20.12.2: Thought Questions
Thought Questions
Figure 20.2 shows a reddish glow around the star Antares, and yet the caption says that is a dust cloud. What observations would you make to determine whether the red glow is actually produced by dust or whether it is produced by an H II region?
14.
If the red glow around Antares is indeed produced by reflection of the light from Antares by dust, what does its red appearance tell you about the likely temperature of Antares? Look up the spectral type of Antares in Appendix J. Was your estimate of the temperature about right? In most of the images in this chapter, a red glow is associated with ionized hydrogen. Would you expect to find an H II region around Antares? Explain your answer.
15.
Even though neutral hydrogen is the most abundant element in interstellar matter, it was detected first with a radio telescope, not a visible light telescope. Explain why. (The explanation given in Analyzing Starlight for the fact that hydrogen lines are not strong in stars of all temperatures may be helpful.)
16.
The terms H II and H 2 are both pronounced “H two.” What is the difference in meaning of those two terms? Can there be such a thing as H III?
17.
Suppose someone told you that she had discovered H II around the star Aldebaran. Would you believe her? Why or why not?
18.
Describe the spectrum of each of the following:
- starlight reflected by dust,
- a star behind invisible interstellar gas, and
- an emission nebula.
19.
According to the text, a star must be hotter than about 25,000 K to produce an H II region. Both the hottest white dwarfs and main-sequence O stars have temperatures hotter than 25,000 K. Which type of star can ionize more hydrogen? Why?
20.
From the comments in the text about which kinds of stars produce emission nebulae and which kinds are associated with reflection nebulae, what can you say about the temperatures of the stars that produce NGC 1999 (Figure 20.13)?
21.
One way to calculate the size and shape of the Galaxy is to estimate the distances to faint stars just from their observed apparent brightnesses and to note the distance at which stars are no longer observable. The first astronomers to try this experiment did not know that starlight is dimmed by interstellar dust. Their estimates of the size of the Galaxy were much too small. Explain why.
22.
New stars form in regions where the density of gas and dust is relatively high. Suppose you wanted to search for some recently formed stars. Would you more likely be successful if you observed at visible wavelengths or at infrared wavelengths? Why?
23.
Thinking about the topics in this chapter, here is an Earth analogy. In big cities, you can see much farther on days without smog. Why?
24.
Stars form in the Milky Way at a rate of about 1 solar mass per year. At this rate, how long would it take for all the interstellar gas in the Milky Way to be turned into stars if there were no fresh gas coming in from outside? How does this compare to the estimated age of the universe, 14 billion years? What do you conclude from this?
25.
The 21-cm line can be used not just to find out where hydrogen is located in the sky, but also to determine how fast it is moving toward or away from us. Describe how this might work.
26.
Astronomers recently detected light emitted by a supernova that was originally observed in 1572, just reaching Earth now. This light was reflected off a dust cloud; astronomers call such a reflected light a “light echo” (just like reflected sound is called an echo). How would you expect the spectrum of the light echo to compare to that of the original supernova?
27.
We can detect 21-cm emission from other galaxies as well as from our own Galaxy. However, 21-cm emission from our own Galaxy fills most of the sky, so we usually see both at once. How can we distinguish the extragalactic 21-cm emission from that arising in our own Galaxy? (Hint: Other galaxies are generally moving relative to the Milky Way.)
28.
We have said repeatedly that blue light undergoes more extinction than red light, which is true for visible and shorter wavelengths. Is the same true for X-rays? Look at Figure 20.19. The most dust is in the galactic plane in the middle of the image, and the red color in the image corresponds to the reddest (lowest-energy) light. Based on what you see in the galactic plane, are X-rays experiencing more extinction at redder or bluer colors? You might consider comparing Figure 20.19 to Figure 20.14.
29.
Suppose that, instead of being inside the Local Bubble, the Sun were deep inside a giant molecular cloud. What would the night sky look like as seen from Earth at various wavelengths?
30.
Suppose that, instead of being inside the Local Bubble, the Sun were inside an H II region. What would the night sky look like at various wavelengths?