Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 19, Problem 20E
What is the advantage of measuring a parallax distance to a star as compared to our other distance measuring methods?
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You measure a star to have a parallax angle of 0.12 arc-seconds
What is the distance to this star in parsecs?
8.33
Hint: d = 1/p
What is the parallax angle of a different star that is twice as far away as the star from the previous problems? [answer in arc-seconds without including the unit]
the parallax angle of a star to be 0.002 arc-seconds. what would the distance be to this star?
You measure a star to have a parallax angle of 0.12 arc-seconds. What fraction of a degree is this?
By how many times would you have to magnify this effect for it to be visible to the human eye? (The limit of human vision is about 1 arc-minute)
What is the distance to this star in parsecs?
What is the distance to this star in light years
What is the parallax angle of a different star that is twice as far away as the star from the previous problems? [answer in arc-seconds without including the unit]
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...
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- The 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_forwardThe nearest star to our solar system is 4.29 light years away. How much is thisdistance in terms of parsecs? How much parallax would this star (named Alpha Centauri) show when viewed from two locations of the Earth six months apart in its orbit around the Sun ?arrow_forwardIn the parallax method of determining stellar distances, the angle to a star is measured while the earth is on one side of the sun and then again six months later, as in the diagram below. Assume the earth-sun distance is 1 Astronomical Unit. The parallax angle of Alpha Centauri is 0= 2.1 x 10-4 ° . Find the distance from the sun to a Centauri in light years. Assume a circular orbit for the Earth. a Centauri Earth (June) Earth (December) Sunarrow_forward
- Double stars are stars which are close enough and move slowly enough that they orbit each other. Each star is located at the focus of the ellipse of its orbit around the other star. Consider a binary star system which has an average angular separation of 6.1" arc and a period of 87.3 years. The annual parallax of the stars, p, is 0.192"arc. We call the measure of the angular separation of the two stars, . [remember that 1 degree is divided into 60 'arc (read this as 60 minutes of arc) and each 1'arc is subdivided into 60"arc (read this as 60 seconds of arc)]. The distance to the binarystar system is calculated from its parallax , p, of 0.192"arc, which has been measured carefully over a period of the last 92 years. First we must calculate the distance to the binary system: D = 1/p where p is the parallax in seconds of arc giving D in parsecs. The distance, D = 1/p = ________ pc How many light years does this correspond to? (remember that 1 pc = 3.26 lt yr) D (in light…arrow_forward= 2000 K and a radius of R, A young recently formed planet has a surface temperature T Jupiter radii (where Jupiter's radius is 7 x 107 m). Calculate the luminosity of the planet and 2 determine the ratio of the planet's luminosity to that of the Sun.arrow_forwardA brand new telescope has been named after you. It is therefore only fitting that you get to make the very first set of observations. During your first night observing, you first measure the apparent brightness and spectrum of a group of stars that appear close to each other within the telescopes field of view. From a separate set of observations 6 months later, you are able to measure each star’s parallax. Next you plot the luminosity and temperature of each star in a Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram What features below help you conclude that the group of stars is a star cluster? Explain Approximately how old do you think this star cluster is? Explain How do you expect the spectrum of the most luminous and least luminous main sequence stars in the cluster to differ? Explain why these differences occur in terms of the star’s properties and any measured absorption lines. A year after your discovery, another new star cluster has been found by the same telescope, but its distance is too far…arrow_forward
- Which of the following is a true statement? A smaller diameter star can never have a smaller number for its apparent magnitude than a larger star. Two stars with the same diameter and effective surface temperature will necessarily have the same absolute magnitude as well. Aristotle was the first person to detect stellar parallax. All G2 stars necessarily have the same absolute magnitude.arrow_forwardUse a diagram to explain what is meant by the parallax angle, p, for a star observed twice from Earth, with a 6-month interval between each observation. Hence define the parsec, and calculate its value in astronomical units and metres. The star Betelgeuse is observed to have a parallax angle p = 4.5 × 10−3 arcseconds. State the distance of Betelgeuse in units of parsecs and light years.arrow_forwardIf a star has a parallax of 0.016 arc second how far is it?arrow_forward
- What is the dependence of the intensities of stars on parallax? Hint: consider the inverse-square law of light.arrow_forwardLet us imagine that the spectrum of a star is collected and we find the absorption line of Hydrogen-Alpha (the deepest absorption line of hydrogen in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum) to be observed at 656.5 nm instead of 656.3 nm as measured in a lab here on Earth. What is the velocity of this star in m/s? (Hint: speed of light is 3*10^8 m/s; leave the units off of your answer)arrow_forwardLet us imagine that the spectrum of a star is collected and we find the absorption line of Hydrogen-Alpha (the deepest absorption line of hydrogen in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum) to be observed at 656.5 nm instead of 656.3 nm as measured in a lab here on Earth. What is the velocity of this star in m/s? (Hint: speed of light is 3*10^8 m/s; leave the units off of your answer) Question 4 of 7 A Moving to another question will save this response. 1 6:59 & backsarrow_forward
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