Study Guide for Test 1
The Night Sky, The History of Astronomy, and Astronomy as a Science
1. Be familiar with the celestial coordinate system and how it relates to the latitude and longitude
system on the Earth? Know how the celestial equator, ecliptic and celestial poles are defined.
2. Have a familiarity with the motion of objects in the sky (stars, planets, and constellations),
including daily motions (rising and setting) and annual motions, and what causes them.
3. Have a familiarity with the scientific method and its limitations.
4. Know the history of the development of the geocentric and heliocentric models of the Solar
System, and how Ptolemy, Copernicus, Galileo, Brahe, Kepler and Newton played a part in our
understanding of the motions of the planets. What definitive measurements did Galileo make
to disprove a geocentric solar system?
5. Be able to explain retrograde motion and how it is explained in both the Ptolemaic and
heliocentric (Copernican) views of the Solar System.
6. Understand what causes the seasons and the lunar phases. Be able to understand where the
moon is in the sky at different times of day over the lunar month. Know the terminology
relating to lunar phases (full moon, waxing crescent, etc.)
7. Understand the mechanism behind solar and lunar eclipses.
8. Understand Kepler’s 3 laws.
Physics of the Motion of the Planets
1. Understand the terminology used to describe motion: velocity, speed, acceleration, mass,
weight, force, and inertia.
2. Understand Newton’s 3 laws and his Universal Law of Gravitation and be able to apply them to a
problem.
3. Explain how we understand that the moon is falling around the Earth.
Properties of Light
1. Understand the basic properties of light, as a wave, including the relationship between
wavelength, energy, period, frequency, color, and the speed of light. Understand the
commonalities and differences in the major parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
2. What is a blackbody. How can we use Wien’s law and the Stefan-Boltzman law to understand
the color and intensity of light emitted by a blackbody, quantitatively and qualitatively?
3. What is the inverse square law (for light AND for gravity)? If an object is moved n times further
away, how much fainter does it become?
Introduction to the Solar System
You should understand the components of the Solar System here, but I’m only assuming that you’ll have
a general understanding.
The Earth as a Planet
1. Know the general features of the Earth’s surface, atmosphere and interior.
2. How has the process of differentiation ordered the interior of the Earth, and be able to
Name and describe its interior components.
3. Be able to describe how plate tectonics and continental drift have altered the Earth’s surface.
What causes continental drift and how do plates move together/apart? How is the Earth’s
surface being altered by plate tectonics, volcanism, and its atmosphere.
4. What causes the Earth’s magnetic field? Auroras?
5. Explain how the Earth’s atmosphere has been altered over time.
6. Be able to explain the significant aspects of the global climate change debate and the
greenhouse effect.
7. What is the age of the Earth and how has it been determined?
The Moon
1. Outline the major theories of lunar evolution. Give the pros and cons of each.
2. Explain, using a diagram, the mechanism causing the tides. Show the configuration
of the Sun, Moon, and Earth resulting in maximum tides.
3. Describe the difference in appearance and origin of maria and highlands. How do we know that
the maria are younger than the highlands?
4. Describe the three major types of lunar rocks and their origin.
5. What is synchronous rotation? Why is the Moon a synchronous rotator?
6. Why is the Moon less geologically active than the Earth?
7. Why does the Moon have no significant atmosphere?
The Terrestrial Planets
1. Discuss in some detail how Mars is intermediate between the Earth and Moon geologically and
the reason(s) for this.
2. What evidence is there for liquid water having flowed on the surface of Mars? Why is it not
there now?
3. Discuss reasons for the difference in the appearance of the Earth, Venusian, Martian and lunar
surfaces and how this is related to planet size and distance from the Sun. Know the major
features of each terrestrial planet.
4. What would the Earth’s atmosphere be like if the Earth were much closer to the Sun (say as
close as Mercury)? Much further (say it had formed at the distance of Jupiter)?
5. Explain how volcanism, tectonic activity, magnetic field, existence of a molten core, and the size
of a planet correlate. Which planet has the largest mountain in the solar system and why?
The Gas Giants
1. Is Pluto a terrestrial planet? Why, or why not?
2. How are the Jovian ring systems thought to have originated?
3. How do the Jovian and Saturnian satellites resemble miniature Solar Systems?
4. Compare and contrast the distinctive features of each of the Jovian planets, and the four
Galilean satellites of Jupiter. What are they thought to be like internally?
5. What powers the volcanic activity on Io?
6. Why do Neptune and Uranus have differing appearances?