Concept explainers
Halley's Comet Edmond Halley was the first to realize that the comets observed in 1531, 1607, and 1682 were really one comet (now called Halley's Comet) that moved around the Sun in an elongated elliptical orbit (see Figure 5.5). He predicted that the peanut-shaped comet would reappear in 1757. It appeared in March 1759 (attractions to Jupiter and Saturn delayed its trip by 618 days). More recent appearances of Halley’s Comet were in 1835, 1910, and 1986. It is expected again in 2061.
The nucleus of Halley's Comet is relatively small (15 km long. 8 km wide, and 8 km thick). It has a low
The nucleus rotates once every 52 h. When Halley’s Comet is closest to the Sun, temperatures on the comet can rise to about
Suppose that instead of being peanut shaped, Halley’s Comet was spherical with a radius of 5.0 km (about its present volume). Which answer below is closest to what your radial acceleration would be if you were standing on the “equator" of the rotating comet?
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 5 Solutions
College Physics: Explore And Apply, Volume 2 (2nd Edition)
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Conceptual Physics (12th Edition)
University Physics (14th Edition)
University Physics Volume 2
The Cosmic Perspective (8th Edition)
Introduction to Electrodynamics
Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
- Kepler's laws of planetary motion 6. Halley's Comet has an orbital eccentricity of 0.967 and a perihelion distance of 89,000,000 km. (a) Find the orbital period. (b) Find the comet's speed at perihelion and aphelion. 7. Show that the orbital period of a satellite close to the surface of a spherical object depends on the mean density of the object, but not on its size. Find this period for the Earth (density 5.51 g cm-3).arrow_forwardA planet � moves in a circular orbit around a Star named planet of mass �! =2.7 × 10"# kg as shown in figure 2. The period of the orbit is 14 days. Derive a suitable mathematical formula to calculate the radius of the orbit.arrow_forwardKepler's Third Law and Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation (a) Use Newton's Universal Law of Gravitation and what you know about centripetal acceleration/force to derive Kepler's Third Law for a planet in a circular orbit about the sun: T² = Kr³ K = constant = 4²/GM where T is the orbital period of the planet (the time for one complete orbit), r is the radius of the planet's orbit, M is the mass of the sun, and G is the universal gravitational constant. (b) Determine the metric system units of K and show that they make the units of T² – Kr³ work out correctly. (c) The earth orbits the sun once per year (365 days) and its average orbital radius is 1.50 x 10¹¹ m. Use this information and Kepler's Third Law to estimate the mass of the sun in kilograms. [answer: about 2 x 10³⁰ kg] (d) The radius of the sun is about 7 x 108 m. Use this radius and the mass of the sun estimated in part (c) to estimate the acceleration of an object near the surface of the sun. [answer: about 300 m/s²] F₂ =G…arrow_forward
- Asteroid okw photogrphed by terid eporer "HAYABUSA The European Space Agency puts a satellite into orbit around an asteroid. The orbital period is 44:36:41 when the satellite's orbital diameter is 1.8 x 10² km. What is the mass of the asteroid? Express your answer in Metric Giga Tons to 3 significant figures. Each Metric Ton = 1,000 kg %3D Giga = 10°arrow_forwardIn 1993 the Galileo spacecraft sent home an image of asteroid "243 Ida" and a tiny moon "Dactyl" orbiting the asteroid. Assume that the small moon orbits in a circle with a radius of r = 100 km from the center of the asteroid with an orbital period of T = 27 hours. a. Show and explain how we derived Kepler's 3rd law using Newton's 2nd Law, the definition for centripetal acceleration, and the equation for gravitational force. b. Use your result for Kepler's 3rd Law to determine the mass of the asteroid. c. If the asteroid has a radius of about 16 km calculate the approximate value for the acceleration due to gravity, g, on its surface. d. What velocity would you need to achieve in order to lift off and leave this asteroid? e. Use Newton's 2nd Law, the definition for centripetal acceleration, and the equation for gravitational force to determine an expression for circular orbital velocity. f. What is the orbital velocity of the small moon if we assume it is in a circular orbit?arrow_forward1. Halley’s comet has an elliptical orbit with eccentricity e = 0.967. The closest that Halley’s comet comes to the sun is 0.587 AU. Approximate the maximum distance of the comet from the sun, to the nearest 0.1 AU. 2. Solar Cooker. The parabolic cooker MS-ST10 is delivered as a kit, handily packed in a single carton, with complete assembly instructions and even the necessary tools. Thanks to the reflector diameter of 1 meter, it develops immense power. One liter of water boils in significantly less than half an hour. If the rays are focused 40 centimeters from the vertex, find the equation for the parabolic cooker. 3. Sports Field. Suppose the elliptical track is centered at the origin and has a horizontal major axis of length 150 yards and a minor axis length of 40 yards. Find the width of the track at the end of the field. Will the track completely enclose the football field? 4. Carnival Ride. The Zipper, a favorite carnival ride, maintains an elliptical shape with a major axis of…arrow_forward
- For any object orbiting the Sun, Kepler's Law may be written T2 = kr3. If T is measured in years and r in units of the Earth's distance from the Sun, then k = 1. What, therefore, is the time (in years) for a comet to orbit the Sun if its mean radius from the Sun is 10^4 times the Earth's distance from the Sun? a. 10^4 years b. 10^6 years c. 10^8 years d. 10^10 yearsarrow_forward150km CA-3 The space shuttle orbits the earth at an altitude of 150km. It takes 87.3 minutes to complete one orbit. a) Draw a figure showing the earth, the orbit, and the altitude of 150km. b) What is the speed of the shuttle when in orbit? c) What is the centripetal aceleration of the shuttle in orbit? (Identify on your figure the radius of the orbit.) d) Draw a free body diagram for the shuttle in orbit. It is above the atmosphere. R 6.37x10°marrow_forward3. Which of the following works paved way to the formulation of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion? * O A Astronomical data on supernova and comet B. Extensive observation of motion of Mars and other planets C.Observations on stellar parallax using quadrants and sextants D. Solar system model that combines the idea of Ptolemy and Copernicus 4. Maria is holding a feather and a metal ball to be released at the same room without any air resistance. If Maria is a follower of boight in.arrow_forward
- I. Comet Hale-Bopp The orbits of planets and some comets about the Sun are ellipses, with the Sun at one focus. The aphelion of a planet is its greatest distance from the Sun, and the perihelion is its shortest distance. The mean distance of a planet from the Sun is the length of the semimajor axis of the elliptical orbit. See the illustration. 1. Research the history of Comet Hale-Bopp on the Internet. In particular, determine the aphelion and perihelion. Often these values are given in terms of astronomical units. What is an astronomical unit? What is it equivalent to in miles? In kilometers? What is the orbital period of Comet Hale-Bopp? When will it next be visible from Earth? How close does it come to Earth? 2. Find a model for the orbit of Comet Hale-Bopp around the Sun. Use the x-axis as the major axis. 3. Comet Hale-Bopp has an orbit that is roughly perpendicular to that of Earth. Find a model for the orbit of Earth using the y-axis as the major axis. 4. Use a graphing…arrow_forwardLeave the moon's amplitude (semi-major axis) constant. How does the changing of the moon's orbital period change the calculated value of the planet's mass? a. Increasing the orbital period results in a higher calculated value for the mass of the planet. Decreasing the orbital period results in a lower calculated value for the mass of the planet. b. Increasing the orbital period results in a lower calculated value for the mass of the planet. Decreasing the orbital period results in a higher calculated value for the mass of the planet. c. Increasing the orbital period results in a higher calculates value for the mass of the planet. Decreasing the orbital period results in a higher calculated value for the mass of the planet.arrow_forwarda) The asteroid Ida has a small satellite orbiting it called Dactyl. Dactyl orbits Ida at a distance of about 90 km, with a period of about 8 hours. Calculate the mass of Ida. b) Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos orbits Mars with an orbital period of 8 hours while Deimos orbits every 30.3 hours. What are the semi-major axes of each satellite? c) On the night side of Venus, we find that the brightest wavelength, that is the wavelength this region of the planet is emitting the most energy, is about 3.9 micrometers (3.9x10-6 meters). Approximately how warm is the planet in this region?arrow_forward
- Physics for Scientists and Engineers: Foundations...PhysicsISBN:9781133939146Author:Katz, Debora M.Publisher:Cengage LearningGlencoe Physics: Principles and Problems, Student...PhysicsISBN:9780078807213Author:Paul W. ZitzewitzPublisher:Glencoe/McGraw-HillStars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399944Author:Michael A. SeedsPublisher:Cengage Learning
- Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399920Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana BackmanPublisher:Cengage Learning