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Chapter 24: Problem 49

The Earth is composed principally of heavy elements, such as silicon, nickel, and iron. Would you be likely to find such planets orbiting stars in the disk of a spiral galaxy? In the nu-cleus of a spiral galaxy? In an elliptical galaxy? In an irregular galaxy? Explain your answers.

Short Answer

Expert verified
Yes, one might be able to find planets composed of heavy elements in the disk and nucleus of a spiral galaxy, in an elliptical galaxy, and in an irregular galaxy. This is because these galaxies contain stars that produce and release these heavy elements into the universe, which then can form new stars and planets.

Step by step solution

01

Understand The Creation of Heavy Elements

Heavy elements like silicon, nickel, and iron, which make up the Earth, are made in stars and released into the universe through supernovae, a powerful and luminous explosion. These heavy elements then become part of the medium from which new stars (and potentially planets) form.
02

Analyze Different Types of Galaxies

Next, let's analyze what we know about the different types of galaxies. Spiral galaxies have a defined structure with a disk and a central bulge. Elliptical galaxies contain very old stars and have little new star formation. Irregular galaxies do not have a defined shape and have large amounts of gas and dust which is good for star formation.
03

Applying the Information to Each Galaxy Type

Spiral galaxies, both in the disk and nucleus, contain younger stars, which may still be producing heavy elements, and older stars that have released these elements into the surrounding medium. These galaxies can contain planets like earth made of heavy elements. Elliptical galaxies, primarily having older stars and less star formation, might have less of these heavy elements. However, their stars would have produced some amount of these elements and they might contain similar planets. Irregular galaxies with large amounts of gas and dust for star formation could form stars that produce these heavy elements and hence could also host planets with heavy elements.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

The galaxy RD1 has a redshift of \(z=5.34\). (a) Determine its recessional velocity \(v\) in \(\mathrm{km} / \mathrm{s}\) and as a fraction of the speed of light. (b) What recessional velocity would you have calculated if you had erroneously used the low-speed formula relating \(z\) and \(v\) ? Would using this formula have been a small or large error? (c) According to the Hubble law, what is the distance from Earth to RD1? Use \(H_{0}=73 \mathrm{~km} / \mathrm{s} / \mathrm{Mpc}\) for the Hubble constant, and give your answer in both megaparsecs and light-years.

. What was the Shapley-Curtis "debate" all about? Was a winner declared at the end of the "debate"? Whose ideas turned out to be correct?

. What evidence is there for the existence of dark matter in clusters of galaxies?

When galaxies pass close to one another, as should happen frequently in a rich cluster, tidal forces between the galaxies can strip away their outlying stars. The result should be a loosely dispersed sea of "intergalactic stars" populating the space between galaxies in a cluster. Search the World Wide Web for information about intergalactic stars. Have they been observed? If so, where are they found? What would our nighttime sky look like if our Sun were an intergalactic star?

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?
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