Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 7, Problem 8E
What is comparative planetology and why is it useful to astronomers?
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Pretend you are a NASA executive or a legislator. Design a new mission in our solar system.
Pick any object in the system and decide whether you want to send an orbiter, a lander, a
rover, some combination or those, a manned mission, or something else. What interests you about
this object? What science questions can we answer? In basic terms, what kind of scientific
instruments might you want to include on your mission? Justify your decisions with what you
know about the scientific method, astronomy techniques, and the object itself from this class.
Please help
We need to create a scale model of the solar system (by shrinking the sun down to the size of a basketball or ~30cm). First, we will need to scale down actual solar system dimensions (planet diameters and average orbital radiuses) by converting our units. There are two blank spaces in the table below. We will effectively fill in the missing data in the next set of questions. Use the example below to help you.
Example: What is the scaled diameter of Mercury if the Sun is scaled to the size of a basketball (30 cm)?
The actual diameter of Mercury is 4879 km
The Sun's diameter is 1392000 km
If the Sun is to be reduced to the size of a basketball, then the conversion we need for this equation will be:
30cm1392000km
Here is how we run the conversion: 4879km×30cm1392000km=0.105cm or 0.11cm if we were to round our answer.
This means that if the sun in our model is the size of a basketball, Mercury is the size of a grain of sand. We can also see by looking at the table, that we would…
Chapter 7 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 7 - Venus rotates backward and Uranus and Pluto spin...Ch. 7 - What is the difference between a differentiated...Ch. 7 - What does a planet need in order to retain an...Ch. 7 - Which type of planets have the most moons? Where...Ch. 7 - What is the difference between a meteor and a...Ch. 7 - Explain our ideas about why the terrestrial...Ch. 7 - Do all planetary systems look the same as our own?Ch. 7 - What is comparative planetology and why is it...Ch. 7 - What changed in our understanding of the Moon and...Ch. 7 - If Earth was to be hit by an extraterrestrial...
Ch. 7 - List some reasons that the study of the planets...Ch. 7 - Imagine you are a travel agent in the next...Ch. 7 - What characteristics do the worlds in our solar...Ch. 7 - How do terrestrial and giant planets differ? List...Ch. 7 - Why are there so many craters on the Moon and so...Ch. 7 - How do asteroids and comets differ?Ch. 7 - How and why is Earth’s Moon different from the...Ch. 7 - Where would you look for some “original”...Ch. 7 - Describe how we use radioactive elements and their...Ch. 7 - What was the solar nebula like? Why did the Sun...Ch. 7 - What can we learn about the formation of our solar...Ch. 7 - Earlier in this chapter, we modeled the solar...Ch. 7 - Seasons are a result of the inclination of a...Ch. 7 - Again using Appendix F, which planet(s) might you...Ch. 7 - Again using Appendix F, which planets might you...Ch. 7 - Using some of the astronomical resources in your...Ch. 7 - Explain why the planet Venus is differentiated,...Ch. 7 - Would you expect as many impact craters per unit...Ch. 7 - Using Appendix G, complete the following table...Ch. 7 - Calculate the density of Jupiter. Show your work....Ch. 7 - Calculate the density of Saturn. Show your work....Ch. 7 - What is the density of Jupiter’s moon Europa (see...Ch. 7 - Look at Appendix F and Appendix G and indicate the...Ch. 7 - Barnard’s Star, the second closest star to us, is...Ch. 7 - A radioactive nucleus has a half-life of 5108...
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- How does the solar nebula theory explain the orbits of the major planets? Dwarf planets? Does it explain the rotations of the planets? Why or why not?arrow_forwardHow do we know? How does the scientific method give scientists a way to know about nature?arrow_forwardWhy Wait? To explore a planet, we often send first a flyby, then an orbiter, then a probe or a lander. There’s no doubt that probes and landers give the most close-up detail, so why don’t we send this type of mission first? For the planet of your choice, based just on the information in this chap- ter, give an example of why such a strategy might cause a mission to provide incomplete information about the planet or to fail outright.arrow_forward
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- Q1arrow_forwardWhich of the following statements are true? Choose all that apply. If light from a star passes through an exoplanet's atmosphere, we can look at the absorption spectra to determine what elements & compounds are in the atmosphere. The reason astronomers want telescopes with large primary mirrors is to gather as much light as possible. In crown glass, the index of refraction for red light is 1.512 and for yellow light it is 1.518. Thus in crown glass, red light is slower than yellow light. If the axes of two polarizers are anti-parallel to each other, then no light will get through. The glasses for nearsighted people create real images for them to see. The larger the diameter of an optic is, the smaller the minimum angle it can discern is.arrow_forwardFor the following light curve, which of the answers best illustrates the orientation of the exoplanet and its host star during the dip at Time 3? Light curve Time 1 Time 2 Time 3 Time 4 Choose one: А. O C. D. Intensity B.arrow_forward
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