Notes
Slide Show
Outline
1
Astro 1050     Mar. 31, 2004
  •    Today: Continue Chapter 13, Galaxies


2
Chapter 13: Galaxies
  • Save additional Hubble Law demos and discussion for Chapter 15 on Cosmology
    • For now, can simply use as a tool to get distances to galaxies
  • Evolution of Galaxies
    • Clusters
    • Mergers
3
The Local Group of Galaxies
  • Galaxies live in clusters
    • Rich clusters:  thousands of galaxies
    • Poor clusters:  Fewer than a thousand


4
The Coma Cluster
5
Evolution of Galaxies
  • Galaxies live in clusters
    • Rich clusters:  thousands of galaxies
    • Poor clusters:  Few than a thousand


  • Fundamental difference between stars and galaxies:
    • Stars live isolated lives:
      • They are much smaller than distance between them




      • They virtually never collide


    • Galaxies are not isolated
      • They are only slightly smaller than the distances between them




      • The can (and do) collide, and interact with gas within clusters
6
Effects of Collisions
  • Stars pass “through” each other, but orbits around galaxy disrupted


  • Gas clouds collide
    • Gas stripped away from stars
    • Collisions cause bursts of star formation


  • Ellipticals may be those galaxies which have suffered collisions
  • Spirals may be those galaxies which have not suffered collisions


  • Joshua Barnes (Hawaii) and the Space Telescope Science Institute provide a simulations of galaxy mergers.  Barnes website:
  •  http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/faculty/barnes/transform.html
  • Simulation of the Milky Way and its future merger with the Andromeda galaxy: http://www.npaci.edu/online/v4.9/galaxies2.html
7
Interacting Galaxies: The Antennae
8
Interacting Galaxies: Cartwheel
9
The Hubble Deep Field
10
Evidence for “Hierarchical” Galaxy Formation from the Hubble Deep Field
11
What this might look like
  • Cosmological structure formation via simulations.
  • This is how galaxies are thought to form from the initial conditions following the big bang (Ch. 15).
  • Check them out!
  • http://archive.ncsa.uiuc.edu/Cyberia/Cosmos/TheWorksMovies.html
12
Chapter 13: Galaxies
  • Family of Galaxies
    • Classification
  • Properties of Galaxies
    • Distance; The Hubble Law
    • Size and Luminosity
    • Mass (including Dark Matter)
  • Evolution of Galaxies
    • Clusters
    • Mergers