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Chapter 8: Problem 16

What is a chondrule? How do we know they were not formed by the ambient heat of the solar nebula?

Short Answer

Expert verified
Chondrules are small, spherical rocks found in meteorites mainly consisting of silicate minerals. They were not formed by the ambient heat of the solar nebula due to the higher temperature required for their formation (up to 2000 K), their glassy structure and rapid cooling, which is inconsistent with the lower temperature and slow cooling rate of the solar nebula.

Step by step solution

01

Definition of Chondrule

A chondrule is a round grain found in a meteorite. They are between 0.1 and 10 mm in diameter and are typically composed of silicate minerals, principally olivine and pyroxene.
02

Contrasting Chondrule Formation to the Solar Nebula Hypothesis

Chondrules are believed to have formed by flash heating of dust particles in the protoplanetary disk surrounding the young Sun. This process must have reached temperatures up to 2000 K to cause the silicate to melt and subsequently cool, a temperature significantly higher than the ambient temperature of the solar nebula, which was lower and not sufficient to melt silicate (below 1500 K). In addition, the crystal structure of chondrules indicates that they were rapidly cooled, on the order of hours to days, which is inconsistent with the slow cooling rate at the ambient temperature of the solar nebula.
03

Acceptance of Chondrule Formation Theory

Even though the exact process of chondrule formation remains unclear, the high-temperature, short-duration flash heating event hypothesis is widely accepted in the scientific community and is strongly evidenced by characteristics of chondrules.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

Use the Stamy Night Enthusiast \({ }^{\mathrm{TM}}\) program to examine stars that have planets. Select Stars > ExtraSolar Planets in the Favourites menu. In the star map that appears, each circled star has one or more planets. (You can zoom in and zoom out using the buttons at the right side of the toolbar. Click the Info tab at the left of the main window to open the Info pane and open the Other Data panel. Then click on a circled star to learn more about its properties. Note that the information given for each star includes the apparent magnitude, which is a measure of how bright each star appears as seen from Earth. Apparent magnitude uses a "backwards" scale: The greater the value of the apparent magnitude, the dimmer the star. Most of the brighter stars you can see with the naked eye from the Earth have apparent magnitudes between 0 and 1 , while the dimmest star you can see from a dark location has apparent magnitude 6. Are most of the circled stars visible to the naked eye? List at least two stars that are visible, and include their apparent magnitudes.

What is microlensing? How does it enable astronomers to discover extrasolar planets?

Suppose astronomers discovered a planetary system in which the planets orbit a star along randomly inclined orbits. How might a theory for the formation of that planetary system differ from that for our own?

The planet discovered orbiting the star 70 Virginis (" \(70 \mathrm{Vir}\) " in Figure 8-17), 59 light-years from Earth, moves in an orbit with semimajor axis \(0.48 \mathrm{AU}\) and eccentricity \(0.40\). The period of the orbit is \(116.7\) days. Find the mass of 70 Virginis. Compare your answer with the mass of the Sun. (Hint: The planet has far less mass than the star.)

Describe three properties of the solar system that are thought to be a result of how the solar system formed.
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