Galaxies



Topic 15 – Our place in the Galaxy 15.1 - Understand the appearance of the Milky Way from Earth as seen with binoculars or a small telescope
15.2 - Know the size and shape of our Galaxy and the location of the Sun, dust, sites of star formation and globular clusters
15.3 - Understand how 21 cm radio waves, rather than visible light, are used to determine the structure and rotation of our Galaxy
15.4 - Know that the group of galaxies gravitationally linked to the Milky Way is called the Local Group
15.5 - Know the composition and scale of the Local Group, including its principal components:
a) Andromeda Galaxy (M31)
b) Large and Small Magellanic Clouds (LMC and SMC)
c) Triangulum Galaxy (M33)
15.6 - Be able to classify galaxies using the Hubble classification system, including:
a) spiral
b) barred spiral
c) elliptical
d) irregular
15.7 - Know how the different types of galaxies were placed by Hubble on his ‘Tuning Fork’ diagram
15.8 - Know that the Milky Way is a barred spiral (SBb) type galaxy
15.9 - Know that some galaxies emit large quantities of radiation in addition to visible light
15.10 - Know that an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) is powered by matter falling onto a super-massive black hole
15.11 - Know types of active galaxies, including:
a) Seyfert galaxies
b) quasars
c) blazars
15.12 - Know that information about AGNs can be obtained from many regions of the electromagnetic spectrum
15.13 - Understand why galaxies are grouped in larger clusters and superclusters
15.14 - Understand the main theories for the formation and evolution of galaxies Topic 6 – Celestial observation 6.21 - Understand the appearance of the Milky Way from Earth as seen with the naked eye

 

In this section you will learn about different types of galaxies.

At the end of this section take the mini quiz to test yourself.