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Transit Problem available in RTF --||-- PDF format --||-- HTML below

Also: Advanced Transit Problem

The first plot below shows the intensity of light from a star during seven days, dimmed by a planet crossing in front. The star has a radius of 2 (10)⁹ meters.

a) What is the orbital period of the planet (in days)?

b) What is the radius of the planet (in meters)? Show your work.

 

c) At your telescope with a spectrometer, you take a spectrum of the star every minute during those same 7 days, allowing you to measure the wavelength (λ) of a spectral line from hydrogen in the star. Sketch a plot of the Doppler shift, Δλ, during those same 7 days. Use the plot axes provided to make your sketch.