UNIVERSE (LOOSELEAF):STARS+GALAXIES
6th Edition
ISBN: 9781319115043
Author: Freedman
Publisher: MAC HIGHER
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Concept explainers
Question
Chapter 6, Problem 40Q
To determine
Whether or not the Hubble Space Telescope can distinguish any feature on Pluto.
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solution
Students have asked these similar questions
Tutorial
You want to resolve 9.5 m features on Mercury with a 2 m telescope using 550 nm light. How close (in km) do
you need to be?
How does the orbital velocity (in km/s) at this altitude on Mercury compare to the orbital velocity at this
altitude on Earth? (MẸ = 5.97 x 1024 kg, Re = 6.38 x 10 km, M = 3.30 x 1023 kg, R = 2440 km.)
Part 1 of 4
The small angle formula tells us how distance and linear size are related to the angular size of an object.
2.06 x 105 D
And the diameter of a telescope is related to the resolving power by:
a- 2.06 x 105
diameter
Part 2 of 4
First we should determine the resolving power of our 2 m telescope.
a = 2.06 x 10 What is the wavelength you are trying to observe at? m
diameter
arc seconds
What diameter telescope (in m) would you need to observe Olympus Mons (624 kmin diameter) from Earth at a wavelength of 550 nm when Mars is2.55×106km away?xUse the small angle formula to calculate the angular size of Olympus Mons. Then use the telescope resolution formula to calculate the diameter needed to resolve it m
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
(MRO) flies at an average altitude of 280km above the Martian Surface.
If its cameras have an angular resolution of 0.2 arc seconds, what is the
size of the smallest objects that the
MRO
can detect on the Martian surface?
Use the
equation:
S =x × d / 206265 arcseconds / radian
, where S is the true size of the object, d is the distance from the detector to the object, and x is the angular size of the object. Your answer will be in km (you can
ignore the radians unit (it should appear, but the equation made a simplifying assumption that dropped it out.
Chapter 6 Solutions
UNIVERSE (LOOSELEAF):STARS+GALAXIES
Ch. 6 - Prob. 1QCh. 6 - Prob. 2QCh. 6 - Prob. 3QCh. 6 - Prob. 4QCh. 6 - Prob. 5QCh. 6 - Prob. 6QCh. 6 - Prob. 7QCh. 6 - Prob. 8QCh. 6 - Prob. 9QCh. 6 - Prob. 10Q
Ch. 6 - Prob. 11QCh. 6 - Prob. 12QCh. 6 - Prob. 13QCh. 6 - Prob. 14QCh. 6 - Prob. 15QCh. 6 - Prob. 16QCh. 6 - Prob. 17QCh. 6 - Prob. 18QCh. 6 - Prob. 19QCh. 6 - Prob. 20QCh. 6 - Prob. 21QCh. 6 - Prob. 22QCh. 6 - Prob. 23QCh. 6 - Prob. 24QCh. 6 - Prob. 25QCh. 6 - Prob. 26QCh. 6 - Prob. 27QCh. 6 - Prob. 28QCh. 6 - Prob. 29QCh. 6 - Prob. 30QCh. 6 - Prob. 31QCh. 6 - Prob. 32QCh. 6 - Prob. 33QCh. 6 - Prob. 34QCh. 6 - Prob. 35QCh. 6 - Prob. 36QCh. 6 - Prob. 37QCh. 6 - Prob. 38QCh. 6 - Prob. 39QCh. 6 - Prob. 40QCh. 6 - Prob. 41QCh. 6 - Prob. 42QCh. 6 - Prob. 43QCh. 6 - Prob. 44QCh. 6 - Prob. 45Q
Knowledge Booster
Learn more about
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
- Theoretically (that is, if seeing were not an issue), the resolution of a telescope is inversely proportional to its diameter. How much better is the resolution of the ALMA when operating at its longest baseline than the resolution of the Arecibo telescope?arrow_forwardThe HST cost about $1.7 billion for construction and $300 million for its shuttle launch, and it costs $250 million per year to operate. If the telescope lasts for 20 years, what is the total cost per year? Per day? If the telescope can be used just 30% of the time for actual observations, what is the cost per hour and per minute for the astronomer’s observing time on this instrument? What is the cost per person in the United States? Was your investment in the Hubble Space telescope worth it?arrow_forwardThe angular separation in degrees of two objects is (physical separation × 360°) / (2 π × distance). If an individual was observing our solar system from Castor at a distance of 7.2 light years. What angular resolution, in arcsecond, is needed to resolve the Sun-Jupiter system (5.46 AU) as distinct points of light?arrow_forward
- You have a radio telescope that you are designing to observe the fine details of the ring of hydrogen around Jupiter (yes, Jupiter does have rings, but not as pretty as Saturn.) Jupiter is about 5.93E8 km from Earth. If you are trying to observe gas structures the size of a small town (about 1.0 km across) and the wavelength of hydrogen alpha is 656.28 nm, then what is the minimum diameter that you would need to have for your telescope to resolve the needed details to Rayleigh criterion?arrow_forwardWhat diameter telescope is needed to resolve the separation between an Earth-like planet and its star at 550 nm if the linear separation between them is 1 AU and the star system is 1 pc from Earth? (Give your answer in m.)arrow_forwardspy satellite orbiting 410 km above Earth is supposedly capable of counting individual people in a crowd in visual-wavelength images. Assume that the satellite's cameras operate at a wavelength of 550 nm. Assume an average person has a size of 0.6 m as seen from above. Estimate the minimum telescope diameter that the satellite must carry. (Hint: Use The small-angle formula angular diameter (arc seconds) 2.06 105 = linear diameter distance to convert linear size to angular size.)arrow_forward
- The Hubble Space Telescope has a primary mirror with diameter 2.4 m. Suppose you were able to point it at Mars when the planct is at its closest point to the Earth in its orbit, which would be about 55.7 million km from the telescope. How close could two features on the Martian surface be and still be resolved (assume a wavelength in the middle of the visible spectrum - a number you should know at this point, at least approximately)?arrow_forwardAstronauts observing from a space station need a telescope with a resolving power of 0.6 arc second at a wavelength of 530 nm and a magnifying power of 220. Design a telescope to meet their needs.What will its light-gathering power be, compared with a dark-adapted human eye? (Assume that the pupil of your eye can open to a diameter of about 0.8 cm in dark conditions.)(State the necessary primary diameter of the telescope, in m, and the ratio of the focal lengths below.)arrow_forwardTwo identical stars are moving in a circular orbit around one another with an orbital separation of 2 AU. The system lies 200 light-years from Earth. If we happen to view the orbit head-on, how large a telescope would we need to resolve the stars, assuming diffraction-limited optics at a wavelength of 2 μm?arrow_forward
- What diameter telescope is needed to see the separation between Uranus and its largest moon, Titania, from Earth at 550 nm, when Earth is 19.7 AU away? The moon is 436,300 km from the center of the planet. (Enter your answer in m.) marrow_forwardWhat are the arguments for building the TMT telescope?arrow_forwardWhat should the swath width of a sensor be with a sun synchronous orbit with an altitude of 700km if you only want to cover 1/3 of the equator each day? How would you calculate this step by step? The lens diameter of the sensor is 20cm and the focal length is 1.5 m with a ground resolution of 100m.arrow_forward
arrow_back_ios
SEE MORE QUESTIONS
arrow_forward_ios
Recommended textbooks for you
AstronomyPhysicsISBN:9781938168284Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. WolffPublisher:OpenStax
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399920Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana BackmanPublisher:Cengage Learning
Stars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)PhysicsISBN:9781337399944Author:Michael A. SeedsPublisher:Cengage Learning
Astronomy
Physics
ISBN:9781938168284
Author:Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher:OpenStax
Foundations of Astronomy (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399920
Author:Michael A. Seeds, Dana Backman
Publisher:Cengage Learning
Stars and Galaxies (MindTap Course List)
Physics
ISBN:9781337399944
Author:Michael A. Seeds
Publisher:Cengage Learning