The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780134874364
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Megan O. Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, Mark Voit
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 19, Problem 39EAP
To determine
To Discuss: The key observations that led thescientists to know about the location of the Sun within Milky Way.
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Listed below are some distances from Earth to other objects in the Milky Way galaxy. Convert each
distance to light-years. (Each of these distances is less than one light-year. For an added challenge,
convert each distance to light minutes or light seconds.)
1.
The distance from Earth to the Moon is about 384,400 km. How many light-years is this?
2.
The distance from Earth to Mars is about 784,000,000 km. How many light-years is this?
3.
The distance from Earth to Pluto is about 5,750,000,000 km. How many light-years is this?
Estimating the mass of the Milky Way
a) Assuming the Sun moves in a circular orbit of radius 8 kiloparsecs around the center of the Milky Way, and that its orbital speed
is 220 km/s, calculate how many years it takes the Sun to complete one orbit of the Galaxy. Remember to convert kiloparsecs to
kilometers.
b) Using the modified form of Kepler's third law (introduced in Lecture 13, for measuring the combined masses of binary stars),
R³
m+ M = estimate the mass of the Milky Way enclosed within 8 kpc (Sun's orbit radius). The mass of the Milky Way inside
p²
I
the Sun's orbit can be represented as a single mass (M) located at its center, and the mass of the Sun (m) can be considered
infinitesimally small compared to the Milky Way's (i.e., m < M).
c) Is this estimate of the Milky Way's mass an upper or lower limit? Explain your reasoning.
Suppose we look at two distant galaxies: Galaxy 1 is twice as far away as Galaxy 2. In this case,
A.
Galaxy 1 must be twice as big as Galaxy 2.
B.
we are seeing Galaxy 1 as it looked at an earlier time in the history of the universe than Galaxy 2.
C.
we are seeing Galaxy 1 as it looked at a later time in the history of the universe than Galaxy 2.
D.
Galaxy 2 must be twice as old as Galaxy 1.
Chapter 19 Solutions
The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
Ch. 19 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 5VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 6VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 2EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 3EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 4EAP
Ch. 19 - Prob. 5EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 6EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 7EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 8EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 19 - Does It Make Sense? Decitie whether the statement...Ch. 19 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 28EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 19 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 19 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 33EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 35EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 36EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 37EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 39EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 40EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 44EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 45EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 46EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 47EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 50EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 52EAPCh. 19 - Mass of the Central Black Hole. Suppose you...Ch. 19 - Prob. 54EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 55EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 56EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 57EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 58EAPCh. 19 - The Speed of Supernova Debris. The kinetic energy...
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