21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Chapter 12, Problem 17QP
To determine
The criteria that was not fulfilled by Pluto under the new IAU definition in order to be considered as a planet.
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You decide to go on an interstellar mission to explore some of the newly discovered extrasolar
planets orbiting the star ROTOR. Your spacecraft arrives in the new system, in which there are
five planets. ROTOR is identical to the Sun (in terms of its size, mass, age and composition). From
your observations of these planets, you collect the following data:
Density Average Distance
from star (AU]
Planet
Mass
Radius
Albedo
Temp.
[C]
Surf. Press.
MOI
Rotation
[Earth = 1]
(Earth = 1] [g/cm³]
[Atm.]
Period (Hours]
Factor
SIEVER
EUGENIA
4.0
0.001
2.0
0.1
5.0
1.0
0.3
20
0.8
N/A
3.0
0.2
N/A
0.3
0.4
0.35
20
10
500
1000
5.0
4.0
0.5
0.8
0.4
0.7
-50
MARLENE
CRILE
1.0
1.0
3.0
8.0
1,5
0.0
0.50
0.50
0.25
150
0.4
JANUS
100
12
0.1
10
-80
0.2
200
Figure 1:
А
Rotor
850
890
900
Wavelength (nm)
A
Sun
В
C
860
900
910
Wavelength (nm)
2414
a as
Which of these things did the Voyager spacecraft discover about Enceladus in the early 1980s, indicating that it is somewhat unusual among planetary bodies in our solar system? Check the TWO items that apply.
a It has a thick atmosphere, made mostly of nitrogen.
b It has the darkest, least reflective surface of all the known planetary bodies.
c It is the brightest (i.e. most reflective) object in the solar system.
d The entire surface is more heavily-cratered than any other body in our solar system.
e Its surface is very smooth in some places.
Pretend you are a NASA executive or a legislator. Design a new mission in our solar system.
Pick any object in the system and decide whether you want to send an orbiter, a lander, a
rover, some combination or those, a manned mission, or something else. What interests you about
this object? What science questions can we answer? In basic terms, what kind of scientific
instruments might you want to include on your mission? Justify your decisions with what you
know about the scientific method, astronomy techniques, and the object itself from this class.
Chapter 12 Solutions
21st Century Astronomy
Ch. 12.1 - Prob. 12.1CYUCh. 12.2 - Prob. 12.2CYUCh. 12.3 - Prob. 12.3ACYUCh. 12.3 - Prob. 12.3BCYUCh. 12.4 - Prob. 12.4CYUCh. 12.5 - Prob. 12.5CYUCh. 12 - Prob. 1QPCh. 12 - Prob. 2QPCh. 12 - Prob. 3QPCh. 12 - Prob. 4QP
Ch. 12 - Prob. 5QPCh. 12 - Prob. 6QPCh. 12 - Prob. 7QPCh. 12 - Prob. 8QPCh. 12 - Prob. 9QPCh. 12 - Prob. 10QPCh. 12 - Prob. 11QPCh. 12 - Prob. 12QPCh. 12 - Prob. 13QPCh. 12 - Prob. 14QPCh. 12 - Prob. 15QPCh. 12 - Prob. 16QPCh. 12 - Prob. 17QPCh. 12 - Prob. 18QPCh. 12 - Prob. 19QPCh. 12 - Prob. 20QPCh. 12 - Prob. 22QPCh. 12 - Prob. 23QPCh. 12 - Prob. 24QPCh. 12 - Prob. 25QPCh. 12 - Prob. 26QPCh. 12 - Prob. 27QPCh. 12 - Prob. 28QPCh. 12 - Prob. 29QPCh. 12 - Prob. 30QPCh. 12 - Prob. 31QPCh. 12 - Prob. 32QPCh. 12 - Prob. 33QPCh. 12 - Prob. 34QPCh. 12 - Prob. 35QPCh. 12 - Prob. 36QPCh. 12 - Prob. 37QPCh. 12 - Prob. 38QPCh. 12 - Prob. 39QPCh. 12 - Prob. 40QPCh. 12 - Prob. 41QPCh. 12 - Prob. 42QPCh. 12 - Prob. 43QPCh. 12 - Prob. 44QP
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