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•Question 2 (1 point) In my novel Star
Dragon, the characters
fly to a distant binary star system, SS Cygni. SS Cygni is a type of binary system in which a white dwarf star is consuming a main sequence K star. If
the average separation
of the stars is 1.5 million km, and the orbital period is 6.6 hours, what is the combined
mass of the stars?
(Hint: it will help to immediately convert 6.6 hours to years and 1.5 million km to
AU.)
a.0.6 solar masses.
•b.6 solar masses.
• c.1.8 solar masses.
•d.18 solar masses
•e.1.3 solar masses.
•Either
solve from basic considerations (mass of KV star and white dwarf) or from Kepler’s
Law: Mass = a3/P2, with unit conversions to AUs and
years. Get 1.8 solar masses. Cassandra should work on the
board.
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