Finalized list of Review Topics, Wed., 8/4
Material covered by Exam 1:
- celestial sphere:
celestial poles/eqtr., circumpolar zone, zenith
- arguments for a spherical Earth
- heliocentric/geocentric cosmologies & astronomers
- Kepler's Laws
- Newton's Laws
- phases of the Moon/eclipses/tides
- causes of seasons/ecliptic
- conservation of angular momentum
Material covered by Exam 2:
- Thermal radiation:
blackbody curves, Wien's Law, Stephan-Boltzmann Law
- Spectral radiation:
atomic emission and absorption, spectra, EM radiation bands
- Doppler shifts
- changes in brightness and size versus distance
- properties of planets:
dynamical properties (e.g., sense of rotation),
physical characteristics (Jovian/terrestrial)
- Moon's formation/ solar system's formation
- debris: rings, meteors/meteorites, comets
- the Sun:
solar cycle/sunspots, fusion, atmosph. layers,
effects at Earth
Material since Exam 2:
- temperature, excitation of spectral lines, spectral classes
- stellar evolution:
supernovae, white dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes
- proper motion
- types of binary systems, star clusters
- distance indicators ("standard candles"):
parallax, variable stars, main seq. fitting ("spect.parallax"),
moving cluster method
- scattering & absorption of light/reddening
- extrasolar planets
- light pollution
- Hubble's Law
- Milky Way's structure: spiral arms, nucleus, location of Sun
- General Relatvity:
mass deforms space, alters path of light, free fallers feel
no grav.
- cosmic microwave background
- dark matter
- the universe:
open/closed(big chill/big crunch), big bang model/problems,
cosmological constant