Download Geology Chapter 24 – Studying the Sun

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Geology Chapter 24 – Studying the Sun
Michael Wysession Washington University
Space and Time Reflecting telescopes are usually used to collect visible light because they can be built larger
and more inexpensively than refractors. Radio telescopes can "see" objects not viewable with visible light
because of intervening interstellar dust. The Doppler shift of light is used to determine if objects are moving
away or toward us. The sun can be divided into four layers: the interior, photosphere, chromosphere, and
corona. The photosphere is the visible surface of the sun.
Forces and Motion The solar wind consists of protons and electrons generated from the sun's corona.
Sunspots, cooler regions of the photosphere, come and go in an ll-year cycle. The sun's surface is turbulent,
occasionally erupting in prominences and generating solar flares.
Matter and Energy All luminous objects emit electromagnetic radiation, which takes the form of gamma rays,
X-rays, ultraviolet and visible light, infrared radiation, microwaves, and radio waves. Light behaves as both a
particle and a wave in different situations. The spectroscopic emission and absorption spectra are used to
determine the composition of stars and the matter of interstellar space. The sun generates light through the
fusion of hydrogen to form helium, and is about 15 million degrees K in its interior.
Earth as a System Telescopes in space like the Hubble telescope produce the clearest images because they are
not distorted by Earth's atmosphere.
Section 1 – The Study of Light
1. What are astronomers in the business of?
2. What is basic to modern astronomy?
3. What does electromagnetic radiation include?
4. The arrangement of these waves according to their wavelengths and frequencies is called the
___________________________________.
5. All ___________________, regardless of ___________________, travels through the
___________________ of space at the speed of ___________________, or 300,000 kilometer4s per second.
6. What is a wavelength?
7. What narrow band of electromagnetic radiation can we see?
8. Using a prism, visible light can be ___________________ into its component ___________________ in the
order of their ___________________, producing the familiar rainbow of colors.
9. What are photons?
10. Each ___________________ has a specific amount of ___________________, which is related to its
___________________ in a simple way: ___________________ wavelengths have ___________________
energetic photons.
11. Which theory of light – the wave theory or the particle theory is correct?
12. What is spectroscopy?
13. What is a continuous spectrum produced by?
14. What does incandescent mean?
15. How is absorption spectrum produced?
16. How is an emission spectrum produced?
17. When the ___________________ of a star is studied, the ___________________ lines act as
“___________________.” These lines identify the ___________________ present and thus the star’s
___________________ composition.
18. What does the Doppler effect refer to?
19. How is the Doppler effect used in astronomy?
Section 2 – Tools for Studying Space
20. What do optical telescopes contain?
21. Who was considered to be the first person to have used telescopes for astronomical observations?
22. What does a refracting telescope use to bend or refract light?
23. The most important lens in a ___________________ telescope, the ___________________ lens, produces
an image by ___________________ light form a distant object so that the light ___________________ at
an area called the ___________________.
24. Compare how the image appears for an object that is far away to that of one nearby.
25. What is chromatic aberration?
26. What do reflecting telescopes use?
27. What is the mirror generally made of?
28. Most large optical telescopes are ___________________. Light does not pass ___________________ a
mirror so the glass for a reflecting telescope does not have to be of ___________________ quality.
29. Both refracting and reflecting telescopes have three properties that aid astronomers in their work. List them.
30. What is another advantage of telescopes with large objectives?
31. What is light-gathering power?
32. What is resolving power?
33. What is the main material from which stars are made?
34. What do radio telescopes detect?
35. A ___________________ telescope focuses the incoming radio ___________________ on an
___________________, which absorbs and ___________________ these waves to an
___________________, just like a radio antenna.
36. Why are large dishes necessary to intercept an adequate signal from celestial sources?
37. Do radio telescopes have good resolution? What do astronomers do to resolve this problem?
38. Why can radio telescopes be used 24 hours a day?
39. ___________________ telescopes orbit above ___________________ atmosphere and thus produce
___________________ images than Earth-based telescopes.
40. What is the name of the first space telescope?
41. What other types of radiation are also affected by Earth’s atmosphere?
Section 3 – The Sun
42. Although the sun is of no significance to the ___________________ as a whole, it is
___________________ primary source of ___________________. Everything is ultimately derived from
___________________ energy.
43. Compared to other stars, how is our sun rated?
44. Compare the size of the sun to Earth.
45. Name the four parts we can divide the sun into.
46. What does photosphere mean?
47. Describe the photosphere.
48. What two elements make up the photosphere?
49. Describe the chromosphere.
50. When is it observable?
51. What does corona mean?
52. Describe the corona.
53. Describe the outer fringe of the corona.
54. What is the solar wind made of?
55. Describe the sun’s rotation.
56. What are sunspots?
57. Why do sunspots appear dark?
58. What does prominere mean?
59. What are prominences?
60. Prominences are ___________________ gases trapped by ___________________ fields that extend from
regions of ___________________ solar activity.
61. What are solar flares?
62. What happens during the existence of solar flares?
63. What is the most spectacular effect of solar flares?
64. What is another name for auroras?
65. How does the sun produce energy?
66. What happens during nuclear fusion?
67. How is the tiny missing mass emitted?
68. Will the sun last forever?
69. How old is the sun?
70. What is its expected life span?