Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 13, Problem 1E
Why are asteroids and comets important to our understanding of solar system history?
Expert Solution & Answer
To determine
The importance of asteroids and comets in our understanding of solar system history.
Explanation of Solution
Asteroid is a metallic or rocky object that is orbiting around the Sun like other planets, but it is smaller than the planets and they show no evidence of atmosphere.
Comets are small body of ice and dust matter; it also revolves around the Sun and some of its material vaporizes when it comes near the Sun.
They both are small and differ by the types of material they are formed of. Due to their small size, they do not undergo chemical differentiation as large planets, hence their composition remains same over billions of years.
They provide the evidence for formation of solar system as asteroid were formed around the same time as the solar system and the phenomenon of extinction of Dinosaurs can be studied by studying the impact of collision of Asteroid on the Earth.
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the area in between Mars' and Jupiter's orbit to be ~1.6e18 km2. Since there are roughly 750,000 asteroids, how much area (in km2) is available for one asteroid? Use this calculation to argue whether you are likely (or not) to hit an asteroid while flying through the asteroid belt.
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Chapter 13 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 13 - Why are asteroids and comets important to our...Ch. 13 - Give a brief description of the asteroid belt.Ch. 13 - Describe the main differences between C-type and...Ch. 13 - In addition to the ones mentioned in Exercise...Ch. 13 - Vesta is unusual as it contains what mineral on...Ch. 13 - Compare asteroids of the asteroid belt with...Ch. 13 - Briefly describe NASA’s Spaceguard Survey. How...Ch. 13 - Who first calculated the orbits of comets based on...Ch. 13 - Describe the nucleus of a typical comet and...Ch. 13 - Describe the two types of comet tails and how each...
Ch. 13 - What classification is given to objects such as...Ch. 13 - Describe the origin and eventual fate of the...Ch. 13 - What evidence do we have for the existence of the...Ch. 13 - Give brief descriptions of both the Kuiper belt...Ch. 13 - Give at least two reasons today’s astronomers are...Ch. 13 - Suppose you were designing a spacecraft that would...Ch. 13 - Suppose you were designing a spacecraft that would...Ch. 13 - Suppose a comet were discovered approaching the...Ch. 13 - We believe that chains of comet fragments like...Ch. 13 - Why have we found so many objects in the Kuiper...Ch. 13 - Why is it hard to give exact diameters for even...Ch. 13 - Refer to Example 13.1. How would the calculation...Ch. 13 - Refer to Example 13.1. How would the calculation...Ch. 13 - The calculation in Example 13.1 refers to the...Ch. 13 - If the Oort cloud contains 1012 comets, and ten...Ch. 13 - The mass of the asteroids is found mostly in the...Ch. 13 - Make a similar estimate for the mass of the Kuiper...Ch. 13 - What is the period of revolution about the Sun for...Ch. 13 - What is the period of revolution for a comet with...
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