporarily piling up
material
These density waves are moving at a rate of ~300 km/s
The interstellar medium can only support waves
up to 10 km/s
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-30

Why The Spiral Arms

Shock waves develop in front of the leading edge
of the density wave
The interstellar medium can not move out of the
way fast enough
Matter is compressed to high
densities, densities that are
high enough for star formation
to begin
The spiral arms will therefore
contain young, hot stars, while
the region between the arms
contains older stars
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-31

Why The Spiral Arms

The origin of the spiral arms is not yet understood

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-32

Precessing Orbits
A star's movement through the galaxy is affected
by the other stars in the galaxy
The paths of the stars are not circular,
but are elliptical
These ellipses appear to precess
The elliptical orbits of the stars are not
independent of each other, but are correlated

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-33

Rotation Rates
Not all parts of the galaxy are rotating at the
same rate
Differential Rotation
The measurement of stars
velocities show that the
velocities increase rather
sharply, like that of a rigid
body, and then continue to
increase with a slow rise
This behavior for the orbital velocities cannot be
accounted for in a straight forward manner
It was expected that the rotation velocities would
decrease like Keplerian orbits as a function of
distance from center
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-34

Galactic Mass
The orbital speed of an object depends only on the
amount of mass between it and the galactic center

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-35

Galactic Mass

Once all the galaxy is within an orbit, the velocity

should diminish with distance, as the dashed curve
shows
It doesnt
More than twice the mass of the galaxy would have to
be outside the visible part to reproduce the observed
curve.
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-36

Galactic Mass
What could this dark matter be?
It is dark at all wavelengths, not just the visible
Stellar-mass black holes?
Probably no way enough of them could have been
created

Brown dwarfs, faint white dwarfs, and red dwarfs?

Currently the best star-like option

Weird subatomic particles?

Could be, although no direct evidence so far
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-37

Galactic Mass
A Hubble search for red dwarfs turned up too few to
account for dark matter
If enough existed, they should have been detected

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-38

Galactic Mass
The bending of spacetime can allow a large mass to act as a gravitational
lens
Observation of such events suggests that low-mass white dwarfs could
account for as much as 20% of the mass needed
The rest is still a mystery.

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-39

Center of Milky Way Galaxy

The center of our
galaxy is in the
general direction of
the constellation
Sagittarius
The Galaxy's center is difficult to
observe using visible light because
of interstellar extinction
However we can use radio and infrared wavelengths
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-40

Center of Milky Way Galaxy

These images in infrared, radio, and X-ray offer a
different view of the galactic center

Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-41

Center of Milky Way Galaxy

The center of the Milky
Way is very bright in
the radio wavelengths
The brightest infrared
source comes from
Sagittarius A and within
this is a very bright radio
source Sgr A* which
marks the center of the
galaxy
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-42

Center of Milky Way Galaxy

The galactic center appears to have
A stellar density a million times higher than near
Earth
A ring of molecular gas 400 pc across
Strong magnetic fields
A rotating ring or disk of matter a few parsecs
across
A strong X-ray source at the center
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-43

Center of Milky Way Galaxy

Apparently, there is an enormous black hole at the
center of the galaxy, which is the source of these
phenomena
An accretion disk surrounding the black hole emits
enormous amounts of radiation
Observations on three stars that are
orbiting the core region at a distance
ranging from ~1000 A.U. to ~2700
A.U. seem to show them orbiting a
common point
Measurements indicate that the mass is roughly
3.7 million solar masses a black hole whose size
would extend out to the orbit of Mars
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-44

Center of Milky Way Galaxy

There are other interesting
objects at the center of the
Milky Way
Observations have been
made of the remnant of a
supernova explosion that
had occurred near the Sgr
A* and that may have at one
time fed the black hole
There is still much to learned about the center of the
Milky Way
Astronomy 1-2

Lecture 23-45

The
Milky
Way
Galaxy

The first description of the

formation of the Galaxy was
published by the German
philosopher Immanuel Kant
(1724-1804) in his 1755
book, the Allgemeine Naturgeschichte und Theorie des
Himmels. The graphic in
our book shows the same
basic idea.

Because the Sun in situated in the plane of the Milky

Way, as we scan around the sky, we see a band of
light. Perpendicular to the plane of the Milky Way
there are many fewer stars. Some constellations
have lots of star clusters, like Sagittarius, Scutum,
Scorpius, and Cygnus. Other constellations such as
Coma Berenices cover the North Galactic Pole. We
see few Galactic star clusters here but many external
galaxies.

Wm. Herschel (17381822) and his sister

Caroline (1750-1848)

William Herschel's 1785 model of the Galaxy placed us

close to the center of flattened system of stars. But
he did not know about the effect of interstellar dust
on his star gauges.

In the early part of the 20th century J. C. Kapteyn (1851-1922)

produced a very similar model of the Galaxy to that of
Herschel. He too did not take into account the effect of
interstellar dust.

Meanwhile, a very important tool for Galactic astronomy

was being exploited by a young astronomer from Missouri.
In 1912 the Harvard astronomer Henrietta Leavitt (1868-1921)
discovered that the brighter Cepheid variable stars in the
Large Magellanic Cloud had longer periods than the Cepheids
with shorter periods. This is the famous period-luminosity
law.

Since the stars in the Large Magellanic Cloud are all

at approximately the same distance from us, a
relationship between their apparent magnitudes and
periods implied a relationship between their intrinsic
luminosities (i.e. absolute magnitudes) and periods.
Harlow Shapley (1885-1972) noticed that most of the
globular clusters in the sky were situated in the
constellations Scorpius and Sagittarius. He wondered:
Is the center of the Galaxy the same as the center
of the globular cluster system?

Shapley determined the distances to a number of globular

clusters using the period-luminosity law for Cepheids.
He noted that most globular clusters had linear diameters
of about 25 pc. He could then use their angular diameters
to get approximate distance for clusters whose stars were
too faint to study individually. He discovered that
the center of the globular cluster system was situated in
Sagittarius at a distance of some 50,000 light years.
However, he did not take extinction by interstellar dust
into account. Modern determinations of the distance
to the center of the Galaxy place it at a distance of about
25,000 light-years, or about 8000 parsecs.

After Copernicus
moved the Earth from
the center of the solar
system, Shapley moved
the Sun from the center
of the Galaxy.
Looking ahead, it appears
that no matter what direction
you look, distant galaxies
are receding from us.
Is our Galaxy at the center
of the universe?

Essentially all of the

gas, and all of the
bright blue stars are
found in the plane of
the Galaxy.

Because we are situated inside

the Milky Way Galaxy, and
optical light is extinguished by
interstellar dust so much, it
is difficult to get a picture of
our galaxy. But we feel
confident that the side-on
and face-on views must be
similar to these two other
galaxies.

The star-gas-star cycle of the Galaxy

A spectrum of the Orion Nebula reveals many emission lines.

Just like the planets

in the solar system,
stars further out in
the Galaxy orbit the
Galactic center more
slowly. The Sun is
moving 220 km/sec
toward Cygnus and
orbits the center every
240 million years.

Unlike the solar system, however, the circular speeds around

the center do not decrease nicely in accord with Kepler's
Third Law.

Your book gives estimates of the mass of the Galaxy from

1 to 4 X 1011 solar masses. A more recent determination
of the mass of the Galaxy is even larger, 1.5-4.0 X 1012
solar masses. This is on the basis of stars of known
absolute magnitude called horizontal branch stars. An
analysis of 1000 of them out in the Galaxy's halo shows
that the visible Galaxy we know that gives off most of the
light is embedded in a halo of invisible Dark Matter.
What could this dark matter be? Relic particles from the
Big Bang? Lots of 3 solar mass black holes? This is
one of the biggest mysteries in modern astronomy.

Different Stellar Populations

Gas is confined to the Galactic plane, with a thickness

of only 100 pc. This is where the most recent stars
are being formed.
Perturbations of stars' motion by giant molecular
clouds and star clusters has elongated the orbits of
other stars over time.
Stars formed in the halo can have highly elliptical
orbits around the Galactic Center. These orbits are
not confined to the plane of the Galaxy.

Globular clusters were formed when the Galaxy was young.

They have ages up to 10 to 13 billions years. Also, the
oldest white dwarfs in the plane are now sort of orange
in color. We can estimate that they may be 9 to 10 billion
years old. This is how we can get an estimate of the age
of the Galaxy.

Evidence for the spiral structure of the Galaxy comes

from nearby associations of hot, new stars. Also
from observations of neutral hydrogen gas.

Spiral structure of
our Galaxy, as
determined from
ionized hydrogen
regions

Georgelin & Georgelin 1976

Our Galaxy, the Milky Way

In the night sky,

the Milky Way
appears as a
faint band of
light.

Dusty gas clouds

obscure our view
because they absorb
visible light.
This is the
interstellar medium
that makes new star
systems.
It comprises clouds
of hydrogen gas
(atomic & molecular)
and dust.

All-Sky View of the Milky Way

MILKY WAY

TOP (artists
conception)

SIDE

Size of the Milky Way (side view)

Diameter ~ 100,000 light years

Thickness ~ 1,000 light years (flatter than a CD !)
Distance from Sun to center ~ 30,000 light years
About 100 billion stars in total.

Stellar components of the Milky Way

1.
2.
3.

Disk: rotating, thin collection of stars, gas & dust.

Halo: tenuous outer sphere of stars & globular
clusters, and very little gas.
Bulge: spherical concentration of stars near the center

If we could view the Milky Way from above

the disk, we would see its spiral arms

Another spiral galaxy seen edge-on

The Sombrero Galaxy in optical and IR light

Closest large spiral galaxy

M31 the Andromeda Galaxy
8X the diameter of the Full Moon!

Stellar Orbits: Stars in the Galactic Disk

Disk stars all orbit in the same direction of rotation,
with a small amount of vertical (up-and-down) motion.
Rotation due to angular momentum from the galaxys formation.
Vertical motion due to gravitational attraction of the disk stars.

Stellar Orbits: Galactic Halo & Bulge

Stars in the halo
& bulge also
orbit the center
of the galaxy.
But their orbits
have random
orientations, w/o
any overall
sense of rotation.

How do we measure the mass of the Galaxy?

Suns orbital motion
(radius & velocity) tell
us the mass inside
Suns orbit:
~1.0 x 1011 Msun.
(i.e. 100 billion stars )
Cannot measure the
mass outside of the
Suns orbit in this
fashion (we use other
methods).

Galactic Recycling
How does our galaxy recycle gas into stars?
Where do stars tend to form in our galaxy?

Whats the Milky Way got to do with us?

It holds onto the gas and allows new stars to form

from recycled (and enriched) material

How does our galaxy form stars?

Recycles gas from old stars into new stars.
With each cycle, more heavy elements are
made by nuclear fusion in stars.
Star-gas-star cycle

Star-gas-star
cycle

Recycles gas
from old stars
into new stars.

With each cycle,

more heavy
elements are
made by nuclear
fusion in stars.

Gas Cools

Summary of Galactic Recycling

Stars make new heavy elements by fusion.
Dying stars expel gas and new elements, producing
hot bubbles of gas (~106 K). These emit X-rays.
This hot gas cools, allowing atomic hydrogen clouds
to form (~100-10,000 K). This hydrogen emits at
21-cm wavelength emission line.
Further cooling permits molecules (CO, etc) to form,
making molecular clouds (~30 K). CO emits an
emission line spectrum at 3 mm.
Gravity forms new stars (and planets) in molecular
clouds. Process starts over.

Effect of low-mass stars on the interstellar medium

Low-mass stars
eject gas through
their (very small)
stellar winds and
mass loss during
the planetary
nebula phase.
Overall, these have
much less effect on
the ISM than high
mass stars.

Effect of high-mass stars on the interstellar medium

During their lives,
high-mass stars
have strong stellar
winds that blow
bubbles of hot gas.
High mass stars die
as supernovae,
injecting heavy
elements into the
interstellar medium.

10 light-years
Have a very strong
effect on the ISM.

Supernova remnants: Xrays

20 light years

Supernova
remnants are
filled with hot
gas (~106 K),
which emit
thermal
radiation at
mostly X-ray
wavelengths.

Review: Learning from Light

How does light tell us what
things are made of?
Every kind of atom, ion, and
molecule produces a unique
set of spectral lines, seen in
emission or absorption spectra.

How does light tell us the

temperatures of dense objects?
We can determine temperature
from the (continuous) spectrum
of thermal radiation.

Supernova remnants
The gas of the supernova remnant expands and cools.
Begins to emit visible light, mostly emission line spectra.

130 light years

Supernova remnants
The gas of the supernova remnant expands and cools.
Begins to emit visible light as emission line spectra.
These spectra show heavy elements (O, Ne, N, S) made
by the star, which are distributed back into the ISM.

SN superbubbles

Multiple supernovae
can create huge
bubbles of hot gas,
which blow out of
the galactic disk.
Gas clouds cooling
in the halo can rain
back down onto the
disk.
These collisions
may trigger future
star formation.

Atomic hydrogen in the ISM

As the hot gas cools, electrons combine with protons
to form clouds of atomic hydrogen (H).
Atomic hydrogen produces an emission line at 21cm
wavelength (in the radio) called Hydrogen hyperfine
structure or the spin flip transition. Can use this to
map the spatial distribution.

Molecular hydrogen in the ISM

Atomic hydrogen clouds slowly contract & cool further.
Once they get cold & dense enough, the single H atoms
combine to form molecular hydrogen (H2) clouds.

Optical image

Molecular clouds
Composition:

Mostly H2
About 28% He
About 1% CO
Many other molecules.

Unlike atomic hydrogen (H),

molecular hydrogen (H2)
is very hard to detect, as it
emits very weak radiation.
Detect molecular clouds from
3-mm emission line of CO
(a trace constituent by
mass).

Molecular clouds collapse due to gravity to form new

stars, thereby completing the star-gas-star cycle.

Star formation in molecular clouds

Young massive
stars can erode
the birth clouds,
preventing
further star
formation.
Only a small
fraction of gas
in molecular
clouds forms
into stars.

Gas Cools

Summary of Galactic Recycling

Stars make new heavy elements by fusion.
Dying stars expel gas and new elements, producing
hot bubbles of gas (~106 K). These emit Xrays.
This hot gas cools, allowing atomic hydrogen clouds
to form (~100-10,000 K). This hydrogen emits at
21-cm wavelength emission line.
Further cooling permits molecules (CO, etc) to form,
making molecular clouds (~30 K). CO emits an
emission line spectrum at 3 mm.
Gravity forms new stars (and planets) in molecular
clouds. Process starts over.

QUESTION: Where will our

Galaxys gas be in 1 trillion years
from now?
A. Blown out of galaxy
B. Still recycling just like now
C. Locked into white dwarfs and lowmass stars

QUESTION: Where will our

Galaxys gas be in 1 trillion years
from now?
A. Blown out of galaxy
B. Still recycling just like now
C. Locked into white dwarfs and lowmass stars
Galactic recycling is an imperfect process.
More and more gas gets locked up into
low-mass stars and white dwarfs, which never
return their material to the interstellar medium.

We observe star-gas-star cycle operating in the Milky Ways

disk using many different wavelengths of light.

Infrared

Visible

Infrared light reveals stars whose visible light is

blocked by clouds of gas & dust.

X-rays
X-rays are observed from hot gas above and
below the Milky Ways disk.

Radio (21cm)

21-cm radio waves emitted by cold atomic hydrogen

show where gas has cooled and settled into disk.

Radio (3 mm)

3-mm radio waves from carbon monoxide (CO) show

locations of molecular clouds.

Far-IR
(dust)

Long-wavelength infrared emission shows where

young stars have heated dust grains.

Gamma rays show where cosmic rays from supernovae

collide with atomic nuclei in gas clouds

Where do stars tend to form in

our galaxy?

Much of the star

formation in disk
galaxies happens
in the spiral arms.
Ionization Nebulae
Blue (massive) stars
Dusty Gas Clouds

Whirlpool Galaxy

Ionization nebulae
Regions of ionized gas
Found around short-lived
high-mass stars and signify
active star formation.
The blue light of the
massive stars is scattered
by nearby dust clouds.
The nebulae tend to appear
reddish, b/c of strong
emission lines at these
wavelengths.

Reflection nebulae are

dusty gas clouds which
scatter the light from
stars.

Why do reflection nebulae

look bluer than the nearby
stars? For the same reason
our sky is blue, and sunsets
are red.
Blue light is preferentially
scattered by gas molecules
and small dust particles.

Spiral arms are waves of

star formation
1. Gas clouds get
squeezed as they
move into spiral arms
2. Squeezing of clouds
triggers star
formation.
3. Young stars flow out
of spiral arms.

How did our galaxy form?

Halo: No ionization nebulae, no blue stars

no star formation
(and hence no recycling)

Disk: Ionization nebulae, blue stars star formation

Milky Ways star formation rate is about 1 MSun/yr.

Halo Stars:
0.02-0.2% heavy elements (O, Fe),
only old stars

Disk Stars:
2% heavy elements,
stars of all ages

Halo stars
formed first,
then stopped.

Disk stars
formed later, &
keep on forming.

Our galaxy probably formed from a giant gas cloud

Halo stars formed first as gravity caused cloud to contract

Remaining gas settled into spinning disk

due to conservation of angular momentum

Stars continuously form in disk as galaxy grows older

The collapsing cloud model explains the age, chemical, and

orbital differences between halo and disk stars.

More detailed studies: Halo stars formed in

clumps that later merged (galactic cannibalism).

What do we learn about the

galaxys history from its halo stars?
The halo generally contains only old, lowmass stars with a much smaller proportion
of heavy elements than stars in the disk.
Thus, halo stars must have formed early in
the galaxys history, before the gas settled
into a disk.

How did our galaxy form?

The galaxy probably began
as a huge blob of gas called
a protogalactic cloud.
Gravity caused the cloud to
shrink in size, and
conservation of angular
momentum caused the gas
to form the spinning disk of
our galaxy.
Stars in the halo formed
before the gas finished
collapsing into the disk.

The black hole at the

center of the Galaxy

Review: What is a black hole?

A black hole is a place where gravity is so powerful that
nothing can ever escape from it, not even light.
(Therefore, out of contact with the rest of the Universe.)
The event horizon
the surface of the BH,
where escape velocity is
the speed of light (c)

Escape speed > c

Escape speed < c

Size of event horizon = Schwarzschild radius = 2GM/c2

Schwarzschild radius of a 1MSun black hole ~ 3 km

Galactic center in IR light

Galactic center in IR light

Galactic center in radio

Galactic center in radio

Strange radio sources in

galactic center

Strange radio sources in

galactic center

Stars at galactic center

Stellar orbits size and mass black hole