Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 20, Problem 2E
Why do nebulae near hot stars look red? Why do dust clouds near stars usually look blue?
Expert Solution & Answer
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Check out a sample textbook solutionStudents have asked these similar questions
Why are emission nebulae red ?
If the hottest star in the Carina Nebula has a surface temperature of 51,000 K, at what wavelength (in nm) does it radiate the most energy?
Hint: Use Wien's law:
?max =
2.90 ✕ 106 nm · K
T
How does that compare with 91.2 nm, the wavelength of photons with just enough energy to ionize hydrogen?
-The wavelength calculated above is shorter than 91.2 nm. Photons at this calculated wavelength will have more than enough energy to ionize hydrogen.
-The wavelength calculated above is longer than 91.2 nm. Photons at this calculated wavelength will have more than enough energy to ionize hydrogen.
-The wavelength calculated above is shorter than 91.2 nm. Photons at this calculated wavelength will not have enough energy to ionize hydrogen.
-The wavelength calculated above is longer than 91.2 nm. Photons at this calculated wavelength will not have enough energy to ionize hydrogen.
Why do two different gasses always have different spectral signatures?
Chapter 20 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 20 - Identify several dark nebulae in photographs in...Ch. 20 - Why do nebulae near hot stars look red? Why do...Ch. 20 - Describe the characteristics of the various kinds...Ch. 20 - Prepare a table listing the different ways in...Ch. 20 - Describe how the 21-cm line of hydrogen is formed....Ch. 20 - Describe the properties of the dust grains found...Ch. 20 - Why is it difficult to determine where cosmic rays...Ch. 20 - What causes reddening of starlight? Explain how...Ch. 20 - Why do molecules, including H2 and more complex...Ch. 20 - Why can’t we use visible light telescopes to study...
Ch. 20 - The mass of the interstellar medium is determined...Ch. 20 - Where does interstellar dust come from? How does...Ch. 20 - Figure 20.2 shows a reddish glow around the star...Ch. 20 - If the red glow around Antares is indeed produced...Ch. 20 - Even though neutral hydrogen is the most abundant...Ch. 20 - The terms H II and H2 are both pronounced “H two.”...Ch. 20 - Suppose someone told you that she had discovered H...Ch. 20 - Describe the spectrum of each of the following: A....Ch. 20 - According to the text, a star must be hotter than...Ch. 20 - From the comments in the text about which kinds of...Ch. 20 - One way to calculate the size and shape of the...Ch. 20 - New stars form in regions where the density of gas...Ch. 20 - Thinking about the topics in this chapter, here is...Ch. 20 - Stars form in the Milky Way at a rate of about 1...Ch. 20 - The 21-cm line can be used not just to find out...Ch. 20 - Astronomers recently detected light emitted by a...Ch. 20 - We can detect 21-cm emission from other galaxies...Ch. 20 - We have said repeatedly that blue light undergoes...Ch. 20 - Suppose that, instead of being inside the Local...Ch. 20 - Suppose that, instead of being inside the Local...Ch. 20 - A molecular cloud is about 1000 times denser than...Ch. 20 - Would you expect to be able to detect an H II...Ch. 20 - Suppose that you gathered a ball of interstellar...Ch. 20 - At the average density of the interstellar medium,...Ch. 20 - Consider a grain of sand that contains 1 mg of...Ch. 20 - H II regions can exist only if there is a nearby...Ch. 20 - In the text, we said that the five-times ionized...Ch. 20 - Dust was originally discovered because the stars...Ch. 20 - How would the density inside a cold cloud (T=10K)...Ch. 20 - The text says that the Local Fluff, which...
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- Appendix J lists the stars that appear brightest in our sky. Are most of these hotter or cooler than the Sun? Can you suggest a reason for the difference between this answer and the answer to the previous question? (Hint: Look at the luminosities.) Is there any tendency for a correlation between temperature and luminosity? Are there exceptions to the correlation?arrow_forwardHow do stars typically “move” through the main sequence band on an HR diagram? Why?arrow_forwardFigure 20.2 shows a reddish glow around the star Antares, and yet the caption says that is a dust cloud. What observations would you make to determine whether the red glow is actually produced by dust or whether it is produced by an H II region? Figure 20.2 Various Types of Interstellar Matter. The reddish nebulae in this spectacular photograph glow with light emitted by hydrogen atoms. The darkest areas are clouds of dust that block the light from stars behind them. The upper part of the picture is filled with the bluish glow of light reflected from hot stars embedded in the outskirts of a huge, cool cloud of dust and gas. The cool supergiant star Antares can be seen as a big, reddish patch in the lower-left part of the picture. The star is shedding some of its outer atmosphere and is surrounded by a cloud of its own making that reflects the red light of the star. The red nebula in the middle right partially surrounds the star Sigma Scorpii. (To the right of Antares, you can see M4, a much more distant cluster of extremely old stars.) (credit: modification of work by ESO/Digitized Sky Survey 2)arrow_forward
- In which of these star groups would you mostly likely find the least heavy-element abundance for the stars within them: open clusters, globular clusters, or associations?arrow_forwardWhat causes reddening of starlight? Explain how the reddish color of the Sun’s disk at sunset is caused by the same process.arrow_forwardHow would two stars of equal luminosity-one blue and the other red-appear in an image taken through a filter that passes mainly blue light? How would their appearance change in an image taken through a filter that transmits mainly red light?arrow_forward
- According to the text, a star must be hotter than about 25,000 K to produce an H II region. Both the hottest white dwarfs and main-sequence O stars have temperatures hotter than 25,000 K. Which type of star can ionize more hydrogen? Why?arrow_forwardH II regions can exist only if there is a nearby star hot enough to ionize hydrogen. Hydrogen is ionized only by radiation with wavelengths shorter than 91.2 nm. What is the temperature of a star that emits its maximum energy at 91.2 nm? (Use Wien’s law from Radiation and Spectra.) Based on this result, what are the spectral types of those stars likely to provide enough energy to produce H II regions?arrow_forwardIn the HR diagrams for some young clusters, stars of both very low and very high luminosity are off to the right of the main sequence, whereas those of intermediate luminosity are on the main sequence. Can you offer an explanation for that? Sketch an HR diagram for such a cluster.arrow_forward
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