Studies of the relationship of the Sun to our galaxy—the Milky Way—have revealed that the Sun is located near the outer edge of the galactic disc, about 30 000 ly (1 ly = 9.46 × 1015 m) from the center. The Sun has an orbital speed of approximately 250 km/s around the galactic center. (a) What is the period of the Sun’s galactic motion? (b) What is the order of magnitude of the mass of the Milky Way galaxy? (c) Suppose the galaxy is made mostly of stars of which the Sun is typical. What is the order of magnitude of the number of stars in the Milky Way?
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- A spacecraft in the shape of a long cylinder has a length of 100 m, and its mass with occupants is 1 000 kg. Ii has strayed too close to a black hole having a mass 100 times that of the Sun (Fig. P11.11). The nose of the spacecraft points toward the black hole, and the distance between the nose and the center of the black hole is 10.0 km. (a) Determine the total force on the spacecraft. (b) What is the difference in the gravitational fields acting on the occupants in the nose of the ship and on those in the rear of the ship, farthest from the black hole? (This difference in accelerations grows rapidly as the ship approaches the black hole. It puts the body of the ship under extreme tension and eventually tears it apart.)arrow_forwardWhich of the following statements are fundamental postulates of the special theory of relativity? More than one statement may be correct. (a) Light moves through a substance called the ether. (b) The speed of light depends on the inertial reference frame in which it is measured. (c) The laws of physics depend on the inertial reference frame in which they are used. (d) The laws of physics are the same in all inertial reference frames. (e) The speed of light is independent of the inertial reference frame in which it is measured.arrow_forwardShow that the velocity of a star orbiting its galaxy in a circular oibit is inversely proportional to the square root of its orbital radius, assuming the mass of the stars inside its orbit acts like a single mass at the center of the galaxy. You may use an equation from a previous chapter to support your conclusion, but you must justify its use and define all terms used.arrow_forward
- Astronomical observations of our Milky Way galaxy indicate that it has a mass of about 8 ✕ 1011 solar masses. A star orbiting near the galaxy's periphery is 6.0 ✕ 104 light years from its center. (a) What should the orbital period (in y) of that star be? y (b) If its period is 6.9 ✕ 107 y instead, what is the mass (in solar masses) of the galaxy? Such calculations are used to imply the existence of "dark matter" in the universe and have indicated, for example, the existence of very massive black holes at the centers of some galaxies. solar massesarrow_forwardA typical neutron star may have a mass equal to that of the Sun but a radius of only 19 km. (a) What is the gravitational acceleration at the surface of such a star? (Enter the magnitude.) 3670000000000x m/s? (b) How fast would an object be moving if it fell from rest through a distance of 1.1 m on such a star? (Assume the star does not rotate.) m/sarrow_forwardCan you please help w/ the question in the pic? This is the data I have so far: 1. Determine the mass M of the massive object at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Take the distance of one light year to be 9.461x10^15: answer= 4.26*10^37 2.Express your answer in solar masses instead of kilograms, where one solar mass is equal to the mass of the sun, which is 1.99*10^30: answer=2.14*10^7 TIAarrow_forward
- Astronomical observations of our Milky Way galaxy indicate that it has a mass of about 8.0 x 1011 solar masses. A star orbiting near the galaxy's periphery is 5.6 x 104 light-years from its center. (a) What should the orbital period (in y) of that star be? y (b) If its period is 5.3 x 107 years instead, what is the mass (in solar masses) of the galaxy? Such calculations are used to imply the existence of other matter, such as a very massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. solar massesarrow_forwardThe radius Rh of a black hole is the radius of a mathematical sphere, called the event horizon, that is centered on the black hole. Information from events inside the event horizon cannot reach the outside world. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, Rh = 2GM/c2, where M is the mass of the black hole and c is the speed of light. Suppose that you wish to study a black hole near it, at a radial distance of 48Rh. However, you do not want the difference in gravitational acceleration between your feet and your head to exceed 10 m/s2 when you are feet down (or head down) toward the black hole. (a) Take your height to be 1.5 m. What is the limit to the mass of the black hole you can tolerate at the given radial distance? Give the ratio of this mass to the mass MS of our Sun.arrow_forwardThe radius Rh of a black hole is the radius of a mathematical sphere, called the event horizon, that is centered on the black hole. Information from events inside the event horizon cannot reach the outside world. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, Rh = 2GM/c2, where M is the mass of the black hole and c is the speed of light. Suppose that you wish to study a black hole near it, at a radial distance of 48Rh. However, you do not want the difference in gravitational acceleration between your feet and your head to exceed 10 m/s2 when you are feet down (or head down) toward the black hole. (a) Take your height to be 1.5 m. What is the limit to the mass of the black hole you can tolerate at the given radial distance? Give the ratio of this mass to the mass MS of our Sun. (b) Is the ratio an upper limit estimate or a lower limit estimate?arrow_forward
- The Schwarzschild radius RBH for an object of mass M is defined as (See image.) where c is the speed of light and G is the universal gravitational constant. RBH gives the radius of the event horizon of a black hole with mass M. In other words, it gives the radius to which some amount of mass M would need to be compressed in order to form a black hole. 1. The mass of the Sun is about 1.99 × 1030 kg. What would be the radius of a black hole with this mass? 2. The mass of Mars is about 6.42 × 1023 kg. What would be the radius of a black hole with this mass? 3. Suppose you want to make a black hole that is roughly the size of an atom (take RBH = 1.10 x 10-10 m). What would be the mass M of such a black hole?arrow_forwardPlaskett's binary system consists of two stars that revolve in a circular orbit about a center of mass midway between them. This statement implies that the masses of the two stars are equal (see figure below). Assume the orbital speed of each star is |v| 190 km/s and the orbital period of each is 12.9 days. Find the mass M of each star. (For comparison, the mass of our Sun is 1.99 x 1030 kg.) solar masses M XCM Marrow_forwardA star is observed to undergo circular orbit around the black hole located at the centre of the Milky Way galaxy. The orbital period is measured to be 16 years and the distance between the star and the black hole is determined to be 1000 Astronomical Units. Estimate the mass of the black hole in units of the Solar mass, and explain any approximations you make in your calculation.arrow_forward
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