If You Discovered a Planet Orbiting Another Star, and the Planet

question 8

Multiple Choice

If you discovered a planet orbiting another star, and the planet had an orbital period of 2 years and a semimajor axis of 1 AU, what would be the mass of its parent star? You can assume the planet's mass is much less than the star's mass.

• A) 0.25 M _\(\odot\)
• B) 0.5 M _\(\odot\)
• C) 1.0 M _\(\odot\)
• D) 1.25 M _\(\odot\)
• E) 2.0 M _\(\odot\)

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Definitions:

Penlight

A small, lightweight flashlight used in medical examinations to check patients' pupil response or throat.

Mechanoreceptors

Sensory receptors in the body that respond to mechanical pressures or distortions, such as touch, pressure, stretch, and vibration.

Chemoreceptors

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Dementia

A chronic or progressive syndrome marked by the deterioration of cognitive function, affecting memory, thinking, orientation, comprehension, calculation, learning capacity, language, and judgment.