21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Question
Chapter 20, Problem 31QP
To determine
The ratio between the radius of the Milky Way’s outer halo and the radius of the disk.
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The best parallaxes obtained with the Hipparcos satellite have an uncertainty such that we believe measurements as low as 0.005 arc-seconds. What is the farthest distance a star can be to have an accurate distance from Hipparcos? 200 Parsecs
The disk of our Galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter. Using the results from the previous problem, what fraction of the diameter of the Galaxy's disk is the distance for which we can measure accurate parallaxes?
0.0065
The Gaia satellite has greatly improved precision over Hipparcos, measuring parallaxes that are as small as 0.00025 arcseconds. How many times farther away is Gaia be able to measure distances to than Hipparcos?
The best parallaxes obtained with the Hipparcos satellite have an uncertainty such that we believe measurements as low as 0.005 arc-seconds. What is the farthest distance a star can be to have an accurate distance from Hipparcos?200 parsecs
The disk of our Galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter. Using the results from the previous problem, what fraction of the diameter of the Galaxy's disk is the distance for which we can measure accurate parallaxes?
Chapter 20 Solutions
21st Century Astronomy
Ch. 20.1 - Prob. 20.1CYUCh. 20.2 - Prob. 20.2CYUCh. 20.3 - Prob. 20.3CYUCh. 20.4 - Prob. 20.4CYUCh. 20 - Prob. 1QPCh. 20 - Prob. 2QPCh. 20 - Prob. 3QPCh. 20 - Prob. 4QPCh. 20 - Prob. 5QPCh. 20 - Prob. 6QP
Ch. 20 - Prob. 7QPCh. 20 - Prob. 8QPCh. 20 - Prob. 9QPCh. 20 - Prob. 10QPCh. 20 - Prob. 11QPCh. 20 - Prob. 12QPCh. 20 - Prob. 13QPCh. 20 - Prob. 14QPCh. 20 - Prob. 15QPCh. 20 - Prob. 16QPCh. 20 - Prob. 17QPCh. 20 - Prob. 18QPCh. 20 - Prob. 19QPCh. 20 - Prob. 20QPCh. 20 - Prob. 21QPCh. 20 - Prob. 22QPCh. 20 - Prob. 23QPCh. 20 - Prob. 24QPCh. 20 - Prob. 25QPCh. 20 - Prob. 26QPCh. 20 - Prob. 27QPCh. 20 - Prob. 28QPCh. 20 - Prob. 29QPCh. 20 - Prob. 30QPCh. 20 - Prob. 31QPCh. 20 - Prob. 32QPCh. 20 - Prob. 33QPCh. 20 - Prob. 34QPCh. 20 - Prob. 35QPCh. 20 - Prob. 36QPCh. 20 - Prob. 37QPCh. 20 - Prob. 38QPCh. 20 - Prob. 39QPCh. 20 - Prob. 40QPCh. 20 - Prob. 41QPCh. 20 - Prob. 42QPCh. 20 - Prob. 43QPCh. 20 - Prob. 44QPCh. 20 - Prob. 45QP
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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
- The best parallaxes obtained with Hipparcos have an accuracy of 0.001 arcsec. If you want to measure the distance to a star with an accuracy of 10%, its parallax must be 10 times larger than the typical error. How far away can you obtain a distance that is accurate to 10% with Hipparcos data? The disk of our Galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter. What fraction of the diameter of the Galaxy’s disk is the distance for which we can measure accurate parallaxes?arrow_forwardDescribe what a typical star in the Galaxy would be like compared to the Sun.arrow_forwardAssume that dark matter is uniformly distributed throughout the Milky Way, not just in the outer halo but also throughout the bulge and in the disk, where the solar system lives. How much dark matter would you expect there to be inside the solar system? Would you expect that to be easily detectable? Hint: For the radius of the Milky Way’s dark matter halo, use R=300,000 light-years; for the solar system’s radius, use 100 AU; and start by calculating the ratio of the two volumes.arrow_forward
- The center of a faint but active galaxy has magnitude 26. How much less bright does it look than the very faintest star that our eyes can see, roughly magnitude 6?arrow_forwardWhy does star formation occur primarily in the disk of the Galaxy?arrow_forwardConsider the following data on four stars: Which star would have the largest radius? Which star would have the smallest radius? Which star is the most common in our area of the Galaxy? Which star is the least common?arrow_forward
- Consider the following five kinds of objects: open cluster, giant molecular cloud, globular cluster, group of O and B stars, and planetary nebulae. A. Which occur only in spiral arms? B. Which occur only in the parts of the Galaxy other than the spiral arms? C. Which are thought to be very young? D. Which are thought to be very old? E. Which have the hottest stars?arrow_forwardIf the diameter of the Milky Way Galaxys visible disk, 80,000 ly, is represented in a model by a dinner plate with a diameter of 10 inches, what is the model distance to galaxy M31, 2.6 millionly away? What is the model distance to the Virgo galaxy cluster, 16 Mpc away? (Convert answers to feet.)arrow_forwardDescribe how you might use the color of a galaxy to determine something about what kinds of stars it contains.arrow_forward
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