Astronomy 3019: Homework 5
Due at 1:55 pm Nov 19th
Your Name:
Name(s) of other students in the class that you worked with:
Instructions: To receive partial/full credit you must show your work or explain your answer
thoroughly. Please circle your final answer to each problem if it is a number.
1. (10 points) Which has a higher density: a 2.4 M⊙ neutron star or a xenon nucleus (54 protons and 77
neutrons) with a radius, r ≈ 5.0×10−15 m? How many times more or less dense is the neutron star? You
may need to recall the mass-radius relationship for degenerate matter/Neutron Stars (from the notes or
book).
Equation (18.41) gives the radius of a neutron star:
−1/3
2.4 M⊙
RNS ≈ 11 km = 9.2 km
1.4 M⊙
3MNS 3 × 2.4 M⊙ × 1.99 × 1030 kg M−1
⊙ 3
ρNS = 3 = = 1.5 × 1018 kg/m
4πRNS 4π × (9.2 × 103 m)3
The mass of a Xe nucleus is 131 × 1.67 × 10−27 = 2.19 × 10−25 kg.
3MXe 3 × 2.19 × 10−25 kg 3
ρXe = 3 = = 4.2 × 1017 kg/m
4πRXe 4π × (5.0 × 10−15 m)3
ρNS /ρXe = 3.5
A neutron star has a higher density than an xenon nucleus!
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2. A nearby star has a radial velocity of 12.3 km s−1 , a parallax of 1.72 mas (milliarcseconds), and a proper
motion of 4.85 mas yr−1 .
(a) (4 points) What is the tangential velocity of the star in km s−1 ?
(19.23): ′′ −1
µ yr 4.74(4.85 × 10−3 )
vt = 4.74 ′′
km s−1 = = 13.4 km s−1
π 1.72 × 10−3
(b) (4 points) What is the space velocity of the star in km s−1 ?
q p
V = vr2 + vt2 = 12.32 + 13.42 km s−1 = 18.2 km s−1
3. We are going to examine what happens when various objects pass near black holes of various sizes.
For the first four parts, you may find the following information useful. The star S2, which has a mass
of 15 M⊙ and a radius of 7 R⊙ , orbits Sgr A∗ with a semi-major axis length, a = 920 AU, a period,
P = 14.5 yr, and an eccentricity, e = 0.867.
(a) (5 points) Calculate the mass of Sgr A∗ in M⊙ .
We can use the following simplified version of Kepler’s Third Law, which is already done for you in
the book (19.63):
a3 9203
MBH = AU 2
= = 3.7 × 106 M⊙
Pyr 14.52
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(b) (5 points) What is the star’s distance in AU from the black hole at pericenter (point of closest
approach; analogous to perihelion)?
Note, the relevant equation, which is in the reading, though we skipped in actual lecture, is:
dp = a(1 − e) (1)
The closest approach to to the black hole is dp = a(1 − e) = 920(1 − 0.867) AU = 120 AU .
(c) (6 points) What is the ripping or tidal disruption radius for this star in AU?
The ripping radius is (19.68):
1/3 1/3
3.7 × 106 M⊙
MBH
rrip ≈ r⋆ ≈ (7 R⊙ )
M⋆ 15 M⊙
6.96 × 105 km 1 AU
≈ 439 R⊙ × × ≈ 2 AU
1 R⊙ 1.5 × 108 km
(d) (4 points) Calculate the ratio of the distances in parts (b) and (c). Does the star come close to
getting ripped apart?
No, this is comfortably far away from the black hole, since it is ripped apart at dp ≲ rrip and
dp 120
= = 60 ≫1
rrip 2
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(e) (12 points) For this final part, you will find out at what distance from a black hole you would be
torn apart! Starting with the equation for tidal force, ∆F ≈ GM ml/r3 , and assuming that the
force required to be torn apart is Frip = 3.0 × 105 N, calculate rrip in terms of the black hole mass
M (note: m is your mass and l is your height). At what black hole mass would you be ripped
apart exactly at the Schwarzschild radius? If you wanted to survive to see what is inside the event
horizon, should you choose to go into a high-mass or a low-mass black hole?
N.B. This is in section 18.3 of the book. Each person’s answer will be different depending on the
values for your mass and height, but only by a small amount since the ripping radius only weakly
depends on these variables. For your instructor...
1/3 1/3
6.67 × 10−11 × 80. × 1.9 × M
GM ml
rrip = = = 3.2 × 10−5 MBH (kg)1/3
Frip 3.0 × 105
2GM 2 × 6.67 × 10−11 × M
rSch = = = 1.5 × 10−27 MBH (kg)
c2 (3.0 × 10−8 )2
rrip 3.2 × 10−5 MBH (kg)1/3
= = 2.2 × 1022 MBH (kg)−2/3 = 1
rSch 1.5 × 10−27 MBH (kg)
M (kg) = (2.2 × 1022 )3/2 = 3.2 × 1033 kg
M= 1600 M⊙ ∼ 2000 M⊙ as in the text below (18.58)
You want to visit higher-mass black holes, which will not rip you since their space is not as severely
bent as you approach the event horizon.
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