Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Concept explainers
Textbook Question
Chapter 19, Problem 21E
What is the disadvantage of the parallax method, especially for studying distant parts of the Galaxy?
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solution
Students have asked these similar questions
The center of our Galaxy is about 7500 parsecs from Earth. What would be the parallax angle of a star near the center of the Galaxy? Could this angle be measured with current technology?
[6/2, 7:18 AM] Ali Diaa: Telescopes are an essential tool for astronomers to study the universe. You plan to build yourown telescope that can resolve the Great Red Spot on the surface of Jupiter at a wavelength of600 nm. The farthest distance between the Earth and Jupiter is 968 × 106 km and the Great RedSpot has currently a diameter of 16,500 km.(a) Use the Rayleigh criterion to determine the diameter of the lens’ aperture of your telescopethat is needed to resolve the Great Red Spot on Jupiter.[6/2, 7:44 AM] Ali Diaa: Scientists are developing a new space cannon to shoot objects from the surface of the Earth directly into a low orbit around the Earth. For testing purposes, a projectile is fired with an initialvelocity of 2.8 km/s vertically into the sky.Calculate the height that the projectile reaches, ...(a) assuming a constant gravitational deceleration of 9.81 m/s2.(b) considering the change of the gravitational force with height.Note: Neglect the air resistance for this problem.…
An astronomical image shows two objects that have the same apparent magnitude, i.e., the same brightness. However, spectroscopic follow up observations indicate that while one is a star that is within our galaxy, at a distance dgal away, and has the same luminosity as the Sun, the other is a quasar and has 100x the luminosity of the entire Milky Way galaxy. What is the distance to the quasar? (You may assume, for this rough calculation, that the Milky Way has 1011 stars and that they all have the luminosity as the Sun.) Give your response in Mpc. Value: dgal = 49 pc
Chapter 19 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 19 - Explain how parallax measurements can be used to...Ch. 19 - Suppose you have discovered a new cepheid variable...Ch. 19 - Explain how you would use the spectrum of a star...Ch. 19 - Which method would you use to obtain the distance...Ch. 19 - What are the luminosity class and spectral type of...Ch. 19 - The meter was redefined as a reference to Earth,...Ch. 19 - While a meter is the fundamental unit of length,...Ch. 19 - Most distances in the Galaxy are measured in...Ch. 19 - The AU is defined as the average distance between...Ch. 19 - What would be the advantage of making parallax...
Ch. 19 - Parallaxes are measured in fractions of an...Ch. 19 - For centuries, astronomers wondered whether comets...Ch. 19 - The Sun is much closer to Earth than are the...Ch. 19 - Parallaxes of stars are sometimes measured...Ch. 19 - Estimating the luminosity class of an M star is...Ch. 19 - Figure 19.9 is the light curve for the prototype...Ch. 19 - Which of the following can you determine about a...Ch. 19 - A G2 star has a luminosity 100 times that of the...Ch. 19 - A star has a temperature of 10,000 K and a...Ch. 19 - What is the advantage of measuring a parallax...Ch. 19 - What is the disadvantage of the parallax method,...Ch. 19 - Luhman 16 and WISE 0720 are brown dwarfs, also...Ch. 19 - Most stars close to the Sun are red dwarfs. What...Ch. 19 - Why would it be easier to measure the...Ch. 19 - When Henrietta Leavitt discovered the...Ch. 19 - A radar astronomer who is new at the job claims...Ch. 19 - The New Horizons probe flew past Pluto in July...Ch. 19 - Estimate the maximum and minimum time it takes a...Ch. 19 - The Apollo program (not the lunar missions with...Ch. 19 - In 1974, the Arecibo Radio telescope in Puerto...Ch. 19 - Demonstrate that 1 pc equals 3.091013 k m and that...Ch. 19 - The best parallaxes obtained with Hipparcos have...Ch. 19 - Astronomers are always making comparisons between...Ch. 19 - Gaia will have greatly improved precision over the...Ch. 19 - Using the same techniques as used in Exercise...Ch. 19 - The human eye is capable of an angular resolution...Ch. 19 - How much better is the resolution of the Gaia...Ch. 19 - The most recently discovered system close to Earth...Ch. 19 - What would the parallax of Luhman 16 (see Exercise...Ch. 19 - The New Horizons probe that passed by Pluto during...Ch. 19 - What physical properties are different for an M...
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Find more solutions based on key concepts
Explain all answers clearly, with complete sentences and proper essay structure if needed. An asterisk(*) desig...
Cosmic Perspective Fundamentals
Using the law of reflection, explain how powder takes the shine off of a person’s nose. What is the name of the...
University Physics Volume 3
At which position(s), if any, does Star B rise and set?
Lecture- Tutorials for Introductory Astronomy
22.41 A very long, solid cylinder with radius R has positive charge uniformly distributed throughout it, with c...
University Physics with Modern Physics (14th Edition)
Choose the best answer to each of the following. Explain your reasoning. Based on current data, planetary syste...
The Cosmic Perspective Fundamentals (2nd Edition)
Knowledge Booster
Learn more about
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
- The best parallaxes obtained with Hipparcos have an accuracy of 0.001 arcsec. If you want to measure the distance to a star with an accuracy of 10%, its parallax must be 10 times larger than the typical error. How far away can you obtain a distance that is accurate to 10% with Hipparcos data? The disk of our Galaxy is 100,000 light-years in diameter. What fraction of the diameter of the Galaxy’s disk is the distance for which we can measure accurate parallaxes?arrow_forwardWhat is the advantage of measuring a parallax distance to a star as compared to our other distance measuring methods?arrow_forwardWhy is Hubble’s law considered one of the most important discoveries in the history of astronomy?arrow_forward
- Gaia will have greatly improved precision over the measurements of Hipparcos. The average uncertainty for most Gaia parallaxes will be about 50 microarcsec, or 0.00005 arcsec. How many times better than Hipparcos (see Exercise 19.32) is this precision?arrow_forwardDescribe several characteristics that distinguish population I stars from population II stars.arrow_forwardWhen comparing two isolated spiral galaxies that have the same apparent brightness, but rotate at different rates, what can you say about their relative luminosity?arrow_forward
- When Henrietta Leavitt discovered the period-luminosity relationship, she used cepheid stars that were all located in the Small Magellanic Cloud. Why did she need to use stars in another galaxy and not cepheids located in the Milky Way?arrow_forwardConsider the following data on four stars: Which star would have the largest radius? Which star would have the smallest radius? Which star is the most common in our area of the Galaxy? Which star is the least common?arrow_forwardThe satellite Hipparcos was launched in 1989 to measure very accurate parallax angles of stars; it has provided the most accurate parallax measurements ever obtained. The smallest parallax angle it can measure is 0.002". How far away is the most distant star to which Hipparcos can measure the distance?arrow_forward
- Question A1 a) The Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) is a galaxy in the vicinity of the Milky Way. It is at a distance of 50 kpc, and has a size across of 9.86 kpc. Consider a star similar to Vega (absolute magnitude M = 0.58) which is at the edge of the LMC as seen on the sky. What is its apparent magnitude? Show your calculation. b) A second similar star is observed near the centre of the LMC as seen on the sky with an observed apparent magnitude of m = 20.3. Is this consistent with the star being a member of the LMC? Explain your reasoning. c) An observational study has derived a map of the extinction Ay across the LMC, and shown that its average value is 0.38, with a standard deviation of 0.57. For the star discussed in part (b), if extinction is taken into account, does your conclusion about the star's membership of the LMC change? Explain your reasoning. You may assume that the star may suffer the full (positive) range of extinction found in the study of the LMC. d) Which other…arrow_forwardYou observe the H-alpha line of Hydrogen in a distant galaxy to have a wavelength of 918.4 nm. What is the radial velocity of the galaxy?arrow_forwardDistances to the nearest stars (up to 500 ly away) can be measured by a technique called parallax, as shown . What are the angles θ1 and θ2 relative to the plane of the Earth’s orbit for a star 4.0 ly directly above the Sun?arrow_forward
arrow_back_ios
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
arrow_forward_ios
Recommended textbooks for you
AstronomyPhysicsISBN:9781938168284Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. WolffPublisher:OpenStax
Stars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399944Author:Michael A. SeedsPublisher:Cengage Learning
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399920Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana BackmanPublisher:Cengage Learning
Stars and GalaxiesPhysicsISBN:9781305120785Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana BackmanPublisher:Cengage Learning
Astronomy
Physics
ISBN:9781938168284
Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher:OpenStax
Stars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399944
Author:Michael A. Seeds
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399920
Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Stars and Galaxies
Physics
ISBN:9781305120785
Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher:Cengage Learning