Reference no: EM133472187

Question

1. Imagine you live in a Martian colony and are tasked with using geometric parallax to determine a specific star's (a) distance away and (b) intrinsic luminosity. You're familiar with such methods from Earth. Briefly explain the steps you will take to do this task, including the measurements you must make. Then identify the way the use of one of these methods would differ on Mars compared with Earth.

2. Imagine that you are an extraterrestrial creature who lives in the extrasolar planetary system where Proxima-b resides. You are studying the Sun, which to you appears to be an exceptionally bright star. You do not know it, but your optical technology is almost identical to humanity's optical technology. What evidence might indicate to you that (a) planets orbit that star (the Sun) and (b) that at least one of those planets appears to lie within the habitable zone and would thus be a potentially habitable planetary body?

3. If we want to reach the planet PSR B1620-26 b, explain why we will need to make some big "wrinkle in time" discoveries or find ways to live much, much longer.

4. Why does astronomy use different distance units than we typically use daily? Come up with and describe an appropriate application for using (a) light years, (b) light minutes, and (c) light seconds. What is another field of study that uses different units than what we use in daily life?

5. After reading and learning about confidence intervals, what areas of your life could you apply this concept to? Summarize possible situations, scenarios, or aspects of your life where confidence intervals might be useful in helping you feel fairly confident about results and explain these possibilities.