Chapter 5, Problem 41EAP

Group Activity: Which Telescope? You represent a research group that wishes to observe matter around a black hole; assume that the mat-ter is emitting photons at all wavelengths. You have the opportunity to make your observations with one of the following four telescopes:

• A radio telescope, 300 meters in diameter, located in Puerto Rico • An infrared telescope, 2 meters in diameter, on a spacecraft in orbit around Earth and observing at a wavelength of micrometers

• An infrared telescope, 10 meters in diameter, equipped with adaptive optics, located on Mauna Kea in Hawaii and observ-ing at a wavelength of micrometers (10-5 m)

• An x-ray telescope, 2 meters in diameter, located at the South Pole Discuss the pros and cons of each telescope for this observing task, then come to a group consensus in which you rank the four choices from best to worst. Compare your rankings to those of other groups in your class. Note: You may wish to do this activity using the same four roles described in Chapter 1, Exercise 39.