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Chapter 24: Problem 5

An educational publication for children included the following statement: "The Sun is in fact the only star in our galaxy. All of the other stars in the sky are located in other galaxies." How would you correct this statement?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The statement should be corrected as follows: 'The Sun is the star at the center of our solar system. There are billions of other stars in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Beyond our own galaxy, there are innumerous other galaxies, each containing millions to billions of stars.'

Step by step solution

01

Understanding Stars

Start by understanding what a star is. A star is a massive, bright, sphere of plasma held together by gravity. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun.
02

Understanding Solar Systems

Proceed to understanding what a solar system is. A solar system refers to a star and all the objects that travel in orbit around it. Our solar system consists of the Sun (the star), planets, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and other objects.
03

Understanding Galaxies

Lastly, understand what a galaxy is. A galaxy is a huge collection of gas, dust, and billions of stars and their solar systems. For instance, our solar system is located in the Milky Way galaxy.
04

Correction of the statement

Now that there is a clear understanding of where stars are located in the universe, the statement can be corrected. The corrected statement could be: 'The Sun is the star at the center of our solar system, and there are billions of other stars located in our galaxy, the Milky Way. Beyond our galaxy, there are also countless other galaxies, each containing millions or billions of stars.'

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Most popular questions from this chapter

It is estimated that the Coma cluster (see Figure 24-21) contains about \(10^{13} \mathrm{M}_{\odot}\) of intracluster gas. (a) Assuming that this gas is made of hydrogen atoms, calculate the total number of intracluster gas atoms in the Coma cluster. (b) The Coma cluster is roughly spherical in shape, with a radius of about \(3 \mathrm{Mpc}\). Calculate the number of intracluster gas atoms per cubic centimeter in the Coma cluster. Assume that the gas fills the cluster uniformly. (c) Compare the intracluster gas in the Coma cluster with the gas in our atmosphere \(\left(3 \times 10^{19}\right.\) molecules per cubic centimeter, temperature \(300 \mathrm{~K}\) ); a typical gas cloud within our own Galaxy (a few hundred molecules per cubic centimeter, temperature \(50 \mathrm{~K}\) or less); and the corona of the Sun \(\left(10^{5}\right.\) atoms per cubic centimeter, temperature \(10^{6} \mathrm{~K}\) ).

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.

Explain why the dark matter in galaxy clusters could not be neutral hydrogen.

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

Explain why the apparent shape of an elliptical galaxy may be quite different from its real shape.
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