15.8: Key Terms
- Page ID
- 140404
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Milky Way Galaxy Key Terms
- central bulge: (or nuclear bulge) The central (round) part of the Milky Way or a similar galaxy.
- dark matter halo: The mass in the Milky Way that extends well beyond the boundary of the luminous stars to a distance of at least 200,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy; although we deduce its existence from its gravity, the composition of this matter remains a mystery.
- differential galactic rotation: The idea that different parts of the Galaxy turn at different rates, since the parts of the Galaxy follow Kepler's third law: more distant objects take longer to complete one full orbit around the center of the Galaxy.
- Milky Way Galaxy: The band of light encircling the sky, which is due to the many stars and diffuse nebulae lying near the plane of the Milky Way Galaxy.
- population I star: A star containing heavy elements; typically young and found in the disk.
- population II star: A star with very low abundance of heavy elements; found throughout the Galaxy.
- spiral arm: A spiral-shaped region, characterized by relatively dense interstellar material and young stars, that is observed in the disks of spiral galaxies.
- supermassive black hole: The object in the center of most large galaxies that is so massive and compact that light cannot escape from it; the Milky Way's supermassive black hole contains 4.6 millions of Suns' worth of mass.

