Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
14th Edition
ISBN: 9781337399920
Author: Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Textbook Question
Chapter 22, Problem 2SOP
Saturn is about 60,000 km in radius, and its rings are only about 0.01 km thick with ripples 100 m high. Design a really big model with Saturn 60 inches in radius (10 ft in diameter). How thick must the rings be in your model and how high can the ripples be? A sheet of paper is about 0.004 inches thick.
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The total mass of material in Saturn’s rings is about 1015 tons (1018 kg). Suppose theaverage ring particle is 6 cm in radius and has a density of 1000 kg/m3. How many ringparticles are there?
If you took all the matter in Saturn’s rings and packed it into a sphere withan average density of 1.2 g/cm3, what would the radius of the sphere be? How does thatcompare to the radius of Mimas, for example? How about the case of Uranus: what wouldthe radius of the sphere composed of all ring mass be? (Again use a density of 1.2 g/cm3)
According to Wikipedia, the lower estimate for the mass of Saturn’s rings is 3 × 1019 kgand the mass of Uranus’s rings is ∼ 2 × 1016 kg.
I would like you to compare the thickness of Saturn's rings to objects here on Earth if those rings were scaled down to the size of the objects here on Earth (hint: this means it is a ratio problem). Imagine the rings of Saturn like a DVD or CD here on Earth. The DVD has a diameter of approximately 12 cm, whereas the rings of Saturn have a diameter of approximately 280,000 km. The thickness of a DVD is about 0.6 mm and the thickness of the rings of Saturn at their thickest is approximately 1 km. If we were to scale the diameter of rings of Saturn down to the diameter of a DVD, how does the new thickness of the rings of Saturn compare to the thickness of the DVD? Please provide both the new thickness of Saturn's rings and how many times thicker or thinner they would be than a CD in your answer.
Chapter 22 Solutions
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Ch. 22 - Describe four differences between the Jovian...Ch. 22 - Why is Jupiter more oblate than Earth? Just...Ch. 22 - Which molecules and atoms are Jupiter and Saturn...Ch. 22 - What determines which cloud layers are found at...Ch. 22 - Describe a hypothesis explaining why Jupiter emits...Ch. 22 - How does beltzone circulation transport energyby...Ch. 22 - Why are belts and zones wrapped entirely around...Ch. 22 - What ingredients are needed to power a dynamo...Ch. 22 - Why are magnetic phenomena such as extensive...Ch. 22 - How do the interiors of Jupiter and Saturn differ?...
Ch. 22 - Which planet formation step did the Jovian planets...Ch. 22 - Why is Jupiters moon lo called a regular...Ch. 22 - Why is Saturns moon Phoebe called an irregular...Ch. 22 - If Jupiter had a satellite the size of our own...Ch. 22 - The density of Earths Moon is 3.3 g/cm3. Which of...Ch. 22 - Ganymede was once completely molten on the inside....Ch. 22 - Describe evidence of tectonic features seen on...Ch. 22 - Why are no craters seen on lo and few seen on...Ch. 22 - Why should you expect lo to suffer more impacts...Ch. 22 - How can you be certain that Jupiters rings do not...Ch. 22 - Why are the belts and zones in the atmosphere of...Ch. 22 - Describe the composition of Saturn from its center...Ch. 22 - If Saturn had no moons, do you think it would have...Ch. 22 - How can Titan keep an atmosphere when Titan is...Ch. 22 - What should the interior composition of Titan be...Ch. 22 - If you were able to stand on the surface of Titan...Ch. 22 - Does Titan experience volcanism today? Impact...Ch. 22 - Describe the types of geological activity observed...Ch. 22 - More Jovian moons are geologically active than...Ch. 22 - Prob. 30RQCh. 22 - If you piloted a spacecraft to visit Saturns moons...Ch. 22 - The ring systems around Jupiter and Saturn lie...Ch. 22 - Saturns rings are primordial, meaning that they...Ch. 22 - What is understood to be the cause of gaps in ring...Ch. 22 - What is understood to be the cause of ripples in...Ch. 22 - Why would you expect research in archaeology to be...Ch. 22 - What is the angular diameter of Jupiter as seen...Ch. 22 - Prob. 2PCh. 22 - What is the angular diameter of Jupiter as seen...Ch. 22 - What is the escape velocity from the surface of...Ch. 22 - Calculate the mass of Callisto using a value for...Ch. 22 - Prob. 6PCh. 22 - Calculate the radius of Jupiters Roche limit for a...Ch. 22 - How long does the eastward wind at the equator of...Ch. 22 - What is the orbital velocity and period of a ring...Ch. 22 - If you were to record the spectrum of Saturn as...Ch. 22 - Prob. 11PCh. 22 - Jupiter is about 71,000 km in radius. The...Ch. 22 - Saturn is about 60,000 km in radius, and its rings...Ch. 22 - Look at Figure 22-4b. Compare the visual and UV...Ch. 22 - Prob. 2LTLCh. 22 - Prob. 3LTLCh. 22 - The Cassini spacecraft recorded the image shown...
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
Uranus is about 26,000 km in radius, and its main ring is about 51,000 km from the planets center. If you represent the planet with a ball 5 inches in radius, how far from the center would you place its main ring?
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Neptune is about 50,000 km in diameter, and its largest moon, Triton, is about 2700 km in diameter. If you represent the planet with a ball 10 inches in diameter, how big a ball will you need to represent Triton? Triton orbits 355,000 km from Neptune. How far from Neptune would you place Triton in the model?
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Calculate the radius of Jupiters Roche limit for a satellite with density equal to the planet. Which of Jupiters moons is closest to the Roche limit? What might that tell you about the relationship between that moon and Jupiters ring? (Note: Necessary data are given in Celestial Profile: Jupiter and Appendix Table A-11.)
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Why do you suppose the rings of Saturn are made of bright particles, whereas the particles in the rings of Uranus and Neptune are black?
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Due to the fact that planets emit more infrared radiation than any other type of light, astronomers have the best chance of directly imaging an exoplanet in the infrared part of the spectrum.
select one of the following:
A) true
B) false
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If Titan could be moved out to the orbit of Neptune would its atmosphere freeze into solid nitrogen? The formula to estimate the blackbody radiation temperature in Kelvin is:
where α is the albedo at 0.3, L the luminosity is 1.5 Watts/meter2, σ , the Stefan Boltzmann constant is 5.67 X10-8 W/m2/K. What would be the temperature and would the atmosphere freeze out if the freezing point of N2 gas 63 K?
answer choices
63 K, maybe
75 K, no
46 K, yes
103 K, no
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Jupiter is denser than water, yet composed for the most part of two light gases, hydrogen and helium. What makes Jupiter as dense as it is?
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We have a lot of good images of the large moons of Jupiter and Saturn from the Galileo and Cassini spacecraft missions (check out NASA’s Planetary Photojournal site, at http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov, to see the variety). Now that the New Horizons mission has gone to Pluto, why don’t we have as many good images of all sides of Pluto and Charon?
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If Jupiter had a satellite the size of our own Moon orbiting outside the orbit of Callisto, what would you predict for the satellites density and surface features?
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The ring systems around Jupiter and Saturn lie outside those planets respective Roche limits. True or false? How do you know?
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The water clouds believed to be present on Jupiter and Saturn exist at temperatures and pressures similar to those in the clouds of the terrestrial atmosphere. What would it be like to visit such a location on Jupiter or Saturn? In what ways would the environment differ from that in the clouds of Earth?
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What is the orbital velocity and period of a ring particle at the outer edge of Saturns A ring? (Hint: Use the formula for circular velocity, Eq. 5-1a. The formula requires input quantities in kg and m.) (Note: The radius of the outer edge of the A ring is 136,500 km.)
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