Problem A : The Southern Hemisphere

Solution:
(A) Canopus

(B) Achernar

(C) LMC (Large Magellanic Cloud)

(D) SMC (Small Magellanic Cloud)

(E) C-97/Pearl Cluster (Open Cluster)

(F) Crux

(G) C-80/ω-Cen Cluster (Globular Cluster)

(H) α-Centauri B/Toliman

Problem B : Stars in the Milky Way

Solution:
Given data:-

Star density = 0.05 star per (light year)3

Milky Way is cylindrical with:-

Radius = diameter/2 = 100,000/2 = 50,000 light years

Thickness = Height = 1,000 light years

50,000 light years

1,000 light years

Volume of cylinder = 𝜋R2H

= 3.14 x (50,000)2 x 1,0000 = 7.85 x 1012 (light year)3

Now, (number of stars)/(volume) = (star density)

Implies that, number of stars (let us denote it as n)

= (volume)x(star density)

= 7.85 x 1012 x 0.05 stars

= 3.925 x 1011 stars

= 392.5 billion stars

Therefore, with the given assumptions, there are around a total of 392.5
billion stars in the Milky Way Galaxy

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Problem C : Gravity at the ISS

Solution:

(a) By NewtonÕs Law of Gravitation, gravitational acceleration of a

particle at the height of ISS will be,

gnew =
gground =

Fraction of change in gravitational acceleration = 1- (gnew/gground)

 =1- ( )

=1-

= P(z)

(b) For ISS, z = 411 kms, and radius of earth = 6371 km

Substituting values, we get

P(z) = 1 - = 1 – (6371/6782)2 = 1 – 0.8825 = 0.1175

The reason astronauts feel weightless is because the

gravitational force pulling is balanced by the centrifugal force
thereby causing net force to be 0. Hence the astronauts feel
that nothing is pulling them down.

(c) 1- = 1-0.01

Implies that, = 0.01

Implies, 1+(z/R) = 10

Therefore, Z/R = 9

Hence, the gravitational acceleration becomes 1% of that at

earthÕs surface at a distance of 9R or 57,339 kms from the
surface of the earth.
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Problem D : Field of View of the ISS

Solution:

(a) sin =

Given, R = 6371 km, h = 410 km

θ 6371
sin =
2 6371 + 410

θ 6371
sin =
2 6781

6371
𝜃 = 2 𝑠𝑖𝑛
6781

𝜃 = 139.94⁰
 ×( . ) × × .
(b) 𝑆= = = 4452.21 km

(c) Area visible = Solid angle of S÷4π

S = 2π(1-cos(90-θ/2))

S÷4π = (1-sinθ/2)/2

sinθ/2 = 0.94

S÷4π = (1-0.94)/2 = 0.06/2 = 0.03

Therefore, the astronauts can see only 3% of the earths area at

any given time.

Problem E : Microwave Background

Solution:
Cosmic Microwave background (hereafter referred to as CMB) is defined
as the leftover radiation from the primordial universe/big bang. It is a
microwave radiation which fills all space in the universe which we have
observed so far. When we observe the background space between stars
and galaxies, with a simple optical telescope, we can see only darkness, but
with a sufficiently sensitive radio telescope, we can see a faint
background glow which is uniformly spread out and the mysterious thing is
it is not associated with any object such as a star/galaxy/nebula/cluster.

CMB is one of the major evidence of the Big Bang theory. One thing to
notice is that the CMB is not completely uniform, but is faintly anisotropic
(non uniform). However, it is difficult to extract fine details of CMB due
to the modification by features such as galaxy clusters.

In 1964, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson were experimenting with a

supersensitive, 6 meter (20 ft) horn antenna originally built to
detect radio waves bounced off Echo balloon satellites. To measure these
faint radio waves, they had to eliminate all
recognizable interference from their receiver. They removed the effects
of radar and radio broadcasting, and suppressed interference from the
heat in the receiver itself by cooling it with liquid helium to −269 °C, only
4 K above absolute zero.
When Penzias and Wilson reduced their data, they found a low, steady,
mysterious noise that persisted in their receiver. This residual noise was
100 times more intense than they had expected, was evenly spread over
the sky, and was present day and night. They were certain that the
radiation they detected on a wavelength of 7.35 cm did not come from
the Earth, the Sun, or our galaxy. After thoroughly checking their
equipment, removing some pigeons nesting in the antenna and cleaning out
the accumulated droppings, the noise remained. Both concluded that this
noise was coming from outside our own galaxy—although they were not
aware of any radio source that would account for it.
At that same time, Robert H. Dicke, Jim Peebles, and David
Wilkinson, astrophysicists at Princeton University away, were preparing to
search for microwave radiation in this region of the spectrum. Dicke and
his colleagues reasoned that the Big Bang must have scattered not only
the matter that condensed into galaxies, but also must have released a
tremendous blast of radiation. With the proper instrumentation, this
radiation should be detectable, albeit as microwaves, due to a
massive redshift.
When his friend Bernard F. Burke, a professor of physics at MIT, told
Penzias about a preprint paper he had seen by Jim Peebles on the
possibility of finding radiation left over from an explosion that filled the
universe at the beginning of its existence, Penzias and Wilson began to
realize the significance of what they believed was a new discovery.