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PHYS1160-Introduction to Astronomy T2 2013

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PHYS1160-5137_01367

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Module 5 (Weeks 9-10) Other Worlds

Question 1

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Module 5 Quiz

A number of space missions have been used, or

have been proposed, for the study of exoplanets.
Match the following descriptions to the names of the
missions.
NASA
mission
which will use
several
telescopes
flying in
formation

Terrestrial Planet Finder - Interferometer

Proposed
European
mission to
use Infrared
interferometry
to detect
exoplanets

Darwin

A proposed
mission that
could use
spectra at
visible
wavelengths
to search for
biosignatures

Terrestrial Planet Finder - Coronograph

Able to
directly detect
hot Jupiter
planets by
their infrared
emission

Spitzer

A mission to
detect Earthsized
exoplanets by
the transit
method

Kepler

Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 10.00/10.00.

Question 2
Correct
Mark 5.00 out of
5.00
Flag question

How does the habitable zone around a main

sequence star of spectral type M compare with that
around the Sun (a main sequence star of spectral
type G).
Select one:
A. It is smaller and closer to the star
B. It is larger and further from the star.

C. The habitable zone around the M star will be

cooler than the habitable zone around a G star.

D. An M star does not have a habitable zone

because it is not hot enough.
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

Question 3
Correct
Mark 5.00 out of
5.00

Future instruments may be capable of detecting

evidence of life in the spectra of extrasolar planets.
One of the gases that is considered a probable
signature of life (or biosignature) is ozone. Why is
ozone considered a biosignature?

Flag question

Select one:
A. Because it could support an alternate chemical
basis for life that uses ozone in place of oxygen.

B. Because it indicates the presence of oxygen in

the atmosphere, and we believe abundant oxygen
can only be present if it continually produced by
photosynthesis in organsisms such as green plants
and cyanobacteria.

C. Because it indicates the presence of oxygen in

the atmosphere, which is an essential requirement
for life.

D. Because it means the planet has an ozone layer

and therefore life would be protected from UV
radiation from its star.
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

Question 4

Exoplanet Detection Methods

Correct

Two of the main techniques used for detecting

extrasolar planets are the Doppler techniques and
the transit technique. Match the following
descriptions to the correct planet finding technique.

Mark 10.00 out of

10.00
Flag question

Looks for
very slight,
periodic
dimming of a
star.

transit technique

Used for
most of the
first 200
extrasolar
planet
detections

Doppler technique

Has found
many giant
planets close
to their stars
but also a
number of
planets in
highly
eccentric
orbits and a
few multiple
planet
systems
resembling
our solar
system.

Doppler technique

Allows the
exoplanet's
radius to be
determined.

transit technique

Requires the

use of a
spectrograph
to measure
slight shifts
in the
wavelength
of the star's
spectral
lines.

Doppler technique

Capable of
detecting
Earth-sized
planets.

transit technique

The planet
detetion
strategy of
NASA's
Kepler
mission.

transit technique

Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 10.00/10.00.

Question 5

Active and Pasive SETI

Correct

Sort the following SETI experiments according to

whether they are examples of Active or Passive
SETI.

Mark 10.00 out of

10.00
Flag question

The
SERENDIP
project
using the
Arecibo
Telescope

Passive SETI

Frank
Drake's
Project
Ozma

Passive SETI

The
Message
Plaque
carried on
the Pioneer
Spacecraft

Active SETI

The 1974
Arecibo
Message

Active SETI

The Optical
SETI
experiment
at Harvard
Observatory

Passive SETI

Project
Phoenix

Passive SETI

Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 10.00/10.00.

Question 6

Direct detection of exoplanets is difficult because

Correct

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

Mark 5.00 out of

5.00
Flag question

Select one or more:

A. Exoplanets are extremely faint objects as seen
from Earth

B. The exoplanet will be extremely close to its star

and so will be drowned by the light of the star which
may be a billion times or more brighter

C. Exoplanets produce most of their radiation at

wavelengths which are not detectable with groundbased telescopes as they are absorbed by our
atmosphere

D. The exoplanets rapid orbital motion around its

star makes it difficult to locate
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

Question 7
Correct
Mark 5.00 out of
5.00

Which of the following statements best reflects our

current knowledge about the term flife in the equation
Number of Civilizations = Np x flife x fciv x fnow ?
Select one:

Flag question

A. The value of flife is between 0 percent and 100

percent.

B. The value of flife is presently unknown but should

be well known within a few years.

C. The value of flife is between 0 percent and 1

percent.

D. The value of flife must be either 0 percent or 100

percent.
E. The value of flife is roughly 50 percent.
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

Question 8
Correct
Mark 5.00 out of
5.00
Flag question

Which of the following existing or planned

telescopes are thought to be capable of directly
detecting light from an Earth-like planet around a
nearby star.
SELECT ALL THAT APPLY
Select one or more:
A. The Hubble Space Telescope

B. The NASA Terrestrial Planet Finder

Coronograph (TPF-C) mission
C. The Keck Telescopes

D. ESO's proposed Overwhelmingly Large

Telescope (OWL)
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

Question 9
Correct
Mark 5.00 out of
5.00
Flag question

What is the best explanation for the location of "hot

Jupiters"?
Select one:
A. The strong gravity of their stars pulled them in.

B. They formed further out but then migrated

inward.
Correct We believe planets migrate due to
interactions with the disk of material from which
they formed.

C. They formed closer to their stars than Jupiter

did.

D. Their orbits were changed by collisions with

other planets.
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

Question 10
Correct

The composition of the atmosphere of an exoplanet

can be studied by:

Mark 5.00 out of

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

5.00
Flag question

Select one or more:

A. Measuring features in the echelle spectra
obtained during Doppler planet search
observations.

B. Obtaining the spectrum of the infrared radiation

from the planet using an infrared space
interferometer.

C. Studying the wobble in a star's position on the

sky as the planet rotates around it.
D. the amplitude and period of the star's motion

E. Measuring the excess absorption of light at

certain wavelengths during transits
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

Question 11

Extrasolar Planet Characterization

Correct

Listed below are a number of features we might

observe to be present in an exoplanet that appears

Mark 10.00 out of

10.00
Flag question

to be of a size and in an orbit similar to that of the

Earth.
Match them to what they tell us about the planet.
We detect
polarized
"glint" light
due to
reflection
off water

The planet is habitable

We detect
absorption
due to
oxygen and
methane in
the
spectrum

The planet probably has life

We
measure a
surface
temperature
of 15
degrees
celsius

The planet is habitable

We detect
absorption
due to
carbon
dioxide in
the
spectrum

The planet has an atmosphere

We detect
absorption
due to
water
vapour in
the
spectrum

The planet has an atmosphere

Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 10.00/10.00.

Question 12

Extrasolar Planet Hunting

Correct

Choose the phrase that best fills the blank in each

sentence.

Mark 10.00 out of

10.00
Flag question

Proposed
plans for the
________
would
someday
provide us
with the first
actual images
and spectra of
terrestrial
worlds orbiting
other stars.

Terrestrial Planet Finder mission

The ________
is used to find
extrasolar
planets by
carefully
monitoring
changes in a
star's
brightness
with time.

transit technique

The ________
is being
designed to
measure very
small changes
in stellar
positions,
which should
allow it to
discover many
extrasolar
planets.

GAIA Astrometry mission

The ________
was used to
find a Jupitersize planet
through
careful
measurements
of the
changing
position of a
star.

astrometric technique

Discovering
planets
through the
________
requires

Doppler technique

obtaining and
studying many
spectra of the
same star.
The ________
is currently
searching for
planet transits
around
100,000 stars.

Kepler mission

Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 10.00/10.00.

Question 13

Types of planets.

Correct

The measured properties of a number of

hypothetical extrasolar planets are listed. Based on
the properties match the planets with the types of
planets in the following categories:

Mark 10.00 out of

10.00
Flag question

1. Terrestrial Planet
2. Hot Jupiter
3. Super Earth
4. "Normal" Gas Giant
Period
120 days
Mass
0.5 Earth
masses

Terrestrial Planet

Period 54
days
Mass 7
Earth
masses

Super Earth

Period 2.9
days
Mass 6
Earth
masses

Super Earth

Period
1200 days
Mass
0.7
Jupiter

Normal Gas Giant

masses
Period 3.8
days
Mass 1.2
Jupiter
masses

Hot Jupiter

Period
380 days
Mass 1
Earth
masses

Terrestrial Planet

Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 10.00/10.00.

Question 14
Correct

Which of the following experiments are examples of

Active SETI

Mark 5.00 out of

SELECT ALL THAT APPLY

5.00
Flag question

Select one or more:

A. The 1974 Arecibo Message

B. The Message Plaque carried on the Pioneer

Spacecraft
C. Frank Drake's Project Ozma

D. The Optical SETI experiment at Harvard

Observatory
E. Project Phoenix
Check

Correct
Marks for this submission: 5.00/5.00.

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