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Exam 1 review Flashcards

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1
Q

Layers of Earth

A

Crust–> mantle –> core

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2
Q

Electromagnetic Radiation

A

Transmission of energy through space without physical connection by carrying waves of electric and magnetic fields.

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3
Q

Radar Ranging

A

Uses radar signals to measure the distance of objects in the solar system, like echolocation

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4
Q

Adaptive optics

A

Mirror shape is deformed by a computer while image is viewed to counteract atmospheric turbulence

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5
Q

Electromagnetic Waves

A

Waves that do not need a medium to propagate and that travel with velocity v=c

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6
Q

Electromagnetic Spectrum

A

Radio–>Microwave–>Infrared–>Visible Light–>UltraViolet–>X-rays–>Gamma Rays

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7
Q

Prime focus in a telescope

A

the point where the light is focused to in a telescope

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8
Q

The celestial sphere

A

the tool that we use to localize celestial objects, as if the stars
wereturning around us

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9
Q

Amplitude

A

Maximum departure of a wave from the undisturbed state

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10
Q

Eccentricity

A

how “oval” the ellipse is
Closer to zero –> circle

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11
Q

How long ago did the Solar system form

A

About 4.5 Billion Years ago

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12
Q

solar day

A

rotation period of the Earth with respect to the sun (3.9 minutes longer than the sidereal day)

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13
Q

What does the wavelength of electromagnetic radiation depend on?

A

Temperature

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14
Q

Frequency

A

Number of crests passing a given point per unit time

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15
Q

Celestial Equator

A

above the Earth’s equator on the celestial sphere

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16
Q

Wavelength

A

Number of meters needed for the wave to repeat itself at a given moment in time

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17
Q

Zodiac

A

the 12 constellations the Sun moves through during the year

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18
Q

Magnetosphere

A

Region around Earth containing a magnetic field where charged particles from the solar wind are trapped

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19
Q

Equator

A

a great circle on Earth’s surface, halfway between the North and South Poles.

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20
Q

Continuous spectrum

A

The whole rainbow

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21
Q

Tycho Brahe

A

Made very careful measurements of planetary motion
He did not have the ability to analyze these measurements. Kepler was the one that was able to analyze

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22
Q

Refraction

A

bending of light from a source

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23
Q

Protoplanets

A

Objects that eventually turn into planets

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24
Q

Condensation theory

A

nebula theory with dust cooling clouds, causing hot stuff to clump together

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25
Sidereal year
365.256 solar days time for Earth to orbit once around the sun, relative to fixed stars, thus the sidereal year follows constellations
26
Summer (winter) solstice
Most northern point of the sun on the celestial sphere, days (nights) are longer in duration
27
Latitude
north or south location
28
ecliptic tilt
Due to the tilt of Earth's rotational axis relative to the orbital plane around the sun
29
Black Body Radiation
an object that does not reflect or scatter any radiation, but absorbs and emits all wavelengths
30
Perihelion
Point where a planet is closest to the sun and moves the fastest
31
Kepler's third law
Square of period of planet's orbit is proportional to cube of semi-major axis
32
Eclipses
When the moon and the sun have the same size in the sky Lunar eclipse- Sun, Earth, Moon Solar eclipse- Sun, Moon, Earth
33
"packet" of electromagnetic radiation
Photon
34
Mechanical Waves
Waves that are governed by Newtons laws and that exist within a medium
35
Infrared Astronomy
Penetrates stellar dust and atmospheric clouds and can image where visible radiation is blocked
36
Standard Time
divides the world into 24 time zones
37
What causes seasons
tilt of the Earth angle of sunlight makes it less efficient in heating the surface of the Earth
38
Jovian/Giant planets
4 outer planets, gaseous, large
39
Eratosthenes
Greek astrologist who made the first measurement of the Earth's diameter in 200 BCE (40,000km, only 70 km off)
40
How does electromagnetic radiation happen in atoms
the electrons get excited, then jump up an orbital, once they lose enough energy they fall down the orbital, it releases a photon.
41
Prime Meridian
Runs through Greenwich England, line of longitude
42
Earth's tilt
23.5 degrees
43
Gregorian Calendar
Correct to about 3300 years, what we use today
44
Astronomical Unit (AU)
distance between the earth and the sun (about 94 million miles)
45
Constellation
Bright stars that are grouped together
46
Gamma ray astronomy
cannot be focused at all, from the most violent events in the universe
47
Why don't eclipses happen every month
The Earth and Moon's orbit are not in the same plane
48
Angular Momentum
measure of the rotation of a body as it revolves around some fixed point (keplers second law is a consequence)
49
Stefan-Boltzman Law
The energy flux from a blackbody at temperature T is proportional to the fourth power of its absolute temperature. Then scaled by a constant
50
Synchronous rotation
when a body rotates once on its axis in the same time it takes to compete a revolution (the Moon)
51
Light behaves as...
a wave and a particle
52
Longitude
Meridian, specifies east-west location.
53
general force of attraction product of the masses divided by the square of the distance between them scaled by the gravitational constant
Gravity
54
what is the relationship betweein light strength and distance
light gets weaker as it gets farther from the source as an inverse square
55
Newton's Third Law
equal and opposite reactions
56
Jovian planets are characterized by their...
composition (mostly hydrogen and helium)
57
Kepler's Second Law
The imaginary line connecting Sun and planet sweeps out equal areas in equal times
58
Discovery of Neptune
Through abnormalities in the orbit of Uranus
59
the first to build a telescope and use it to test his ideas the first to support his theories with experiments
Galileo
60
Wien's Law
The frequency of the emitted radiation is inversely dependent on the temperature. Then scaled by a constant
61
Astrology
Used zodiacs to predict attributes of people, there is no evidence that natal astrology has any predictive power
62
How far can we see?
slightly past the horizon due to the bending of light in the atmosphere (refraction)
63
Period
Number of seconds needed for a wave to repeat itself at some point in time
64
Lunar phases
Waxing- the lit portion is growing Waning- the lit portion is shrinking Crescent- less than half of the lunar disk is visible Gibbous- More than hale of the lunar disk is visible
65
Ultraviolet Astronomy
must be done from space
66
Ecliptic
The apparent path of the sun on the celestial sphere
67
Advantages of Radio Astronomy
- Can observe 24 hours a day - Weather does not interfere - Different frequency of light viewed, totally different information
68
Comet structure
nucleus-->Coma-->Hydrogen envelope-->Ion tail--> dust tail
69
Synodic Month
29.5 days time for the moon to complete a full cycle of phases
70
Parsec
3.26 light years
71
Sidereal month
27.3 days time it takes the Moon to rotate around the Earth
72
Tidal Forces
Moon and Sun's pull on the Earth causes the water level to rise
73
Aphelion
Point where a planet is the farthest away from the sun and moves the slowest
74
Nebular theory
the planets form from a spinning disk, not enough to explain planet formation
75
International Date Line
a geographical line that marks the official change of day
76
X-ray Astronomy
Must be in space, does not reflect off of mirrors but can be focused
77
Light Year (ly)
The distance that light travels in a year (about 6x10^12 miles)
78
Reflection
mirror
79
Heliocentric model
Planets orbit in circles around the sun Aristarchus of Samos proposed that all planets revolved around the Sun and that Earth rotates (his ideas were ignored)
80
Newton's Second Law
F = ma
81
Geocentric Model
Earth lay at the center of the universe (wrong)
82
A Great Circle
any circle on the surface of a sphere whose center is at the center of the sphere
83
Apparent Solar Time
time as reckoned by the actual position of the sun in the sky (sundail)
84
worked on the laws of motion, gravity, optics, and mathematics
Isaac Newton
85
Hipparchus
Found the precession of Earth's axis
86
Newton's First Law
Inertia
87
Horizon
The line where the dome meets the Earth is the horizon
88
Emission Spectrum
Solely the colors that are radiated from the materials that exist in the studied object
89
Spectrometer
Used to tell what type of material is in an object by bending the light into a spectrum
90
Tropical Year
365.242 days our calendar year is the time interval between vernal equinoxes
91
Julian Calendar
introduced by Julis Ceaser, approximated that the year is 365.25 days, not what we use
92
Escape speed
The speed needed to escape Earth's gravitational pull
93
North Celestial pole
Above the North Pole on the Celestial Sphere
94
Moon formation
Mars sized object hit Earth, chunk flew off, became the Moon
95
Claudius
Proposed a model for the solar system
96
Uranus' Rotational Axis
lies almost within the plane of its orbit
97
Zenith
The top of the dome, just above your head
98
Active optics
Control mirrors based on temperature and orientation
99
Sidereal Day
rotation period of the Earth with respect to the stars
100
Limitations to observation
Atmosphere- filters light Cities- light pollution Air- unsteady, air turbulence, "bad seeing"
101
Which one is longer, Tropical Year or Sidereal Year
Sidereal year, due to the precession of Earth's axis
102
Planetesimals
Objects the size of small moons, gravity strong enough to attract matter
103
Vernal (autumnal) equinox
When the sun crosses the celestial equator, day and night are of equal duration. spring(fall)
104
Terrestrial Planets
4 inner planets, rocky, small
105
Mean Solar Time
Based on the average value of the solar day over the course of a year (exactly 24 hours)
106
Kepler's first law
Planetary orbits are ellipses, with the Sun at one focus
107
Earth composition
Primarily iron, silicon, and oxygen (heavy stuff)

astronomy 101 (2 decks)

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