Astro Study Guide
STUDY GUIDE for PHYS 1403 online Astronomy I
1. What is the meaning of the word cosmos?
2. How many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?
3. How far across is the Milky Way Galaxy?
4. Where is the Sun located in the Milky Way Galaxy?
5. What is the age of the universe thought to be?
6. What is nuclear fusion?
7. Why does Carl Sagan say we are made of star stuff?
8. What is the Sun mainly made of?
9. What is an astronomical unit? Parsec? Light year?
10. What important discovery did Hubble make about distant galaxies that led us to the conclusion that the universe is expanding?
11. Identify:
a. Ptolemy
b. Copernicus
c. Tycho
d. Kepler
e. Galileo
f. Newton
g. Einstein
h. Hubble
(Tell what each individual discovered; be thorough!)
12. What does E represent in Einstein’s equation E = mc^2?
13. What does the HR Diagram tell us? (Be thorough.)
14. Describe each term, and be able to collect the ones that go together; or, you can make flow charts to show how a protostar moves from one form to another.
a. protostar
b. main sequence star
c. red giant
d. white dwarf
e. black dwarf
f. supernova
g. neutron star
h. pulsar
i. black hole
15. What happens to the core of a star after a planetary nebula occurs?
16. What type of stars end their lives with supernovae?
17. After a supernova event, what is left behind? (Hint: there are two possibilities.)
18. What makes up the interstellar medium?
19. Which of the types of galaxies are most spherical in shape?
20. Which of the types of galaxies are reddest in color?
21. Which types of galaxies have a clearly defined disk component?
22. How does a lenticular galaxy differ from a normal spiral galaxy?
23. What is a quasar?
24. What is dark matter, and what role does it play in the universe?
25. What is dark energy, and what role does it play in the universe?
26. Define:
a. MACHOs
b. WIMPs
Do astronomers believe that most dark matter is made of MACHOs or WIMPs?
1. What is the meaning of the word cosmos?
2. How many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?
3. How far across is the Milky Way Galaxy?
4. Where is the Sun located in the Milky Way Galaxy?
5. What is the age of the universe thought to be?
6. What is nuclear fusion?
7. Why does Carl Sagan say we are made of star stuff?
8. What is the Sun mainly made of?
9. What is an astronomical unit? Parsec? Light year?
10. What important discovery did Hubble make about distant galaxies that led us to the conclusion that the universe is expanding?
11. Identify:
a. Ptolemy
b. Copernicus
c. Tycho
d. Kepler
e. Galileo
f. Newton
g. Einstein
h. Hubble
(Tell what each individual discovered; be thorough!)
12. What does E represent in Einstein’s equation E = mc^2?
13. What does the HR Diagram tell us? (Be thorough.)
14. Describe each term, and be able to collect the ones that go together; or, you can make flow charts to show how a protostar moves from one form to another.
a. protostar
b. main sequence star
c. red giant
d. white dwarf
e. black dwarf
f. supernova
g. neutron star
h. pulsar
i. black hole
15. What happens to the core of a star after a planetary nebula occurs?
16. What type of stars end their lives with supernovae?
17. After a supernova event, what is left behind? (Hint: there are two possibilities.)
18. What makes up the interstellar medium?
19. Which of the types of galaxies are most spherical in shape?
20. Which of the types of galaxies are reddest in color?
21. Which types of galaxies have a clearly defined disk component?
22. How does a lenticular galaxy differ from a normal spiral galaxy?
23. What is a quasar?
24. What is dark matter, and what role does it play in the universe?
25. What is dark energy, and what role does it play in the universe?
26. Define:
a. MACHOs
b. WIMPs
Do astronomers believe that most dark matter is made of MACHOs or WIMPs?