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Astronomy 2e

Thought Questions

Astronomy 2eThought Questions

Thought Questions

17.

A friend of yours who did not do well in her astronomy class tells you that she believes all stars are old and none could possibly be born today. What arguments would you use to persuade her that stars are being born somewhere in the Galaxy during your lifetime?

18.

Observations suggest that it takes more than 3 million years for the dust to begin clearing out of the inner regions of the disks surrounding protostars. Suppose this is the minimum time required to form a planet. Would you expect to find a planet around a 10-MSun star? (Refer to Figure 21.12.)

19.

Suppose you wanted to observe a planet around another star with direct imaging. Would you try to observe in visible light or in the infrared? Why? Would the planet be easier to see if it were at 1 AU or 5 AU from its star?

20.

Why were giant planets close to their stars the first ones to be discovered? Why has the same technique not been used yet to discover giant planets at the distance of Saturn?

21.

Exoplanets in eccentric orbits experience large temperature swings during their orbits. Suppose you had to plan for a mission to such a planet. Based on Kepler’s second law, does the planet spend more time closer or farther from the star? Explain.

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