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

Chapter 1: Observing the Sky: The Birth of Astronomy

Chapter 2: Orbits and Gravity

Chapter 3: Earth, Moon, and Sky

Chapter 4: Radiation and Spectra

Chapter 5: Astronomical Instruments


© Robert Harr 2005