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Chapter 8: Problem 22

What is the radial velocity method used to detect planets orbiting other stars? Why is it difficult to use this method to detect planets like Earth?

Short Answer

Expert verified
The radial velocity method is a method for detecting planets by observing the shifts in the star's spectral lines due to the star's movement (caused by the planet's gravitational pull). However, detecting Earth-like planets is challenging as the shifts caused by an Earth-like planet are minuscule, and therefore, require extremely precise measurements.

Step by step solution

01

Understand the Radial Velocity Method

The radial velocity method is a way to detect the presence of planets around a star. The gravitational tug of a planet orbiting a star causes the star to move in a small 'circle', shifting forwards and backwards. As the star moves towards us, its light shifts towards the blue end of the spectrum (blue-shifted). Conversely, when the star moves away from us, the light shifts towards the red end (red-shifted). By observing these shifts, astronomers can extrapolate information about the planets that are causing them, including their mass and orbital period.
02

Challenges of Radial Velocity Method

Detecting Earth-like planets using the radial velocity method is difficult due to a few reasons. Firstly, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun causes it to move at a speed of about 30 kilometers per second. However, our Sun only moves at a speed of about 9 centimeters per second due to the Earth's gravitational pull, which is much slower in comparison. Secondly, the red and blue shifts caused by an Earth-like planet are so small that they are hard to measure. For example, Earth would only cause the Sun's light to shift by a maximum of 0.1 parts per million. Therefore, very precise measurements are required, making it difficult to detect Earth-like planets.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In 2006 a planet called XO-1b was discovered using the transit method. Search the World Wide Web for information about this planet and how it was discovered. What unusual kind of telescope was used to make this discovery? Have other extrasolar planets been discovered using the same kind of telescope?

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Why is it thought that a disk appeared in the solar nebula?

A 1999 news story about the discovery of three planets orbiting the star Upsilon Andromedae ("Ups And" in Figure 8-17) stated that "the newly discovered galaxy, with three large planets orbiting a star known as Upsilon Andromedae, is 44 light-years away from Earth." What is wrong with this statement?
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