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Date November 2018 Marks available 2 Reference code 18N.3.SL.TZ0.11
Level Standard level Paper Paper 3 Time zone 0 - no time zone
Command term Distinguish Question number 11 Adapted from N/A

Question

A distinctive feature of the constellation Orion is the Trapezium, an open cluster of stars within Orion.

Mintaka is one of the stars in Orion.

Distinguish between a constellation and an open cluster.

[2]
a.

The parallax angle of Mintaka measured from Earth is 3.64 × 10–3 arc-second. Calculate, in parsec, the approximate distance of Mintaka from Earth.

[1]
b.i.

State why there is a maximum distance that astronomers can measure using stellar parallax.

[1]
b.ii.

Markscheme

In cluster, stars are gravitationally bound OR constellation not ✔

In cluster, stars are the same/similar age OR in constellation not ✔

Stars in cluster are close in space/the same distance OR in constellation not ✔

Cluster stars appear closer in night sky than constellation ✔

Clusters originate from same gas cloud OR constellation does not ✔

a.

d = 275 «pc» ✔

b.i.

because of the difficulty of measuring very small angles ✔

b.ii.

Examiners report

[N/A]
a.
[N/A]
b.i.
[N/A]
b.ii.

Syllabus sections

Option D: Astrophysics » Option D: Astrophysics (Core topics) » D.1 – Stellar quantities
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Option D: Astrophysics » Option D: Astrophysics (Core topics)
Option D: Astrophysics

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