21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Chapter 12, Problem 43QP
To determine
The volume of comet tail that would hold
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The mass of an average comet's nucleus is about 1.0 x 1014 kg. If the Oort cloud contains 2.0 x 1011 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in units of Earth masses? (Note: Earth's mass is 5.97 x 1024
kg.)
Compare that with Saturn's mass. (Note: Saturn's mass in units of Earth's mass is 95.2 M)
mass of the Oort cloud
mass of Saturn
The Tunguska asteroid is estimated to have had a diameter of 50 m, and to have produced an explosion equivalent to 10 megatons of TNT (1 megaton = 4.2 x 1015 joules). Assume that the asteroid was a sphere with density 2 g/cm3. Using the kinetic energy formula K = ½ mv2, where m is the mass and v is the speed, to estimate the speed of the asteroid. Assume that all kinetic energy is converted into the energy of the explosion.
Give your answer in km/s with one significant figure.
The mass of an average comet's nucleus is about 1.0 ✕ 1014 kg. If the Oort cloud contains 2.0 ✕ 1011 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in units of Earth masses? (Note: Earth's mass is 5.97 ✕ 1024 kg.)________ m
Compare that with Uranus's mass. (Note: Uranus's mass in units of Earth's mass is 14.5 M.)
mass of the Oort Cloud / mas of Uranus =________
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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- Planetary scientists are excited about the possibility that some of the moons in the outer solar system might have a global subsurface ocean of liquid water. It's uncertain whether or not Jupiter's moon Callisto has a subsurface ocean, but some scientists think it might. Let's imagine that a short distance below the surface, Callisto has a water layer 20,000 meters thick. Callisto has a radius of 2.410x106 meters. Earth has a radius of 6.378x106 meters, and its oceans are equivalent to a layer of water 3000 meters thick all over the surface of the planet. Which of the following is an accurate comparison of the Earth’s amount of liquid water with this estimate of the amount of water Callisto might have? Group of answer choices If this scenario is correct, Earth and Callisto have roughly the same amount of liquid water. If these scientists are right, Callisto has about one-sixth as much liquid water as the Earth does. If these scientists are right, Callisto has about 11 times as…arrow_forwardThe mass of an average comet's nucleus is about 1.0 x 1014 kg. If the Oort cloud contains 2.0 x 1011 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in units of Earth masses? (Note: Earth's mass is 5.97 x 1024 kg.) M. Compare that with Saturn's mass. (Note: Saturn's mass in units of Earth's mass is 95.2 Ma) mass of the Oort cloud mass of Saturn Need Help? Read Itarrow_forwardA comet with a 2km diameter will make a crater about 20 km in diameter. If the comet has a mass of 4.5 x1012kg and impacts the surface at 35 km/sec, what is the kinetic energy of the comet in Joules?arrow_forward
- It is believed there are 2.7 x 1012 comets in the Oort Cloud, which has a radius of 71000.0 AU. Calculate the average volume that each comet has to itself. Then take the cube root of the average volume per comet to find their typical spacing in AU.arrow_forwardSuppose the average mass of each of 20,000 asteroids in the solar system is 1017 kg. Compare the total mass of these asteroids to the mass of Earth. Assuming a spherical shape and a density of 3000 kg/m3, estimate the diameter of an asteroid having this average mass.arrow_forwardThe mass of an average comets nucleus is about 1.0 x 10^14 kg. If the Oort Cloud contains 20 x 10^11 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the clouds in units of Earth masses? (Note: Earths mass is 5.97 x 10^24 kg) _______ m compare that with Uranus's mass. (Note: Uranus's mass im units of Earth's mass is 14.5m) mass of the Oort Cloud/mass of Uranus:_____arrow_forward
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