Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced
13th Edition
ISBN: 9781305980686
Author: Michael A. Seeds; Dana Backman
Publisher: Cengage Learning US
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Question
Chapter 21, Problem 9P
To determine
The angular diameter of an astronaut in a spacesuit and whether it can be seen by the human eye or not.
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionStudents have asked these similar questions
The unaided human eye has a resolution of about 100 arc seconds in bright lighting conditions. Could someone looking out the command module window have seen the astronauts on the Moon yes or no?
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
(MRO) flies at an average altitude of 280km above the Martian Surface.
If its cameras have an angular resolution of 0.2 arc seconds, what is the
size of the smallest objects that the
MRO
can detect on the Martian surface?
Use the
equation:
S =x × d / 206265 arcseconds / radian
, where S is the true size of the object, d is the distance from the detector to the object, and x is the angular size of the object. Your answer will be in km (you can
ignore the radians unit (it should appear, but the equation made a simplifying assumption that dropped it out.
At an average opposition, the Earth and Mars are separated by 0.52 AU. Suppose an astronomer
observes Mars at opposition and that seeing blurs the images to a resolution of 1.0 seconds of arc.
What is the smallest surface feature the astronomer would be able to resolve on Mars? How does
this size compare with the diameter of Mars?
Chapter 21 Solutions
Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced
Ch. 21 - How does the force of gravity cause tidal coupling...Ch. 21 - As viewed from Earth, how many times does the Moon...Ch. 21 - If the Moon is tidally coupled to Earth, is Earth...Ch. 21 - How can you determine the relative ages of the...Ch. 21 - From looking at images of the Moons near side, how...Ch. 21 - Why did the first Apollo missions land on the...Ch. 21 - Why do planetary scientists hypothesize that the...Ch. 21 - Prob. 8RQCh. 21 - Prob. 9RQCh. 21 - Prob. 10RQ
Ch. 21 - What is the most significant kind of erosion that...Ch. 21 - Provide evidence to support a hypothesis about...Ch. 21 - What evidence can you cite that the Moon had...Ch. 21 - What evidence would you expect to find on the Moon...Ch. 21 - How does the large-impact hypothesis explain the...Ch. 21 - Look at the Celestial Profiles for Earth, the...Ch. 21 - Look at the Celestial Profiles for the Moon and...Ch. 21 - Prob. 18RQCh. 21 - Look at the Celestial Profiles for Earth, the...Ch. 21 - Look at the Celestial Profiles for the Moon and...Ch. 21 - Why are features like the Moons maria not observed...Ch. 21 - What are the relative ages of the intercrater...Ch. 21 - What evidence can you give that Mercury has a...Ch. 21 - Why is it not surprising that there is no evidence...Ch. 21 - What evidence can you give that Mercury had...Ch. 21 - How are the histories of the Moon and Mercury...Ch. 21 - What property of the Moon and Mercury has resulted...Ch. 21 - Prob. 28RQCh. 21 - Prob. 1DQCh. 21 - Prob. 2DQCh. 21 - Prob. 3DQCh. 21 - Prob. 4DQCh. 21 - Look at the right top and bottom images in Figure...Ch. 21 - Calculate the escape velocity of the Moon from its...Ch. 21 - Prob. 3PCh. 21 - Why do small planets cool faster than large...Ch. 21 - The smallest detail visible through Earth-based...Ch. 21 - Prob. 6PCh. 21 - The trenches where Earths seafloor slips downward...Ch. 21 - An Apollo command module orbited the Moon about...Ch. 21 - Prob. 9PCh. 21 - What is the angular diameter of Mercury when it is...Ch. 21 - If you transmit radio signals to Mercury when...Ch. 21 - What is the wavelength of the most intense...Ch. 21 - Suppose you send a probe to land on Mercury, and...Ch. 21 - The smallest detail visible through Earth-based...Ch. 21 - Look at the image of the astronaut on the Moon at...Ch. 21 - Examine the shape of the horizon at the Apollo 17...Ch. 21 - In the photo shown here, astronaut Alan Bean works...
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
- Calculate how long radio communications from the spacecraft will take when it encounters Mars. The furthest distance from Earth to Mars is 2.66 AU. Remember that 1 AU = 1.5 x 1011 m and that light travels at 3 x 108 m/s. So how long will the radio messages take to travel this greatest distance of 2.66 AU? If two way communication between the Earth and the spacecraft involve a 1 s time lapse before an acknowledging signal is sent by the spacecraft, how long a time is there between sending a command to the spacecraft and receiving a reply?arrow_forwardI need help with this question! There is only one part to it!arrow_forwardSuppose you send a probe to land on Mercury, and the probe transmits radio signals to Earth at a wavelength of 59.0000 cm. You listen for the probe when Mercury is moving away from Earth at its full orbital velocity of 48 km/s around the sun. What wavelength (in cm) would you have to tune your radio telescope to detect the signal? (Hint: Use the Doppler shift formula .) (Note: the speed of light if 3.0 x 10^5 km/s. Give your answer to at least four decimal places.) ______ cmarrow_forward
- What is the maximum angular diameter of the dwarf planet Ceres when it is closest to Earth? Could Earth-based telescopes detect surface features? Could the Hubble Space Telescope? (Hint: Use the small-angle formula, Eq. 3-1.) (Notes: Ceress average distance from the Sun is 2.8 AU and its diameter is 950 km. The best angular resolution of Earth-based telescopes at visual wavelengths is about 1 arc second and of Hubble about 0.1 arc second.)arrow_forwardWhy is Mars red?arrow_forwardThere is one part to this question. I need to know the cm. Thank you!arrow_forward
- ___ cmarrow_forwardVenus can be as bright as apparent magnitude −4.7 when at a distance of about 1 AU. How many times fainter would Venus look from a distance of 7 pc? Assume Venus has the same illumination phase from your new vantage point. (Hints: Recall the inverse square law; also, review the definition of apparent visual magnitudes. Note: 1 pc = 2.1 ✕ 105 AU). [fill in the blank] times fainter What would its apparent magnitude be?arrow_forwardCalculate the energy flux density, Fm , at the average distance of Mars from the Sun, rm , (energy flux divided by surface area of sphere). Mars' distance from the Sun = rm = 2.279 x 1013 cmFm = L /(4prm2) = ________________ ergs/s Next Calcuate the Amount of Solar Energy absorbed by Mars is the surface area of Mars which is facing the Sun (1/2 of Mars' surface area = 4pdm2 / 2 = 2pdm2 ) . Where dm = 3.398 x 106 cm is the radius of Mars. So Mars receives :arrow_forward
- The iron meteorite that created Barringer Crater (Arizona) was 50 m in diameter. It caused a crater 1.2 km (1200 m) in diameter, that is, 24 times bigger than the impactor. Keeping in mind that the size of the crater depends on many factors, such as the type of rocks present in the area, estimate the approximate size of the impactor that produced Mare Serenitatis.arrow_forwardVenus can be as bright as apparent magnitude −4.7 when at a distance of about 1 AU. How many times fainter would Venus look from a distance of 7 pc? Assume Venus has the same illumination phase from your new vantage point. (Hints: Recall the inverse square law; also, review the definition of apparent visual magnitudes. Note: 1 pc = 2.1 ✕ 105 AU). What would its apparent magnitude be?arrow_forwardWhat will be the minimum size of a Martian surface feature resolvable during the 2003 opposition by an Earth-based telescope with an angular resolution of 0.05"?arrow_forward
arrow_back_ios
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
arrow_forward_ios
Recommended textbooks for you
- Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399920Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana BackmanPublisher:Cengage LearningStars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399944Author:Michael A. SeedsPublisher:Cengage Learning
- AstronomyPhysicsISBN:9781938168284Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. WolffPublisher:OpenStax
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399920
Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Stars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399944
Author:Michael A. Seeds
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Astronomy
Physics
ISBN:9781938168284
Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher:OpenStax
Kepler's Three Laws Explained; Author: PhysicsHigh;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyR6EO_RMKE;License: Standard YouTube License, CC-BY