The Cosmic Perspective (8th Edition)
8th Edition
ISBN: 9780134059068
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Megan O. Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, Mark Voit
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 16, Problem 56EAP
Life in a Molecular Cloud? As far as we know, molecular clouds arc the only places other than planets that contain the kinds of complex molecules needed to support life, including water molecules and many more complex organic molecules. Do you think it is possible for life to exist in a molecular cloud? What would life have to be like to survive there?
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Tutorial
A radio broadcast left Earth in 1923. How far in light
years has it traveled?
If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light
years, how many star systems has this broadcast
reached?
Assume that the fraction of these star systems that
have planets is 0.50 and that, in a given planetary
system, the average number of planets that have
orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.40.
How many possible planets with life could have heard
this signal?
Part 1 of 3
To figure out how many light years a signal has
traveled we need to know how long since the signal left
Earth. If the signal left in 1923, distance in light years =
time since broadcast left Earth.
d = tnow - broadcast
d = 97
97 light years
Part 2 of 3
Since the radio signal travels in all directions, it
expanded as a sphere with a radius equal to the
distance it has traveled so far. To determine the
number of star systems this signal has reached, we
need to determine the volume of that sphere.
V, =
Vb…
Tutorial
A radio broadcast left Earth in 1925. How far in light years has it traveled?
If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light years, how many star systems has this broadcast
reached?
Assume that the fraction of these star systems that have planets is 0.30 and that, in a given planetary
system, the average number of planets that have orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.85. How
many possible planets with life could have heard this signal?
Part 1 of 3
To figure out how many light years a signal has traveled we need to know how long since the signal left Earth.
If the signal left in 1925, distance in light years = time since broadcast left Earth.
d = tnow - tbroadcast
d =
light years
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In a globular cluster, astronomers (someday) discover a star with the same mass as our Sun, but consisting entirely of hydrogen and helium. Is this star a good place to point our SETI antennas and search for radio signals from an advanced civilization?
Group of answer choices
No, because such a star (and any planets around it) would not have the heavier elements (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, etc.) that we believe are necessary to start life as we know it.
Yes, because globular clusters are among the closest star clusters to us, so that they would be easy to search for radio signals.
Yes, because we have already found radio signals from another civilization living near a star in a globular cluster.
No, because such a star would most likely not have a stable (main-sequence) stage that is long enough for a technological civilization to develop.
Yes, because such a star is probably old and a technological civilization will have had a long time to evolve and develop there.
Chapter 16 Solutions
The Cosmic Perspective (8th Edition)
Ch. 16 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 16 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 16 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 16 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 16 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 2EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 3EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 4EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 5EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 6EAP
Ch. 16 - Prob. 7EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 8EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 28EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 31EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 33EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 35EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 36EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 37EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 38EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 39EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 40EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 43EAPCh. 16 - Degeneracy Pressure. Describe how Jupiter would be...Ch. 16 - Prob. 45EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 46EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 47EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 50EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 51EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 52EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 53EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 54EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 55EAPCh. 16 - Life in a Molecular Cloud? As far as we know,...Ch. 16 - Prob. 57EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 58EAPCh. 16 - Prob. 59EAP
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- why do scientists generally think that liquid water is necessary for the origin of life? (astronomy)arrow_forwardKepler-444 is one of many stars with terrestrial planets that is over 10 billion a) What do you think the spectral type of Kepler-444 might be? b) How do stars of this spectral type end their lives? c) If evolution followed a similar course on a habitable pranet around a star similar to Kepler-444, it would be 5 billion years more advanced than we are. Let’s try to project our future and see what happens. In particular, suppose our civilization gets motivated enough to colonize another planet. Kepler indicates that most stars have potentially habitable (and colonizable) planets, so roughly how far away is the typical “nearest" planet? d) The New Horizons probe on its way to Pluto took 9 years to travel 30 AU. If we could send colony ships with the same average speed, roughly how long would it take to reach the typical nearest planet? уears old.arrow_forwardWhat is a habitable zone?arrow_forward
- If you represent Earths history by a line that is 1 m long, how long a segment would represent the 400 million years since life first moved onto the land? How long a segment would represent the 4-millionyear history of humanoid life?arrow_forwardHow does the habitable zone differ for a star hotter than the sun?arrow_forwardCan you explain how you got it?arrow_forward
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