On the Astronomy Final!

  1. The Night Sky
  2. Altitude & Azimuth
  3. Horizon
  4. Zenith & Nadir
  5. Celestial Sphere
  6. What it is
  7. Diurnal/Annual Motion
  8. Celestial poles – no diurnal/annual motion
  9. Celestial Equator
  10. Right Ascension/Declination
  11. Ecliptic
  12. Zodiac what it is, not every constellation
  13. What is a constellation
  14. Asterisms – be able to recognize them and their stars
  15. Conjunctions/oppositions...inferior/superior planets
  16. Seasons
  17. Axial tilt 23° 27”...reason for seasons
  18. Equinoxes and Solstices
  19. What they are
  20. Where they are on the Celestial Sphere
  1. History of Astronomy
  2. Geocentric vs Heliocentric Models
  3. Major proponents of each model
  4. Eudoxus, Aristarchus, Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho, Galileo & Kepler
  5. Problems with each model
  6. Geocentric ...Retrograde motion of planets
  7. Heliocentric ... lack of apparent parallax
  8. Solutions to each problem:
  9. (Geo) Epicycles.... increasing complexity
  10. (Helio) That stars are unthinkably far away
  11. Shape and Size of the Earth
  12. Since Aristotle all “old world” people knew Earth was a sphere
  13. 2-reasons:
  14. Shape of Shadow of Earth on the Moon (in an Eclipse)
  15. All stars not visible everywhere
  16. Size of Earth
  17. Aristarchus proves Sun is larger than Earth and Moon is smaller
  18. Eratosthenes calculated the size accurately ca 250 BC!
  19. Galileo’s Discoveries (using a telescope) and what they mean:
  20. Confirming the Heliocentric Model
  21. Size of Universe/Stars are Suns
  22. Planets & Moons are worlds
  23. Inertia
  24. Kepler’s 3 Laws
  25. Know the 3-laws
  26. Solve a 3rd law problem
  1. Newton’s laws
  2. 3 for Motion
  3. Universal Gravity
  4. All masses attract each other
  5. Directly related to mass.
  6. Obeys the inverse square law
  7. How these laws affect Astronomy:
  8. Surface Gravity
  9. Orbits
  10. Satellites are falling just missing the planet/star
  11. Orbital Velocity
  12. Speed and shape of orbit
  13. Escape Velocity
  1. Optics
  2. What Light is
  3. Ray, Wave or Particle
  4. Electro-magnetic waves
  5. Wave-particle Duality
  1. Colors are different wavelengths/frequencies of light
  1. c = fλ (f & λ are inversely related)
  2. Visible light λ= 400-700nm
  3. Roy G Biv (increasing f)
  4. White Light and a spectrum
  5. The Electro-magnetic spectrum
  6. Radio, Micro, IR, Visible, UV X-rays and Gamma Rays (Increasing f)
  1. Know the properties of the different EM-waves
  2. which pass through the atmosphere
  3. which are dangerous
  4. Energy is directly related to frequency
  5. Relationship between color and temp of stars
  6. 3 types of Spectra
  7. Photo-electric effect
  8. Source of each type
  9. Continuous ... Hot Solid/ high pressure Gas (star)
  10. Emission Spectrum...bright lines...Hot Gas
  11. Absorption Spectrum...dark lines...passed thru cold gas
  12. E/A spectra act like elemental fingerprints
  13. Doppler effect...Red & Blue Shifts.
  1. 5 ways light changes direction.

Reflection, Refraction, diffraction, scattering, gravity

  1. what each is
  2. basic rules
  3. Optical instruments
  4. No optical effects, aberrations or image questions!

But know why reflectors make better big telescopes

  1. Telescopes
  2. Properties of the parts of a telescope
  3. Properties of the scopes
  4. Properties of the image
  5. How the three above are related
  6. Types of telescopes
  1. What we’ve learned about the Earth
  2. Numerical Stats: Radius, Mass Density, Orbital Radius
  3. Layers of the Lithosphere
  4. Composition of the Lithosphere
  1. Temperature Scales and Units
  2. Know the 3 used Fahrenheit, Celsius and Kelvin
  3. Zero on Each scale and Absolute Zero
  4. Know what a Light-year, and an Astronomical Unit are