What is the orbital period of a comet nucleus at the inner edge of the Oort Cloud? What is its orbital velocity? Assume a circular orbit. (Hint: Use Kepler’s third law, Eq. 4-1) (Note: The circumference of a circle is 2πr.)
The orbital period and orbital velocity of comet nucleus in the Oort Cloud.
Answer to Problem 14P
The orbital period of the comet nucleus in the Oort Cloud is from
Explanation of Solution
The expression for the orbital period of comet nucleus in the Oort Cloud using Kepler’s law is,
Here,
The expression for the orbital velocity of comet nucleus in the Oort Cloud is,
Here,
Conclusion:
For
Substitute
Substitute
For
Substitute
Substitute
Therefore. the orbital period of the comet nucleus in the Oort Cloud is from
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Chapter 24 Solutions
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
- You observe a comet 0.46 AU from Earth with a tail that is 1.7 degrees long. How long is the tail in AU? How long is the tail in kilometers? How many times could the U.S. fit along the length of the tail? (The width of the U.S. is 4,313 km.)arrow_forwardHow do the risks of dying from the impact of an asteroid or comet compare with other risks we are concerned about, such as dying in a car accident or from heart disease or some other natural cause? (Hint: To find the annual risk, go to the library or internet and look up the annual number of deaths from a particular cause in a particular country, and then divide by the population of that country.)arrow_forwardRefer to Example 13.1. How would the calculation change if a typical comet in the Oort cloud is larger-say, 50 km in diameter?arrow_forward
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- We believe that chains of comet fragments like Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9’s have collided not only with the jovian planets, but occasionally with their moons. What sort of features would you look for on the outer planet moons to find evidence of such collisions? (As an extra bonus, can you find any images of such features on a moon like Callisto? You can use an online site of planetary images, such as the Planetary Photojournal, at photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov.)arrow_forwardIn addition to the ones mentioned in Exercise 13.3, what is the third, rarer class of asteroids?arrow_forwardHow do asteroids and comets differ?arrow_forward
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