On October 15, 2001, a planet was discovered orbiting around the star HD 68988. Its orbital distance was measured to be 10.5 million kilometers from the center of the star, and its orbital period was estimated at 6.3 days. What is the mass of HD 68988? Express your answer in kilograms and in terms of our sun’s mass.

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alexandrebaud43 · Accepted Answer

The planet has an orbital radius r=10.5×109m and the orbital period is T=6.3days. The period T of the planet is given in days, so the period in seconds is  T=(6.3days)(86400s1day)=54.43×104s  Equation (13.12) states the relationship between the period T and the distance r in the form  T=2πr(32)GM (1)  Where M is the mass of the star and G is the general constant of gravity and equals 6.673×10−11N⋅m2kg2. We solve equation (1) for M to be in the form  M=4π2r3T2G (2)  Now, we plug the values for r, T and G into equation (2) to get M  Ms=4π2r3T2G  =4π2(10.5×109m)3(54.43×104s)2(6.67×10−11N⋅m2kg2)  =2.3×1030kg  The mass of the Sun is MSun=1.99×1030kg, so in terms of the mass of the Sun, the mass of the star is  M=(2.3×1030kg)(MSun1.99×1030kg)=1.2MSun

temzej9 · Accepted Answer

Sun&#039;s mass is equivalent to&amp;nbsp;1.99×1030kg. The calculated mass of star HD68988 is&amp;nbsp;2.3×1030kg. The mass of the star is,&amp;nbsp;M=(2.3×1030kg)⋅(1M1.99×1030kg)=1.16M.&amp;nbsp;Therefore, the mass of HD68988 is 1.16M.

On October 15, 2001, a planet was discovered orbiting around the star

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