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SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISE 3
(a) 0.0079 km/sec is very slow compared to the speed of light, so we can use the non-relativistic version of the Doppler equation: delta(lambda) v ------------- = --- where c = 3 * 10^5 km/s. (lambda) c So, since (lambda) = 656.3 nm, we can compute delta(lambda) = (656.3 nm) * (0.0079 km/s)/(3 * 10^5 km/s) = 0.000017 nm Physically, this length is about one ten-thousandth the diameter of a hydrogen atom in its lowest energy state. (b) According to the Doppler equation, delta(lambda)/(lambda) for the Sun-Jupiter system would be v/c = (0.0079 km/s) / (3 * 10^5 km/s) = 2.6 * 10^(-8). The spectrograph has a delta(lambda)/(lambda) = 0.000001 or 1.0 * 10^(-6). Unfortunately, this spectrograph would not come close to detecting Jupiter's Effect on the motion of the Sun's center of mass. (c) If Jupiter were ten times more massive, then the center of mass of the Sun- Jupiter system would be 105 times farther away from Jupiter than from the Sun. The average speed of the center of mass would then increase by ten times. (These values come from the reasoning in Exercise 1, Part (a), and is left as an exercise to the reader.) The fraction (v/c) would also increase by ten times, to a value of 2.6 * 10^(-7). This is one-fourth the limit of detection by the super-high resolution spectrographs mentioned in Part (b) of this exercise, so it might be close to detectable. (d) If Jupiter were one AU away from the Sun, it would take only six months to pull the center of mass from far side to near side. The distance traveled by the center of mass, however, would be 5.2 times shorter. So the velocity would increase by a factor of about 2.3 (again, these steps of reasoning are left as an exercise for the reader). Now the fraction (v/c) would be, for the bulked-up Jupiter, about 6.0 * 10^(-7), which is quite close to detectable by the super high-resolution spectrograph described in Part (b) of this exercise. NOTE: Parts (c) and (d) show how the cutting edge of exoplanet discovery could advance in the coming years. As astronomical spectrographs improve, planets with masses and orbits resembling those in our own solar system move within reach of discovery. |