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Details

Exam 1
To be administered 2/2/12
60
Astronomy
Undergraduate 1
02/01/2012

Additional Astronomy Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term

 

Hypothesis must be... 

Definition

 

Explanatory, Predictive(testible), 

Results=Reproducible

Term

 

Scientific Method

Definition

1.) Make hypothesis

2.) Test it

3.) Revise hypothesis

4.) Repeat

Term

 

Peer Review

Definition

 

Scientists write up their hypotheses or experimental results and submit them to peer-review journals

Term

 

Is Mathematics a science?

Definition

NO
Term

 

What is a nebula?

Definition

 

A nebula is an interstellar of dust, hydrogen, helium, and other ionized gases.

Term

 

What is this a picture of?

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7a/Nursery_of_New_Stars_-_GPN-2000-000972.jpg/250px-Nursery_of_New_Stars_-_GPN-2000-000972.jpg

Definition

 

A nebula. 

Term

 

How many kilometers(km) in one A.U.?

Definition

 

150 million km

Term

 

How many kilometers(km) in a light-year?

Definition

 

9.5 trillion km

Term

 

How many kilometers are in a parsec?

Definition

 

30 trillion km

Term

 

What are the two concepts of a parsec?

Definition


1.) if a star is at 1 parsec, as earth moves at 1 au it will appear to shift at 1 parsec

2.) how far an object would have to be in order for it to appear to move 1 arcsecond as earth moves by 1 au

Term

1 degree = ? arminutes

1 arcminute = ? arcseconds

1 degree = ? arcseconds

Definition

1 degree = 60 arcminutes

1 arcminute = 60 arcseconds

1 degree = 3600 arcseconds

Term

 

Equation of Parallax

Definition

d = l/p

Distance[parsecs]=baseline[A.U.]/parallax angle [Arcseconds]

Term

 

Parallax only works for...

 

Definition
Nearby stars
Term
Which stars show greater parallax?
Definition
Nearby stars (i.e. Alpha Centauri shows greater parallax than Sirius)
Term

Is Parallax viewable to the naked eye?

How is the distance determined when using parallax?

Definition

No, it is only viewable through a telescope.

Distance is detereminted by different points of view by month.

Term

 

What are three "fundamental qualities" of the universe?

Definition

 

Length, Time, Mass

Term

 

How fast does Earth spin about it's axis?

Definition

 

1,500 km/hr

Term

 

What is Earth's average orbital speed around the sun?

Definition
108,000 km/hr
Term
How often does our sun and stars of the local solar neighborhood orbit around the center of the Milky Way Galaxy?
Definition
Every 230 million years.
Term
Motions in the sky--> day is because of...
Definition
rotation of the Earth about it's axis
Term
Seasons-->Year is caused by...
Definition
the earth's orbit around the SUN
Term
The Moon---> Month is caused by...
Definition
The moon's orbit around the earth
Term

Planets---> Weeks

is caused by...

Definition
the various planet's orbits around the sun
Term
What is a contellation, and what are they modernly used for?
Definition

A constellation is a region of the sky often recognizable by a pattern or grouping of stars.

They are used as landmarks. 

Term
What is zenith?
Definition
Point directly over your head in the sky
Term
The Celestial Equator is...
Definition
Same as earth's equator except located on the celestial sphere
Term

 

What is the definition of circumpolar?

Definition
Stars that never set/ stars that never rise
Term
Sidereal Day vs. Solar Day
Definition

23 hrs, 56 min, 4.1s

 

24 hrs

Term

Identify:

 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Aurora_Timelapse.ogv/seek%3D9-Aurora_Timelapse.ogv.jpg

Definition
Aurora borealis
Term
As earth orbits the sun, the Sun appears to move ______ with respect to the stars.
Definition
Eastward
Term
How exactly long is a year?
Definition
365.25 days
Term
Why are the moon and planets seen only in the constellations of the zodiac?
Definition
The planets all orbit in nearly the same plane and the zodiacal constellations are in that plane.
Term
Highest possible latitude you can live at:
Definition
90degrees
Term
What causes summer to be hot?
Definition
The sun is not only up for more hours, but it climbs higher in the sky due to it's location and the *rays hit the ground more directly.
Term
What is the angle of the earth's axis tilt?
Definition
23.5degrees
Term
When is the sun directly overhead in Florida?
Definition
Never
Term

 

Ecliptic

Definition

 

The apparent path of the Sun through the sky

Term

 

Equinox

Definition

 

Where the exliptic intersects the celestial equator

Term
 
 
Solstice
Definition

 

Where the ecliptic is farthest from the celestial equator

Term

 

 

Zodiac

Definition

 

The constellations which lie along the ecliptic

Term

Living at equator

Length of summer day:

Length of winter day:

Sun directly over head when?:

Definition

12h

12h

equinox

Term
Why are July/August typically hotter than June?
Definition
Rays from sun at the Solstice(Jun21) takes time to heat up the earth
Term
What is not changed by the precession of the earth's axis?
Definition
The location of the North Celestial Pole in your sky
Term

 

How long is that lunar cycle?

Definition
29.5days
Term
Order of the moon's cycle:
Definition

i. New (beginning of waxing)

ii. Crescent 

iii. First quarter

iv. Gibbous

v. Full (end of waxing, beginning of waning)

vi. Gibbous

vii. Last quarter

viii. Crescent (end of waning)

Term

Identify:

 

http://www.noao.edu/outreach/aop/observers/n4449.html

Definition

 

Dwarf Galaxy

Term
Like the sun, planets appear to move _____ relative to the stars
Definition
eastward
Term

 

Johannes Kepler

Definition
Succeded Brahe
Term
Kepler's 1st Law
Definition



Each planet's orbit around the Sun is an ellipse, with the sun at one focus.



Term
Kepler's 2nd law
Definition

 

A planet moves along its orbit with a speed that changes in such a way that a line frm the planet to the sun sweeps out equal area in equal intervals of time

(planet moves faster when closer to the sun)


Term
Kepler's Third Law
Definition

The ratio of the cube of a planet's average distance from the Sun to the square of its orbital period is the same for each planet.


Mass does NOT effect orbital speed, what attracts (i.e.,) the sun and planets are the CENTERS of the mass, not the mass itself

Term

a3=p2

a=

p=

Definition

 

a= needs to be measured in A.U.

p= period the orbit (earth years)

Term
If Jupiter is 5 times away from the earth, it takes Jupiter...
Definition

A = 5 a.u.

a3 = 125 years

p2= (square of) 125

Term
3 conceptions of motion:
Definition
position, velocity, acceleration
Term
velocity (2 concepts)
Definition

rate of change of position

 

vector (has magnitude and direction)

Term
Acceleration (2 concepts)
Definition

rate of change of velocity

 

vector

Term
Relative to the age of the universe, how old is our solar system?
Definition
about 1/3 the age of the universe
Term
What do astronomers mean by a constellation?
Definition
A constellation is a region in the sky as seen from Earth
Term
What is the saros cycle?
Definition
The roughly 18-year cycle over which the pattern of eclipses repeats
Term
what is stellar parallax?
Definition
It is the slight back-and-forth shifting of star positions that occurs as we view the stars from different positions in Earth's orbit of the Sun.
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