Download Study Guide for the Comprehensive Final Exam

Study Guide for Final Astronomy Exam
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No Moon material for MWF sections
The successful student will be able to…
1. Using a ratio determine how much larger one object is compared to another given their diameters,
2. Convert AU into kilometers and kilometers into AU.
3. Define a galaxy giving a representative diameter in light years.
4. Define a light year and convert light-years into kilometers and kilometers into light-years.
5. Using a proportion, calculate how big an object would be given the model size of another object. e.g. “If the Earth were the
size of a softball (diameter = 8 cm), how big would the Milky Way galaxy be?”.
6. Convert between m and km.
7. Work in scientific notation.
8. Identify astronomical numbers from a list of such numbers (e.g. the page in the text with Physical and Astronomical
Constants and Useful Formulas.
9. Draw and label the horizon, meridian, zenith, celestial poles and celestial equator on the celestial sphere for an observer at
any latitude.
10. Draw the apparent motion of stars as seen by any observer looking North, East, South or West at any location in the northern
hemisphere.
11. Define a constellation and distinguish it from an asterism.
12. Use celestial coordinates of Right Ascension and Declination appropriately in written work and problem solving,
13. Use the 2-D celestial sphere diagram to determine the visibility of an object and its maximum altitude as seen from any
latitude on Earth given the object’s declination.
14. Use the fact that the Earth rotates 15 degrees per hour to calculate time periods between celestial transits as seen from two
different locations.
15. Describe in words and using the Whole Sky Map, developed in class, the annual motion of the Sun eastward through the stars
along the ecliptic defining and identifying the special points on the ecliptic (solstices and equinoxes).
16. Correctly characterize the maximum and minimum declination of the Sun with the tilt of the Earth’s axis.
17. Define precession.
18. Identify precession as the cause for Polaris not always being the “North Star”.
19. Describe quantitatively the apparent daily motion of the Sun on an equinox or solstice from any latitude (where sun rise
occurs, maximum altitude of the Sun, where sun set occurs, and the length of daylight) using the simplified celestial sphere
diagram.
20. Describe the location of sunrise and sunset along the horizon for any given day of the year.
21. Describe how the maximum altitude of the Sun depends on day of the year.
22. Explain why the solar day is different from the sidereal day.
23. Describe how day length varies depending on whether the Sun is above, on, or below the celestial equator.
24. Describe the daily and monthly apparent motion of the Moon and its relationship to the Zodiac.
25. Be able to draw and interpret the lunar phases and the Moon’s relationship to the Sun at each phase.
26. Name the phase of the Moon from a photograph of the Moon.
27. Estimate the number of days between lunar phases.
28. Rank images of the Moon in different phases in order of occurrence first to last.
29. Explain why the lunar sidereal period is different than the time for a cycle of lunar phases.
30. Describe the characteristics of the inferior and superior planets as regards their apparent motion in the sky. (Motion,
elongation, configuration while retrograde…).
31. Work with and identify planetary configurations of opposition, conjunction, quadrature and maximum elongation.
32. Calculate the orbital period of an asteroid in circular orbit about the Sun given configuration dates.
33. Describe the basic ideas of the Copernican model of the Universe.
a. Location and Motion of the Earth.
b. Location of the planets and the observational basis for that ordering.
34. Describe the cause of retrograde motion in our modern Copernican Model.
35. Describe why inferior planets demonstrate a maximum elongation in their motion.
36. Describe how Copernicus determined the relative distances of the planets from the Sun.
37. Discuss Galileo’s observations of the Sun. Moon, Jupiter and Venus and state how they contradicted the previously held
Aristotelian model of the Universe.
38. Fully Describe Kepler’s three laws of planetary motion and state how the first two laws were contrary to the previously held
ideas of Aristotle and Ptolemy.
39. Define or identify aphelion and perihelion.
40. Rank ellipses in order of increasing eccentricity.
41. Determine the semi-major axis, semi-minor axis, perihelion distance, aphelion distance, location of the Sun and eccentricity
of an elliptical orbit from a graph of the orbit.
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List or identify the vital statistics of the Sun.
Describe the Sun in terms of a 2-layer model.
Describe, in an essay, how the Sun produces energy.
Describe or identify how a parsec is defined.
Convert stellar distances between parsecs and light years.
47. Solve problems using the stellar parallax formula
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Interpret stellar apparent magnitudes and their relationship to brightness.
Interpret stellar absolute magnitudes and their relationship to luminosity.
Solve problems relating to the relative brightness or luminosity of two stars given their m or M values.
Determine the hottest and coolest stars from a list of stars with their spectral types.
State or identify a characteristic temperature for an O star, a G2 star and an M star.
Solve problems with the Stefan-Boltzmann Law L  4R  T similar to HW problems.
State the contribution of binary stars to our knowledge of stellar masses and give the range of main sequence stellar masses.
Describe the physical characteristics of a giant molecular cloud.
Identify the source of heating (energy production) in protostars.
Explain why more low-mass K & M main sequence stars form rather than the high-mass O & B stars.
List the mass limits of stars and explain why these limits apply.
Describe the processes and stages of star formation from a giant molecular cloud to an open cluster.
Identify in a photograph the following objects: a GMC, Bok Globule, OB Association, HII region, Open Cluster
Describe the t-Tauri wind.
Interpret the physical changes of a forming star on an HR diagram.
Identify and define the ZAMS line on an HR diagram.
Describe the relationship between OB associations and HII regions.
List or identify the luminosity, mass, radius, temperature, and lifetime of an O main sequence star, the Sun and an M main
sequence star.
State the impact of convection in the envelope of very low mass stars on the stars main sequence lifetime.
Describe or identify changes in a star during its main sequence lifetime.
Describe how shell fusion in a star causes the star to become giants.
Identify the “ashes” of H-burning and He-burning
Mass loss and Death of Low-Mass Stars
Match the stage of the Sun’s future evolution with the mechanism of energy production in that stage.
Identify on an HR diagram the stage of the Sun’s evolution and its mechanism of energy production.
List in chronological order the mechanisms of energy production in Sun-like stars.
List in chronological order the stages of evolution in Sun-like stars.
Describe the relation between the Helium Flash and the creation of a planetary nebula.
Describe the components and characteristics of a planetary nebula.
Identify the characteristics of white dwarf stellar remnants.
List the differences in energy production between low-mass stars and high-mass stars.
Describe the interior structure of a high-mass star near the end of its lifetime.
Identify the types of stars that will experience a core-collapse (Type II) supernova.
Identify the composition of the core of a star about to experience a core-collapse (Type II) supernova.
Describe two reasons why type II supernova a very useful standard candles.
Describe the impact of supernovas on the chemical evolution of the universe.
Use the Stefan-Boltzmann Law to determine the luminosity, radius or temperature of a star compared to the Sun.
Calculate the main sequence lifetime of a star.
Describe the role of Open Clusters in defining the Sun’s position in the Milky Way.
Describe the Physical Characteristics of Globular Clusters (size, stellar content, spatial distribution, etc…)
Describe the Role of Globular Clusters in Defining the Milky Way and the Sun’s position in it.
State the Dimensions of the Component Parts of the Milky Way.
Describe the Origin of Spiral Arms.
Describe the Environment near the Galactic Center.
Describe how the Mass of the Galaxy is estimated and its value.
Discuss the Galactic Rotation Curve and its implications.
State the source of 21-cm radiation and how it is used to define the structure of the Milky Way.
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