Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
14th Edition
ISBN: 9781337399920
Author: Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Question
Chapter 12, Problem 2P
To determine
The fraction of the luminosity of the sun’s radius that is the hydrogen-fusion core and the model.
The denser between the Sun’s center and the layer
The ratio of the temperature between the center of the sun and the surface of the sun.
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a) At solar maximum sunspots might cover up to 0.4% of the total area of the Sun. If the sunspots have a temperature of 3800 K and the surrounding photosphere has a temperature of 6000 K, calculate the fractional change (as a percentage) in the luminosity due to the presence of the sunspots.
b) A star of the same stellar class as the Sun is observed regularly over many years, and a time series of its bolometric apparent magnitude is collected. What would be the signal in this time series which indicated that the star had a magnetic dynamo similar to the Sun? Briefly describe two or three possible sources of other signals which could confuse the interpretation of the data.
The Sun’s luminosity (or power) is 4 x 1026 Watts (=J/s). How many kilograms of hydrogen must be fused every second to maintain this luminosity? (hint: work backwards from the energy per second to the mass released to the amount of hydrogen required, using the results from the previous question.)
The Sun’s mass is ~2x1030 kg. If 10% of this is Hydrogen available in the core, how long will the Sun be able to continue fusing hydrogen at this rate? This is considered the Sun's "lifetime". If the Sun is 4.6 billion years old (and assuming it's power output is constant), how many years does it have left?
Assuming that (1) the solar luminosity has been constant since the Sun formed, and (2) the Sun was initially of uniform composition throughout, as described by Table 9.2, estimate how long it would take the Sun to convert all of its original hydrogen into helium. [Hint: Calculate the mass of hydrogen in the sun and then divide it by the rate of hydrogen fusion (PPT slide 47.)]
Chapter 12 Solutions
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Ch. 12 - Prob. 1RQCh. 12 - Prob. 2RQCh. 12 - Prob. 3RQCh. 12 - Prob. 4RQCh. 12 - Prob. 5RQCh. 12 - Describe the law of hydrostatic equilibrium.Ch. 12 - Prob. 7RQCh. 12 - Prob. 8RQCh. 12 - Prob. 9RQCh. 12 - Prob. 10RQ
Ch. 12 - Prob. 11RQCh. 12 - Prob. 12RQCh. 12 - Prob. 13RQCh. 12 - Prob. 14RQCh. 12 - Prob. 15RQCh. 12 - Prob. 16RQCh. 12 - Prob. 17RQCh. 12 - Prob. 18RQCh. 12 - Prob. 19RQCh. 12 - What gives the triple-alpha process its name? Why...Ch. 12 - Prob. 21RQCh. 12 - Prob. 22RQCh. 12 - Prob. 23RQCh. 12 - Prob. 24RQCh. 12 - Prob. 25RQCh. 12 - Prob. 26RQCh. 12 - Prob. 27RQCh. 12 - Prob. 28RQCh. 12 - Prob. 29RQCh. 12 - Prob. 30RQCh. 12 - Prob. 31RQCh. 12 - How Do We Know? How can mathematical models allow...Ch. 12 - Prob. 1PCh. 12 - Prob. 2PCh. 12 - Prob. 3PCh. 12 - Prob. 4PCh. 12 - Prob. 5PCh. 12 - Prob. 6PCh. 12 - Prob. 7PCh. 12 - Prob. 8PCh. 12 - Prob. 9PCh. 12 - Prob. 10PCh. 12 - Prob. 11PCh. 12 - Prob. 12PCh. 12 - Prob. 13PCh. 12 - Prob. 14PCh. 12 - Prob. 15PCh. 12 - Prob. 16PCh. 12 - Prob. 1SOPCh. 12 - Prob. 2SOPCh. 12 - Prob. 1LTLCh. 12 - Prob. 2LTLCh. 12 - Prob. 3LTLCh. 12 - Prob. 4LTLCh. 12 - Prob. 5LTL
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- What was the minimum volumeVrequired to supply enough magneticenergy to fuel the flare? What was the minimum volume V required to supply enough magnetic energy to fuel the flare? If the volume V is spherical, what is its radius? Is this greater than or less than the typical radius r≈104km of a sunspot?arrow_forwardThe average density of the sun is 1. 4 g/cm3 What do you expect the density to be at 0.25 of Rsun? 2) The average density of the sun is 1.4 g/cm3. The following resource claims that the sun's core has a density of 150 g/cm3 and a radius of 25% of the sun's radius. Assume the core has a constant density and calculate it's mass. What fraction of the sun's mass is in the core according to that resource?arrow_forwardA Crude Analysis: In about 5 billion years, the Sun is going to look a lot different. Our sun is going to turn into a red-giant, a bigger star whose core temperature is much higher than the Sun's current core temperature (you will learn about the red giants in the coming weeks). Assume the core temperature of the red-giant phase of the Sun does not go beyond 100 million degrees. Do you think the temperature is high enough for helium fusion to occur? Note that this question is about helium fusion not hydrogen fusion. How are you going about proving your claim? Question: What temperature in degrees Kelvin must the red-giant sun be at to allow for the helium-helium interactions to take place not considering the Quantum Mechanical effects (i.e. what temperature would allow helium atoms to breach the helium-helium potential wall without help from Quantum Mechanics)? Use wolfram alpha to find the values for the constants. Round your answer to two decimal places. Your answer i [ Select ] 1.47…arrow_forward
- Use Wein's law to determine the wavelength corresponding to the peak of the black body curve (a) in the core of the Sun, where the temperature is 10^7, (b) in the solar convection zone (10^5), and (c) just below the solar photosphere (10^4K). What form (visible, infrared, X-ray, etc.) does radiation take in each case?arrow_forwardWhy do you suppose so great a fraction of the Sun’s energy comes from its central regions? Within what fraction of the Sun’s radius does practically all of the Sun’s luminosity originate (see Figure 16.16)? Within what radius of the Sun has its original hydrogen been partially used up? Discuss what relationship the answers to these questions bear to one another. Figure 16.16 shows how the temperature, density, rate of energy generation, and composition vary from the center of the Sun to its surface.arrow_forwardWhat is the average density of the Sun? How does it compare to the average density of Earth?arrow_forward
- From the information in Figure 15.21, estimate the speed with which the particles in the CME in parts (c) and (d) are moving away from the Sun. Figure 15.21 Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection. This sequence of four images shows the evolution over time of a giant eruption on the Sun. (a) The event began at the location of a sunspot group, and (b) a flare is seen in far-ultraviolet light. (c) Fourteen hours later, a CME is seen blasting out into space. (d) Three hours later, this CME has expanded to form a giant cloud of particles escaping from the Sun and is beginning the journey out into the solar system. The white circle in (c) and (d) shows the diameter of the solar photosphere. The larger dark area shows where light from the Sun has been blocked out by a specially designed instrument to make it possible to see the faint emission from the corona. (credit a, b, c, d: modification of work by SOHO/EIT, SOHO/LASCO, SOHO/MDI (ESA & NASA))arrow_forwardIf a sunspot has a temperature of 4200 K and the average solar photosphere has a temperature of 5780 K, how much more energy is emitted in 1 second from a square meter of the photosphere compared to a square meter of the sunspot? (Hint: Use the Stefan-Boltzmann law, Eq. 7-1.)arrow_forward
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