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Chapter 12: Problem 27

If Saturn's rings are not solid, why do they look solid when viewed through a telescope?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Saturn's rings are made up of countless tiny particles that reflect sunlight, making them visible. Due to their close proximity, these particles appear as a solid structure from a distance and when magnified with a telescope, which doesn't have the resolution to differentiate between individual particles.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the Structure of Saturn's Rings

Saturn's rings are composed of countless tiny particles. These particles range in size from tiny, dust-sized icy particles to larger debris. The rings also reflect sunlight, making them visible.
02

Comprehending Human Visual Perception

Human eyes and brain perceive things as being solid when they are continuous and without obvious gaps. From a distance, the multitude of particles in Saturn's rings appear as a solid entity due to closeness of these particles.
03

Understanding the Telescope's Role

A telescope's role is to magnify distant objects. However, even the most powerful telescopes cannot resolve individual particles in Saturn's rings due to their distance from Earth and the small size of these particles. As a result, the rings appear solid when viewed through a telescope.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Astronomers can detect the presence of hydrogen in stars by looking for the characteristic absorption lines of hydrogen in the star's visible spectrum (Figure \(5-21\) ). They can also detect hydrogen in glowing gas clouds by looking for hydrogen's characteristic emission lines (Figure 5-18). Explain why neither of these techniques helped Earth-based astronomers to detect hydrogen in Jupiter's atmosphere.

Mars passes closer to the Earth than Jupiter does, but with an Earth-based telescope it is easier to see details on Jupiter than on Mars. Why is this?

The two Voyager spacecraft were launched from Earth along a trajectory that took them directly to Jupiter. The force of Jupiter's gravity then gave the two spacecraft a "kick" that helped push them onward to Saturn. The much larger Cassini spacecraft, by contrast, was first launched on a trajectory that took it past Venus. Search the World Wide Web, especially the Web sites for NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the European Space Agency, for information about the trajectory that Cassini took through the solar system to reach Saturn. Explain why this trajectory was so different from that of the Voyagers.

Saturn is the most distant of the planets visible without a telescope. Is there any way we could infer this from naked-eye observations? Explain. (Hint: Think about how Saturn's position on the celestial sphere must change over the course of weeks or months.)

Both Jupiter and Saturn emit more energy than they receive from the Sun in the form of sunlight. Compare the internal energy sources of the two planets that produce this emission.
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