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Chapter 28: Problem 20

. If a planet always kept the same face toward its star, just as the Moon always keeps the same face toward Earth, most of the planet's surface would be uninhabitable. Discuss why.

Short Answer

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A planet that always keeps the same face toward its star would have most of its surface uninhabitable. The constant exposure to radiation would make the day side insanely hot, while the eternal darkness on the night side would make it extremely cold. Even the border region might be inhospitable due to extreme winds caused by the temperature differences.

Step by step solution

01

Understanding the Planetary Setup

The setup indicates a planet that does not rotate relative to its star. This means that one face of the planet is always exposed to the star and the other face is always in darkness. The side facing the star is referred to as the day side, while the opposite side is referred to as the night side.
02

Discussing the Day Side

The day side of the planet constantly receives the star’s radiation. As there is no rotation to distribute this heat, the temperature on the day side would become incredibly high, potentially rendering it uninhabitable.
03

Discussing the Night Side

On the other hand, the night side of the planet never receives any direct radiation from the star. Without any heat source, this side of the planet would become incredibly cold and likewise, most likely uninhabitable.
04

Considering the Border Region

The border region between the day side and the night side, also known as the terminator line, could potentially have more moderate temperatures. However, strong winds, generated by the extreme temperature differences between the hot day side and the cold night side, could make the conditions here challenging for life as well.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Imagine that astronomers have discovered intelligent life in a nearby star system. Your group is submitting a proposal for who on Earth should speak for the planet and what 50 -word message should be conveyed. Prepare a maximum one-page proposal that states (a) who should speak for Earth and why; (b) what this person should say in 50 words; and (c) why this message is the most important compared to other things that could be said. Only serious responses receive full credit.

Astronomers have proposed using interferometry to make an extremely high- resolution telescope. This proposal involves placing a number of infrared telescopes in space, separating them by thousands of kilometers, and combining the light from the individual telescopes. One design of this kind has an effective diameter of \(6000 \mathrm{~km}\) and uses infrared radiation with a wavelength of \(10 \mathrm{~mm}\). If it is used to observe an Earthlike planet orbiting the star Epsilon Eridani, \(3.22\) parsecs (10.5 light-years) from Earth, what is the size of the smallest detail that this system will be able to resolve on the face of that planet? Give your answer in kilometers.

The Drake Equation. Access the Active Integrated Media Module "The Drake Equation" in Chapter 28 of the Universe Web site or eBook. (a) For each of the terms in the Drake equation, choose a value that seems reasonable to you. How did you choose these values? Using the module, what do you find for the number of civilizations in our Galaxy? From your calculation, are civilizations common or uncommon in our Galaxy? (b) Using the module, choose a set of values that give \(N=10^{6}\) (a million civilizations). What values did you use? Which of these seem reasonable to you, and why?

Use the Starry Night Enthusiast \({ }^{\text {TM }}\) program to examine the planet Mars. Open the Favourites pane and double-click on Solar System > Mars to view this planet from about \(6800 \mathrm{~km}\) above its surface. (Click on View > Feet to remove the astronaut's spacesuit from the view.) You can zoom in or out on Mars using the buttons in the Zoom section at the right of the toolbar. You can rotate Mars by placing the mouse cursor over the image and moving the mouse while holding down the mouse button. (On a two-button mouse, hold down the left mouse button.) Rotate Mars and zoom in and out to familiarize yourself with the different surface features. Based on what you observe, where on the Martian surface would you choose to land a spacecraft to search for the presence of life? Explain how you made your choice.

How do you think our society would respond to the discovery of intelligent messages coming from a civilization on a planet orbiting another star? Explain your reasoning.
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