Exam 4 Flashcards by Emily K

What is the distance from the Earth to the Sun in AU, miles and Sun diameters? How does the Sun’s diameter compare to the Earth’s diameter?

109X Earth diameters, 1 AU, sun diameters: 864,000 miles

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How does the Sun’s mass compare to the Earth’s mass? Jupiter’s mass?

300,000X Earth’s mass
1,000X Jupiter’s mass

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What percent of the Sun’s mass is composed of elements heavier than helium?

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What is the average rotation period of the Sun?

27 days

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What is the surface temperature of the Sun ( ̊F)?

10,000 F

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What is the power output of the sun?

4 X 10^26 watts
400 yota watts

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What is the source of the Sun’s energy?

Nuclear fusion

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What is the temperature of the core of the Sun ( ̊ F)?

27 million degrees

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What percent of the Sun’s total mass has been converted into energy during the 5 billion years that the Sun has been shining?

.035%

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What kind of particles are used to study the Sun’s core?

Solar neutrino

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What is the solar neutrino problem?

Only 1/3 of expected neutrinos were detected.

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What is the solution to the solar neutrino problem?

Neutrinos come in three flavors and change their identities. Look for the other ones.

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Layers of the sun from the center to the outer atmosphere (6)

Core
Radiative zone
Convective zone
Photosphere
Chromosphere
Corona

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What causes sunspots to be cooler?

Convection is hindered and there is localized cooling.

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What is the period of the solar cycle from maximum solar activity to maximum solar activity?

Around 11 years

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What causes the solar cycle?

Sun’s magnetic activity.

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In what layer of the Sun’s atmosphere are spicules found?

Chromosphere

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Define solar prominence

Huge plumes of glowing gas

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Define solar flare

brief but bright eruption of gas

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Define coronal mass ejection

enormous bubbles of hot gas that burst from the corona out into space.

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Which lasts longer? A solar prominence or a solar flare?

Solar prominence

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What did we see when looking at the sun through a telescope?

A solar prominence

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What is the solar wind mostly composed of?

Mostly hydrogen and helium

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Which mission made three solar scans at all latitudes?

Ulysses

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Which mission was able to see the whole Sun?

STEREO

Which mission has a set of postage stamps?

SDO

Which mission is studying the sun up close?

Parker solar probe

How much more light-gathering power does an 8-inch telescope have compared to a 4-inch telescope?

4X more light gathering power.

What is resolving power?

Ability to discern details

What is the purpose of adaptive optics?

The purpose of adaptive optics is to improve the performance of optical systems by compensating for the distortion caused by the Earth's atmosphere.

How do adaptive optics work?

It works by measuring the distortions introduced and then applying corrective measures.

What advantage does the Hubble Space Telescope have over telescopes located on the surface of the Earth?

It has an unobstructed view because it isn’t affected by the atmosphere.

Why can you see more stars in rural areas than is urban areas?

Because of light pollution

What are the advantages of a bigger telescope?

More light, better resolution

Why is there no X-ray telescope located among the Mauna Kea observatories?

Atmospheric absorption and X-rays are typically used in space-based observatories.

Where is the extremely large telescope located?

Chile

where is gemini north located?

Mauna Kea

Where is gemini south located?

Mauna Kea

Where is gran telescopio canarias located?

Canary islands

Where is the Hobbery-eberly telescope located?

texas

Where is the hubble telescope located?

LEO

Where is the JWST located?

Where is the keck telescope located?

Hawaii

where is the large binocular telescope located?

arizona

Where is the subaru telescope located?

Hawaii

Where is the southern african large telescope located?

Sutherland, South Africa

Where is the very large telescope located?

Chile

Be able to recognize a scale drawing of the mirrors of each of the telescopes listed in the previous question

What makes Mauna Kea a near ideal location for observatories?

Dark skies, good seeing, low humidity, high elevation, low latitude.

Which of the largest telescopes in the world are located on Mauna Kea?

Keck

Which observatories on Mauna Kea were part of the Event Horizon Telescope that produced the first image of a black hole?

James Clerk Maxwell, Submillimeter array

Where is ALMA located?

Chile

Where is APEX located?

chile

Where is the james clerk maxwell telescope located?

Hawaii

where is the large millimeter telescope located?

Mexico

Where is the pico veleta observatory?

Spain

Where is the south pole telescope located?

The south pole

Where is the submillimeter array located?

Hawaii

Where is the Submillimeter telescope located?

Arizona

Which observatory is the largest array in the Event Horizon Telescope?

ALMA

Which observatory in the Event Horizon Telescope is located by the Large Binocular Telescope?

Submillimeter telescope

Which is the northern most observatory in the Event Horizon Telescope?

Pico veleta observatory

Which is the southernmost observatory in the Event Horizon Telescope?

South pole telescope

Which observatory has the largest telescope in the Event Horizon Telescope?

Large millimeter telescope

Which observatory in the Event Horizon Telescope is located at the highest elevation?

APEX

Which observatory in the Event Horizon Telescope is an array of 8 – 20 foot telescopes?

Submillimeter array

At what wavelength did the Event Horizon Telescope make its observations?

1.3mm wavelength

In what month in 2017 did the Event Horizon Telescope make its observations of M87*?

April

How were the telescopes in the Event Horizon Telescope synchronized?

Atomic clocks

How much total data was collected by the Event Horizon Telescope to produce the first image of a black hole?

5 petabytes aka 5,000 terabytes

How was the Event Horizon Telescope data brought together?

Flown by FedEx

What caused a six month delay in sending the data from one of the Event Horizon Telescope observatories?

There are no flights for the south pole between February and October.

What is the name of the black hole at the center of our galaxy?

Sagittarius A

How does the mass of the black hole at the center of our galaxy compare to the mass of M87*?

M87* is… 1,000 times more massive, 1,000 times bigger.

How does the size (diameter) of the black hole at the center of our galaxy compare to the size of M87*?

M87* is 1,000 times closer.

Why does the black hole at the center of our galaxy appear to be the same size in the sky as M87*?

M87* is 1,000 times bigger but Sagittarius A* is 1,00 times closer.

If the Sun were the size of a grapefruit and was located in California, where would the nearest star be?

Florida

Why is it so difficult to directly image an exoplanet?

Its like sitting in California and taking a picture of a firefly by a street light in Florida.

Why is the James Webb Space Telescope a good choice for directly imaging exoplanets?

Because it is not affected by earth’s atmosphere.

What are the three main things for detecting exoplanets?

The radial velocity method The astrometry method The transit method

Which method works best for close stars with distant massive planets?

Astrometric Technique

Which method works best for massive planets that are close to their stars?

Radial Velocity Technique

Which method likely only works for 1% of stars?

Transits and Eclipses

How many stars did the Kepler Mission watch for transits?

150,000 stars every 30 minutes

Which method(s) can be used to determine the orbital period of exoplanets?

The transit method

Which method(s) can be used to determine the eccentricity of exoplanets?

Radial velocity method

Which method(s) can be used to determine the size of exoplanets?

Orbital period

What two methods are used to determine the density of exoplanets?

Transit Method, Radial Velocity method

How many confirmed exoplanets have been discovered to date?

5,612

Which method has been used to discover the most exoplanets? What percent?

Transit method, 70-80%

What percent of confirmed exoplanets are terrestrials?

What kind of planet was the first exoplanet found around a Sun like star?

Hot jupiter

How many planets have been discovered orbiting TRAPPIST-1?

7 Known planets

HAT-P-32 b has a density similar to?

Styrofoam

What is the name of the exoplanet that is closest to Earth?

Proxima Centauri b

What kind of rain falls on the nightside of WASP-76 b?

Iron rain