Study Guide—ES 104—Midterm Exam—Fall 2008—Karen Brown VOCABULARY WORDS Big Bang Inner planets Photon Asteroid Jovian planets Plane of the ecliptic Astronomy Kuiper belt Planetary nebula Atmosphere Lithosphere Precession Aurora Lunar eclipse Ptolemaic system Biosphere Mantle Radio telescope Celestial sphere Maria Red giant Chromosphere Main sequence star Reflecting telescope Comet Mean solar day Refracting telescope Core Meteor Retrograde motion Corona Meteor shower Rotation Crust Meteorite Sidereal day Doppler effect Meteoroid Solar eclipse Ecliptic Nebula Solar flare Electromagnetic radiation Nebular hypothesis Nova Solar wind Spicule Fusion Nuclear fusion Sunspot Geocentric Orbit Supernova Granules Orbital period Synodic month Heliocentric Outer planets Terrestrial planets Hydrosphere Phases of Moon Theory Hypothesis White dwarf Know the nebular hypothesis of the formation of Sun and the planets of our solar system: why and how the outer planets are different from the inner planets. Know what is important about meteoroids and asteroids: where they are, come from, go to. Know the contributions to astronomy of Ptolemy, Copernicus, Tycho Brahe, Galileo, Newton. Understand the geometry of eclipses, waxing and waning Moon, phases of Moon, why only one side ever faces Earth. What are the substances that planets composed of? How are the inner planets different in composition from the outer planets? Be able to contrast the terrestrial planets to the Jovian planets.What is Moon like? What is it composed of, what are its major features, history of formation, features of craters. How were the maria formed? Some notable features about each planet. For example: Mercury: does it have an atmosphere, moons? Venus: significance of its atmosphere, volcanoes, moons? Mars: does it have water, volcanoes, moons? Jupiter: atmosphere, nature of interior, relative size, major moons Saturn: what are the rings made of, Major moon. What space exploration vehicle is there now? Uranus: axis is sideways Neptune: winds 1000 km/hr Their solar system order. What features of Pluto exclude it from being a ‘proper’ planet? Some notable features about moon of outer planets: Io, Titan, Triton. What is the probable origin of Mars’ moons: Phobos and Deimos? Structure and composition of a comet and its tails. Origin of comets. Doppler effect on appearance of distance celestial objects. How does this support the ‘Big Bang’ theory? Why is a reflection telescope preferred over refraction telescope? What is the difference of the two? What do radio telescopes observe? What is the name of a space telescope? What are its advantages? What is the structure of Sun? What is it composed of? Know what the parts are composed of. Why does it release energy? What do we know about sun spots? Prominences? How are auroras on Earth formed by Sun? What is the closest star? How far away is it? What is the closest galaxy? Are we moving toward it, or away? How do we know? Be able to describe the life cycle of a medium sized star. Know the relative lifespans, colors, eventual remnants of small, medium and large stars. What does the color of a star tell us about it? Remember to study the review questions assigned, and the in-class activities. Keys for in-class activities are available on my website. Try the textbook website too: you can take on-line quizzes. You can have the site email me your scores.
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