interstellar molecules in the vacuum of space
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Interstellar molecules in the vacuum of space. objective. Discuss the nature and significance of interstellar molecules. . Interstellar space. Most of space is empty Areas that aren't empty are filled with millions of tons of gas, and dust - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
INTERSTELLAR MOLECULES IN THE VACUUM OF SPACE
Discuss the nature and significance of interstellar molecules.
OBJECTIVE
• Most of space is empty• Areas that aren't empty are filled with millions of tons of
gas, and dust• Gas is primarily composed of Hydrogen, and smaller
amounts of other molecular bits and pieces.
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
• Interstellar means “in between stars”• The Interstellar Medium.• gas in ionic, atomic, and molecular form, dust, and cosmic
rays
WHAT DOES INTERSTELLAR MEAN?
• Interstellar Molecules are the basic parts of every star • Over time, clouds of molecules gather in clouds.• Clouds eventually accrete and form the earliest parts of
protostars
• Over much more time, protostar forms a star, and begins burning
INTERSTELLAR MOLECULES
• Many kinds of molecules can be found inside the vacuum of space.
• And not all molecules eventually form stars.• There exists an interstellar cloud of nothing but pure
alcohol. Raise your mug to that.• There are also many basic parts of amino acids in these
clouds. • Some astrobiologists think that the foundations of life
may have risen in these free-floating clouds of organic matter.
INTERSTELLAR ODYSSEY
Table 1: Components of the interstellar medium[2]
Component FractionalVolume
Scale Height(pc)
Temperature(K)
Density(atoms/cm³)
State of hydrogen
Primary observational
techniques
Molecular clouds
< 1% 80 10—20 102—106 molecular
Radio and infrared
molecular emission and absorption
linesCold Neutral
Medium (CNM)
1—5% 100—300 50—100 20—50 neutral atomic
H I 21 cm line absorption
Warm Neutral Medium (WNM)
10—20% 300—400 6000—10000 0.2—0.5 neutral atomic
H I 21 cm line
emission
Warm Ionized Medium (WIM)
20—50% 1000 8000 0.2—0.5 ionizedHα emission
and pulsar dispersion
H II regions < 1% 70 8000 102—104 ionizedHα emission
and pulsar dispersion
Coronal gasHot Ionized
Medium (HIM)
30—70% 1000—3000 106—107 10−4—10−2
ionized(metals also
highly ionized)
X-ray emission;
absorption lines of highly ionized metals,
primarily in the
ultraviolet
BOOK
• Average size of an atom is 10^-10 m across (or .1 nm) • REDDENING –Light is stripped of “blue” side of
wavelength.• Extinction
• Emission and Reflection nebulae