ASTRONOMY 1
STUDY GUIDE EXAM 3
You may use this only this study guide for reference on the exam.
No electronic devises: I pads, lap tops, phones, etc.
Identify Terms - Matching (20 @ 1 point each = 20 pts.)
Multiple Choice (25 @ 2 points each = 50 pts.)
Essays (choose 2 of 3 @ 15 points each = 30 pts.)
CH 10
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Conservation of energy
Nuclear fission
Nuclear fusion
Interstellar medium
protostar
coulomb barrier
Hydrostatic equilibrium
Nebula
Proton-proton chain
Neutrino
Energy transport
Zero-age main sequence
CH 11
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
Nova
Supernove
Degenarate matter
Chandrasekhar Limit
Neutron Star
General Theory of
Relativity
Singularity
Pulsar
Event Horizon
Hypernova
Black hole
Accretion disk
Multiple Choice (There will be 25 on the exam)
CHAPTER 10
1.
Which color star is likely to be the hottest? .red, blue-violet, yellow, orange ?
2. Why don't we see hydrogen Balmer lines in the spectra of very cool stars? (like 3,000 K
+/-)
3. Why don't we see hydrogen Balmer lines in the spectra of very hot stars (like 45,000
K+/-)
4. What is the he proton-proton chain? Why does it need a high temperature?
5. What is a white dwarf? a supergiant star? A main sequence star? What type is our Sun?
6. The sun generates energy by fusion? By fission ?
7. Why are protostars difficult to observe?
8. Why does the main sequence have a limit at the lower end?
9.
How much of the average star’s lifetime is spend on the main sequence?
10. What causes the outward gas pressure that balances the inward pull of gravity in a main sequence
star?
11. What is the lifetime of a 10 solar mass star on the main sequence? Estimate using table 9-2
12. What is the lifetime on the main sequence of a 2 solar mass star compared to the approximately 10
billion year life of our Sun? Estimate using table 9-2
13. While on the main sequence a star's primary energy source comes from ________
14. What must occur for an object to be considered a main sequence star?
15. What force(s) are responsible for the collapse of an interstellar cloud
16. Why do higher mass stars live shorter lives on the main sequence than lower mass stars?
17. Why do nuclear fusion reactions only take place in the interior of a star?
18. What characteristic of a star primarily determines its location on the main sequence?
19. Why are Giant and supergiant stars rare?
CHAPTER 11
20. Why are Star clusters important to our study of stars ? See figure 3 pg. 235
21. What is the approximate age of the star cluster in the HR diagram below? (Hint: Main Sequence
Stars of spectral between types A and B core supply of hydrogen is sufficient to last about 250
million years. Between A and F about 2 billion years. Type G about 10 billion years. Between K
and M about 30 billion years..)
22. If the stars at the turnoff point of a cluster have a mass of 3 M , what is the age of the cluster?
23. Why can’t the lowest-mass stars become giants?
24. Why can’t massive stars cannot generate energy through iron fusion
25. What is a Type I supernova
26. What is a nova is almost always associated with?
27. What is the approximate time interval between eruptions of nova SS Aur?
500 day light curve of the dwarf nova SS Aur.
25. What is a type-II supernova ?
26. The diagram below shows a light curve from a supernova. How many days after maximum light
did it take for the supernova to decrease in brightness by a factor of 100?
27. Where are elements heavier than iron primarily produced?
28. What is The density of a neutron star?
29. The ____________ of a black hole is the radius
from a black hole at which the escape velocity is
approximately equal to the speed of light.
30. Why does is a neutron star expected to spin
rapidly?
31. The graph shows the signal from a pulsar, what is
the time interval between pulses?
32. Why would an isolated black hole in empty intergalactic space be difficult to detect?
33. The material that accretes onto a neutron star or black hole is expected to emit X-rays because
34. What is the difference between a neutron star and a pulsar?
35. What determines the escape velocity of an object
36. What is the escape velocity at the event horizon around a black hole?
37. When a single star with a mass equal to the Sun dies, what will it become ?
38. Where are elements heavier than iron can only be created ?
39. When the mass of a star's core becomes greater than 1.4 times the mass of the Sun, degenerate
electrons can no longer keep it as a white dwarf. Instead, what does it become?
40. To predict whether a star will ultimately become a black hole, what is the key property of the star
we should look at?
41. Why are type I supernovae are useful to astronomers for determining distances to other galaxies?
42. Imagine that our Sun were magically and suddenly replaced by a black hole of the same mass (1
solar mass). What would happen to Earth in its orbit?
43. What is a planetary nebula?
44. What’s the difference between a nova and a supernova?