The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780134874364
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Megan O. Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, Mark Voit
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 12, Problem 43EAP
Comet Tails. Describe in your own words why comets have tails. Why do most comets have two distinct visible tails, and why do the tails go in different directions? Why is the third, invisible tail of small pebbles of interest to us on Earth?
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Describe the relationship between meteor showers and comets.
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rock and metal could not condense out of the solar nebula at extreme distances from the sun
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Chapter 12 Solutions
The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
Ch. 12 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 12 - Use the following questions to check your...Ch. 12 - Use the following questions to check your...Ch. 12 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 12 - Use the following questions to check your...Ch. 12 - 1. Briefly define asteroid. comet, dwarf planet,...Ch. 12 - Briefly describe asteroid sizes, shapes, masses,...Ch. 12 - 3. Distinguish between primitive meteorites and...Ch. 12 - 4. What do meteorites and spacecraft observations...Ch. 12 - Prob. 5EAP
Ch. 12 - Prob. 6EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 7EAPCh. 12 - How do we know the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud...Ch. 12 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 12 - Briefly describe the evidence suggesting that an...Ch. 12 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 12 - The Role of Jupiter. Suppose that Jupiter had...Ch. 12 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 12 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 12 - Comet Tails. Describe in your own words why comets...Ch. 12 - Prob. 44EAPCh. 12 - Adding Up Asteroids. It’s estimated that there are...Ch. 12 - Impact Energies. A relatively small impact crater...Ch. 12 - The “Near Miss” of Toutatis. The 5-kilometer...Ch. 12 - Prob. 50EAPCh. 12 - Comet Temperatures. Find the “no greenhouse”...Ch. 12 - Comet Dust Accumulation. A few hundred tons of...
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- What do we mean by primitive material? How can we tell if a meteorite is primitive?arrow_forwardExplain how high-speed impacts form circular craters. How can this explanation account for the various characteristic features of impact craters?arrow_forwardWe believe that chains of comet fragments like Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s have collided not only with the jovian planets, but occasionally with their moons. What sort of features would you look for on the outer planet moons to find evidence of such collisions? (As an extra bonus, can you find any images of such features on a moon like Callisto? You can use an online site of planetary images, such as the Planetary Photojournal, at photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov.)arrow_forward
- We have a lot of good images of the large moons of Jupiter and Saturn from the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft missions (check out NASA’s Planetary Photojournal site, at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov, to see the variety). Now that the New Horizons mission has gone to Pluto, why don’t we have as many good images of all sides of Pluto and Charon?arrow_forwardWhat is the difference between a comets dust tail and a comets gas tail? What does that tell you about the composition and origin of comets?arrow_forwardUsing the version of Kepler's laws of planetary motion. Calculate the orbital period of an Oort cloud comet if the semimajor axis of the comet's orbit is 50,000 AU.arrow_forward
- O e. as a moon QUESTION 3 You observe a large, round object orbiting Uranus. How would you classify this object? O a. as a planet Ob. as a dwarf planet Oc. as an asteroid Od. as a Kuiper belt object e. as a moon QUESTION 4 What is one difference between asteroids and Kuipter Belt Objects (KBOS)? O a. asteroids are composed of rock and ice, while KBOS are composed of just rock b. asteroids orbit the Sun, while KBOS orbit Pluto C. asteroids orbit between Mars and Jupiter, while KBO's orbit near Pluto d. asteroids have very elliptical orbits, while KBOS have very circular orbits e. asteroids are small and potato-shaped, while KBOS are large and round DO000arrow_forwardOriginally thought to be the realm of comets, over the past two decades we discovered that the Kuiper Belt region hosts also many other objects similar in size to Pluto (Figure 22). This seems to imply that there are two completely different types of objects in the region. Do you think that both types of objects formed in this region, or some of these may have migrated to this region at a later time? Briefly explain your reasoning.arrow_forwardB. Complete the Venn Diagram using the characteristics on the next page Meteors Asteroids Comets Characteristics to include in the Venn Diagram: 1. Progress across the sky very slowly 10. Remnants of the formation of the solar system 11. Rocky composition 2. Reflect sunlight 3. Orbit the Sun in highly elliptical orbits 12. Measure a few kilometers in diameter 4. Most found în the asteroid belt 13. Most are less than a km in diameter 5. Most have slightly elliptical orbits 14. Most are less than 100 m in diameter 6. Also known as shooting stars 15. Most burn up as they enter Earth's 7. Streak across the sky very fast 16. Most are fragments of large asteroids 17. Tail always points away from the Sun 8. lcy objects 9. Meteor showers are caused by the Earth passing through the debris path of acomet Hand&cience HSarrow_forward
- Which of the following about comets is TRUE? a. Cometary orbits always lie close to the ecliptic plane b. Long period comets must originate from well beyond even the Kuiper Belt c. The Oort cloud is the large cloud of gas surrounding a comet nucleus while it is near the Sun d. Tails of comets always lie along the path of the orbitarrow_forwardExplain how meteor showers are linked to comets. Why do meteor showers recur at about the same time every year?arrow_forwardHow many impacts would you expect to strike a 100m2 region in one hour during Earth’s formation, assuming that Earth grew to its present size in 10 million years from particles averaging 100 grams each? (Hint: Assume that Earth had its current radius of 6378km.) (Notes: The surface area of a sphere is 4pir2 ; 1yr=3.2x107 .) a. About 1300. b. About 13 . c. About 13,000. d. About 130arrow_forward
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