21st Century Astronomy
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780393428063
Author: Kay
Publisher: NORTON
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Question
Chapter 5, Problem 27QP
To determine
The range that describe about the distances of the various stars.
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Students have asked these similar questions
Distance from
Apparent Brightness (rank;
brightest, 8 = dimmest)
Name of Star
Earth (light years) | 1 =
Sun
Sirius
8.6
Canopus
Arcturus
309
3.
36.7
4
Rigel
Vega
Alpha Centauri
Bernard's Star
773
5
25.3
4.3
7
5.9
8
13 What sentence explains why a star can be much farther from Earth than
the Sun, but still be bright?
nida nenv
A. Distance from Earth and apparent brightness are related.
B. Bright stars that are farther away are larger than the Sun.
C. The higher it appears in the sky, the brighter the star.
D. The apparent brightness scale goes up as stars get dimmer.
del sdT
In the parallax method of determining stellar distances, the angle to a star is measured while
the earth is on one side of the sun and then again six months later, as in the diagram below.
Assume the earth-sun distance is 1 Astronomical Unit. The parallax angle of Alpha Centauri
is 0= 2.1 x 10-4 ° . Find the distance from the sun to a Centauri in light years. Assume a
circular orbit for the Earth.
a Centauri
Earth (June)
Earth (December)
Sun
Help with 7
Chapter 5 Solutions
21st Century Astronomy
Ch. 5.1 - Prob. 5.1ACYUCh. 5.1 - Prob. 5.1BCYUCh. 5.2 - Prob. 5.2CYUCh. 5.3 - Prob. 5.3CYUCh. 5.4 - Prob. 5.4CYUCh. 5.5 - Prob. 5.5CYUCh. 5 - Prob. 1QPCh. 5 - Prob. 2QPCh. 5 - Prob. 3QPCh. 5 - Prob. 4QP
Ch. 5 - Prob. 5QPCh. 5 - Prob. 6QPCh. 5 - Prob. 7QPCh. 5 - Prob. 8QPCh. 5 - Prob. 9QPCh. 5 - Prob. 10QPCh. 5 - Prob. 11QPCh. 5 - Prob. 12QPCh. 5 - Prob. 13QPCh. 5 - Prob. 14QPCh. 5 - Prob. 15QPCh. 5 - Prob. 16QPCh. 5 - Prob. 17QPCh. 5 - Prob. 18QPCh. 5 - Prob. 19QPCh. 5 - Prob. 20QPCh. 5 - Prob. 21QPCh. 5 - Prob. 22QPCh. 5 - Prob. 23QPCh. 5 - Prob. 24QPCh. 5 - Prob. 25QPCh. 5 - Prob. 26QPCh. 5 - Prob. 27QPCh. 5 - Prob. 28QPCh. 5 - Prob. 29QPCh. 5 - Prob. 30QPCh. 5 - Prob. 31QPCh. 5 - Prob. 32QPCh. 5 - Prob. 33QPCh. 5 - Prob. 34QPCh. 5 - Prob. 35QPCh. 5 - Prob. 36QPCh. 5 - Prob. 37QPCh. 5 - Prob. 38QPCh. 5 - Prob. 39QPCh. 5 - Prob. 40QPCh. 5 - Prob. 41QPCh. 5 - Prob. 42QPCh. 5 - Prob. 43QPCh. 5 - Prob. 44QPCh. 5 - 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
- Which method would you use to obtain the distance to each of the following? A. An asteroid crossing Earth’s orbit B. A star astronomers believe to be no more than 50 light-years from the Sun C. A tight group of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy that includes a significant number of variable stars D. A star that is not variable but for which you can obtain a clearly defined spectrumarrow_forwardWhat is the main reason that the spectra of all stars are not identical? Explain.arrow_forwardDescribe two ways of determining the diameter of a star.arrow_forward
- Is the Sun an average star? Why or why not?arrow_forwardOne method to measure the diameter of a star is to use an object like the Moon or a planet to block out its light and to measure the time it takes to cover up the object. Why is this method used more often with the Moon rather than the planets, even though there are more planets?arrow_forwardSuppose you are given the task of measuring the colors of the brightest stars, listed in Appendix J, through three filters: the first transmits blue light, the second transmits yellow light, and the third transmits red light. If you observe the star Vega, it will appear equally bright through each of the three filters. Which stars will appear brighter through the blue filter than through the red filter? Which stars will appear brighter through the red filter? Which star is likely to have colors most nearly like those of Vega?arrow_forward
- You have enough information from this chapter to estimate the distance to Alpha Centauri, the second nearest star, which has an apparent magnitude of 0. Since it is a G2 star, like the Sun, assume it has the same luminosity as the Sun and the difference in magnitudes is a result only of the difference in distance. Estimate how far away Alpha Centauri is. Describe the necessary steps in words and then do the calculation. (As we will learn in the Celestial Distances chapter, this method-namely, assuming that stars with identical spectral types emit the same amount of energy-is actually used to estimate distances to stars.) If you assume the distance to the Sun is in AU, your answer will come out in AU.arrow_forwardPlease answer them:)arrow_forward"51 Pegasi" is the name of the first normal star (besides the Sun) around which a planet was discovered. It is in the constellation Pegasus the horse. Its parallax is measured to be 0.064 arcsec. a. What is its distance from us? b. The apparent brightness is 1.79 × 10-10 J/(s·m2 ). What is the luminosity? How does that compare with that of the Sun? Look up the temperature: how doarrow_forward
- Two stars have the exact same luminosity, but star Y is four times dimmer looking that star X. This means that???? 1) star Y is four times as far away as star X 2) star Y is 16 times as far away as star X 3) star Y is half as far away as star X 4) star Y is twice as far away as star X 5) we can't figure out the relative distance of the two stars from the information givenarrow_forwardThe nearest star to our sun is Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 4.3 light-years from the Sun. A light-year is the distance that light travels in one year (365 days). How far away, in kilometers, is Proxima Centauri from the Sun?Express your answer using two significant figures.arrow_forwardStar A has an apparent magnitude of –1.5 and is 12.6 light-years from Earth. Star B has an apparent magnitude of 0.4 and is 15.6 light-years from Earth. Why should apparent magnitude NOT be used to determine which star is brighter? What information could help you determine which star is brighter?arrow_forward
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