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Learning goals for Astronomy’s Final 2016
For each of the subtopics, be able to…
Big bang
1. Give an overview of the big bang theory for Universe evolution.
2. Describe evidence for the big bang: anti-matter has been created and isolated on particle accelerators. Anti-matter
also occurs at stars and borders of black holes (Event Horizon), Hubble’s Law, Cosmic Background radiation.
3. Describe the need for inflation period, and describe prediction for which scientists are currently searching.
Unit conversions
4. Define the following units used in astronomy:
o Astronomical Unit, light year, and parsec
5. Describe when do we use each of these units
6. Perorm unit conversions between the length units used in astronomy
Coordinate systems: Azimuth and altitude; right ascension and declination
7. Explain azimuth and altitude as parts of a celestial coordinate system. Include when are they useful
8. Find objects in the sky by computing altitude and azimuth using your hand
o If your fist fits 9 times between the horizon and the zenith, it covers 10o. Explain why
o find how many degrees a hand has if it spans a given amount of times between horizon and zenith
2. Describe an astrolabe, and explain its importance to sailors.
3. Explain right ascension and declination as parts of a coordinate system, and explain why do we need them to
locate celestial objects. Be sure to know their units.
4. Apply the method of right ascension and declination to find celestial bodies.
o Find the right ascension and declination with the mini planetarium.
5. Define the following terms, and locate them on Earth:
o Ecliptic
o Equatorial plane
o Equinoxes and solstice
o Tropical lines
6. Define the term circumpolar star and identify which stars are never visible from a particular location
Reasons for the Seasons
7. Explain the reasons for the seasons
Telescopes
8. Describe the basic idea behind a telescope (define a telescope).
9. Explain and identify types of telescopes: refractors and reflectors
10. Describe the basic mechanism of a telescope:
o Explain what makes a telescope more powerful than another
o Explain what part is responsible for magnifying the image
11. Describe what makes the Hubble telescope special
Theories and facts, why do Astronomers believe in the Big Bang?
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Describe and differentiate between facts, hypothesis and theories in the scientific process
Describe what makes science “self-correcting”
Defend your point of view about science being “self-correcting”
Describe how does Plato’s quote explain the scientific process?
Hubble’s data, the first strong evidence
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Provide the interpretation of Hubble’s data and explain how it supports the idea of the Big bang.
Be able to interpret Hubble’s graph and extrapolate values from it.
Be able to interpret a plot with a direct linear relationship (like Hubble’s)
Use Hubble’s data to find the age of the Universe.
20. Do time unit conversions when calculating the age of the universe
Judging the size of a celestial object: size distance relationship
21. Describe the difference between size and apparent size of an object.
22. Describe and apply methods for measuring the apparent size of objects by size/distance ratio method and angular
distance.
o Solve a problem of the type: The Pleiades, a star cluster in the constellation of Taurus the bull, appears
about one finger width big in the sky. If the cluster were about 7 light-years in diameter, how far would the
cluster be? Give your answer in light years.
o Do calculations to “eclipse” different balls.
Video on light
23. Explain the evolution of a scientific model based on the model for light.
24. Know of the most important individuals that have worked on creating the current model of light, and the models
they have proposed
o Newton
o Huygen
o Maxwell and Hertz
o Planck and Einstein
25. Explain the current model of light. In particular, be able to describe the particle model (photons) as well as the
wave model (electromagnetic waves) in a descriptive way.
26. Describe the parts of a wave. (crest, trough, wave length, amplitude, frequency, period, wave speed)
Electromagnetic spectrum (EMS) = Light
27. List the components of the electromagnetic spectrum and organize the spectrum according to wave properties.
28. Know the speed of light with the correct units
29. Explain the relationship between frequency and wavelength for electromagnetic waves (EMW) based on the speed
of EMW. Explain also the relationship between frequency, wavelength and energy for EMW.
30. explain why Astronomers look at the Universe in all frequencies of EMW
Black body radiation
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Define a black body
Describe what a black body spectrum tell us.
Describe absorption, reflection and transparency.
Apply Wien’s displacement law for black bodies to find the temperature of an object based on its black body
spectrum (T * max =2.898 x 107 Å oK). Problem
Continuous spectrum, Spectral tubes and Decoding Cosmic Spectra
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Describe the continuous spectrum.
Describe the line spectrum for gases.
Describe the difference between an emission spectrum and an absorption spectrum.
Describe light spectroscopy as a method used by Astronomers to find the composition of different celestial objects
o use emission spectra to find the composition of a star.
o Be able to make connections between Kirchoff’s law (elements absorb electromagnetic energy at the
same frequencies at which they emit the electromagnetic energy) and the method for determining planet’s
atmospheric composition.
Doppler shift
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Describe the Doppler shift, which is produced when a wave source moves relative to receptor
Interpret Doppler diagrams
Tell the difference between redshift and blueshift
Describe how the Doppler shift is used on Astronomy
o Ex. Be able to apply Doppler effect to explain the redshift in astronomy for measuring speed away from
Earth, as Hubble did while studying galaxies.
Cosmic background radiation
43. Describe what is the cosmic background radiation and how it was discovered
44. Explain the importance of the discovery of the cosmic background radiation (strong evidence that supports the
model of the Big Bang)
45. Explain the importance of COBE’s discoveries, as well as WMAP and Planck (the inhomogeneity of the CMB)
Deep field
46. Describe and apply the process by which scientists count and catalog celestial bodies as seen from Deep Field
images
47. Explain the importance of the Hubble telescope and the Deep Field images, as well as what makes it so different
from other telescopes, and the Deep Field images.
Dark matter and Dark Energy
48. Explain the evidence that support the idea of dark matter in the universe
49. Explain the evidence that support the idea of dark energy in the universe
Galaxies
50. Classify galaxies
51. Explain galaxy formation
Black holes
52. Describe black holes
o Define event horizon
o Explain two types of black holes, and explain their genesis
o Describe the size limit for black holes
Star color and H-R diagram
53. Describe the different form in which Astronomers look at brightness and classify stars (Magnitude, colour, spectral
class)
54. Find the color of a star based on spectral data (B-V, etc)
55. Interpret star color and connect that to the star’s surface temperature
56. Describe what is an H-R diagram
57. Construct H-R diagrams using the concept of color and star’s temperature
58. Describe the different star groupings in terms of H-R diagrams: Main sequence, giants and super giants, white
dwarfs
Stellar evolution
59. Describe the life cycle of stars
60. Explain where do elements in the periodic table come from
61. interpret H-R diagrams in terms of the life cycle of stars
Star clusters
62. Define and describe star clusters and the two types of star clusters
63. Describe how H-R diagrams are used for estimating the age of a cluster. Explain the big assumption used in this
method.
64. Find the relative age of two clusters based on their H-R diagrams