2 Short Questions

1. (5 points) Jupiter emits more energy to space than it receives from the Sun. The internal heat flux of
Jupiter can be quantified by the “intrinsic” temperature of the planet Tint . The effective temperature Teff
4 4 4
of a planet is related to its intrinsic temperature and equilibrium temperature Teq by Teff “ Teq ` Tint .
Given that Jupiter’s albedo is 0.5, its emissivity is 1, its average separation from the Sun is 5.2 AU, and
its effective temperature is 134 K, estimate its intrinsic temperature in Kelvin. You may use the Sun’s
surface temperature equal to 5777 K.

Solution: Solve for equilibrium temperature, by equating solar flux falling on Jupiter to a emission
of a black-body at temperature Teq
ˆ ˙1{2 „ 1{4
RSun p1 ´ Aq
Teq “ TSun , (1)
a 4

Here, A is the albedo,  is the emissivity, a is Jupiter-Sun separation.

˙1{2 „ 1{4
6.96 ˆ 108 m
ˆ
p1 ´ 0.5q
Teq “ 5777 K “ 102 K. (2)
5.2 ˆ 1.5 ˆ 1011 m 4

Plug in to solve for intrinsic temperature

4 1{4
` 4 ˘ “ ‰1{4
Tint “ Teff ´ Teq “ p134 Kq4 ´ p102 Kq4 “ 121 K. (3)

Note: Accept slightly higher values if the student uses the Solar constant rather than Stefan-
Boltzmann law to estimate the Sun’s emitted flux.

2. (5 points) The convection zone of the sun is the major region of the solar interior that is closest to the
surface. It is characterized by convection currents that quickly carry heat to the surface. As a pocket
of gas rises, it expands and becomes less and less dense. For it to continue to rise, the temperature
gradient in the sun must be steeper than the adiabatic gradient, which is the temperature that the gas
would have if it were allowed to expand without any heat input.
In the sun, the adiabatic gradient satisfies T 9 p0.4 , where T is the temperature and p is the pressure at
any given point.
The bottom of the convection zone is about 200,000 kilometers beneath the surface of the sun, and has
a temperature of about 2 ˆ 106 K and a density of about 200 kg{m3 . Estimate an upper bound for the
temperature of the convection zone where the density is 1.2 kg{m3 (the density of air). You may assume
the ideal gas law holds in the convective zone.

Solution: Since the temperature gradient is steeper than the adiabatic gradient, we can get an upper
bound for the temperature by assuming the temperature gradient follows the adiabatic gradient
exactly.
For a fixed amount of gas molecules, we have that p9 VT by the ideal gas law. Also, the adiabatic
gradient has T 9p0.4 , so we get
ˆ ˙0.4
T T 0.4
T9 “ 0.4 .
V V
Using the fact that V is inversely proportional to the density ρ, we have T 9T 0.4 ρ0.4 . Dividing both
sides by T 0.4 , we get T 0.6 9ρ0.4 , so
T 9ρ2{3 .

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 Plugging in the numbers we are given, we have that the temperature when the density is equal to
that of air is ˙2{3
1.2 kg{m3
ˆ
p2 ˆ 106 Kq “ 66000 K .
200 kg{m3

3. (5 points) Galaxies are very hard to spot, even those that are nearest to us. For instance, Andromeda,
despite having an apparent magnitude of 3.44, appears very “dim” in the sky. This is because its light
is very spread out, since its solid angle in the sky is so large (around 3 times that of the Sun!).
Hence, it is often useful to use the surface magnitude of a galaxy, defined as the magnitude that a certain
solid angle of that galaxy has. It is usually measured in mag{arcmin2 .
Show that, in a non expanding universe, the surface magnitude is independent of the distance to the
galaxy.

Solution: Let us begin with

ˆ ˙
Funit
munit ´ mtotal “ ´2.5 log
Ftotal
ˆ ˙
Ωunit
munit ´ mtotal “ ´2.5 log
Ωtotal
munit “ ´2.5 logpΩunit q ` 2.5 logpΩtotal q ` mtotal

Where munit is the surface magnitude, i.e, the magnitude of 1 unit of solid angle; mtotal is the actual
magnitude of the galaxy; Funit is the flux from a unit solid angle; Ftotal is the total flux from the
galaxy; Ωunit is the unit solid angle; and Ωtotal is the total solid angle of the galaxy.

We must show that munit does not depend on the distance d.

For this, we must proceed as follows:
ˆ ˙
A
2.5 logpΩtotal q “ 2.5 log
d2

2.5 logpΩtotal q “ 2.5 logpAq ´ 5 logpdq

where A is the physical area of the galaxy and d is the distance to it.
And also, with the distance modulus equation, we can get:

mtotal “ Mtotal ` 5 logpdq ´ 5

where Mtotal is the absolute magnitude of the galaxy.

Putting everything together, we have:

munit “ ´2.5 logpΩunit q ` 2.5 logpAq ` Mtotal ´ 5

which is independent of distance, as desired.

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4. (5 points) An Earth satellite has the following position (~r) and velocity (~v ) vectors at a given instant:
~r “ 7000î ` 9000ĵpkmq
~v “ ´2î ` 5ĵ pkm{sq
Calculate the eccentricity of the satellite orbit.
b Hint: The eccentricity of the orbit is related to total
2
energy E and angular momentum L as e “ 1 ` G22EL M 2 m3 ; where M is Earth’s mass and m is the mass
of the satellite.

Solution: Method 1: For a particle experiencing a force in the form of F ~prq “ ´ rk2 r̂, the Laplace–Runge–Lenz
vector is defined as follows:
A~ “ P~ ˆ L
~ ´ mkr̂

where P~ is the linear momentum and L

~ is the angular momentum. The eccentricity can be calculated
from the Laplace–Runge–Lenz vector:
|A|
e“
mk
|m~v ˆ p~r ˆ m~v q ´ mGM mr̂|
e“
mGM m
~v ˆ p~r ˆ ~v q
e“| ´ r̂|
GM
e „ 0.53
2
E
Method 2: One can also compute the energy ( m “ v2 ´ GM L
r ) and the angular momentum ( m “
|~r ˆ ~v |) of the orbit and use the following equation to get the eccentricity:
d
E L 2
p q
e “ 1 ` 2 m 2 m 2 „ 0.53
G M

5. (5 points) An astronomer who lives in Chicago (φ “ 41.88o N ; λ “ 87.63o W ) was very bored during
the day of the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere, so he started thinking about the sunset. The
astronomer could not wait to see the sunset on that day. Considering that the true solar time at his
location was 2:30 pm, how long did he have to wait to see the sunset? The declination of the sun on
winter solstice is δ “ ´23.44o .

Solution:
Consider the spherical triangle formed by the Sun, the zenith and the north pole. Let H be the
hour-angle, h be the Sun’s altitude and δ be the declination of the Sun.

sinphq ´ sinpφq sinpδq

cospHq “
cospφq cospδq

Since h “ 0o for the sunrise and the sunset:

cospHq “ ´ tanpφq tanpδq

For the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere, δ “ ´23.44o . We get H “ ˘67.11o “ 4.474 h.
Therefore, the Sun rises 4.474 hours before true solar noon and sets 4.474 hours after true solar
noon. Let δt1 be the time the astronomer has to wait for sunset after 2 : 30 pm.

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 ∆t1 “ 12 : 00pm ` 4.474h ´ 2 : 30pm
∆t1 “ 1h 58min

6 The astronomer would have to wait 1h 58min to see the sunset.

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