Jupiter to the sun by assu
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Use Newton's law to estimate the distance of Jupiter to the sun by assuming that the orbits of the earth and Jupiter are circles
Transcribed Image Text:A long time ago before scientists could measure the speed of light
accurately, O. Römer, a Danish astronomer studied the times of eclipses of
the planet Jupiter. He was able to determined the velocity of light from
observed periods of a satellite around the planet Jupiter. Fig. 1-1 shows the
orbit of the earth E around the sun S and one of the satellites M around the
planet Jupiter. (He observed the time spent between two successive
emergences of the satellite M from behind Jupiter.)
E
M
Fig. 1-1. The orbits of the earth E around the sun S and a satellite M
around Jupiter J. The average distance of the earth E to the Sun is Rg =
149. 6 X10° km. The maximum distance is REa = 1. 015RĘ. The period of
revolution of the earth is 365 days and of Jupiter is 11. 9 years.
A long series of observations of the eclipses permitted an accurate
evaluation of the period. The observed period T depends on the relative
position of the earth with respect to the frame of reference SJ as one of the
axis of coordinates. The average time of revolution is To
42 h 28 m 16s
%3D
and maximum observed period is (T +15) s.
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