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Homework #6

  •  Question 1   In an H-R Diagram, stars with the largest radius are found in the ____ of the diagram. (Fill in the blank.)
     
    a.center   b.upper left corner   c. upper right corner   d.lower left corner
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Homework #6

  • Question 2   (1 point) In my novel Star Dragon, the characters fly to a distant binary star system, SS Cygni. SS Cygni is a type of binary system in which a white dwarf star is consuming a main sequence K star. If the average separation of the stars is 1.5 million km, and the orbital period is 6.6 hours, what is the combined mass of the stars? (Hint: it will help to immediately convert 6.6 hours to years and 1.5 million km to AU.)
     a.0.6 solar masses.
  • b.6 solar masses.
  •  c.1.8 solar masses.
  • d.18 solar masses
  • e.1.3 solar masses.
  • Either solve from basic considerations (mass of KV star and white dwarf) or from Kepler’s Law:  Mass = a3/P2, with unit conversions to AUs and years.  Get 1.8 solar masses.  Cassandra should work on the board.


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Homework #6
  • Question 3   (1 point) Which of the following is *not* true? You will want to refer to Appendix A -- the information is available in tables A-7 and A-9.
    a.Aside from the sun, Sirius (the "dog star") is the brightest star in our sky.
  • b. Aside from the sun, the nearest star is Proxima Centauri.
  • c. Aldebaran, the brightest star in Taurus, is a relatively cool K5 star.
  • d. Most of the nearby stars are type A or B stars.
  • e. Vega, a future North Star, is one of the six brightest stars in the sky, about the same brightness (magnitude) as Capella.
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Homework #6

  •  Question 4   (1 point) If a star cooled by a factor of 2 but expanded by a factor of 10 the ratio of its new luminosity to its old luminosity would be
     a.0.125
  • b.1.412
  • c.6.250
  • d.64.0
  • e.100.0
  • L = 4πR2σT4 so then L (new) = (0.5)4(10)2 or 100/16
  • L = 6.25 solar luminosities
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Homework #6
  • Question 5   (1 point) A 3 solar mass star on the main sequence would have a luminosity how many times larger than the sun's?
    a.3
  • b.9
  • c.47
  • d.94
  • e.1000
  • Just some math here.  L = M3.5, and 33.5=47.
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Homework #6
  • Question 6   (1 point) You observe two stars with the same absolute magnitude and determine spectroscopically that one is type B star while the other is a type G star. What can you conclude about the sizes of the stars?
    a.Nothing.
  • b.The G star is larger than the B star.
  • c.The B star is larger than the G star.
  • d.The stars are the same size.
  • L is equal for the two stars, so (TG/TB)4(RG/RB)2 must equal one.  The temperature of the G star is cooler than that of a B star, so the first term must be less than one.  There for the other term must be greater than one.  This is also clear from looking at lines of constant radius on an HR diagram, that a G star would have to be a giant to have as much luminosity as a B star.
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Homework #6
  • Question 7   (1 point) If the O6 V star in the Orion Nebula is magnitude 5.4, how far away is the nebula? (Hint: Use spectroscopic parallax and look at plots of the HR diagram showing absolute magnitudes on one axis.) Choose the best answer below.
  • a.10 parsecs.
  • b.120 parsecs.
  • c.300 parsecs
  • d.1600 parsecs
  • e.10000 parsecs
  • an HR diagram, estimate M = -6 or so.  So d = 10 (m-M+5)/5 is roughly 103+  and we are done since only one answer is between 1000 and 10000.  – Should work on the board.


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Homework #6
  • Question 8   (1 point) Sunsets appear red for the same reason that some stars in space appear red -- they are both seen through dust particles. Why does this make them appear red?
    a.The dust is heated and emits red light.
  • b.The dust scatters blue light more than red light, such that more of the red light passes directly though the dust.
  • c.Dust polarizes light which always makes it redder.
  •  Question 9   (1 point) The Pleadies is an open star cluster not too far from us. It also represents a textbook example of a type of nebula. Which type is it?
    a.An emission nebula   b.A dark nebula   c.A reflection nebula   d.A stellar nebula   e.None of the above



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Homework #6
  • Question 10   (1 point) What do we see in the Orion nebula that indicates it is a region of new star formation?
    a.Hot O stars
  • b.Herbig-Haro Objects
  • c.Dust Disks around stars
  • d.All of the Above
  • e.None of the Above
  • Question 11   (1 point) The lifetime of high temperature main sequence O and B stars is _____ the lifetime of low temperature K and M stars. (Fill in the blank.)
  • a.shorter than
  • b.longer than
  • c.about the same as
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Homework #6
  •   

     Question 12   (1 point) Stars are born in regions which (before the new stars can modify them) are
    a.dense cold molecular clouds.
  • b.hot ionized hydrogen regions.
  • c.low density regions between clouds



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Homework #6

  •  Question 13   (1 point) In the movie Blade Runner, replicant Roy Batty was compared to a candle: "A candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long." Star lifetimes are more complex than this (i.e.,the relationship is not linear). If the lifetime of a star is half that of the sun, how luminous is it?
     a.1 solar luminosity   b.2 solar luminosities   c.0.5 solar luminosities   d.1.3 solar luminosities   e.2.6 solar luminosities


  • Need to use L = M3.5 and Lifetime = M -2.5
  • First, Lifetime = ½ = (M) -2.5, solve to get M (1.3 solar masses)
  • Plug into the other equation to get 2.6 solar luminosities.  Should work on the board.