The Milky Way Our home galaxy, full of stars, gas and mysterious dark matter We decompose it into a disk and a halo and a few other parts

Distances from Variable Stars Certain stars act as “standard candles” with fixed LUMINOSITY (M) So, MEASURED BRIGHTNESS (m) lets us compute their distances. RR Lyrae stars all have similar absolute magnitudes (around -0.5 to -1.5). Their periods are all less than one day. They can be seen in nearby galaxies outside the MW. Can be seen out to 10’s of Mpc. Cepheid variables are even more luminous, and have longer periods (1-50 days). Start here on 11/3

Light Curves of RR Lyrae and WW Cgyni (a Cepheid Variable)

The Instability Strip Both RR Lyrae and Cepheid variable stars are post-main sequence stars (subgiants and giants) whose atmospheres pulsate strongly due to opacity variations

Standard Candles via Period-Luminosity Relations

Variable Stars and the Distance Ladder: They take us out to moderately distant galaxies

Motions Near the Sun Measure Doppler shifts of many stars to get velocities near the Sun Motions are faster closer to the galactic center so, on the average, stars ahead of Sun and inside get ahead (redshifted) while those behind and outside fall behind (also redshifted)

Gas Velocities from 21 cm Lines

Rotation Gives Mass Distribution ROTATION CURVES plot the stellar or gas velocity (v) against distance from center of galaxy (r). Mostly measured by 21 cm emission from H I gas Rigid body curve: v  r (like CD in a player or a rigid arm swinging) Keplerian curve: v  1/r1/2  most mass centrally concentrated. This would be like Mercury orbiting fastest and Neptune slowest around the Sun. Flat curve: v  constant  M rises significantly; specifically: M  r

Galactic Rotation Curve

DARK MATTER SEEMS TO REALLY MATTER For the MW a FLAT rotation curve implies there is MISSING MASS or DARK MATTER that isn't Stars or Gas seen out to 20 kpc from galactic center. Essentially ALL other Spiral galaxies for which Rotation Curves can be measured ARE ALSO FLAT, so DM is EVERYWHERE! More evidence for DM comes from CLUSTERS OF GALAXIES; we'll discuss this later. Yet more evidence comes from COSMOLOGICAL measurements of the structure of the universe as a whole (last couple of lectures!)

Dark Matter Candidates Missing Red Dwarfs (not enough; next slide) Planets or Brown Dwarfs on the loose (unlikely to be enough: gravitational lensing) Isolated black holes (very unlikely to be enough) Massive neutrinos (evidence for then having a tiny mass makes them a good candidate, but very unlikely that they dominate the DM) Snowballs (very difficult to form them, unpopular choice) As yet undiscovered particles; (Axions; Supersymmetric particles; WIMPs: Weakly Interacting Massive Particles) MOST popular now BUT no convincing detections yet. Start here on 4/2

Few Red Dwarfs Seen in Globular Cluster 47 Tucanae

Gravitational Lensing by Brown Dwarfs Temporary increase in star’s brightness due to a dark mass moving in front A rare detection is shown in the right

Key Properties of MW We are about r = 8 kpc from the center. We orbit the center at v = 220 km/s That makes for a galactic year (circumference divided by velocity) of (2 ) x 8,000 x (3.0857 x 1013 km) / 220 km/s = 7.1 x 1015 s = 2.24 x 108 yr. So, roughly 225 million years is ONE GALACTIC YEAR. How old is the solar system in galactic years? At nearly 4.6 billion years of age, the SS is only about 20 galactic years old!

Weighing the Galaxy Orbital speed depends on mass inside at a particular radius. This can be used with any galaxy for which motions can be measured. Mass vs. Distance Applet

Orbital Velocity Law The orbital speed (v) and radius (r) of an object on a circular orbit around the galaxy tells us the mass (Mr) within that orbit

Mass of the Milky Way Mgal r3/P2 from Newton’s laws. This is dominated by DARK MATTER, but total mass can be estimated by the velocity of stars at different distances. Out to solar distance (about 8 kpc) the mass is about 1 x 1011 M (mostly stars) Out to ~15 kpc, (the visible radius) a good estimate for the mass is nearly 4 x 1011 M (now mostly DM). Out to about 70 kpc (> 90% dark matter): 2 x 1012 M

Spiral Galaxies M101 is seen face on (similar to MW); NGC 4565 is edge on

Stellar Populations Pop I Stars: Have compositions like the sun: 70% H, 28% He, 2% "metals"; these metals are mostly Carbon, Oxygen and Nitrogen Use the CNO cycle to generate Main Sequence energy if M > 1.5 M Are almost all younger than 8 billion years. Most are in the thin disk; the rest are in the thick disk.

Stellar Populations, 2 Pop II Stars: Have compositions with much less heavy elements than the Sun: 72%H, 28% He, 0.2% metals is typical Use the pp-II on the MS if M > 1.5 M Are almost all older than 8 billion years. Most are in the halo and galactic bulge; however plenty pass through the thick disk too. Pop III Stars: The very earliest born; they have essentially NO METALS, very massive formed from only H and He made in the BIG BANG; Only a few possible detections.

Spiral Arms Fundamentally produced by Gravitational Perturbations to the galactic disk Produced either by a CENTRAL BAR or by a COMPANION GALAXY TWO ROUTES to Spiral Arms: First, DENSITY WAVES Think: traffic jam in space: Second, STAR FORMATION CHAIN REACTION

Density Wave Analogy to Traffic Jam Small extra density holds stars/gas up, like a broken down truck on the side of the road --Molecular clouds compressed, stars born --This best explains beautiful smooth ("grand design") spirals

Density Waves Can Make Spiral Arms NGC 1566 shows density wave features with dust lanes and nearby young star clusters

Spiral arms are waves of star formation Gas clouds get squeezed as they move into spiral arms Squeezing of clouds triggers star formation Young stars flow out of spiral arms

So Can Stochastic Star Formation Random birth of Massive Stars Their SN explosions compress nearby clouds & make new stars Differential rotation of galaxy yields spiral appearance by streching the stars out This best explains "rattier", broken-up spirals (like the Milky Way, though some Density Wave contribution is OK.)

Stochastic or Self-Propagating Star Formation

Spiral Arm Facts Typically, spiral arms have dark, DUSTY CLOUDS on their edges. Some of these are compressed enough to form bright O-B STAR CLUSTERS, which can in turn ionize and light up parts of the clouds into H II regions. Stars older than about 20-30 Myr are usually outside the arms. NOTE: the arms are barely denser in stars than the rest of the disk but they stand out because they have nearly all the hot, bright, young stars. Spiral Arms Applet

Stellar Clusters ALL clusters contain many more stars than average within diameters of 3-20 pc. We usually define three types: O-B ASSOCIATIONS OPEN (or Galactic) CLUSTERS GLOBULAR CLUSTERS

O-B ASSOCIATIONS usually < 100 stars, found in the THIN DISK definitely Pop I -- higher metallicity (similar to the Sun) stand out because these massive MS stars are so powerful ages usually < 30 Myr definitely BLUE in color because they have many hot (O and B) MS stars

OPEN (or GALACTIC) CLUSTERS 100's to 1000's of stars, found in the DISK and BULGE definitely Pop I -- higher metallicity (similar to Sun) stand out because of some pretty massive MS stars and LOTS of stars ages range from 5 Myr up to ~3 Gyr (M = Mega, million, G = Giga, billion) colors are BLUE through YELLOW from dominant MS stars

Open Cluster: Pleiades Only 120 pc from the Sun, the Seven Sisters have many fainter companions; only the most massive have left the MS

GLOBULAR CLUSTERS 104 to > 106 stars MOSTLY found in the HALO (plenty in the BULGE too, and a few found passing through the DISK) All Pop II -- much lower heavy element abundance than the Sun stand out because of HUGE number of stars in them ages all > 5 Gyr RED in color: low mass (red) MS stars and higher mass Red Giants provide most of their light. Blue stars are gone from the MS.

Globular Cluster: Omega Centauri Higher mass stars have become RGs, MS are low mass So the globular clusters look RED since they are OLD.

Why do astronomers love to study star clusters? First, because all the stars in a given cluster are nearly the SAME DISTANCE from us. So differences in apparent magnitude translate directly to absolute magnitude differences; Plot color-magnitude diagram for the cluster; Compare it with a H-R diagram made from stars of known distances; Slide MS part up or down until cluster MS overlaps known MS Then can get the distance to the cluster (and ALL its stars): m - M = 5 log (d/10 pc) This is a version of what is called SPECTROSCOPIC PARALLAX. Start here on 11/15

Equal Distances and Equal Ages Second, because all the stars in a given cluster are nearly the SAME AGE. Theoretical H-R diagrams have the higher mass stars reaching ZAMS first; It takes 107 years before 2-3 M stars reach ZAMS; meanwhile highest mass stars have left MS to become SN by 108 years many high mass stars have become RGs and SGs, but lowest mass stars still not on ZAMS. By 109 yr all low mass stars on ZAMS but TURN-OFF down in A stars I.e., all O, B and some A will have evolved off MS by then. By 1010 yr, all stars down to about Sun's mass will have left the MS, and the cluster will have big RG, Horizontal Branch and WD contributions. THE FURTHER DOWN THE TURN-OFF IS, THE OLDER THE CLUSTER. Plots of individual clusters H-R diagram confirm this evolution! Start here on 11/5

H-R Diagrams of Clusters Turn-offs are lower for older clusters as highest mass stars leave MS first

Halo Stars: 0.02-0.2% heavy elements (O, Fe, …), only old stars Halo stars formed first, then stopped Disk Stars: 2% heavy elements, stars of all ages Disk stars formed later, kept forming

THE GALACTIC CENTER Until the past 20 years, it was very mysterious, mainly because: VISIBLE light CANNOT PENETRATE all the DUST in the DISK UV light is absorbed even more strongly! Confused by stars between us and the Center

New Tools: Radio RADIO maps show H I gas, supernova remnants, & synchrotron emission from filaments of strong magnetic fields

Infrared Shows Fast Moving Stars penetrates dust much better, IR from tall mountains, planes, satellites some emission from very center and also quite a few INDIVIDUAL STARS (RGs, mostly) over the past decade the ORBITS of some such RGs have been determined

Orbits of stars indicate a mass of about 4 million MSun Stars appear to be orbiting something massive but invisible … a black hole? Orbits of stars indicate a mass of about 4 million MSun Download a great movie of star motions from: http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~jlu/gc/images/orbits_pause.gif

IR Movie of Stellar Orbits This is from the Max-Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany, based on their measurements over 10 years. Similar results have come from a Caltech group. http://www.mpe.de/ir/GC/index.php Milky Way Center Zoom

X-rays from the Galactic Center Since the earth's atmosphere blocks them, we need SATELLITES! The lower energy (soft) X-rays are absorbed by gas, BUT Higher energy (hard) X-rays can penetrate out to us; Some are from SNRs near the Galactic Center, but a modest amount from the very center, also seen as the strong radio source: Sagittarius A* Q.: WHAT DO ALL THESE MEASUREMENTS TELL US? START HERE ON 11/16

A.: THERE'S A SUPERMASSIVE BLACK HOLE in the Galactic Center, Sgr A* gas moving very fast (from radio measurements) orbits of some nearby RGs very fast; those further away are slower; X-rays consistent with weak emission from accretion disk MSMBH = 3.6 x 106 M Right now, little mass falls into the SMBH in the MW, BUT in the past it probably grew fast and was VERY LUMINOUS. Such an ACTIVE GALACTIC NUCLEUS (AGN) were more common in the earlier days of the universe -- we'll discuss them later! The MW's center does NOT (currently) house an AGN.

Best Evidence for a Supermassive BH at the Core of the Milky Way 1) Radio core of Sgr A* is unresolved at 43 GHz, very close to RS for a 3.6 million solar mass BH, 2) as “weighed” by orbits of stars measured over a decade in the infrared.