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Chapter 24: Problem 31

Hubble made his observations of Cepheids in M31 using the 100 -inch (2.5-meter) telescope on Mount Wilson. Completed in 1917 , this was the largest telescope in the world when Hubble carried out his observations in 1923. Why was it helpful to use such a large telescope?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Hubble used the large 100-inch telescope because a larger telescope can collect more light, see more distant and dimmer objects, and have a higher resolution. In the case of Hubble's observations, the larger telescope made it possible to see the Cepheids in M31 more clearly and measure their distances more accurately.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the Function of a Telescope

The primary purpose of a telescope is to gather light. The aperture of the telescope, which is the diameter of its main lens or mirror, determines how much light the telescope can collect from distant objects.
02

Role of Aperture Size

The larger the aperture of a telescope is, the more light it can collect. Therefore, it will be able to see more distant and dimmer objects. In other words, a larger telescope not only gathers more light but has a higher resolution, which is the ability to see fine details.
03

Hubble's Observations

In the context of Hubble's observations of Cepheids in M31 using the 100-inch telescope, the larger telescope allowed him to gather more light from the distant M31 galaxy, thus making the Cepheids, which are variable stars, more visible. Therefore, this larger telescope made it possible to measure the distances to these stars more accurately.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

When the results from the Hipparcos mission were released, with new and improved measurements of the parallaxes of nearby stars within \(500 \mathrm{pc}\), astronomers had to revise the distances to many remote galaxies millions of parsecs away. Explain why.

Why are Cepheid variable stars useful for finding the distances to galaxies? Are there any limitations on their use for this purpose?

What is the difference between a cluster and a supercluster? Are both clusters and superclusters held together by their gravity?

Use the Starry Night Enthusiast \({ }^{\text {TM }}\) program to examine clusters of galaxies. Select Favourites \(>\) Deep Space \(>\) Virgo Cluster to center this collection of galaxies in the view, as seen from a distance of about 53 Mly from the Sun. You are looking at a three-dimensional view of the Tully Database. Open the Find pane and locate Virgo \(\mathbf{A}\), one of the galaxies examined in the previous question, which is close to the center of this cluster of galaxies. Right-click on this galaxy to open the contextual menu (Macintosh users Ctrl-click on this galaxy) and click on Highlight "GA Virgo Cluster" Filament to highlight this cluster in yellow. Click on the "up" arrow in the Viewing Location to move to about 30 Mly from the Sun. Hold down the Shift key while holding down the mouse button and move the mouse to use the location scroller to rotate this rich group of galaxies. (a) Describe the general shape of the Virgo cluster. (b) As you rotate the Virgo cluster, you should notice other groupings of galaxies. Stop this rotation at some position and make a sketch of the screen, circling what you believe are other groups on your sketch. Right-click (Macintosh users Ctrl-click) on one of the other clusters (and clouds and extensions) near to the Virgo Cluster to open the contextual menu and use the Highlight option to see how astronomers have grouped these other galaxies. Repeat this process until you have identified all of the clusters around Virgo. Outline and label these clusters on your drawing. (c) Choose three of these clusters, center on each in turn and right- click (Ctrlclick on a Macintosh) to open the contextual menu and use the Centre command. Use the Zoom facility and location scroller to move around these collections of galaxies, and describe their distribution compared to the Virgo cluster. For example, what are their shapes and relative sizes compared to Virgo and to each other? Are they rich spherical concentrations or walls of galaxies?

Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of using the various standard candle distance indicators to obtain extragalactic distances.
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