Exam 13: Other Planetary Systems: The New Science of Distant Worlds

You observe a star very similar to our own Sun in size and mass.This star moves very slightly back and forth in the sky once every four months,and you attribute this motion to the effect of an orbiting planet.What can you conclude about the orbiting planet?

The Doppler technique only provides a measure of the minimum mass of a planet because

The astrometric technique looks for planets with careful measurements of a star's

What are the two main differences between extrasolar planetary systems discovered to date and our Solar System?

The density of a planet can be determined by combining Doppler and astrometric measurements.

The star Rho Cancri B has about the same mass as our Sun,and the planet discovered around it orbits somewhat closer than Mercury orbits our Sun.The mass of the planet is estimated to be 1.1 times the mass of Jupiter.Why,according to our theory of solar system formation,is it surprising to find a planet the size of Rho Cancri B's planet orbiting at this distance?

A planet is detected via the Doppler technique.The shape of the periodic velocity pattern tells us

Planetary orbits that are face-on to our line of sight produce no Doppler shift in the stellar spectrum.

HD 209458b was the first extrasolar planet whose size was measured.It has a radius of 1.43 Jupiter radii and mass of 0.63 Jupiter masses.Calculate its average density in grams per cubic centimeter.How does this compare with Jupiter?

The transit method of planet detection works best for

Why are many of the newly detected extrasolar planets called "hot Jupiters"?

In essence,most of the extrasolar planets discovered to date have been found by

Describe one of the future planned space missions to search for extrasolar planets.How will it improve on current observations?