Homework Help: Astrophysics

Posted by Judy on Monday, September 18, 2006 at 9:08am.

I'm having trouble understanding the formulas for determining a planet's distance and mass.

A planet's distance is related to the period of revolution and the mass of the central star (e.g, the sun). The relationship is called Kepler's Third law. Distance can also be determined applying trigonometry, using parallax measurement.

The mass of a planet can be determined easily if it has satellites, by again using Kepler's third law. A planet's mass can sometimes be obtained by measuring its "perturbation" effect upon the orbit of a nearby planet or a space probe flying by.

Let us know which formula you are having trouble understanding and one of us w3ill try to provide more specific help.

No one has answered this question yet.

Answer this Question

Related Questions

Astrophysics - You know M(r) = v^2r /G d = distance; s= speed Planet 1: d=2/s=...
physics - A satellite orbits a planet at a distance of 3.80 108 m. Assume that ...
Math - The period of revolution of a planet around the sun is the time it takes ...
Physics 1111: Orbitals and Distance - A planet has two satellite moons. Moon X ...
Astronomy - Orbital speed is the speed with which a planet moves around the sun...
Physics - From your intergalactic survey base, you observe a moon in a circular ...
Physics - A simple pendulum has a period T on the surface of planet Earth. When ...
PHYSICS PLEASE HELP !!!!! - On some planet with a radius of 8,553 km and a mass ...
Physics - The star has a mass n_1 times that of the planet, which orbits this ...
Physics - mass of star = 3.80 x 1030 kilograms mass of planet = 6.35 x 1024 ...

For Further Reading

First Name:
School Subject:
Answer: