Astro 1 - Lecture 32


Matthew A. Bershady

Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics

Penn State University


Fall 1996

This document may not be copied for sale

All Rights Reserved

© 1995 Matthew A. Bershady

Lectures Lecture page Astro1 page



ROTATION, MASS, AND INTERACTION



1. Rotation


Galaxy disks

Recall: not solid-body rotation

(i.e. not like a frisbee)

differential rotation

What determines orbital speed?

Mass enclosed in volume interior to orbit

Recall Kepler's 3rd law:

For Solar System, Sun is virtually ``all'' the mass

Planets' orbital speeds decrease with orbital radius (see lecture 30, section 3):


orbital speed 1/

But!

For a galaxy, there is substantial mass at all radii, so we expect orbital velocities of stars and gas to change differently with orbital radius in a galaxy.

Rotation Curve:

the run of orbital speed with radius in a galaxy




2. Mass


From Kepler's 3rd law:

mass (orbital radius)3 / (orbital period)2

distance3 / time2

Recall:

speed = distance / time

mass (orbital radius) x (speed)2

mass interior to orbital radius

What do we find, using rotation curves and galaxy bulk motions?

Galaxies weigh 1011-1012 solar masses (M)

Galaxy clusters weigh 1013-1015 M

There is a problem:

We count up the stars, and we don't find this much matter:

. . . not in stars,

. . . not in cold or hot gas

. . . not in dust

There must be dark halos!




3. Dark Matter


``The Dark Side ....''



What makes up dark matter?

brown dwarfs (failed stars -- Jupiters)?

cooled white dwarfs ?

cooled neutron stars?

black holes?


or ...


``Shadow'' matter

exotic fundamental particles that only interact via gravitation

- last refuge of scoundrels (theorists)


Regardless,

90% of matter in the Universe doesn't shine!


An outstanding puzzle.

How do we detect it?

(See Chap. 17.8 for one example:
gravitational micro-lensing)




4. Interactions


Glancing blows

Mergers


Computer simulations:

- initial conditions:

spatial distribution and velocities of stars in galaxies;
bulk velocities of galaxies

- stars modeled as collisionless particles

- pure gravitational interactions

What's missing? (dust, gas ... the sticky stuff)

Results:

Tidal forces and disruption

Tidal tails

``like a hose'' ? .... not quite


Galactic cannabalism: define?


The one way to transform galaxies along the Hubble Sequence (sort of)

Input: any kind of galaxy, as long as there are enough of them . . .

. . .shake well and stir . . .

giant elliptical

Only found at the centers of galaxy clusters.

Why?




Q32.1 If the rotation curve of a galaxy continues to rise at large radii, what can we infer about the distribution of galactic mass?

(a) stars are following Keplerian orbits

(b) there is substantial mass at large galactic radii

(c) all mass is contained within an interior radius

(d) there is little or no mass at large radii

(e) all mass is contained outside an interior radius


Q32.2 Galaxies exist in clusters, small groups, pairs, and isolated in space. Where would you expect to find relatively fewest spirals compared to giant ellipticals?

(a) clusters

(b) groups

(c) pairs

(d) isolated in space

(e) isolated in space and in pairs


Lectures Lecture page Astro1 page

This page and its links look best with Netscape 2.0 image options set to "dither."

Last updated: Nov 1, 1996 Matthew A. Bershady