Life in the Universe (4th Edition)
4th Edition
ISBN: 9780134089089
Author: Jeffrey O. Bennett, Seth Shostak
Publisher: PEARSON
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Textbook Question
Chapter 11, Problem 5RQ
Briefly describe the conditions under which habitable zones and stable orbits might be possible in binary or multiple-star systems.
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A radio broadcast left Earth in 1925. How far in light years has it traveled?
If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light years, how many star systems has this broadcast
reached?
Assume that the fraction of these star systems that have planets is 0.30 and that, in a given planetary
system, the average number of planets that have orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.85. How
many possible planets with life could have heard this signal?
Part 1 of 3
To figure out how many light years a signal has traveled we need to know how long since the signal left Earth.
If the signal left in 1925, distance in light years = time since broadcast left Earth.
d = tnow - tbroadcast
d =
light years
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Which of the following is least reasonable regarding the concept of a habitable zone?
Group of answer choices
M-type stars have wider habitable zones than G-type stars.
It is a region around a star where liquid water could be found on a planet's surface.
The habitable zone of a less massive star would be closer to the star.
In the course of millions of years, our habitable zone will slowly shift from Earth to Mars.
The Galactic habitable zone cannot be too close to the Galactic center because the radiation from the bright stars and supernovae in the crowded inner part of the Galaxy would probably be detrimental to life.
A radio broadcast left Earth in 1911. How far in light years has it traveled?
If there is, on average, 1 star system per 400 cubic light years, how many star systems has this broadcast reached?
Assume that the fraction of these star systems that have planets is 0.50 and that, in a given planetary system, the average number of planets that have orbited in the habitable zone for 4 billion years is 0.20. How many possible planets with life could have heard this signal?
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...
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- What is a habitable zone?arrow_forwardIn a globular cluster, astronomers (someday) discover a star with the same mass as our Sun, but consisting entirely of hydrogen and helium. Is this star a good place to point our SETI antennas and search for radio signals from an advanced civilization? Group of answer choices No, because such a star (and any planets around it) would not have the heavier elements (carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, etc.) that we believe are necessary to start life as we know it. Yes, because globular clusters are among the closest star clusters to us, so that they would be easy to search for radio signals. Yes, because we have already found radio signals from another civilization living near a star in a globular cluster. No, because such a star would most likely not have a stable (main-sequence) stage that is long enough for a technological civilization to develop. Yes, because such a star is probably old and a technological civilization will have had a long time to evolve and develop there.arrow_forwardThe most promising places to look for other habitable planets would be orbiting stars similar to our Sun, or even dimmer than our Sun in our own solar system in other galaxies orbitin bright, giant stars like Betelgeusearrow_forward
- 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.arrow_forwardA newly discovered orange dwarf star has a surface temperature of approximately 5185 K. How far would its Goldilocks Zone be from the star if an astrologist wanted to look for potentially habitable planets? And how wide would the zone be?arrow_forwardHow is a habitable zone likely to change over time? a. get narrower b. move further from the star c. they aren't likely to changearrow_forward
- Considering what you learned from the solar nebula theory, how likely do you think it is to find habitable planets in other solar systems? Visit NASA’s Kepler mission to learn more about this search, and write a ½ page summary on the mission.arrow_forwardHow does the habitable zone differ for a star hotter than the sun?arrow_forwardWhat is the best way to determine if a exoplanet has life inside it? Group of answer choices Detect the star the exoplanet is orbiting and compare it to the Sun. Detect the exoplanet and determine if it is in the habitable zone of the star. Detect the exoplanet and study the atmosphere of the exoplanet. Detect the exoplanet and determine its age to see if it is similar to the age of the Earth.arrow_forward
- How can a planet’s atmosphere affect the width of the habitable zone in its planetary system?arrow_forwardDescribe the Nebular Theory. Include A) what it is, B)what happened, and C) at least three lines of evidence to support it.arrow_forwardWhy are we unlikely to find Earth-like planets around halo stars in the Galaxy? A. Halo stars formed in a different way from disk stars. B. Planets around stars are known to be extremely rare. C. Halo stars formed in an environment where there were few heavy elements to create rocky planets. D. Halo stars do not have enough mass to hold onto planets. Is the answer C? Since halo stars are formed early when the galaxy consisted of mainly hydrogen and helium, there are no heavier elements available to create Earth-like planets so just halo stars are formed? Thanks!arrow_forward
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