ESSENTIAL COSMIC PERS.-W/MASTER.ACCESS
9th Edition
ISBN: 9780135795750
Author: Bennett
Publisher: PEARSON
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Textbook Question
Chapter 9, Problem 50EAP
Room to Roam. It's estimated that there are a trillion comets in the Oort cloud, which extends out to about 50,000 AU. What is the to1al volume of the Oort cloud, in cubic AU? How much space does each comet have in cubic AU, on average? Take the cube root of the average volume per comet to find the cornets' typical spacing in AU. (Hints: For the purpose of this calculation, you can assume the Oort cloud fills the whole sphere out to 50,000 AU. The volume of a sphere is given by
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You observe a comet 0.32 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.)
Part 1 of 3
You observe a comet 0.32 AU from Earth with a tail that is 1.7 degrees long. How long is the tail in AU?
We use the small angle formula to calculate the length of the tail in AU.
arc seconds d
Ꮎ
2.06 x 105
D
Solving for the linear distance gives:
dAU = DAU
dAU =
=
AU
arc seconds
2.06 x 105
It is believed that there are 1.6*10^12 comets in the spherical Oort Cloud,which has radius of 46000 AU.Calculate the average volume that each comet has to itself.Then take cube root of average volume per comet to find their typical spacing in AU.
A typical comet contains some 1013 kg of water ice. How many comets would have to strike Earth in order to account for the roughly 2×1021 kg of water presently found on our planet? (Hint: simple division) If this amount of water accumulated over a period of 500 million years, how frequently must Earth have been hit by comets during that time? (Hint: Calculate, on the average, how many comets hit the Earth per year during that time.)
Chapter 9 Solutions
ESSENTIAL COSMIC PERS.-W/MASTER.ACCESS
Ch. 9 - Prob. 1VSCCh. 9 - Prob. 2VSCCh. 9 - Prob. 3VSCCh. 9 - Prob. 4VSCCh. 9 - Prob. 5VSCCh. 9 - Briefly define asteroid, comet, dwarf planet,...Ch. 9 - Prob. 2EAPCh. 9 - Distinguish between primitive meteorites and...Ch. 9 - Prob. 4EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 5EAP
Ch. 9 - Prob. 6EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 7EAPCh. 9 - Describe the Kuiper belt and Oorl cloud in terms...Ch. 9 - Prob. 9EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 10EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 11EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 12EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 13EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 14EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 15EAPCh. 9 - Studies of a large object in the Kuiper belt...Ch. 9 - Prob. 17EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 18EAPCh. 9 - 19. Geologists discover a crater from a...Ch. 9 - Prob. 20EAPCh. 9 - In another solar system, astror1omers discover an...Ch. 9 - Prob. 22EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 23EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 24EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 25EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 26EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 27EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 28EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 29EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 30EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 31EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 32EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 34EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 35EAPCh. 9 - The Role of Jupiter. Suppose that Jupiter had...Ch. 9 - Prob. 38EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 39EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 40EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 41EAPCh. 9 - Rise of the Mammals. Suppose the impact 65 million...Ch. 9 - Asteroid and Comet Missions. Learn about a current...Ch. 9 - Impact Hazards. Many groups are searching for...Ch. 9 - Beneficial Asteroids. Learn about one of several...Ch. 9 - Prob. 46EAPCh. 9 - Adding Up Asteroids. It's estimated that there are...Ch. 9 - Prob. 48EAPCh. 9 - Prob. 49EAPCh. 9 - Room to Roam. It's estimated that there are a...Ch. 9 - 46. Comet Dust Accumulat ion. A few hundred tons...
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- suppose that the oort comet cloud contains 10^12 comets, with an average comet diameter of 10km. Calculate the mass of a comet 10km in diameter, assuiming that it is composed mostly of water ice (density of 1g/cm^3). Next calculate the total mass of the comet cloud. finally, compare this mass with that of the Earth and Jupiter.arrow_forwardYou 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.)arrow_forwardIf you saw Comet Halley when the comet was 0.8 AU from Earth and you observed a visible tail 4 degrees long, how long was the tail in kilometers? (Hint: Use the small-angle formula.) (Note: 1 AU = 1.5 ✕ 109 km.) Suppose that the tail was not perpendicular to your line of sight. Is your first answer too large or too small?arrow_forward
- 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 Saturnarrow_forwardThe mass of an average comet's nucleus is about 1.0 x 1014 kg. If the Oort cloud contains 2.0 x 1011 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 Ma) mass of the Oort cloud mass of Saturn Need Help? Read Itarrow_forwardIf you stood on Earth during its formation, during which it captured about 1.4 ✕ 1011 particles per second, and watched a region covering 310 m2, how many impacts would you expect to see in an hour? (Notes: The surface area of a sphere is 4πr2. Hint: Assume that Earth had its current radius of 6,378 km.) [......] impactsarrow_forward
- Consider an asteroid that orbits in a relatively circular orbit with a semimajor axis a = 2 au from the Sun. A typical asteroid has an albedo, or reflectivity, A ~ 0.3. At our closest approach to the asteroid, we make a measurement of the flux coming from the asteroid to be F = 3 × 10-15 w m-2. What is the radius of the asteroid in km? Include a labelled diagram along with your calculations.arrow_forwardIf you saw Comet Halley when the comet was 0.3 AU from Earth and you observed a visible tail 5 degrees long, how long was the tail in kilometers? (Hint: Use the small-angle formula.) (Note: 1 AU = 1.5 ✕ 109 km.)arrow_forwardConsider the differentiated meteorites. We think the irons are from the cores, the stony-irons are from the interfaces between mantles and cores, and the stones are from the mantles of their differentiated parent bodies. If these parent bodies were like Earth, what fraction of the meteorites would you expect to consist of irons, stony-irons, and stones? Is this consistent with the observed numbers of each? (Hint: You will need to look up what percent of the volume of Earth is taken up by its core, mantle, and crust.)arrow_forward
- Using the version of Kepler's laws of planetary motion. Calculate the orbital period of an Oort cloud comet if the semimajor axis of the comet's orbit is 50,000 AU.arrow_forwardIt is believed that there are a 1.2 × 1012 comets in the Oort Cloud, which has a radius of 74000.0 AU. What is the total volume of the Oort Cloud in cubic AU?arrow_forwardA typical comet contains some 1013 kg of water ice. How many comets would have to strike Earth in order to account for the roughly 2×1021 kg of water presently found on our planet? If this amount of water accumulated over a period of 500 million years, how frequently must Earth have been hit by comets during that time?arrow_forward
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