Deep Sky Objects Quiz

  1. This image of T Tauri shows both T Tauri itself, and Hind’s variable nebula (the bright nebula just below the star). Hind’s variable nebula is thought to contain one or more small stars that are still forming.
  2. Describe what’s happening to the environment of T Tau
  3. What makes T Tauri an interesting object?
  4. What is the evolutionary phase of T Tauri
  5. What will T Tauri become?
  6. Can T Tauri be seen with the naked eye?
  7. What facts about T Tauri can be deduced right away from the name T Tauri?
  8. What is the age of T Tauri?
  9. What is the spectral type of T Tauri?
  10. What causes the variability observed in the brightness of T Tauri?
  11. By what percentage does the brightness of T Tauri vary with time?
  1. T Tauri is a binary system. T Tau A is the bright star normally referred to as T Tau. T Tau B seems itself to be a binary system locate 0.9” south of T Tauri A. The parallax of T Tauri is 5.4 mas. What is the minimum physical separation between T Tauri A and T Tauri B?
  1. The Atacama Large Millimeter Array took the following image of HL Tau.
  2. At what approximate wavelength?
  3. What do the rings signify?
  4. What is the approximate age of HL Tau?
  1. The image on the right of AB Aurigae’s dust disk was obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope
  2. What is AB Aurigae?
  3. What is the distance to AB Aur?
  4. What is noteworthy about the structure of AB Aur’s dust disk?
  5. How does it compare to disks around younger and older young stellar objects?
  6. What does the structure of AB Aur’s disk suggest about possible planet formation?
  1. WISE J0855−0714
  2. What kind of object is WISE 0855−0714, and what known about this object based on its name?
  3. What is the distance to WISE J0855−0714 in parsecs and in light years?
  4. What does it mean to say that WISE J0855−0714 is a high proper motion object? How does its proper motion compare to that of Barnard’s Star and Kapteyn’s Star?
  5. What is the approximate temperature of WISE J0855−0714
  6. How would one decide whether WISE J0855−0714 is a brown dwarf or a rogue planet?
  1. 2MASSJ22282889-431026
  2. What kind of object is 2MASSJ22282889-431026 and what can be deduced from its name?
  3. What is the approximate temperature of this object?
  4. What observations let astronomers to conclude that this object is shrouded in clouds?
  5. What is the expected composition of the clouds?
  1. M42 is famous! What object is it?
  2. Where can you find M42 in the sky?
  3. What sort of object is M42 and what is happening there?
  4. How far away is M42?
  5. What makes M42 glow?
  1. The image to the right shows Barnard 68
  2. What sort of object is Barnard 68?
  3. Why is it dark?
  4. What is the state of matter in Barnard 68?
  5. What is the temperature of Barnard 68
  6. What is inside Barnard 68?
  1. How was HD 95086’s planet discovered? How far is the planet from the star? What evidence suggests the planet is orbiting the star (and is gravitationally bound)? What is the estimated orbital period of the planet? What evidence suggests the system may include additional planets?
  1. GD 165 is a binary system.
  2. GD 165 A has a parallax of 27 mas and a V magnitude of 14.3. What is its absolute magnitude?
  3. GD 165A is brightest at a wavelength of 5500 Angstroms. What is its temperature?
  4. What kind of object is G165A?
  5. GD 165B has a temperature of about 1800 K. At what wavelength is it brightest?
  6. What type of object is GC 165 B? How do astronomers determine this?

Questions you have seen before!

  1. HAT-P-11b was discovered by the transit method. The planet orbits its host star at a semi-major axis of 0.053 AU and a period of 4.89 days. What is the mass of the host star in solar masses, assuming its mass is much larger than the mass of the planet?
  1. 51 Pegasi b was discovered from radial velocity variations. The host star has a mass of 1.05 solar masses. The planet orbits with a period of 4.23 days with a semi-major axis of 0.053 AU. What is the minimum mass the planet can have? How does it compare to the mass of Jupiter?
  1. The full amplitude of the radial velocity variations for the star 51 Peg is about 100 meters per second. What is the displacement of its spectral lines in Angstroms from one side of its orbit to the other at a wavelength of 6000 Angstroms?
  1. The temperature of 51 Peg is about 5570 degrees at its photosphere. At what wavelength does 51 Peg emit the most energy?
  1. WASP-43b orbits a KV7 star with a mass of 0.71 times the mass of the Sun. The orbit of the planet is only 0.8 days. What is the semi-major axis of its orbit in AU?
  1. The host star of WASP-18b is an F6 star with a mass of 1.25 solar masses. The planet orbits with a semi-major axis of only 0.020 AU and a period of 0.94 days. What is the estimated mass of the planet and how does it compare to Jupiter?
  1. WASP-18 has a temperature of 6370 K and a radius of 1.2 solar radii. How does the total luminosity of WASP-18 compare in brightness to the Sun? What is the difference in absolute magnitude between this star and the Sun? (The Sun has a surface temperature of 5,780 K.)
  1. HD 106906b is an F5V star with a mass of about 1.5 solar masses. A planet with a mass of about 11 times the mass of Jupiter has been detected at a minimum projected separation from the star of 650 AU. If its current distance is its semi-major access, what would its orbital period be? The period could be longer or shorter depending on the actual orbit of HD 106906b.
  1. The two stars in the 55 Cnc system have temperatures of 5370 and 3200 K, and radii of 1.15 and 0.3 solar radii. What is the ratio of their luminosities?
  1. 55Cancri is a binary star at a distance of about 41 light years. It consists of a G8Vstar with a mass of 0.95 times the mass of the sun, orbited by a smaller, M3.5V red dwarf with a mass of 0.13 solar masses at a distance of 1065 AU. The G star hosts a family of at least five planets, the inners most of which, planet e, transits.
  2. What is the orbital period of the red dwarf?
  3. Planet e has a mass of 8 times the mass of the Earth, and an orbital period of 0.78 days. What is its semi-major axis?
  1. Kepler-186 is an M1V star at a distance of 500 light years, with a mass of 0.48 solar masses. It is orbited by at least 5 planets.
  2. Planet f has an orbital period of 130 days. What is its semi-major axis?
  3. The temperature of Kepler 186 is about 3790 K. At what wavelength does Kepler-186 emit the most energy?
  1. HR 8799, a young star with a mass of 1.47 solar masses, hosts four exoplanets that have been detected in images. The planets have semi-major axes of 14.5, 24, 38, and 38 AU. What are their orbital periods?