Gravitation and Black Holes
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At the Galaxy's Core. Astronomers have observed a small, massive object at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. A ring of material orbits this massive object; the ring has a diameter of about 17.0 light years and an orbital speed of about 130 km/s. (See attached file for full problem description)
A) Determine the mass of the massive object at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. Give your answer in kilograms.
M =
B) Give your answer in solar masses (one solar mass is the mass of the sun).
Take the mass of the Sun to be 1.99 x 10^30 kg
M =
C) Observations of stars, as well as theories of the structure of stars, suggest that it is impossible for a single star to have a mass of more than about 50 solar masses. Can this massive object be a single, ordinary star?
yes
no
D) Many astronomers believe that the massive object at the center of the Milky Way galaxy is a black hole. If so, what must the Schwarzschild radius of this black hole be?
Take the speed of light to be 3.00 x 10^8 m/s
Rs =
E) Would a black hole of this size fit inside the earth's orbit around the sun?
yes
no
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Solution Summary
This in-depth solution contains step-by-step calculation and brief explanations to determine the mass of the object and what it is. All formulas and workings are shown.
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