Astromony Homework
HW11: total eclipse of the heart Due: Friday March 31, 2017 Ref: NASA Planetary Fact Sheet – Metric https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/index.html
1. Look up the value of the Sun’s radius and record this value. Write a Chicago-style citation for the source of your information. 2. Fill in the table, below, by
calculating the blocking factor for each object when it transits across the face of our Sun. The first one is done for you to emulate; use exactly 3 significant
figures. Recall that radius = diameter/2.
3. If the detection threshold for a given telescope is 1%, list which of these planets could be detected.
4. If the detection threshold of a given telescope is 0.1%, list which of these planets could be detected.
5. What is the detection threshold, in percent, for discovery of Earth?
6. What does “detection threshold” mean in the context of these calculations? Planet Radius blocking factor blocking factor –moon (km) (as a fraction) (as a percent)
