The Masses of Galaxies

For edge-on spiral galaxies there is a relation between

brightness and rotational speed

bright galaxies rotate faster than slow galaxies.

The Tully Fisher Relation.

L Vmax 4

Distance Measures (again)

Assume spiral galaxies in dynamic equilibrium

then

1
v2 GM M 2
v
2 R R
v = rotational speed of galaxy
M = mass of galaxy
R = radius of galaxy

If light generated by stars and if all galaxies contain

statistically same mix of stars then Mass to Light ratio is
a constant.
 
M
M =L = LQ
L

1
Surface brightness defined to be

L L
= 2 so R =
R
thus
1
1
2
LQ 2 1 1 1
v 1
= L4 Q 2 4
L2

If galaxies also have (roughly) similar surface brightness

- Freemans Law
then
1
v L4

V measured by width of 21 cm line (radio)

-gives absolute L
thus with flux at detector we have distance.

Unreasonable, but it works.

Why?
Freemans Law is wrong LSB galaxies now discovered.
But TF holds for LSBs too

Conspiracy between DM & luminous matter?

2
 Heterogeneous sample of galaxies
showing good fit to TF

Persic, Salucci & Stel 1996 MNRAS 281 27

The Evolution of Galaxies

Definition: chemical composition or metallicity (Z)

refers to the relative abundances of the elements of the
periodic table not to chemical compounds.

Definition: The chemical composition of a star refers to

the chemical composition of its photosphere, not its
internal composition. The chemical composition of a star
reflects the chemical composition of the gas from which it
was formed.

The chemical composition of stars and the interstellar

medium (ISM) is determined by spectroscopy.

3
The Evolution of Galaxies

Some observed facts for stars in the MWG

Correlations seen between: Metallicity and age

Metallicity and position

Halo stars low metallicity and old.

Disk stars high metallicity and young.
Youngest stars have most metals.

May be two totally separate populations.

Metallicity of disk stars decreases with

increasing disk radius.

The Evolution of Galaxies

The original chemical composition of the Universe was

~75% hydrogen and ~25% helium.

All the other ~100 elements are the result of stellar

processes.

Nuclear fusion within stars produces elements up to Fe

(in atomic mass).

Type II SNae shockwaves produce elements greater than

Fe (in atomic mass).

ISM enriched with metals as gas cycles through star-

formation/star death.

Not all gas recycled, some locked away in long-lived

stars, white dwarfs, neutron stars and black holes.

4
The Evolution of Galaxies

AIM: To construct a model of galaxy evolution that

predicts metallicity Z as a function of gas mass g.

The Simple Model of Chemical Evolution

(van den Bergh, S. 1962 Astron. J 67 486
Schmidt, M. 1963 Ap J 137 758
references given for completeness you do not have to
read these papers.)

The Assumptions
1. Gas initially unenriched
2. ISM perfectly mixed
3. Instantaneous recycling (enrichment by SNaII)
4. Initial stellar mass function (IMF) constant
5. Closed box no inflow or outflow of gas

The Simple Model of Chemical Evolution

The Variables
Let Z be the mass fraction of metals in the
ISM.
Let g be the gas mass.
gZ is the mass of metals in the ISM.
Let be the fraction of mass used in each
generation of stars that is permenantely locked
away in low mass (long-lived) stars and
stellar remains (black holes, neutron stars, white
dwarf stars etc)
Let be the fraction of mass returned to the
ISM, so = 1.
Let p be the mass fraction of the gas forming
stars that is processed into metals
and recycled.

5
The Simple Model of Chemical Evolution
Allow mass ds to form into stars - (and recycle
instantly).
The change in the mass of metals in the ISM
is freshly made metals

d (gZ ) = pds + Zds Zpds Zds

mass of metals in
pre-existing metals
gas that formed into
that go through the
stars
cycle.

pre-existing metals
destroyed during the
cycle.

The Simple Model of Chemical Evolution

d (gZ) = pds + Zds Zpds Zds
or
d (gZ)
= p + Z (1 ) Zp Z
ds

= p (1 Z) Z
but observationally Z 1 so 1 Z 1 thus
d (gZ)
p Z (1)
ds
Let model galaxy begin with unit gas mass so
g (t = 0) = 1.
Mass in long-lived
At any time t > 0 stars etc
dg
g = 1 s or =
ds

6
The Simple Model of Chemical Evolution

The LHS of (1) is

d (gZ) dg dZ
=Z +g
ds ds ds
dZ
= Z + g
ds
but
dZ dZ dg dZ
= =
ds dg ds dg

Equating with the RHS of (1)

dZ
Z g = p Z
dg
thus
dZ p
=
dg g
or
p dg
dZ =
g
so

p 1
dZ = dg
g
and
p
Z= ln g + Const

7
Initial conditions g(t = 0) = 1, Z(t = 0) = 0
p
Z= ln g + Const

gives
p
0= ln 1 + Const Const = 0

So
1
Z = p ln
g

where p p
The Simple model of
chemical evolution

Or
 
mtot)
Z = p ln
g
If we are working with actual masses.

Observations of nearby nebulaeshow that the

metallicity of the ISM is Z 0.7Z, the total
mass of longlived stars is about 40M and the
mass of gass in the ISM 13M.

Using the Simple model, we can now estimate

the yield p


40 + 13
0.7Z = p ln p 0.5Z
13

8
We can now test the Simple model against
observation by measuring the fraction of stars
with metallicity below some value ( 1
4Z ).

g = 1 s

Z = p ln (1 s)

Zp
s = 1 e
So for Z < 1
4Z we have
0.25Z
1
s(Z < Z ) = 1 e 0.5Z
4
and for Z < 0.7Z
0.7Z
0.5Z
s(Z < 0.7Z ) = 1 e

Thus the fraction of stars with Z < 1 4Z is

predicted to by the Simple model to be
1
1 e 2
= 0.52
1 e1.4
Observations show however that the fraction
is much smaller.