PHYS0003/PHYS1650 - Nature of the Universe

Solution of Assignment 1
Due date: 5:00pm, October 3, 2014
1. Bacteria < Great Wall < Earth < M31 Galaxy < Distance to Quasars
< Sizes of the Universe.
2. 1040 .
3. This is a simple problem in trigonometry. The diameter of the Moon
is
2 384000km tan(0.5 /2) = 3350km .
(1)
(If you know the small angle formula for tan, then the diameter is
384000km(3.1415 0.5/180) = 3350km .

(2)

Note that we have to convert the angle to radian.) (Distance here

means the distance from the center of the Earth to the center of the
Moon. Students who thought that it is the surface-to-surface distance
or similar will also get full credit.)
4. (a) On the day of vernal equinox, the Sun is on the celestial equator.
Thus, the Sun rises due east. When it is approaching the summer
solstice, the Sun is moving north in the celestial sphere and the Suns
rising direction will also move north. On the day of summer solstice,
the Sun will rise in the northern most direction of a year.
(b) Similar to part (a), only that now, the Sun is moving south. Please
refer to the third figure in the Section The Motion of the Sun in
Chapter 2.
5. (a) Since the celestial north pole is at the ground, the latitude is 0 (or
at the equator).
(b)(c)

6. City G is the best. In City H, Comet Nature is below the horizon and
cannot be seen. In City K, the Sun does not set on Christmas Eve (Dec
24).
7. First of all, within one day, The Sun will not rise or set. It will move
horizontally, making a circle on the sky. The altitude of this circle will
change within one year. On the day of vernal equinox, the altitude of
this circle is zero and the Sun will move around the horizon. As time
goes by, the altitude will increase, and the Sun will be highest in the
sky, making an angle of 23.5 with the ground, on the day of summer
solstice. Then, the altitude will decrease and reach zero on the day of
autumnal equinox. One cannot see the Sun in winter.