Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
4th Edition
ISBN: 9780134089089
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Seth Shostak
Publisher: PEARSON
expand_more
expand_more
format_list_bulleted
Videos
Textbook Question
Chapter 11, Problem 6RQ
Why are extrasolar planets hard to detect directly? What are the two general approaches to indirect detection?
Expert Solution & Answer
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solution
Students have asked these similar questions
H5.
A star with mass 1.05 M has a luminosity of 4.49 × 1026 W and effective temperature of 5700 K. It dims to 4.42 × 1026 W every 1.39 Earth days due to a transiting exoplanet. The duration of the transit reveals that the exoplanet orbits at a distance of 0.0617 AU. Based on this information, calculate the radius of the planet (expressed in Jupiter radii) and the minimum inclination of its orbit to our line of sight.
Follow up observations of the star in part reveal that a spectral feature with a rest wavelength of 656 nm is redshifted by 1.41×10−3 nm with the same period as the observed transit. Assuming a circular orbit what can be inferred about the planet’s mass (expressed in Jupiter masses)?
If you could visit another planetary system while the planets are forming, would you expect to see the condensation sequence at work, or do you think that process was most likely unique to our Solar System? How do the properties of the extrasolar planets discovered so far affect your answer?
Do you expect the most planetary system in the Universe have analogs to our Solar System’s asteroid belt and Kuiper Belt? Would all planetary systems show signs of an age of heavy bombardment?
If the solar nebula hypothesis is correct, do you think there are more planets in the Universe than stars? Why or why not?
Kepler-444 is one of many stars with terrestrial planets that is over 10 billion
a) What do you think the spectral type of Kepler-444 might be?
b) How do stars of this spectral type end their lives?
c) If evolution followed a similar course on a habitable pranet around a star similar to
Kepler-444, it would be 5 billion years more advanced than we are. Let’s try to project
our future and see what happens. In particular, suppose our civilization gets motivated
enough to colonize another planet. Kepler indicates that most stars have potentially
habitable (and colonizable) planets, so roughly how far away is the typical “nearest"
planet?
d) The New Horizons probe on its way to Pluto took 9 years to travel 30 AU. If we could
send colony ships with the same average speed, roughly how long would it take to reach
the typical nearest planet?
уears
old.
Chapter 11 Solutions
Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
Ch. 11 - Prob. 1RQCh. 11 - Prob. 2RQCh. 11 - Prob. 3RQCh. 11 - How do habitable zones differ among stars of...Ch. 11 - Briefly describe the conditions under which...Ch. 11 - Why are extrasolar planets hard to detect...Ch. 11 - Briefly describe the astrometric, Doppler, and...Ch. 11 - Briefly summarize the planetary properties we can...Ch. 11 - Why does the Doppler method generally allow us to...Ch. 11 - How does the transit method tell us planetary...
Ch. 11 - How do the orbits of known extrasolar planets...Ch. 11 - Summarize the key features shown in Figure 11.20,...Ch. 11 - According to current statistics, how common arc...Ch. 11 - What types of worlds seem most likely to support...Ch. 11 - How might a stars habitable zone be wider than we...Ch. 11 - How might future imagery and spectroscopy allow us...Ch. 11 - Prob. 17RQCh. 11 - Prob. 18RQCh. 11 - What is the HertzsprungRussell diagram? How does a...Ch. 11 - Prob. 20RQCh. 11 - Date: February 16, 2025. Headline: Astronomers...Ch. 11 - Prob. 22TYUCh. 11 - Date: June 19, 2028. Headline: Spectrum Reveals...Ch. 11 - Date: November 7, 2020. Headline: New Images Show...Ch. 11 - Date: November 7, 2050. Headline: New Images Show...Ch. 11 - Date: July 20, 2020. Headline: Giant Planet Found...Ch. 11 - Date: September 15, 2045. Headline: Sun-Like Star...Ch. 11 - Prob. 28TYUCh. 11 - Date: December 13, 2033. Headline: Orphan Planet...Ch. 11 - Prob. 30TYUCh. 11 - Prob. 31TYUCh. 11 - Prob. 32TYUCh. 11 - Which method could detect a planet in an orbit...Ch. 11 - To determine a planets average density, we can use...Ch. 11 - Based on the model types shown in Figure 11.20, a...Ch. 11 - According to current statistics, about what...Ch. 11 - The term super-Earth means a planet that is (a)...Ch. 11 - Our best hope for determining that life exists on...Ch. 11 - Jupiter has had an important effect on life on...Ch. 11 - Prob. 40TYUCh. 11 - Prob. 41POSCh. 11 - Unanswered Questions. As discussed in this...Ch. 11 - Explaining the Doppler Method. Explain how the...Ch. 11 - Explaining the Transit Method. Explain how the...Ch. 11 - Comparing Methods. What are the strengths and...Ch. 11 - Super-Earth. Youve discovered a super-Earth...Ch. 11 - Stars with Habitable Planets. Based on what youve...Ch. 11 - Are Earth-Like Planets Common? Based on what you...Ch. 11 - Prob. 50IFCh. 11 - Science Fiction Planet. Choose one fictional...Ch. 11 - Number of Stars with Habitable Planets. Assume...Ch. 11 - Prob. 54IFCh. 11 - Finding Orbit Sizes. The Doppler method allows us...Ch. 11 - Finding a Planetary Mass. Using the Doppler...Ch. 11 - Transit of TrES-1. The planet TrES-1, orbiting a...Ch. 11 - The Doppler Formula. The amount of Doppler shift...Ch. 11 - Prob. 59IFCh. 11 - Future Mission. Imagine that a wealthy benefactor...Ch. 11 - Is It Worth It? Thanks to rapidly advancing...Ch. 11 - Prob. 62IFCh. 11 - Extrasolar Planet Mission. Learn about a proposed...
Additional Science Textbook Solutions
Find more solutions based on key concepts
1. A 5.0-m-diameter merry-go-round is turning with a 4.0 s period. What is the speed of a child on the rim?
College Physics: A Strategic Approach (4th Edition)
6. A particle starts from x0 = 10 m at t = 0 s and moves with the velocity graph shown in FIGURE EX2.6.
a. Do...
Physics for Scientists and Engineers: A Strategic Approach with Modern Physics (4th Edition)
Explain all answer clearly, with complete sentences and proper essay structure if needed. An asterisk (*) desig...
The Cosmic Perspective Fundamentals (2nd Edition)
52 Unpolarized light with intensity I0 is incident on an ideal polarizing filter. The emerging light strikes a ...
College Physics (10th Edition)
The speed of the person sitting on the chair relative to the chair and relative to Earth.
Conceptual Physics (12th Edition)
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
- When astronomers found the first giant planets with orbits of only a few days, they did not know whether those planets were gaseous and liquid like Jupiter or rocky like Mercury. The observations of HD 209458 settled this question because observations of the transit of the star by this planet made it possible to determine the radius of the planet. Use the data given in the text to estimate the density of this planet, and then use that information to explain why it must be a gas giant.arrow_forwardThe NASA Kepler mission detected a transiting planet that blocks 1.3% of the stars light and the host star has a radius 82% of the Sun's radius (the Sun has a radius of 700,000 km) what is the radius of the exosolar planet in km?arrow_forwardThe search for extrasolar planets fall broadly into two categories, what are they? Lensing and transits Astrometry and Doppler shifts Speckle imaging and interferometry Dust emission and radio bursts Direct and indirect detectionarrow_forward
- Which one of the mechanism below can NOT be responsible for providing intrinsic luminosity for planets? Gravitational settling of the hydrogen molecules. Gravitational settling of the helium atoms. Residual heat dating from the formation epoch of the planets. Decay of radio-active isotopes like uranium.arrow_forwardWhy 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?arrow_forwardDescribe the solar nebula, and outline the sequence of events within the nebula that gave rise to the planetesimals.arrow_forward
- How did the giant planets grow to be so large?arrow_forwardWhy would the astronomically short lifetime of gas and dust disks around protostars pose a problem in understanding how the Jovian planets formed? What modification of the solar nebula theory might solve this problem?arrow_forwardNearly all planets that astronomers have found orbiting other stars have been giant planets with masses more like Jupiter than Earth, and with orbits located very close to their parent stars. Does this prove that our Solar System is unique? Explain your answer.arrow_forward
- Which of these views cannot be used when trying to detect exoplanets using the radial velocity method? XYZ all of these can be observed using the radial velocity method none of these can be observed using the radial velocity method? X Y Z all of these can be observed using the radial velocity method none of these can be observed using the radial velocity method Figure X to Earth Figure Y to Earth Figure Z to Earth Which of the systems above could not be detected using the transit method?arrow_forwardUse this light curve of a star with a transiting exoplanet to answer the following. If the exoplanet is orbiting a star identical to our own Sun, what is its average orbital distance, in AU? What is the period in years of the transiting exoplanet? Use this light curve of a star with a transiting exoplanet to answer the following questions. Brightness 0 V V V B 5 10 15 20 Time (months) 25 30 35arrow_forwardConsider the attached light curve for a transiting planet observed by the Kepler mission. If the host star is identical to the sun, what is the radius of this planet? Give your answer in terms of the radius of Jupiter. Brightness of Star Residual Flux 0.99 0.98 0.97 0.006 0.002 0.000 -8-881 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0.00 Time (days) → 0.02 0.04 0.06arrow_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
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
Kepler's Three Laws Explained; Author: PhysicsHigh;https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyR6EO_RMKE;License: Standard YouTube License, CC-BY