Bundle: Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced, Loose-Leaf Version, 13th + MindTap Astronomy, 2 terms (12 months) Printed Access Card
13th Edition
ISBN: 9781337214353
Author: Seeds, Michael A., Backman, Dana
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Textbook Question
Chapter 25, Problem 15P
The mass of an average comet’s nucleus is about 1.0 × 1014 kg. If the Oort Cloud contains 2.0 × 1011 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in units of Earth masses? In units of Jupiter’s mass? (Notes: Earth’s mass in kg can be found in its Celestial Profile. Jupiter’s mass in kg can be found in its Celestial Profile.)
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The mass of an average comet's nucleus is about 1.0 x 1014
kg. If the Oort cloud contains 2.0 x 101 comet nuclei, what is the mass of the cloud in
units of Earth masses? (Note: Earth's mass is 5.97 x 1024 kg.)
M.
Compare that with Saturn's mass. (Note: Saturn's mass in units of Earth's mass is 95.2 M.)
mass of the Oort cloud
mass of Saturn
The value we have just calculated is the combined masses of Jupiter and Callisto! Their mass is in units of the Sun's Mass (MS) - we can convert this to
units which are more familiar to us like kilograms by multiplying this answer by the scale factor (1.99x1030 kg/1 MS):
(MJupiter + MCallisto) = ( MS) (1.99x1030 kg/1 Solar Mass) =
_______x_10___ kg
(I have already written the x 10 so you are reminded to write the exponenet of 10 in the scientific notation expression of your answer). Since you know from looking at pictures of Jupiter with its Galilean Satellites (look in your book at a picture if you have not already), that Callisto is much smaller than Jupiter - in fact it is less than 0.001 of Jupiter's size or mass, so the number we have just calculated for (MJupiter + MCallisto) is almost the same as MJupiter .
How much more massive is Jupiter than the Earth? (The mass of Earth is about 5.98 x 1024 kg)
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.)
Chapter 25 Solutions
Bundle: Foundations of Astronomy, Enhanced, Loose-Leaf Version, 13th + MindTap Astronomy, 2 terms (12 months) Printed Access Card
Ch. 25 - Prob. 1RQCh. 25 - What do Widmansttten patterns indicate about the...Ch. 25 - Prob. 3RQCh. 25 - Prob. 4RQCh. 25 - Prob. 5RQCh. 25 - Prob. 6RQCh. 25 - Why do astronomers refer to carbonaceous...Ch. 25 - Prob. 8RQCh. 25 - Prob. 9RQCh. 25 - Of all the meteorites shown in Figure 24-2, which...
Ch. 25 - Meteorites were once part of which type of...Ch. 25 - Most sporadic meteors were once part of which...Ch. 25 - Meteors in showers were once part of which type of...Ch. 25 - Prob. 14RQCh. 25 - Prob. 15RQCh. 25 - Why do astronomers conclude that asteroids were...Ch. 25 - A fragment from the surface of a differentiated...Ch. 25 - What evidence indicates that the asteroids are...Ch. 25 - Prob. 19RQCh. 25 - Prob. 20RQCh. 25 - What evidence indicates that some asteroids once...Ch. 25 - How is the composition of meteorites related to...Ch. 25 - Prob. 23RQCh. 25 - Prob. 24RQCh. 25 - What is the difference between a centaur and a...Ch. 25 - What is the difference between a comets dust tail...Ch. 25 - What evidence indicates that a comets nucleus is...Ch. 25 - Why do most short-period comets have prograde...Ch. 25 - What are possible fates (or end-states) for...Ch. 25 - What are the hypotheses for how the bodies in the...Ch. 25 - Prob. 31RQCh. 25 - How would studying the chemical composition of...Ch. 25 - Prob. 1DQCh. 25 - Prob. 2DQCh. 25 - If cometary nuclei were heated during the...Ch. 25 - Prob. 4DQCh. 25 - Prob. 5DQCh. 25 - Assuming a night lasts 12 hours, how many total...Ch. 25 - Prob. 2PCh. 25 - If a single asteroid 1 km in diameter were to...Ch. 25 - If a trillion (1012) asteroids, each 1 km in...Ch. 25 - Prob. 5PCh. 25 - The asteroid Vesta has a mass of 2.6 1020 kg and...Ch. 25 - Prob. 7PCh. 25 - What is the maximum angular diameter of the dwarf...Ch. 25 - At what average distances from the Sun would you...Ch. 25 - Prob. 10PCh. 25 - If the velocity of the solar wind is about 4.0 ...Ch. 25 - What is the average distance of Comet Halley from...Ch. 25 - If you saw Comet Halley when the comet was 0.7 AU...Ch. 25 - What is the orbital period of a comet nucleus at...Ch. 25 - The mass of an average comets nucleus is about 1.0...Ch. 25 - Prob. 16PCh. 25 - Look at Figure 24-2d. Identify the chondrules by...Ch. 25 - Prob. 2LTLCh. 25 - Prob. 3LTLCh. 25 - Look at the images of Comet Mrkos on the left page...Ch. 25 - Prob. 5LTLCh. 25 - Prob. 6LTLCh. 25 - Prob. 7LTLCh. 25 - Prob. 8LTL
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