Study Guide for Exam 1, September 28, 2005

Below is a list of topics and/or sections for each chapter that we have covered and will be on the exam. When you see an item that corresponds to a section or subsection in the text, that means you should review that entire subsection.

I will not ask you to memorize dates, and only a few names are important (Kepler, Galileo, Newton). I will test you on concepts (what is light, what is the difference between a star and a planet), and how we know things (what tests favor the heliocentric model over the Ptolemaic model, what types of electromagnetic radiation penetrate the Earth's atmosphere and reach the ground).

Prologue

• What is astronomy.
• What is science and the scientific method.
• Numbers in scientific notation.
• The light year and the travel time of light.
• The general concepts of galaxy, solar system, and planets presented in the section "A Tour of the Universe".
• Relation between molecules and atoms.

Chapter 1: Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy

• Basic concepts of the celestial sphere: zenith, celestial equator, celestial poles, the ecliptic.
• Reasons we know the Earth is round. (not discussed in lecture, but could be on the exam)
• What is the precession of the Earth.
• What is the Ptolemaic model of the solar system.
• Relation of astrology and astronomy.
• What is the Copernican or heliocentric model of the solar system.
• What tests favor the heliocentric model over the Ptolemaic model of the solar system.

Chapter 2: Orbits and Gravity

• Elliptic orbits, properties of an ellipse.
• Kepler's laws and facts related to them.
• Newton's laws and facts related to them.
• 2.3 Universal Gravity
• 2.4 Orbits in the Solar System
• 2.5 Motions of Satellites and Spacecraft
• Discovery of Neptune

Chapter 3: Earth, Moon, and Sky

• 3.1 Earth and Sky
• 3.2 The Seasons
• 3.3 Keeping Time
• 3.4 The Calendar
• What causes the phases of the moon.
• How frequently does the moon rotate.
• What is the dark side of the moon.
• What causes tides.
• How many tides are there each day.
• When do we get especially high tides.
• 3.7 Eclipses of the Sun and Moon

Chapter 4: Radiation and Spectra

• The basic structure of atoms.
• 4.1 The Nature of Light
• 4.2 The Electromagnetic Spectrum
• What are waves and how are they characterized?
• What is a photon?
• Blackbody or thermal spectra
• Absorption and emission spectra.
• The structure of atoms.
• Energy levels in atoms and the relation to spectra.
• 4.6 The doppler effect.

Chapter 5: Astronomical Instruments

• General properties of telescopes.
• Refracting and reflecting telescopes.
• Locations of telescopes.
• 5.3 Optical detectors and instruments
• 5.4 Radio telescopes
• 5.5 Observations outside Earth's atmosphere