Imagine that we have just discovered a new planet in a solar system very much li
ID: 284805 • Letter: I
Question
Imagine that we have just discovered a new planet in a solar system very much like our own. The planet orbits a star that is the same mass and age as the Sun. You and your intrepid group have been assigned to identify some of the basic characteristics of this new world. Your group has collected the observations in your spreadsheet, and you are now expected to report answers to the attached list of questions. The planet is the 3^rd of eight visible planets in this system. It has two somewhat large moons. Part E - Living on Your Planet Suppose you weigh 150 lbs on Earth. What would you weigh on the surface of your | planet? Use the ratio of your planet's gravitational acceleration to Earth's gravitational 1 acceleration for the computation. From your observations, do you think that your planet could support eventual human habitation? a) Would you consider the atmosphere to be ' breathable?" (b) Would you need to bring water? (c) Would you need to bring protection from ultraviolet radiation? (d) Would you need to bring protection from solar flares? (e) Is there any special equipment might future human colonists need to bring to support a long-term colony?Explanation / Answer
1.Since the planet is the third most visible planet in our solar system and has large moons. We know that mercury, venus, earth, mars, jupiter and saturn are the most visible planets of our system. Whereas as mercury, venus have no moons, earth has one and mars has two smaller moons. The larger moons are found in jupiter and saturn. So this planet will be closely similar in terms of visibility and larger moons to Jupiter. So we can assume its acceleration due to gravity approximately equal to Jupiter which is 2.34
To know the weight of a person on the planet we must know the surface gravity of that planet and actual mass of the body
Weight=mass*surface gravity
Given mass of the person=150lbps
Surface gravity=2.34
Therefore weight of the person=150*2.34=351lbps or 159 kg
2a Since the planet is similar to jupiter in terms of composition which is made up mainly of hydrogen and helium. Only traces of oxygen has been found here in the atmosphere. So we can say that the atmosphere here is not breathable.
b. Since the atmosphere has very less oxygen to combines with hydrogen to form water only traces of water has been found in this planet. Also this water is present not in liquid form but in the form of vapour in the form of cloud tops in the atmosphere which is not sufficient to sustain life. So we need to bring water.
c. Like Jupiter, the newly discovered planet has the stronger magnetic field. Due to this stronger magnetic field continuous and intense episodes of powerful emissions takes place from the the planet. Because of this we need to bring protection from these radiations.
d. Since the here the magnetic field is extremely powerful and there is continuous emission of solar flares. To protect from these solar flares we need to bring protection.
e. To establish a long term human colony in the planet we need to find out the means to grow food there like growing microbes, communication, technology to generate continuous production of oxygen. production of water, communication, habitat, devices to protect from radiation etc.