Where in a spiral galaxy would you expect to find molecular clouds?
In a spiral galaxy, globular clusters can be found in regions that are free of interstellar dust and can be seen at large distances. The globular clusters, molecular clouds, and atomic hydrogen can be found at almost distinctly he center of the galaxy.
How are giant molecular clouds formed?
The GMCs are then formed from large-scale shocks, from spiral arm passage or feedback from high-mass stars, such as winds and supernovae (SNe). This cloud formation can occur within a few million years.
Which of the following can be found in a spiral galaxy?
Spiral galaxies usually consist of a rotating disk that contains stars, dust, gas, and a concentration of stars known as the bulge in the center. These bulges are often surrounded by a faint halo of stars, many of which reside in globular clusters – a spherical collection of stars that orbits a galactic core.
What are giant molecular clouds and what role do they play in star formation?
Within molecular clouds are regions with higher density, where much dust and many gas cores reside, called clumps. These clumps are the beginning of star formation if gravitational forces are sufficient to cause the dust and gas to collapse.
Where are giant molecular clouds found?
Star formation takes place exclusively within molecular clouds and observations have shown that they are located primarily in the disk of spiral galaxies and the active regions of irregular galaxies. Since molecular clouds are cold and dark, we cannot observe them directly in visible light.
What is found in a giant molecular cloud?
hydrogen molecules
Giant molecular clouds are vast cosmic objects, composed primarily of hydrogen molecules and helium atoms, where new stars and planets are born. These clouds can contain more mass than a million suns, and stretch across hundreds of light years.
What is in a giant molecular cloud?
Giant molecular clouds are vast cosmic objects, composed primarily of hydrogen molecules and helium atoms, where new stars and planets are born. These clouds can contain more mass than a million suns, and stretch across hundreds of light years.
Where are molecular clouds found?
What are the spiral arms of the Milky Way made of?
Many don’t realize that galaxies like the Milky Way actually have “spiral arms.” These are pinwheels within the galaxy that are made up of stars, planets, asteroids and hydrogen clouds that reach out from the center of the galaxy to its edges.
What type of spiral galaxy is the Milky Way?
barred spiral galaxy
The Milky Way is a large barred spiral galaxy. All the stars we see in the night sky are in our own Milky Way Galaxy. Our galaxy is called the Milky Way because it appears as a milky band of light in the sky when you see it in a really dark area.
What are giant clouds called?
These molecular clouds (the largest of which are known as Giant Molecular Clouds) have typical temperatures of around 10 Kelvin and densities upward of 102 particles/cm3, masses ranging from a few to over a million solar masses and diameters from 20 to 200 parsecs.
What is in a molecular cloud?
Molecular clouds consist mainly of gas and dust but contain many stars as well. The central regions of these clouds are completely hidden from view by dust and would be undetectable except for the far-infrared thermal emission from dust grains and the microwave emissions from the constituent molecules.
Where are the clumps located in a molecular cloud?
Within molecular clouds are regions with higher density, where much dust and many gas cores reside, called clumps. These clumps are the beginning of star formation if gravitational forces are sufficient to cause the dust and gas to collapse.
What makes a molecular cloud look like a Nebula?
Giant molecular clouds. Observationally, typical molecular cores are traced with CO and dense molecular cores are traced with ammonia. The concentration of dust within molecular cores is normally sufficient to block light from background stars so that they appear in silhouette as dark nebulae.
Is the Serpens South star cluster a molecular cloud?
The Serpens South star cluster is embedded in a filamentary molecular cloud, seen as a dark ribbon passing vertically through the cluster. This cloud has served as a testbed for studies of molecular cloud stability.
How are the internal motions of a molecular cloud governed?
The physics of molecular clouds is poorly understood and much debated. Their internal motions are governed by turbulence in a cold, magnetized gas, for which the turbulent motions are highly supersonic but comparable to the speeds of magnetic disturbances.