ESSENTIAL COSMIC PERSPEC...-MOD.MASTER.
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780135795798
Author: Bennett
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 1, Problem 39EAP
Group Activity: Counting the Milky Way’s Stars. Work as a group to answer each part. Note: This activity works particularly well in groups of four students, with each student taking on one of the following roles: scribe: takes notes on the group’s activities; pro-poser: suggests tentative explanations to the group; skeptic: points out weaknesses in proposed explanations; moderator: leads group discussion and makes sure everyone contributes.
a. Work together to estimate the number of stars in the Milky Way from just these two facts: (1) the number of stars within 12 light-years of the Sun, which you can count in Appendix F, and (2) the total volume of the Milky Way’s disk (100,000 light-years in diameter and 1000 light-years thick), which is about 1 billion times the volume of the region of your star count.
b. Discuss how your value from part a compares to the value given in this chapter. Make a list of possible reasons why your technique may have underestimated or overestimated the actual number.
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Students have asked these similar questions
On a 1-to-10^19 scale our Milky Way galaxy would just about fit on a soccer field. On this scale, how far is the distance from the sun to alpha centauri (one of the closest stars to the sun, at a distance of 4.4 light years).
Edwin Hubble established the existence of separate, distant galaxies when he found __________ stars in the __________ Nebula and used them to measure its distance. He did this work with the world’s largest telescope (at the time) at the _____________. Hubble classified galaxies on the basis of their shapes, into spirals, ____________, and irregulars. Later, working with his assistant, ___________, he showed by using __________, that most of the galaxies were moving away from us, and that the further away a galaxy was, the ___________ it was moving away.
1. A distant galaxy has an apparent magnitude of 10 and is 4,000 kpc away. What is its absolute magnitude? (Round your answer to at least one decimal place.)
The difference in absolute magnitude between two objects viewed from the same distance is related to their fluxes by the flux-magnitude relation.
FA/FB= 2.51(MB − MA)
2. How does the absolute magnitude of this galaxy compare to the Milky Way
(M = −21)?
Chapter 1 Solutions
ESSENTIAL COSMIC PERSPEC...-MOD.MASTER.
Ch. 1 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 1 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 1 - About how far away from Earth would the Sun be...Ch. 1 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 1 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 1 - Define astronomical unit and light-year.Ch. 1 - Explain the statement The farther away we look in...Ch. 1 - Prob. 4EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 5EAPCh. 1 - What do we mean when we say that the universe is...
Ch. 1 - In what sense are we “star stuff”?Ch. 1 - Use the cosmic calendar to describe how the human...Ch. 1 - Briefly explain Earth’s daily rotation and annual...Ch. 1 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 1 - Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is...Ch. 1 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 1 - Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is...Ch. 1 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 1 - Decide whether the statement makes sense (or is...Ch. 1 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 1 - An astronomical unit is (a) any planet’s average...Ch. 1 - The star Betelgeuse s about 600 light-years away....Ch. 1 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 28EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 31EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 1 - Thinking About Scale. One key to success m science...Ch. 1 - Prob. 36EAPCh. 1 - A Human Adventure. Astronomical discoveries...Ch. 1 - Prob. 38EAPCh. 1 - Group Activity: Counting the Milky Way’s Stars....Ch. 1 - Prob. 40EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 43EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 44EAPCh. 1 - Moonlight and Sunlight. How long does it take...Ch. 1 - Prob. 46EAPCh. 1 - Driving Trips. Imagine that you could drive your...Ch. 1 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 1 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 1 - Age of the Universe. Suppose we did not yet know...
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