Question

You are embedded in the Kepler program in which planetary systems are being detected around other stars. You detect a possible planet in orbit around a star whose peak wavelength of radiation is 0.38 microns, which is considerably shorter than that of our Sun. Calculate the “goldilocks distance” for this system, the orbital distance from this star at which you would expect a planet to have a surface temperature of 0°C. (Assume the planet has an albedo of 0.3, and ignore the role of any atmosphere it might have; furthermore, assume that the radius of the star is that of our Sun, 0.7 million km.)

Answer 1