(Week 1) Radius of the Sun in Number, Scientific Notation, & Metric Prefix
# = 696,000,000 m.
Sc. Not = 6.96 x 108
Met. Pref = 696 Mm
(Week 1) What is the approx distance to a neighboring state?
100 km
(Week 1) What is the approx distance to a jovian planet?
10 AU (Astronomical Unit); 1 AU is distance between Earth & Sun
(Week 1) What is the approx distance to a nearby star?
10 ly (lightyears); 63,242 AU ==> 1 ly
(Week 1) What is the approx distance to a globular cluster near the center of the Milky Way?
10 kpc
(Week 1) What is the approx distance to a supercluster of galaxies?
100 Mpc
(Week 2) In which month is Earth closest to the Sun?
January
(Week 2) In which month is Earth farthest to the Sun?
July
(Week 2) Season's are caused by the ______ of the Earth's axis.
tilt; Earth is tilted 23 1/2O
(Week 2) What is the apparent path of the Sun in the sky called?
Ecliptic path; makes the Sun look like it's moving through the constellations
(Week 2) What is the 13th Zodiac sign called?
Ophiuchus
(Week 2) What are the Equinoxes?
Intersections where Ecliptic & Celestial Equators meet; Sun passes through them & they remain Equinoxes even when the Sun is not there
(Week 2) What are the 2 Equinoxes called?
Vernal (Spring) & Autumnal (Fall)
(Week 2) What word means "equal night"?
Equinox; Daytime & Nightime are equal in both intersections
(Week 2) New Year's for the Southern Hemisphere is not a Winter holiday, but a Summer holiday. True or False?
True
(Week 2) What are the Solstices?
The farthest North & South points of the Sun on the Ecliptic; or farthest separation points of Celestial & Ecliptic equators
(Week 2) Winter Solstice is in the North while the Summer Solstice is in the South. True or False?
False; North is Summer & South is Winter Solstice
(Week 2) What is Earth's only natural satellite?
The Moon
(Week 2) The Moon goes through a complete cycle of phases in ______ days.
29.5 Days; this is called the Synodic Period or Lunation
(Week 2) For the Moon's Cycle, it takes roughly a month to complete moving clockwise. True or False?
False; it moves Counterclockwise
(Week 2) What is the dividing line of Day & Night called?
The Terminator
(Week 2) When the Moon is in one phase of the Synodic (Lunation) Period, it displays the same lunar phase for the whole world during the same night. True or False?
True; also, the same (Near) side/surface of the Moon is always facing the Earth since it rotates once every orbit around the Earth; in other words, we only see one half of the moon always
(Week 2) The Moon's Orbit is inclined (above) at _____ degrees to the Earth's Orbit
5Odoes not line up with the Earth's Orbit around the Sun (Ecliptic) & Moon's shadow misses the Earth --- Basically without the Moon's shadow, there will be no Eclipse
(Week 2) To experience the total Solar Eclipse, you must be in which part of the Moon's shadow path?
the Umbra; thick, dark shadow path of the Moon
(Week 2) The slight sliver of the Sun/Sunlight during an Eclipse is called the what?
Penumbra
(Week 2) All stars have fixed patterns moving from East to West. True or False?
False; Most stars do this, not all stars
(Week 2) Just as how Earth does a Revolution ending up at the same location, the Sun & Stars return to the same pattern after _____ year.
1 Year; Annual Pattern
(Week 2) Sun & Planets move differently from stars. True or False?
True; Suns & Planets [Greek: Wander] stay along fixed path through the stars/constellations; They stay in ecliptic zone
(Week 2) Planets never move backward on the sky. True or False?
True; They APPEAR to move backward on the sky (Retrograde Motion); this backward motion is an illusion
(Week 2) The apparent angular displacement/SHIFT of an object when viewed from different locations (Ex: a far triangle seems to not be moving fast, but a nearby box passes by in an instant)
Parallax (α)
(Week 2) Parallax was first measured for the Moon by measuring the position of the Moon from 2 different locations with synced watches. True or False?
True
(Week 2) Do we have a lunar eclipse at every full moon?
No; usually the Moon isn't lined up correctly to cause a lunar eclipse at Full Moon
(Week 2) Who is able to view a total solar eclipse?
Only those who are in the Moon's path of totality
(Week 2) A friend told you they saw the Full Moon high overhead at Noon. Are they telling the truth?
No; they are pulling your leg, that could never happen
(Week 2) Where do you look to see a Full Moon rising?
The Eastern Horizon
(Week 2) If the Earth's axis was not tilted (meaning: had a tilt of 0 degrees), would we still have seasons?
No; we would not see any seasonal variation of temperature for any location
(Week 2) When the Northern Hemisphere is experiencing Summer, what season is the Southern Hemisphere having?
Winter
(Week 2) Which of the following contribute to the seasons?
---> Intensity of Sunlight (direct/indirect)
---> Lengths of days (hours of Sunlight)
Distance between the Earth & the Sun
(Week 2) Which ancient scientist made a very accurate size or distance estimation for a Celestial Body?
Eratosthenes
(Week 2) Aristotle & other Greek astronomers of his time believed the Earth was Round. True or False?
True
(Week 2) Which would have a greater parallax shift, a nearby star or a distant one?
Nearby Star
(Week 3) Mercury has the least eccentric orbit. True or False?
False; has the MOST eccentric orbit
(Week 3) Both focuses (a.k.a. common centers of Mass) for Earth's orbit around the Sun lie where?
In the Sun itself; both focuses are that close to each other
(Week 3) Mercury's average speed goes fastest around the Sun out of all of the planets. True or False?
True; the closer they are in orbit to the Sun, the quicker they move; the further they are, the slower they move
(Week 3) Kepler discovered that the path of a planet around the Sun is a what?
Ellipse
(Week 3) According to Kepler's 3rd Law, P2 = a3, a hypothetical planet inside Mercury's orbit would have what type of period?
Shorter than Mercury's
(Week 3) Kepler's 2nd Law of planetary motion states that planets move around the Sun with uniform circular motion. True or False?
False; they have elliptical orbiting motion
(Week 3) Which astronomer(s) favored the Heliocentric model?
Copernicus, Galileo, & Kepler
(Week 3) Which astronomer(s) favored the Geocentric model?
Ptolemy
(Week 3) Which astronomers favored the Hybrid model for the Universe?
Tycho
(Week 3) What was the problem with the Geocentric model?
Venus & Mercury has to "stay" on the Sun-Earth line
(Week 3) What was the problem with the Heliocentric model?
No parallax for any stars were seen
(Week 3) How did Copernicus explain retrograde motion?
Earth overtaking & being overtaken by other planets
(Week 3) When Galileo pointed his telescope at the planet Venus, what did he see?
Venus displaying a Full Range of Phases
(Week 3) Newton's law of Universal Gravitation describes the attractive forces F
between point masses m1 and m2 separated by distance r. Note that due to Newton's 3rd Law, both masses experience this force.
What would the value of the gravitational force be in terms of the original F if the mass of m1were doubled?
2F
(Week 3) What is the primary cause of the tides?
Differences in the Moon's gravity
(Week 3) If an object has more than the velocity required to reach orbit around the Earth, what will happen?
It might be able to escape the Earth's gravity if moving fast enough
(Week 4) Until very recently, ALL the info we had about the sky was obtained by analyzing the light received. True or False?
True; otherwise known as Radio Waves
(Week 4) The peak is where the wave is the _______ and the trough is where the wave is the ________
Peak = Highest point
Trough = Lowest point
(Week 4) In an experiment with a pebble being thrown into a pond to represent wavelengths, what did the wobbling/bobbing leaf represent?
frequency
(Week 4) In the case of All Light, no matter what wavelength it is (From Radiowaves to Gamma Rays), None of the share/travel the same Speed of Light. True or False?
False; they ALL travel at the same Speed of Light
(Week 4) Radio waves & Sound waves are the same thing. True or False?
False; they are NOT the same thing, Radio is very long wavelengthed LIGHT = used to carry info that is TURNED into Sound!
(Week 4) Space is at 0 Kelvin, a.k.a. absolute zero. True or False?
False; Space is NOT at absolute zero; still some residual heat left over from the big bang
Actually hard to find anything at absolute zero in nature; can get close to it in laboratory conditions
(Week 4) Which has the longest wavelength?
X-rays
Infrared
-->Radio
Visible Light
Ultraviolet
Gamma Rays
(Week 4) Which has the most energy?
Infrared
Visible Light
Ultraviolet
-->Gamma Rays
Radio
X-rays
(Week 4) A star is moving towards the Earth. Towards which end of the spectrum will its spectral lines be shifted? Red or Blue?
Blue
(Week 4) What must happen for an electron to move to a lower orbit/energy level?
A photon of a specific energy/wavelength must be emitted
(Week 4) If a spectrum shows a continuous background with dark lines, which type of spectrum is it?
Emission
-->Absorption
Continuous
(Week 4) The cooler the object, the shorter (bluer) the peak wavelength of light emitted. True or False?
False; cooler objects would emit shorter & redder wavelengths of light
(Week 4) Which of the following is NOT something we can learn about a star directly from spectroscopy?
Temperature
Rotational Velocity
-->Distance
Radial Velocity
Composition
(Pop Quiz) You observe a penumbral eclipse. Are you observing an eclipse of the Sun or an eclipse of the Moon?
Moon
(Pop Quiz) Name one observation [something an astronomer like Galileo saw in the sky] supporting the heliocentric [Sun-centered] model.
Galileo's observation of the Phases of Venus & the Moons of Jupiter.
Kepler's 1st law was INDIRECT observation (not true observ) because Kepler pulled these laws from previous data (Tycho's data)
(Week 5) A telescope in Hawaii is testing a new adaptive optics system, where a computer rapidly changes the shape of the telescope mirror to correct for:
atmospheric turbulence
(Week 5) Large optical telescopes built today are reflectors rather than refractors because mirrors:
can be made of lower-quality materials
(Week 5) Refractors generally have short focal lengths. True or False?
False; Refractors have long focal lengths. Reflectors have short lengths
(Week 5) Which telescope power(s) would be affected by changing the eyepiece?
Light gathering power
Resolving Power
-->Magnifying power
(Week 5) The primary focal lengths of the Newton telescope is approximately:
the lengths of the optical tube assembly
(Week 5) What kind of distortion shows off purplish and bluish haze around bright objects like stars?
Chromatic Aberration
(Week 5) Radio telescopes use interferometry to:
achieve good resolution
(Week 5) A(n) _______ telescope would benefit the least from being in space.
