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Author Question: What is Olbers' paradox, and what is its resolution? What will be an ideal ... (Read 59 times)

jayhills49

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on: Jul 27, 2018
What is Olbers' paradox, and what is its resolution?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

You have observed the wobble in the velocity curves of two otherwise identical stars. Star A has a period of 6 months and Star B has a period of 1 year. What can you say about these stars?
 
  A) It is impossible to say anything about the planets orbiting these stars.
  B) Star B must have a planet like Earth.
  C) Star A's planet must be closer than Star B's planet.
  D) Star A's planet is more massive than Star B's planet.


SomethingSomething

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Reply #1 on: Jul 27, 2018
Answer to Question 1

If the universe were infinite and unchanging, the night sky should be as bright as the Sun because every line of sight should eventually end up looking at the surface of a star somewhere, and the total of all this light would make for a uniformly bright sky. Yet clearly it becomes dark when the Sun sets and that is the paradox. The resolution to this is for the universe to be either finite or changing. In particular, if the universe had a beginning, we would only be able to see a finite number of starsthose that lie within our cosmological horizonand thus we can have a dark night sky.

Answer to Question 2

C


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