On October 15, 2001, a planet was discovered orbiting around the star HD68988. 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.

Respuesta :

Answer:

Mass of HD 68988 is ≅ 1.2 times the mass of sun.

Explanation:

Given :

Orbital distance [tex]r = 10.5 \times 10^{9}[/tex] m

Time period [tex]T = 6.3[/tex] days

Now we have to convert time period in seconds

[tex]T = 6.3 \times 24 \times 60\times 60 = 544320[/tex] sec

From the kepler's third law,

  [tex]T = \frac{2\pi r^{\frac{3}{2} } }{\sqrt{Gm} }[/tex]

  [tex]m = \frac{4\pi^{2} r^{3} }{T^{2}G }[/tex]

Where [tex]G = 6.67 \times 10^{-11}[/tex]

   [tex]m = \frac{4\pi^{2} (10.5 \times 10^{9} )^{3} }{(544320)^{2} 6.67 \times 10^{-11} }[/tex]

   [tex]m[/tex] ≅ [tex]2.32 \times 10^{30}[/tex] Kg

Now we have to calculate mass of HD 68988 in terms of sun mass,

Mass of sun = [tex]1.99 \times 10^{30}[/tex] Kg

Therefore mass of HD 68988 is  [tex]\frac{2.32 \times 10^{30}}{1.99 \times 10^{30}}[/tex] ≅ 1.2 times the mass of sun.