How would you expect a star that formed recently in the disk of the galaxy to differ from one that formed early in the history of the disk?
A)It should be higher in mass.
B)It should have a higher fraction of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
C)It should orbit the galactic center at a much higher rate of speed.
D)It should be much brighter.
E)All of the above would be expected.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Stars that formed early in the history of the disk of the galaxy would have formed from gas that had not been enriched by heavy elements from previous generations of stars. Therefore, they would have a lower fraction of heavy elements compared to stars that formed more recently, which would have formed from gas that had been enriched by the heavy elements produced by previous generations of stars. The other options are not necessarily true for stars that formed recently versus earlier in the history of the disk.

How Would You Expect a Star That Formed Recently in the Disk