Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 19, Problem 8E
Most distances in the Galaxy are measured in light-years instead of meters. Why do you think this is the case?
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Chapter 19 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 19 - Explain how parallax measurements can be used to...Ch. 19 - Suppose you have discovered a new cepheid variable...Ch. 19 - Explain how you would use the spectrum of a star...Ch. 19 - Which method would you use to obtain the distance...Ch. 19 - What are the luminosity class and spectral type of...Ch. 19 - The meter was redefined as a reference to Earth,...Ch. 19 - While a meter is the fundamental unit of length,...Ch. 19 - Most distances in the Galaxy are measured in...Ch. 19 - The AU is defined as the average distance between...Ch. 19 - What would be the advantage of making parallax...
Ch. 19 - Parallaxes are measured in fractions of an...Ch. 19 - For centuries, astronomers wondered whether comets...Ch. 19 - The Sun is much closer to Earth than are the...Ch. 19 - Parallaxes of stars are sometimes measured...Ch. 19 - Estimating the luminosity class of an M star is...Ch. 19 - Figure 19.9 is the light curve for the prototype...Ch. 19 - Which of the following can you determine about a...Ch. 19 - A G2 star has a luminosity 100 times that of the...Ch. 19 - A star has a temperature of 10,000 K and a...Ch. 19 - What is the advantage of measuring a parallax...Ch. 19 - What is the disadvantage of the parallax method,...Ch. 19 - Luhman 16 and WISE 0720 are brown dwarfs, also...Ch. 19 - Most stars close to the Sun are red dwarfs. What...Ch. 19 - Why would it be easier to measure the...Ch. 19 - When Henrietta Leavitt discovered the...Ch. 19 - A radar astronomer who is new at the job claims...Ch. 19 - The New Horizons probe flew past Pluto in July...Ch. 19 - Estimate the maximum and minimum time it takes a...Ch. 19 - The Apollo program (not the lunar missions with...Ch. 19 - In 1974, the Arecibo Radio telescope in Puerto...Ch. 19 - Demonstrate that 1 pc equals 3.091013 k m and that...Ch. 19 - The best parallaxes obtained with Hipparcos have...Ch. 19 - Astronomers are always making comparisons between...Ch. 19 - Gaia will have greatly improved precision over the...Ch. 19 - Using the same techniques as used in Exercise...Ch. 19 - The human eye is capable of an angular resolution...Ch. 19 - How much better is the resolution of the Gaia...Ch. 19 - The most recently discovered system close to Earth...Ch. 19 - What would the parallax of Luhman 16 (see Exercise...Ch. 19 - The New Horizons probe that passed by Pluto during...Ch. 19 - What physical properties are different for an M...
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- The nearest neutron star (a collated star made primarily of neutrons) is about 3.00 1018 m away from Earth. Given that the Milky Way galaxy (Fig. P1.81) is roughly a disk of diameter 1021 m and thickness 1019 m, estimate the number of neutron stars in the Milky Way to the nearest order of magnitude. Figure P1.81arrow_forwardThe dwarf galaxy in Sagittarius is the one closest to the Milky Way, yet it was discovered only in 1994. Can you think of a reason it was not discovered earlier? (Hint: Think about what else is in its constellation.)arrow_forwardA square with an edge 8 cm long has an area of (8cm)(8cm) = 64 cm2. What is this area in square meters? Group of answer choices 0.64 square meters 0.0064 square meters 6400 square meters 640,000 square meters Which of the following does NOT correspond to the dimension of length? Group of answer choices fathom yard kilometer parsec angstrom light-year More than one of these is not a unit of length All of these are units of lengtharrow_forward
- how many Galaxy are there in all?arrow_forwardThe center of our Galaxy is about 7500 parsecs from Earth. What would be the parallax angle of a star near the center of the Galaxy? Could this angle be measured with current technology?arrow_forwardA light-year is the distance that light can travel in one year. Similarly, we can define a light-second, light-day, etc. as the distance that light can travel in other time intervals. Calculate the distance represented by each of the following: (Assume that the speed of light is 3 x 10^8m/s) 5 light-minutes 6 light-days 6 light-days, but this time answer in miles (enter just the number with no units)arrow_forward
- Calculate the number of miles in a light year using (see picture for the equation) mi/s as the speed. Hint: The number of seconds in a year,365days,will be useful.arrow_forwardWhy is it not possible to find out what's going on in our nearest star within the span of 24 hours?arrow_forwardAstronomers recently claimed to have discovered the most distant galaxy known. How would they have determine this distance?arrow_forward
- Recent findings in astrophysics suggest that the observable universe can be modeled as a sphere of radius R=13.7x109 light-years=13.0 x 1025m with an average total mass density of about 1x10-26 kg/m3 Only about 4% of total mass is due to “ordinary” matter (such as protons, neutrons, and electrons). Estimate how much ordinary matter (in kg) there is in the observable universe. (For the light-year, see Problem 19.)arrow_forwardIn 1987, a supernova was observed in a neighboring galaxy.Scientists believed the galaxy was 1.66 x 10^21 m away. How many years prior to the observation did the supernova explosion actually occur?arrow_forwardThe Tully-Fischer method relies on being able to relate the mass of a galaxy to its rotation velocity. Stars in the outer-most regions of the Milky Way galaxy, located at a distance of 50 kpc from the galactic centre, are observed to orbit at a speed vrot = 250 km s−1. Using Kepler’s 3rd Law, determine the mass in the Milky Way that lies interior to 50 kpc. Express your answer in units of the Solar mass.arrow_forward
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