Question: When a planet orbits around a star, the star also moves in an orbit. Since it is much more massive than the planet, the stars
When a planet orbits around a star, the star also moves in an “orbit.” Since it is much more massive than the planet, the star’s orbital radius rstar is much smaller than that of the planet rplanet. Work out how the ratio rstar /rplanet depends on the ratio of the masses. Discuss how this effect could be used to detect the presence of planets in distant solar systems. For simplicity, assume circular orbits.
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