In: Physics
1. Isolated molecular clouds can have a temperature as low as 12 K and a particle density as great as 1.20×105 particles per cubic centimeter.
Part A What is the minimum mass that a cloud with these properties needs in order to form a star?
2. Suppose you observe a binary system containing a main-sequence star and a brown dwarf. The orbital period of the system is 1 year, and the average separation of the system is 1 AU You then measure the Doppler shifts of the spectral lines from the main-sequence star and the brown dwarf, finding that the orbital speed of the brown dwarf in the system is 25 times greater than that of the main-sequence star. How massive is the brown dwarf?