| ASTRONOMY 110 Spring 1999, Section 1 |
Midterm Exam Study Guide |
In general, the questions will be mostly qualitative, as in the quizzes. It
is more important for you to understand formulae in terms of the
proportionality involved, rather than numerical values. For example,
In Kepler's third law, I would expect you to understand the implications of
the orbital period being proportional to a power of the distance from
the Sun, but would not ask you to calculate an orbital period directly. The
same goes for Newton's laws, rotation curves, all the instances of the small
angle formula, the relation between energy and wavelength of a photon, Wien's
law and the Stefan-Boltzmann law. A rough guide to the material follows, with
textbook refs in [  ], class refs in (  ), keywords in italics:
| The Night Sky |
|---|
| The celestial sphere
[P.2] (class 2, 3): celestial poles and equator, coordinates, diurnal
rotation, visibility of stars, altitude of Polaris and latitude, size of the
Earth.
constellations, horizon, zenith, meridian, altitude, azimuth, right ascension, declination, latitude, longitude, Polaris, Eratosthenes |
| Motion of the Sun
[1.1] (class 3 - 5): change in declination of the Sun of the year, motion
of the Sun along the Ecliptic,
solstices and equinoxes in time and space, solar and sidereal day,
implications for the direction of motion of the Earth, tilt of the Earth, tropics
and arctic circles, precession
ecliptic, solstice, equinox, solar day, sidereal day, obliquity of the ecliptic, tropics, precession |
| The Moon
[1.2, 1.3] (class 6,7): Observations of the Moon: phases and times of
rise/set, sidereal and synodic month and implications, synchronous rotation
of the Moon and implications, solar and lunar eclipses, the Saros cycle.
phase, retardation, sidereal month, synodic month, synchronous rotation, solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, Saros cycle |
| Planetary Motions
[1.4] (class 7): paths of the planets in the sky, retrograde loops,
prograde motion, synodic and sidereal periods of planets, observations of
inferior and superior planets
ecliptic, retrograde motion, inferior planet, superior planet |
| Inferences about the Solar System
[p. 121] (class 8): What observations of the night sky tell us about the
Solar System
|
| Sizes and Distances |
|---|
| Distance and Parallax
[P.3, 10.1] (class 8, 9): angular size, distances from parallax, the
relation of angular size to distance, the definition of parsec, the
approximate distance to the nearest star, the definition of Astronomical Unit
and its relation to parsec, the small angle formula
degree, minute second of arc, parallactic angle, parsec, A.U., radian |
| Beginnings of Modern Astronomy |
|---|
| Greek Astronomy
[10.4 (magnitudes)] (class 9, 10): contributions of Aristotle, Aristarchus (not in detail,
except for the implications of failure to measure stellar parallax),
magnitudes as defined by Aristarchus and in modern definition
magnitude |
| The Copernican Revolution
[1.4] (class 10): the Ptolemaic Earth-centered model and epicycles,
the Copernican Sun-centered model, distances in the Solar System, sidereal
periods of the planets, predictions and tests of the two models, phases of
Venus, explanation of retrograde motion, scientific theories
epicycle, model, theory, prediction |
| Tycho and Kepler
[1.5, 1.6] (class 11, 12): Tycho's observations of the sky; precise
positions and timing and Tycho's supernova and its implications for Aristotelian
cosmology, Kepler's analysis of the orbit of Mars, Kepler's laws, Keplerian
rotation curve, implications of Kepler's laws, satellites orbiting the Earth
ellipse, focus, major axis, minor axis, perihelion, aphelion, rotation curve, |
| Galileo
[1.5] (class 12): first telescope observations of the sky --- the Moon,
the moons of Jupiter, phases of Venus --- implications of these observations, the
law of inertia, universal acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface,
projectile motion
telescope, velocity, acceleration, inertia, surface gravity |
| Gravity |
|---|
| Newton's Laws of Motion
[1.7, box 1-1] (class 13): the 3 laws of motion, circular motion, acceleration
toward the center of motion in circular motion, force, mass
mass, force, velocity, acceleration, circular motion |
| Gravitational Force
[1.7, box 1-1] (class 13): Newton's law of universal gravity, the inverse
square law of gravity, comparing the motion of the Moon to a falling body on
the Earth, mass in Kepler's third law.
gravitational force, inverse square law |
| Light and Atoms |
|---|
| Electromagnetic radiation
[2.1,2.2,2.3] (class 14): the electromagnetic spectrum, light as waves and
light as photons, wavelength and color, the speed of light, relation between
energy and wavelength for photons
wavelength, electromagnetic radiation, spectrum, gamma rays, ultraviolet light, visible light, infrared light, radio waves, velocity of light, photon, photon energy, Planck's constant |
| Atoms, Molecules, Ions, Isotopes
[2.6] (class 14, 15): the atomic theory of the elements, nuclei containing
protons and neutrons, the atomic number, electrons, the periodic table, ions
and isotopes, quantized electron energy levels in atoms
atom, nucleus, proton, neutron, electron, ion, isotope, molecule, energy level |
| States of Matter
[Box 2-1] (class 15): solid, liquid, gas, heat and temperature,
temperature scales
Kelvin scale, kinetic energy, heat |
| Emission Line Radiation
[2.5] (class 15): the formation of an emission line spectrum and the
conditions in which it is seen in nature, the unique spectral lines of each
atom and ion, the Balmer series of hydrogen
emission line, nebula, Balmer lines |
| Black Body Radiation
[2.4] (class 16): Black body radiation and the conditions in which it is
seen in nature, black body radiation curves, Wien's law and the relation of
temperature to color, Stefan-Boltzmann law and the realtion of brightness to
temperature and size
black body radiation, Wien's law, Stefan-Boltzmann law |
| Stars |
|---|
| Luminosity and Sizees of stars
[10.4 (some of), Figure 10.12] (class 17): definition of luminosity and
relation of luminosity,
size and temperature from Stefan-Boltzmann law. (We haven't covered the
relation to distance yet, in class, so section 10.4 is a bit incomplete as
yet; follow the class notes.), what the HR diagram is (not the details of
the HR diagram, just what it is a plot of)
luminosity, dwarf star, giant star |
| Temperatures of stars (1)
[10.5] (class 17): measuring temperature from the continuum light from
stars, the color index
color index, blue star, red star |
| Absorption spectrum of stars
[2.5, 2.6, 10.6] (class 17): The observation of the Fraunhofer lines in
the Sun's spectrum, the formation of absorption lines and the
unique absorption line spectrum of each atom and ion, the physical conditions
for the formation of absorption lines in stars, why this means the insides of
stars must be cooler than the outside
absorption line, absorption spectrum, Fraunhofer lines, atmosphere of a star |
| Spectral Types of Stars
[10.6] (class 18): The clssification of stars by spectral type, the
spectral sequence, the relation of spectral types to temperature of the star,
the relation of spectral types to the composition of a star
spectral type, O, B, A, F, G, K, M stars |