Author Question: Why do astronomers conclude that the spiral arms are places of active star formation? What will ... (Read 46 times)

notis · **on:** Jul 27, 2018

Why do astronomers conclude that the spiral arms are places of active star formation?

What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

How can tidal forces affect the rotation of celestial bodies and their orbital motion?

What will be an ideal response?

gcook · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 27, 2018

Answer to Question 1

The spiral arms are home to spiral tracers, including OB associations, emission nebulae, and young open star clusters. All of these objects are young objects, and it is the OB associations that make the arms so clearly visible. If all of the objects that trace the arms are young, they must have formed near their current location; hence spiral arms must be active sites of star formation.

Answer to Question 2

Earth rotates eastward, and friction with the ocean beds drags the tidal bulges slightly eastward out of a direct EarthMoon line. These tidal bulges are massive, and their gravitational field pulls the Moon forward in its orbit. As a result, the Moon's orbit is growing larger by about 3.8 cm a year, an effect that astronomers can measure by bouncing laser beams off reflectors left on the lunar surface by the Apollo astronauts.