21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Question
Chapter 12.3, Problem 12.3BCYU
To determine
The composition of the nucleus of the comet.
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d) 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.
The short-period comets do NOT have randomly oriented orbits because
a.
they are affected by the sun’s gravity.
b.
they are affected by the solar wind.
c.
they formed in the Kuiper belt, a belt-shaped region in the plane of the solar system.
d.
their orbits are altered by the drag of their tails in the solar wind.
e.
they all were originally objects ejected from the asteroid belt.
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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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
- Why 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_forwardWhich of the following events can NOT be explained by a giant impact event? The large metallic core of Mercury The extreme axis tilt of Uranus The formation of the Moon The backwards rotation of Venusarrow_forwardChondrites 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_forward
- The 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_forwardThe odd orbits of Nereid and Triton, which are moons of Neptune, indicate that these a. moons were captured. b. moons formed simultaneously with the planet from the same piece of the solar nebula. c. moons broke off from the rapidly rotating planet. d. moons formed as the result from a giant impact early in the planet’s history. e. orbits were disturbed long ago in an interaction with some other body.arrow_forwardA crater on the Moon is 28 km in diameter. If a typical meteorite is 11 times smaller than the diameter of the crater, what was the diameter (in km) of the original meteorite? km What is the estimated depth (in km) of the crater if its depth is one-ninth its diameter? kmarrow_forward
- What evidence indicates that a comets nucleus is rich in ices?arrow_forwardIf a single asteroid 1 km in diameter were to be fragmented into meteoroids 1 m in diameter, how many would it yield? (Hint: The volume of a sphere 43r3 )arrow_forwardThe mass of an average comet’s nucleus is about 1014 kg. If the Oort cloud contains 21012 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in Earth masses? Compare that with Jupiter’s mass. (Note: Relevant data can be found in Appendix Table A-10.)arrow_forward
- Calculate the orbital period of a comet nucleus in the Oort cloud.arrow_forwardThe 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.arrow_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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