Astronomy Final Flashcards

Learn, prepare, and Revise the key terms, words, and much more for the Astronomy Final with our flashcards quizzes. Learn key terms, functions, and much more related to the Astronomy Final with the help of our flashcards quizzes with ease. ​ ​

113 cards   |   Total Attempts: 188
  

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Cards In This Set

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  1. What is an elliptical galaxy?
  1. A galaxy with an elliptical shape and no conspicuous interstellar material. It has no spiral arms.
What is a spiral galaxy?
  1. A flattened, rotating galaxy with pinwheel-like spiral arms winding outward from the galaxy’s nucleus.
What is a bar?
  1. A bar is a bright line in a spiral galaxy which is called a “barred spiral galaxy”. In a Barred Spiral Galaxy, the spiral arms originate at the ends of the bar-shaped region running through the nucleus instead of the nucleus itself.
What is a merging galaxy?
  1. A merging galaxy is the collision of two or more galaxies.
Do stars collide in a merging galaxy?
  1. Stars do not collide due to the distance between the stars
What does collide in a merging galaxy?
  1. Gas and dust have major effects on the collision.
  2. The effects of the merging galaxies can change the star’s orbits.
What is a starburst?
  1. A galaxy that is experiencing an exceptionally high rate of star formation.
  1. What is the difference between a group and a cluster?
  1. Group: a poor cluster of galaxies (poor star formation)
  2. Cluster: a collection of galaxies containing few to several thousand member galaxies. (rich star formation)
The Milky Way is a member of the Local Group – which galaxy type is most common?
  1. Elliptical Dwarf Galaxies
How many spiral galaxies are in the Local Group?
Three
  1. Approximately how big are the two large ellipticals at the center of the Virgo Cluster?
  1. 3 Mpc OR 10 million light years.
  1. How are Galaxies distributed?
  1. Galaxies are not distributed randomly in space. They like company. Using Hubble’s Law, large surveys of galaxies have pieced together maps showing how galaxies are distributed. Galaxy distribution is “frothy” – large regions with very few galaxies (“Voids”) and large “Sheets” or “Walls” of galaxies, spanning many Mega-parsecs (Mpc – million parsecs). Especially dense concentrations of galaxies – called galaxy clusters – stand out. Most galaxies lie on sheets surrounding large voids.
What causes galaxies to have long tidal tails?
  1. A tidal tail is a thin, elongated region of stars and interstellar gas that extends into space from a galaxy. Tidal tails occur as a result of galactic tide forces between interacting galaxies and as the 2 galaxies pass through each other, they are severely distorted by gravitational interactions and throw out a pair of extended tails.
  1. How are tidal dwarf galaxies formed?
  1. Tidal dwarf galaxies form during the interaction, collision, or merger of massive spiral galaxies.
How do you create a ring galaxy like the Cartwheel Galaxy?
  1. The Cartwheel Galaxy was a spiral galaxy until it went through a head-on collision which sent a shock wave through the galaxy causing it to change its shape.