It has been proposed to use an array of infrared telescopes spread over thousands of kilometers of space to observe planets orbiting other stars. Consider such an array that has an effective diameter of 6000 km and observes infrared
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- What 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_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 7.6 light years. What angular resolution, in arcsecond, is needed to resolve the Sun-Jupiter system (5.46 AU) as distinct points of light?arrow_forwardCalculate how long radio communications from the spacecraft will take when it encounters Mars. The furthest distance from Earth to Mars is 2.66 AU. Remember that 1 AU = 1.5 x 1011 m and that light travels at 3 x 108 m/s. So how long will the radio messages take to travel this greatest distance of 2.66 AU? If two way communication between the Earth and the spacecraft involve a 1 s time lapse before an acknowledging signal is sent by the spacecraft, how long a time is there between sending a command to the spacecraft and receiving a reply?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_forwardF = 9/5 C + 32 ; C = 5/9 (F - 32); K = 273 + C; Lambda = 2900/T; T^4 = I (128)(10^8); I1/I2 = ( D2 / D1 )2 Show All Calculations What is the intensity of sunlight on planet XZEON if: The intensity of direct sunlight on earth is Ie = 2.0 calories per square centimeter per minute and Planet XZEON is 7.7 times farther from the sun than the earth is.arrow_forwardK What is the wavelength (in nm) of the most intense radiation emitted from the surface of Mercury at high noon? (Hint: Use Wien's law, Amax = 2.90 x 10° m: K %3D T (in K) nm In which band of the electromagnetic spectrum is that wavelength? (Hint: Examine the following figure.) Visible light Short wavelengths Long wavelengths 4 x 107 5x 107 6x 107 7x 10meters (400 nm) (500 nm) (600 nm) /(700 nm) Wavelength (meters) 10 12 10 10 10 104 102 1 102 104 Gamma- ray Ultra- violet Micro- Radio X-ray Infrared wave UHF VHF FM AM a Opaque Visual window Radio window Transparent Short Wavelength Long b O gamma-ray O X-ray O ultraviolet O visual O infrared O microwave O radio оооо о оо Opacity of Earth's atmospherearrow_forward
- Suppose you send a probe to land on Mercury, and the probe transmits radio signals to earth at a wavelength of 40.0000 cm. You listen for the probe when Mercury is moving away from Earth at its full orbital velocity of 48 km/s around the Sun. What wavelength (in cm) would you have to tune your radio telescope to detect that signal?arrow_forwardCalculate the total amount of radiative energy per second intercepted by Mars from the Sun using the flux of radiation from the Sun at Mars' orbital radius. Flux of radiation from the Sun at Mars' orbital radius is 597 W m-2. The luminosity of the Sun Ls = 3.8×1026 W. Mars orbits at a distance of 2.25×1011 m (1.5 AU) from the Sun. Note: Consider carefully the cross-sectional area Mars presents to the outwards flow of radiative energy when answering this question.arrow_forwardSometime around 2022, astronomers at the European Southern Observatory hope to begin using the E-ELT(European Extremely Large Telescope), which is planned to have a primary mirror 42 m in diameter. Let us assume that the light it focuses has a wavelength of 550 nm. (1 light-year = 9.461×10^15 m) Note: Jupiter's Diameter dj=1.43×10^8 m 1)What is the most distant Jupiter-sized planet the telescope could resolve, assuming it operates at the diffraction limit? (Express your answer to two significant figures.) 2)What is the most distant Jupiter-sized planet the telescope could resolve, assuming it operates at the diffraction limit? (Express your answer to two significant figures.) 3)The nearest known exoplanets (planets beyond the solar system) are around 20 light-years away. What would have to be the minimum diameter of an optical telescope to resolve a Jupiter-sized planet at that distance using light of wavelength 550 nm? (Express your answer to two significant figures.)arrow_forward
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