a quick primer for astronomical distances

A quick Primer for Astronomical Distances

• http://www.telescope.org/nuffield_21_sci/astrounits.htm

• http://janus.astro.umd.edu/astro/distance/• http://heasarc.nasa.gov/docs/cosmic/

earth.html

Star Clusters, Galaxies, & Black Holes

Life and Death in a Community of Stars

Stars do not occur in space at completely arbitrary places. Some, such as the Sun, are single (field star), but others are members of pairs or form multiple-star systems. Still others form clusters of various types, and size. All of them are condensed from clouds of gas and dust.

Star Clusters

Open ClusterContain young stars Often with nebulous gases Example: Pleiades in Taurus

Globular ClusterContain old starsTight mass due to stars being

drawn by each others’ gravity.

Example: M13 in Hercules

M45 – The Pleiades

M13 – the Hercules Cluster

The Milky Way – inside view

Milky Way – Outside View

Where we are…

Milky Way Q & A

http://www.universetoday.com/21563/milky-way/

Sgr A – our very own Black Hole!

Other Galaxies to look for: M31

Other Galaxies to look for: M81 & M82

For more info…

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/stars/constellations.shtml