Exam 10: The Interstellar Medium
H II emission nebula regions are found around _____________.
high temperature stars,giant molecular cloud
Coronal gas emits x-rays and has temperatures of ____.
A
Why doesn't warm, dense hydrogen emit 21-cm radiation?
The 21-cm radiation is another example of a forbidden line, which is an emission line from cold, neutral hydrogen gas in the interstellar medium. A hydrogen atom consists of one proton and one electron. The ground state has two energy levels, leaving two ways for the electron to spin. If the electron is spinning one way, it can flip over and spin the other way, releasing excess energy as a photon with a wavelength of 21 cm.
That transition is statistically very unlikely, and it isn't detected in laboratories on Earth because the gas is too dense and warm, and the atoms collide too often. In space, however, hydrogen atoms collide only rarely, and hydrogen atoms can go undisturbed for millions of years, allowing them to produce the 21-cm emission line.
The interstellar reddening does not shift the _______________ of spectral lines, as does the Doppler effect.
The _______________ is a high temperature, low density region in the interstellar medium around the Sun.
Describe three ways in which astronomers can distinguish between interstellar absorption lines and stellar absorption lines.
The ground state of hydrogen has two closely-spaced energy levels, where one-electron is spinning up and the other is spinning down. This energy transition corresponds to releasing excess energy as a photon at what wavelength?
Because blue light has a shorter wavelength than red light, it will be more readily scattered.
_______________ is believed to be produced by supernova explosions.
The coronal gas in the interstellar medium has very high temperatures similar to the Sun's corona.
What is the most abundant element in the interstellar medium?
Which type of nebula is produced when a star, hotter than 25,000 K, excites the gas near it to produce an emission spectrum producing a distinctive pink color?
Elements such as carbon, silicon and oxygen have been produced in stars and expelled as stars age in the interstellar medium. This is most likely due to these elements having cooled and condensed from aging stars to form dust grains, and carried out by a powerful winds.
Molecules in the interstellar medium emit radiation at what wavelengths?
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