What foundational principle allows astronomers to determine the mass of astronomical objects based on their observed motions?
Answer
Applying the laws of gravity to observed motions
The foundational principle for weighing objects ranging from planets to entire galaxies involves applying Newton's laws of gravity to the observed orbital periods and separations or velocities of the objects moving within the system.
Related Questions
What foundational principle allows astronomers to determine the mass of astronomical objects based on their observed motions?For spiral galaxies, what kinematic plot is the primary method used to establish the total mass budget, including dark matter?If a spiral galaxy's mass consisted only of visible stars and gas, how would the orbital speed of material expectedly change as the distance from the core increases?What observation regarding the rotation curve of a spiral galaxy provides the most compelling evidence for the existence of dark matter?Which technique is specifically used to estimate the mass of elliptical galaxies due to their complex, three-dimensional stellar motions?What specific spectral line emission allows astronomers to map the speed of gas clouds far out into the halo of a spiral galaxy?Which phenomenon provides an entirely independent, geometric method for mapping the mass distribution, visible or dark, of a foreground galaxy?What observation characterizes Strong Lensing used in mass determination?How is the stellar mass component of a galaxy estimated?For a typical spiral galaxy, what mass component usually constitutes the vast majority of its total mass?How do the measurements derived from rotation curves fundamentally differ from those derived from gravitational lensing?