AST final Study

Terms Definitions
Retrograde motion:
Cepheid period-lum. relation,r:0,s:0
*not sure if right*
Freezing in space (kelvin)
If spectroscopic luminosity classification gives us an estimated distance to the faint star SAO 47552 of about 3300 light years, then its parallax would be only
.001 arseconds
The apparent boundary between Earth and sky, which moves as you move, is called the
Venus' surface
has two continent sized uplands
While the rotation axis of _____________ is only tilted 29 degrees, its magnetic fields are just as strange as its twin's is.
torus (belt) of short-period comets just beyond Neptune.
Shortest day and longest night.Sunrise and set occurring farthest southLowest position of sun at noon.
Winter Solstice
When the Earth's umbra completely covers the moon we have a(n) _____ eclipse.
total lunar
Convergence Zone
this is when two plates MEET
A measure of brightness at a particular wavelength
The unit astronomers use to measure distances in space.
The PRIMARY reason professional observatories are built on the highest mountain tops is to
Reduce atmospheric blurring
the first process that planets grow. The process where PARICALS grow one atom at a time from surrounding gas. This increases the mass of the partical rapidly but becomes less effective as the partical gets too large.
Most meteorites are found on the continent of Antarctica.
the layer in the solar atmosphere between the photosphere and the corona
The shortest distance across the orbit
Minor Axis
A unit of length commonly used in astronomy is the
Third Cambridge Catalog
Quasars are discussed on pages 421-423. During the period from the early 1930s to the early 1960s, hundreds of radio sources were detected with no corresponding visible object. These objects were listed in the Third Cambridge Catalog (referred to as 3C).
The source of a protostar's energy is:
gravitational contraction
Which of the Galilean moons is densest and most geologically active?
last/third quarter
phase btw waning gibbous and waning crescent
As a rotating gas cloud contracts, it spins faster
core-collapse supernova
results from the internal collapse and violent explosion of a massive star; there is a presence of hydrogen
Hydrostatic equilibrium
state in which the outward gas pressure force balances the inward force of gravity
a temporary cool region in the solar photosphere created by protruding magnetic fields
What is good about keeping out light in the cloud?
When the Moon's umbra strikes the Earth, someone under it will experience a(an)
total solar eclipse.
dark matter
Term used to describe the mass in galaxies and clusters whose existence we infer from rotation curves and other techniques, but that has not been confirmed by observations at any electromagnetic wavelength.
Properties of Photons
the higher the frequency, the higher the energy, the longer the wavelength, the lower the energy
Which of these moons are most interesting to exobiologists?
Titan and Triton
Electromagnetic Wave
a wave that consists of electric and magnetic fields that vibrate at right angles to each other
Planetary Transit
when you can see drops in brightness when a planet passes before a star
High Mass Stars
upper left, high luminosity and high temperature
Provided following are various elements that can be produced during fusion in the core of a high mass main sequence star. Rank these elements based on when they are produced, from first to last.
1. Helium
2. Carbon
3. Oxygen
4. Iron
During their main-sequence lives, all stars fuse hydrogen into helium in their cores. During the late stages of their lives, massive stars fuse helium into carbon, and ongoing reactions create successively heavier elements, including oxygen. Iron is the last product of fusion in a massive star's core; iron fusion does not release energy, so the production of iron is the event that provokes the stellar crisis that ends (within seconds) in a supernova.
Has three moons, one about half of its size.
According to our current best theories, which of the following does the universe have?
A beginning point in time.
all but irregulars
Which types of galaxies have a clearly defined spheroidal
What is the equatorial diameter of the Sun?
About 1,000,000 km
An FSU student is observing the phases of Venus with his 8 inch reflector telescope, and a UF student is doing the same with a 16 inch reflector telescope. How much more light gathering power does the UF telescope have?
4 times more
supernova remnant
the debris ejected from a star when it explodes as a supernova. Typically this material is hot gas, expanding away from the explosion at thousands of kilometers or more per second.
Gravitational Contraction
Explain this 2:1 resonance
Jupiter goes around twice for every time Saturn goes around, which created a dangerous lineup
The surface of Mercury is most accurately described as
covered with many impact craters.
Dust Tail (Type II)
part of the comet: produced by dust from the vaporizing ices of the nucleus. It is pushed outward by the pressure of sunlight
The atmospheric pressure on Venus
is 90 times higher than on Earth
Structure of the stellar interior from the center outward
fusion zone, radiation zone, convection zone
How were the maria formed?
Huge rocks crashed into the Moon's surface; molten rock from its interior flooded the large basins that were formed.
What do pulsars appear to be?
rotating neutron stars immersed in hot gas
somewhere on the equator
where are you if polaris is on you horizon?
The Astronomical Unit is defined as:
the average distance between the Earth and the Sun.
What is Kepplers 2nd law?
Heavy atoms, such as nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, silicon, and iron, are:
manufactured in cores of very massive stars
At what phase would you expect to find extremely high and low tides?
both new and full Moons
What is thought to cause Io's volcanism?
tidal stresses from both Jupiter and Europa
What is the evidence that Mars once had running, liquid water on its surface?
Spacecraft observe channels and dry river beds on the Martian surface.
Light curves of Type Ib and Ic
similar to Type Ia, but dimmer at maximum brightness.
Most of the extrasolar planets found so far were detected by
Why is a 1 solar-mass red giant more luminous than a 1 solar-mass main sequence star?
Fusion reactions are producing energy at a greater rate in the red giant.
Any star's luminosity depends on how much energy it is generating, and the red giant is generating a lot through hydrogen shell buring.
Since the sun in entirely composed of gases, why doesn't the Sun collapse?
the pressure of the Sun increases as the distance below the photosphere, giving rise to an outward force that exactly balances the force of gravity
The Age of Aquarius refers to what?
It means that in the future the vernal equinox will occur in a direction in line with the constellation Aquarius due to the precession of the Earth's axis of rotation.
Much of the water on Mars is thought to be
in a layer of permafrost just below the surface
Why are a solar day and sidereal day different?
A solar day is measured by a sundial. A sidereal day is the true rotational period of the Earth.
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