EAPS 105 HW & QUIZ 10
To find exoplanets, how does the transit detection method work? - Correct Answers -b.
If a planet crosses in front of its parent star, then the observed visual brightness of the
star drops by a small amount.
Which of the following are weaknesses of the transit detection method? - Correct
Answers -a. Small exoplanets far from their stars will not cause significant dimming of
the star's light.
b. Planetary transits are observable only when the planet's orbit happens to be perfectly
aligned from the astronomers' vantage point.
c. False detections can be common requiring verification from longer duration
observations and other detection methods.
d. All the above
To find exoplanets, how does the radial velocity detection method work? - Correct
Answers -A star with a planet will wobble in response to the planet's gravity, causing it
to change the speed at which it moves toward or away from the Earth.
With the Doppler effect, what changes when there is relative motion between the source
of a wave and the observer? - Correct Answers -d. The frequency of the wave
What can only be determined by combining observations from the radial velocity
method with observations from the transit detection method? - Correct Answers -b. The
mass of the exoplanet
To find exoplanets, how does the gravitational microlensing detection method work? -
Correct Answers -d. The gravitational field of a star acts like a lens, magnifying the light
of a distant background star. If a planet is orbiting the foreground lensing star, it will
make a detectable contribution to the lensing effect.
What is the notable disadvantage of the gravitational microlensing method? - Correct
Answers -d. The lensing observation cannot be repeated
To find exoplanets, how does the direct imaging detection method work? - Correct
Answers -a. Blocking the light of a star reveals the reflected light of orbiting planets.
In what ways is the James Webb Space Telescope superior to the Hubble Space
Telescope? - Correct Answers -a. It has a much higher resolution (sharper images).
b. It can observe high-redshift objects that are too old and too distant for Hubble.
c. It enables more detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable
exoplanets.
To find exoplanets, how does the transit detection method work? - Correct Answers -b.
If a planet crosses in front of its parent star, then the observed visual brightness of the
star drops by a small amount.
Which of the following are weaknesses of the transit detection method? - Correct
Answers -a. Small exoplanets far from their stars will not cause significant dimming of
the star's light.
b. Planetary transits are observable only when the planet's orbit happens to be perfectly
aligned from the astronomers' vantage point.
c. False detections can be common requiring verification from longer duration
observations and other detection methods.
d. All the above
To find exoplanets, how does the radial velocity detection method work? - Correct
Answers -A star with a planet will wobble in response to the planet's gravity, causing it
to change the speed at which it moves toward or away from the Earth.
With the Doppler effect, what changes when there is relative motion between the source
of a wave and the observer? - Correct Answers -d. The frequency of the wave
What can only be determined by combining observations from the radial velocity
method with observations from the transit detection method? - Correct Answers -b. The
mass of the exoplanet
To find exoplanets, how does the gravitational microlensing detection method work? -
Correct Answers -d. The gravitational field of a star acts like a lens, magnifying the light
of a distant background star. If a planet is orbiting the foreground lensing star, it will
make a detectable contribution to the lensing effect.
What is the notable disadvantage of the gravitational microlensing method? - Correct
Answers -d. The lensing observation cannot be repeated
To find exoplanets, how does the direct imaging detection method work? - Correct
Answers -a. Blocking the light of a star reveals the reflected light of orbiting planets.
In what ways is the James Webb Space Telescope superior to the Hubble Space
Telescope? - Correct Answers -a. It has a much higher resolution (sharper images).
b. It can observe high-redshift objects that are too old and too distant for Hubble.
c. It enables more detailed atmospheric characterization of potentially habitable
exoplanets.
