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The core of a star collapses during a supernova, forming a neutron star.
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- After the Sun exhausts its nuclear fuel, its ultimate fate may be to collapse to a white dwarf state. In this state, it would have approximately the same mass as it has now, but its radius would be equal to the radius of the Earth. (a) Calculate the average density of the white dwarf. kg/m³ (b) Calculate the surface free-fall acceleration. m/s² (c) Calculate the gravitational potential energy associated with a 3.38-kg object at the surface of the white dwarf.arrow_forwardAfter the Sun exhausts its nuclear fuel, its ultimate fate may be to collapse to a white dwarf state. In this state, it would have approximately the same mass as it has now, but its radius would be equal to the radius of the Earth. (a) Calculate the average density of the white dwarf. kg/m3 (b) Calculate the surface free-fall acceleration. m/s2 (c) Calculate the gravitational potential energy associated with a 4.36-kg object at the surface of the white dwarf. Need Help? Read Itarrow_forwardThe inner binary of the Polaris system, Polaris Aa and Ab, has a period of29.6 yr. Polaris Aa has a mass of 5.4 Msun and Polaris Ab has a mass of1.3 Msun. (a) What is the semi-major axis of Polaris Aa? (b) What is thesemi-major axis of Polaris Ab? (Note: there should be no need to assumecircular orbits here)arrow_forward
- After the Sun exhausts its nuclear fuel, its ultimate fate may be to collapse to a white dwarf state. In this state, it would have approximately the same mass as it has now, but its radius would be equal to the radius of the Earth. (a) Calculate the average density of the white dwarf. ?kg/m3(b) Calculate the surface free-fall acceleration. ?m/s2(c) Calculate the gravitational potential energy associated with a 1.88-kg object at the surface of the white dwarf. ?Jarrow_forwardWe know that we can use Kepler's Laws to determine the orbits objects around one another. We also have learned that most stars orbit at least one other star (two stars orbiting each other is called a binary system). With this in mind, let's figure out the total mass of both stars of a binary system. Observing the spectra of the two stars orbiting one another, we determine the orbital period of this set of example stars around the system's center of mass to be 0.25 years (1/4 of a year) and the separation of the two stars to be 0.75 AU (3/4 of an AU). With this information, what is the sum of the mass of these two example stars orbiting each other?arrow_forwardAfter the Sun exhausts its nuclear fuel, its ultimate fate may be to collapse to a white dwarf state. In this state, it would have approximately the same mass as it has now, but its radius would be equal to the radius of the Earth.Calculate the average density of the white dwarf.Calculate the surface free-fall acceleration.Calculate the gravitational potential energy associated with a 6.69-kg object at the surface of the white dwarf.arrow_forward
- Suppose you observe a binary system containing a main-sequence star and a brown dwarf. The orbital period of the system is 1 year, and the average separation of the system is 1 AU . You then measure the Doppler shifts of the spectral lines from the main-sequence star and the brown dwarf, finding that the orbital speed of the brown dwarf in the system is 23 times greater than that of the main-sequence star. How massive is the brown dwarf in kg?arrow_forwardThe 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_forwardThe radius Rh of a black hole is the radius of a mathematicalsphere, called the event horizon, that is centered on the blackhole. Information from events inside the event horizon cannotreach the outside world. According to Einstein’s general theory ofrelativity, Rh = 2GM/c2, where M is the mass of the black hole andc is the speed of light.Suppose that you wish to study a black hole near it, at a radialdistance of 50Rh. However, you do not want the difference in gravitationalacceleration between your feet and your head to exceed10 m/s2 when you are feet down (or head down) toward the blackhole. (a) As a multiple of our Sun’s mass MS, approximately what isthe limit to the mass of the black hole you can tolerate at the givenradial distance? (You need to estimate your height.) (b) Is the limitan upper limit (you can tolerate smaller masses) or a lower limit(you can tolerate larger masses)?arrow_forward
- a. Find the acceleration due to gravity at the surface of a neutron star of mass 1.5 solar masses and having a radius of R = 10.0 km. b. Find the weight of a 0.120-kg baseball on the surface of this star. c. Assume the equation U = mgh applies, and calculate the energy that a 70.0-kg person would expend climbing a 1.00-cm-tall mountain on the neutron star. d. Find the speed needed by a small satellite to maintain a circular orbit with a radius of 2R around the neutron star.arrow_forward(Astronomy) PSR1913+16 Problem III. As the shape of the graph shown is not skewed, the orbit can be assumed circular. Also assume the system is viewed edge-on (that is, the orbital system is not inclined to the observer). Using these assumptions, the maximum radial velocities, and the orbital period T = 7.75 hours, find the orbital radii of the stars from the center of mass. (Hints: The figures below may be helpful. Use v = 2πr/P, where v is velocity, P is period, and r is radius. Note: redshifts have positive radial velocities values in the upper figure, whereas blueshifts have negative radial velocity values.)arrow_forwardThe Small Magellanic Cloud is a dwarf galay orbiting the Milky Way at a distance of 50 kiloparsecs from its center, on a circular orbit. It is moving at a velocity. rolative to the Milky Way, of 207 km/s. What is the mass of the Milky Way, in units of solar masses, inside the Cloud's orbit? B !! 245 If'a quasar emits 10^(10) times the Sun's luminosity, converting 10% of the mass of the material it eats into radiation, how many stars (ach of the Sun's mans) must it consume per year?arrow_forward
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