Space to Grow
Age of a Planetary Nebula
Part 2: Calculating the Age
Assuming a constant expansion rate for the PN, this formula:
t = (l/2) / v
yields the length of time the shell has been expanding (also known as dynamical age) in seconds (t), where l/2 is the physical radius and v is the assumed expansion velocity (23 km/s).
Follow these steps to calculate the age of NGC 3242:
- Plug your answer from Part 1 into the formula to find the age in seconds.
- Work out or look up how many seconds in a year.
- Find the age in years.
Your answer should be of the order of a thousand years.
Discussion and Further Work
Return to the main page for this module
Exercitationem
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