The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780134874364
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Megan O. Donahue, Nicholas Schneider, Mark Voit
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 19, Problem 53EAP
Mass of the Central Black Hole. Suppose you observe a star orbiting the galactic center at a speed of 1000 km/s in a circular orbit with a radius of 20 light-days. Calculate the mass of the object the star is orbiting.
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Observations of the central region of the galaxy M87 indicate that stars which are 60 light years later from the centre are orbiting the central supermassive black hole at speeds of 730kms^-1. Estimate the lads of the black hole, in solar masses.(You can assume circular motion, e.g. if you get 3 solar masses, type in 3).
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Chapter 19 Solutions
The Cosmic Perspective (9th Edition)
Ch. 19 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 5VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 6VSCCh. 19 - Prob. 1EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 2EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 3EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 4EAP
Ch. 19 - Prob. 5EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 6EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 7EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 8EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 16EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 19 - Does It Make Sense? Decitie whether the statement...Ch. 19 - Prob. 19EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 21EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 28EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 19 - Choose the best answer to each of the following....Ch. 19 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 33EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 35EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 36EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 37EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 39EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 40EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 42EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 44EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 45EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 46EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 47EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 50EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 52EAPCh. 19 - Mass of the Central Black Hole. Suppose you...Ch. 19 - Prob. 54EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 55EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 56EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 57EAPCh. 19 - Prob. 58EAPCh. 19 - The Speed of Supernova Debris. The kinetic energy...
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- The Large Magellanic Cloud has about one-tenth the number of stars found in our own Galaxy. Suppose the mix of high- and low-mass stars is exactly the same in both galaxies. Approximately how often does a supernova occur in the Large Magellanic Cloud?arrow_forwardThe globular clusters revolve around the Galaxy in highly elliptical orbits. Where would you expect the clusters to spend most of their time? (Think of Kepler’s laws.) At any given time, would you expect most globular clusters to be moving at high or low speeds with respect to the center of the Galaxy? Why?arrow_forwardDescribe the evidence indicating that a black hole may be at the center of our Galaxy.arrow_forward
- The first picture is some background information need help answering the first question about the escape velocity from the andromeda Galaxyarrow_forwardWhy are so many astronomical objects in the universe flat today? (Like the solar system, Saturn's ring, black hole accretion discs) Let's focus on our galaxy. Originally, the galaxy was a huge spherical cloud of gas and dust, much larger than it is today, and rotating much more slowly. Explain using gravity and the conservation of angular momentum, why the galaxy today is a flat disc that rotates faster.arrow_forwardExplain where in a spiral galaxy you would expect to find globular clusters, molecular clouds, and atomic hydrogen.arrow_forward
- Can an elliptical galaxy evolve into a spiral? Explain your answer. Can a spiral turn into an elliptical? How?arrow_forwardConsider the following five kinds of objects: open cluster, giant molecular cloud, globular cluster, group of O and B stars, and planetary nebulae. A. Which occur only in spiral arms? B. Which occur only in the parts of the Galaxy other than the spiral arms? C. Which are thought to be very young? D. Which are thought to be very old? E. Which have the hottest stars?arrow_forwardOnce again in this chapter, we see the use of Kepler’s third law to estimate the mass of supermassive black holes. In the case of NGC 4261, this chapter supplied the result of the calculation of the mass of the black hole in NGC 4261. In order to get this answer, astronomers had to measure the velocity of particles in the ring of dust and gas that surrounds the black hole. How high were these velocities? Turn Kepler’s third law around and use the information given in this chapter about the galaxy NGC 4261-the mass of the black hole at its center and the diameter of the surrounding ring of dust and gas-to calculate how long it would take a dust particle in the ring to complete a single orbit around the black hole. Assume that the only force acting on the dust particle is the gravitational force exerted by the black hole. Calculate the velocity of the dust particle in km/s.arrow_forward
- Briefly describe the main parts of our Galaxy.arrow_forwardGlobular clusters revolve around the Galaxy in highly elliptical orbits. Where would you expect the clusters to spend most of their time? (Think of Kepler’s laws.) At any given time, would you expect most globular clusters to be moving at high or low speeds with respect to the center of the Galaxy? Why? (If you would like to learn more about globular clusters, read Section 22.2 of the book, though it is not necessary to answer this question)arrow_forward(Astronomy) Supernova Ejection Times. Observations show that the gas ejected from SN 1987A is moving at about 10,000 km⁄s. How long will it take to travel one astronomical unit in hours? (Note that 1 AU equals 1.5 × 108 km)arrow_forward
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