Author Question: A planet whose distance from the Sun is 3 AU would have an orbital period of how many Earth-years? ... (Read 102 times)

imanialler · **on:** Jul 27, 2018

A planet whose distance from the Sun is 3 AU would have an orbital period of how many Earth-years?

A) 3
B)
C)
D) 9
E) 81

Question 2

What are the mechanisms that restrict the mass range of stars to about 0.1 to 100 solar masses?

What will be an ideal response?

Jadwiga9 · **Reply #1 on:** Jul 27, 2018

Answer to Question 1

B

Answer to Question 2

The low end is set by the resistance to gravitational contraction provided by degeneracy pressure. Stars less than about 0.1 (actually 0.08 ) solar masses do not have enough gravity to compress their cores to high enough temperatures to begin nuclear fusion. The high end is set by radiation pressure: stars more massive than 1-200 solar masses produce so much light that they blow off their outer atmospheres. More mass cannot, therefore, be sustained.