ASTRONOMY 110
Spring 1999, Section 1
Midterm Exam Study Guide

The midterm is on Monday, March 1, in class. It will be a multiple choice/T-F exam, similar in format to the quizzes. The exam will cover the classes up to and including the discussion of Spectral Types on Wednesday, Feb 24 (class 18).

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