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CP Tidal Forces near a Black Hole. An astronaut inside a spacecraft, which protects her from harmful
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- A massive black hole is believed to exist at the center of our galaxy (and most other spiral galaxies). Since the 1990s, astronomers have been tracking the motions of several dozen stars in rapid motion around the center. Their motions give a clue to the size of this black hole. a. One of these stars is believed to be in an approximately circular orbit with a radius of about 1.50 103 AU and a period of approximately 30 yr. Use these numbers to determine the mass of the black hole around which this star is orbiting, b. What is the speed of this star, and how does it compare with the speed of the Earth in its orbit? How does it compare with the speed of light?arrow_forwardTwo black holes (the remains of exploded stars), separated by a distance of 10.0 AU (1 AU = 1.50 1011 m), attract one another with a gravitational force of 8.90 1025 N. The combined mass of the two black holes is 4.00 1030 kg. What is the mass of each black hole?arrow_forwardWhat is the Schwarzschild radius for the black hole at the center of our galaxy if it has the mass of 4 million solar masses?arrow_forward
- (a) Show that tidal force on a small object of mass m, defined as the difference in the gravitational force that would be exerted on m at a distance at the near and the far side of the object, due to the gravitational at a distance R from M, is given by Ftidal=2GMmR3r where r is the distance between the near and far side and rR .(b) Assume you are fallijng feet first into the black hole at the center of our galaxy. It has mass of 4 million solar masses. What would be the difference between the force at your head and your feet at the Schwarzschild radius (event horizon)? Assume your feet and head each have mass 5.0 kg and are 2.0 m apart. Would you survive passing through the event horizon?arrow_forwardAn astronaut, of total mass 85.0 kg including her suit, stands on a spherical satellite of mass 375 kg, both at rest relative a nearby space station. She jumps at a speed of 2.56 m/s directly away from the satellite, as measured by an observer in the station. At what speed does that observer measure the satellite traveling in the opposite direction? (See Section 6.2.)arrow_forward(a) What is the approximate force of gravity on a 70-kg person due to the Andromeda Galaxy, assuming its total mass is 1013 that of our Sun and acts like a single mass 0.613 Mpc away? (b) What is the ratio of this force to the person’s weight? Note that Andromeda is the closest large galaxy.arrow_forward
- A neutron star is a cold, collapsed star with nuclear density. A particular neutron star has a mass twice that of our Sun with a radius of 12.0 km. (a) What would be the weight of a 100-kg astronaut on standing on its surface? (b) What does this tell us about landing on a neutron star?arrow_forwardThe star closest to the Sun is called Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri has a radius of101,000 km and a mass of 2.45 ×1029 kg. What is the value of g (the free fallacceleration) on the surface of Proxima Centauri?arrow_forward3. a. Calculate the escape velocity of an object leaving a black hole with mass equal to 20 times the Sun's mass at a distance equal to the Earth's orbit (r = 1.5x 10¹¹ m) away from the singularity (the location of the black hole's center). Express your answer as a fraction of the speed of light c. Even though black holes have all of their mass concentrated at a single point in spacetime (called the singularity), the size of a black hole is often described using a distance called the Schwarzschild radius. This distance, r, is the distance at which the escape velocity is equal to the speed of light, c. Once an object or a light beam gets closer to the black hole singularity than the Schwarzchild radius, it cannot escape, because nothing can travel faster than c. b. Find the Schwarzchild radius of the 20 solar mass black hole.arrow_forward
- The radius Rh of a black hole is the radius of a mathematical sphere, called the event horizon, that is centered on the black hole. Information from events inside the event horizon cannot reach the outside world. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, Rh = 2GM/c2, where M is the mass of the black hole and c is the speed of light. Suppose that you wish to study a black hole near it, at a radial distance of 48Rh. However, you do not want the difference in gravitational acceleration between your feet and your head to exceed 10 m/s2 when you are feet down (or head down) toward the black hole. (a) Take your height to be 1.5 m. What is the limit to the mass of the black hole you can tolerate at the given radial distance? Give the ratio of this mass to the mass MS of our Sun.arrow_forwardThe radius Rh of a black hole is the radius of a mathematical sphere, called the event horizon, that is centered on the black hole. Information from events inside the event horizon cannot reach the outside world. According to Einstein's general theory of relativity, Rh = 2GM/c2, where M is the mass of the black hole and c is the speed of light. Suppose that you wish to study a black hole near it, at a radial distance of 48Rh. However, you do not want the difference in gravitational acceleration between your feet and your head to exceed 10 m/s2 when you are feet down (or head down) toward the black hole. (a) Take your height to be 1.5 m. What is the limit to the mass of the black hole you can tolerate at the given radial distance? Give the ratio of this mass to the mass MS of our Sun. (b) Is the ratio an upper limit estimate or a lower limit estimate?arrow_forwardNothing can escape the event horizon of a black hole, not even light. You can think of the event horizon as being the distance from a black hole at which the escape speed is the speed of light, 3.00×10^8 m/s, making all escape impossible. What is the radius of the event horizon for a black hole with a mass 3.5 times the mass of the sun?arrow_forward
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