Download Test 2 Review Topics

ASTRON 100 Test 2 Review Sheet
Please note that the exam may contain questions not on this sheet, and that not all of these questions will
necessarily appear on the exam. Remember to review relevant activities and homework.
Chapter 5: “Light & Telescopes”
1.
2.
3.
4.
Describe what an electromagnetic wave is.
Recall the speed of light in a vacuum with corresponding units.
Are we viewing stars as they are now or as they were in the past?
In a science fiction movie, when a spaceship explodes, we see and hear the explosion instantly. What is
wrong with this scenario?
5. Electromagnetic radiation behaves both as a wave and as a particle (true or false).
6. What is intensity?
7. Be able to determine which band of the electromagnetic spectrum (gamma-rays  radio) has the highest
or lowest λ, ν, and energy.
8. Determine which star is hotter from the color.
9. What is an atmospheric window?
10. Recall whether a lens or mirror is used as the primary objective for refracting and reflecting telescopes.
What is the major problem with each of these types of optical telescopes?
11. Describe light gathering power, resolving power, and magnification. Identify applications of these
properties.
12. What is the most and least important function of an optical telescope?
13. What are the advantages of space based telescopes?
14. What type of telescope can be used during the day or through clouds?
15. What is an interferometer?
16. What is adaptive optics?
Chapter 6: Atoms & Starlight
17. Differentiate between ions, isotopes, and regular atoms.
18. Describe how atoms emit and absorb light.
19. Why is the atomic spectrum of each element different?
20. How is Wien’s law (the graph) used to determine the color of a star? What is Wien’s Law?
21. What is the wavelength of maximum emission?
22. What are the 4 types of atomic spectra? Which are observed from stars?
23. Determine whether a star is moving toward us or away from us from its Doppler shift.
24. Do stars twinkle or does the atmosphere twinkle?
25. Why does the sky appear to be blue at mid-day and red at sunset?
Chapter 7: Our Sun
26. Describe how energy is transported in the Sun (two methods).
27. Sketch or list the layers of the Sun, in the correct order, and recall the processes occurring in each layer.
28. How does density change from the center to the outermost layer of the Sun?
29. How does temperature change from the center to the outermost layer of the Sun?
30. What is granulation and what does it indicate?
31. Describe a sunspot and how it occurs (Babcock model).
32. What are the sunspot cycles?
33. Describe or recognize the various manifestations of solar activity (Zeeman Effect, Prominence,
Filament, and Solar Flare).
34. How does solar activity affect us on Earth?
35. How do stars produce photons?
36. What is the basic proton-proton chain?
37. What determines how long a star will live?
Chapter 8: “Star Properties”
38. What is the only direct method for measuring distance?
a. Sketch the system that shows this measurement.
b. Recall the formula.
c. Be able to calculate a distance in parsecs and light years.
39. Differentiate between intrinsic and apparent brightness.
40. Differentiate between luminosity and flux. How do they depend on temperature?
41. How does luminosity depend on mass?
42. What property of a star determines its temperature, energy output, and brightness?
43. Spectral classes are based primarily on what property of a star?
44. Recall the order of the spectral classes based on temperature/color.
45. Be able to sketch, graph, and interpret, an H-R diagram.
46. Why are binary stars important; what property can be determined if there is a binary system?
47. What are the three methods for observing binary systems?
"You can do anything if you work hard.”
John L. Moeller