21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Chapter 12, Problem 9QP
To determine
The property that differentiates a short-period comet from a long-period comet other than their time period.
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2. Comet 1943 I has a period of 512 years and an eccentricity of 0.999914 and an inclination of
22 degrees.
a. What is the comet's semi major axis?
b. What are its perihelion and aphelion distances?
c. What is the most likely source region of this object?
d. What is its tisserand parameter and what does that tell you?
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 orbit
When far from the Sun, a comet consists only of its
a. nucleus
b. dust tail
c. gas tail
d. coma
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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- 1. Suppose you have an Oort cloud comet on an orbit with pericenter distance 10,000 AU, and apocenter distance 20,000 AU. a. What are the semi-major axis and eccentricity of the orbit? b. What are the specific energy (energy per unit mass), and specific angular momentum (angular momentum per unit mass) of the comet? c. How fast is the comet moving at apocenter (relative to the Sun)?arrow_forwardWhich of the following is least reasonable regarding comets? Group of answer choices Short-period comets originate in the Kuiper belt and take less than than about 200 years to orbit the Sun. Long-period comets originate in the Oort cloud and can take millions of years to orbit around the Sun, in randomly oriented orbital planes. The ion tail of a comet tends to produce a blue glow, as the ions inside it absorb sunlight and re-emit the absorbed energy with a characteristic color (somewhat like the gas atoms in a neon light or in an Aurora). An ion tail is typically narrow and straight and always trails the comet, like long hair in the wind. The dust tail of a comet often looks curved and its whitish color is just reflected sunlight.arrow_forwardThe rings of Uranus were discovered a. during an occultation (an eclipse) of a star. b. during an eclipse of one of the moons by the rings. c. during an eclipse of Uranus by the rings. d. as Uranus and the rings passed behind Jupiter. e. by the Voyager 1 spacecraft.arrow_forward
- Chondrites are meteorites that have a. never been heated. b. been heated sufficiently to release volatiles they contained. c. been heated sufficiently to melt the chondrules. d. been completely melted. e. entered Earth’s atmosphere but will be destroyed before reaching the ground.arrow_forwardWhat is the difference between a gas tail and a dust tail? What does that tell you about the composition and origin of comets?arrow_forwardWhy is the composition of a comet typically dominated by volatile materials (frozen ices)? choose one of the following: a. rock and metal could not condense out of the solar nebula at extreme distances from the sun b. most of the metal in the solar system is locked up inside the terrestrial planets c. metals are not stable in the outer solar system d. elements that form ices (as opposed to rock & metals) are more abundant in our solar systemarrow_forward
- TRUE OR FALSE 1. Asteroids, comets, and meteors have light of their own. 2. Meteoroids are formed from comets and asteroids. 3. You can always see a comet's tail.arrow_forwardThe reason that most moons in our solar system orbit in all sorts of crazy directions is because most moons a. co-formed with their planets b. are the result of major collisions c. have been pulled into these crazy orbits by tidal forces d. are captured asteroids Tidal flexing will occur in a moon whose orbit is a. close to its planet and circular b. far from its planet and circular c. far from its planet and eccentric d. close to its planet and eccentricarrow_forwardd) The internal density of the comet 67P was measured by the Rosetta space-craft to be approximately p = 400 kg m-³. How close an approach to the Earth could be made by this comet before it is tidally disrupted? Express your answer in units of the Earth's radius. Ignoring the effects of heating and sublimation, state how close this comet could approach the Sun without being tidally disrupted. Express your answer in units of the Solar radius.arrow_forward
- The Cassini division is a large gap in the rings of Saturn. This gap is most likely produced by a. the reflection of sunlight off dark material. b. resonances between ring particles and the moon Mimas. c. shepherding satellites. d. the absorption of sunlight by dark material.arrow_forwardSurprisingly, the New Horizons probe took pictures of Pluto and found a. ongoing volcanic eruptions b. mountain ranges c. lakes of methane d. a lot of impact craters Pluto and other "dwarf planets" are not considered proper planets because a. they don't have any moons b. they are members of belts like the asteroid and Kuiper belts c. they don't have atmospheres d. their orbital inclinations are too high e. their orbits are too eccentric Which of these planets has never had an artificial satellite? a. Neptune b. Saturn c. Mars d. Jupiter e. Venusarrow_forward5) What is the ratio of the number of asteroid impacts on the moon to the number of impacts on Earth? Assume the asteroids are originally traveling 15 km/s and use the following data. Mass: 5.97x1024 kg Earth, 7.3x1022 kg moon Radius: 6372 km Earth, 1738 km moon Note we count the number of craters on the moon to infer the number of impacts on Earth because many Earth craters have been hidden by erosion.arrow_forward
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