ASTRONOMY STUDY GUIDE AND CHECKLIST
NAME ______________________
Here is what you need to do to prepare for the test:
1) Study all the old quizzes (# 74, 82, 84, 87, 93, 101, 105). They contain the most important
information from each activity!
2) Fill out the matching for the geo-words below:
3) Answer the questions below regarding the Main Concepts:
1) _______AU
2) _______light-year
3) _______nebular theory
4) _______protoplanet
5) _______comet
6) _______asteroid
7) _______Proxima Centauri
8) _______Betelgeuse
9) _______parallax
10) _______rotation
11) _______revolution
12) _______new moon
13) _______full moon
14) _______quarter moon
15) _______spring tide
16) _______neap tide
17) _______equinox
18) _______tidal friction
19) _______accretion
20) _______solstice
21) _______eccentricity
22) _______coma
23) _______axial precession
24) _______orbital plane
25) _______orbital inclination
26) _______axial tilt
27) _______obliquity
28 _______ meteoroid
29) _______meteor
30) _______meteorite
31) _______solar wind
32) _______iridium
33) _______NEO
A. circular motion of an object around another object
B. bright moon when the earth is between the sun and the moon
C. snow-balling effect of gravity that forms celestial bodies
D. theory of how planets form from nebulae
E. plasma streams emitted from the sun after a solar flare
F. measures the elliptical nature of an orbit
G. closest star to our solar system
H. “shooting star”
I. near earth object
J. stage in the accretion of a planet before it is fully formed
K. angle by which an orbit differs from the earth’s orbital plane
L. distance light travels in a year
M. when tides are at their minimum
N. the offset of the earth’s rotational axis from the “vertical”
O. orbiting body made of ice, dust, and gas particles
P. a prominent metal found in asteroids
Q. dark moon when the moon is between the sun and earth
R. the geometric plane that is formed by the earth orbiting the sun
S. circular motion of an object on its own internal axis
T. phenomenon that slows the rotation of the earth
U. rocky orbiting body smaller than a planet
V. when tides are at a maximum
W. when both hemisphere get equal amounts of solar radiation
X. the wobbling of the earth on its axis
Y. red supergiant in Orion constellation; 9th brightest star in sky
Z. when the moon is at a right angle to the sun-earth plane
a. when the earth’s tilt results in the greatest seasonal effects
b. the head of a comet
c. another word for “axial tilt”
d. tiny rocky fragments in space smaller than asteroids
e. shift in object’s position when viewed from two perspectives
f. meteors that have reached the earth’s surface
g. distance from the earth to the sun
34) _______sunspots
35) _______solar flares
36) _______albedo
37 _______plasma
38) _______solar wind
39) _______ionosphere
40) _______electromagnetic spectrum
41) _______infrared radiation
42) _______ultraviolet radiation
43) _______gamma rays
44) _______spectra
45) _______blue shift
46) _______main sequence
47) _______blue giants
48) _______red giants
49) _______white dwarfs
50) _______red dwarf
51) _______supergiant
52) _______supernova
53) _______neutron star
54) _______black hole
55) _______nebula
56) _______luminosity
A. explosion of a massive star
B. densest object in the universe; remnant of a supernova
C. biggest coolest stars
D. very dense remnant of a medium-sized supernova
E. small cool stars
F. fiery explosions on the sun emitting lots of radiation
G. cloud of gas and dust from which stars are born
H. nuclear fall-out
I. brightness of a star
J. flow of charged particles from the sun
K. range of radiation from radio to gamma
L. can cause skin cancer
M. % reflectance of an object
N small dark highly magnetic spots on the sun
O. region in the atmosphere where atoms are ionized
P. hottest most massive stars
Q. matter in which all atoms are ionized
R. heat
S. unique spectral signatures of stars
T. curve on the HR diagram where most stars “live”
U. small dead stars still glowing whitish
V. a cool dying blue giant
W. characteristic of objects moving towards earth
MAIN CONCEPTS:
1) Activity 1(# 72 in binder): Exactly why is it impossible to build/draw accurate models of the
solar system? ______________________________________________________________
2) Activity 1(# 72 in binder): What is the approximate distance between the earth and the sun?
_____________________________________________________________________________
3) # 73 in binder: How do astronomers measure the distance to stars? How does parallax work?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4) Activity 2 (# 78): Sketch the relationship between spring tides and neap tides and the full moon,
new moon, and quarter moon.
5) Activity 2 (# 78): How do the tides affect the rotation of the earth and the length of a year?
_____________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
6) Activity 2 (# 78): How did the moon probably form?
_____________________________________________________________________________
7) Activity 2 (#78): Why is the rotation of the moon exactly as long as its revolution?
_____________________________________________________________________________
8) Activity 2 (#78):Why do we never see the “dark side of the moon?”
_____________________________________________________________________________
9) Activity 3 (# 83): How does eccentricity define an orbit?
_____________________________________________________________________________
10) Activity 3 (#83): List two ways in which Pluto’s orbit differ from that of earth.
_____________________________________________________________________________
11) Activity 3 (#83): How do the orbits of asteroids and comets differ from those of planets?
_____________________________________________________________________________
12) Activity 3 (#83): How does the eccentricity of earth’s orbit (changing from 0.017 to 0.05 every
100,000 years = orbital precession) affect climate in a) short run; b) long run?
_____________________________________________________________________________
13) Activity 3 (#83): How does the axial tilt (obliquity changing from 22o to 24.5 o every 40,000
years) affect climate in a) short run;
_____________________________________________________________________________
b) long run?
_____________________________________________________________________________
14) Activity 3 (#83): How does axial precession (precession of the equinoxes) affect climate in a)
short run;
_____________________________________________________________________________
b) long run?
_____________________________________________________________________________
15) Activity 3 (#83): Name two reasons why Pluto might have lost “planet status.”
_____________________________________________________________________________
16) Activity 4 (# 85): List the two most important factors in how much damage an asteroid/meteor
impact might have.
_____________________________________________________________________________
17) Activity 4 (#85): How big does an asteroid have to be to cause catastrophic damage to the earth?
_____________________________________________________________________________
18) Activity 4 (#85): How often have these catastrophic events happened in the earth’s past?
_____________________________________________________________________________
19) Activity 4 (#85): List two pieces of evidence that we have which suggest that the dinosaurs were
killed 65 MYA by an asteroid impact.
_____________________________________________________________________________
20) Activity 4 (#85): What was the main reason for the ultimate extinction after the initial asteroid
impact?
_____________________________________________________________________________
21) Activity 4 (#85): What part of the EM spectrum do scientists use to find undiscovered asteroids?
_____________________________________________________________________________
22) Activity 5 (# 89): What is the relationship between sunspot activity and solar flares?
_____________________________________________________________________________
23) Activity 5 (#89): What is the relationship between solar flares and solar wind?
_____________________________________________________________________________
24) Activity 5 (#89): What are the dangers, if any, of solar flares?
_____________________________________________________________________________
25) Activity 5 (#89): How does an increase or decrease in albedo affect the earth’s climate?
_____________________________________________________________________________
26) Activity 5 (#89): How does an increase in atmospheric CO2 affect the earth’s solar energy
budget? Why is it a good idea to “balance the budget?”
_____________________________________________________________________________
27) EM spectrum (# 95): What happens to a wave’s frequency when the wavelength increases?
_____________________________________________________________________________
28) EM spectrum (#95): What is the relationship between energy and wavelength frequency?
_____________________________________________________________________________
29) EM spectrum (#95): What happens to the apparent wavelength of radiation when a galaxy moves
away from earth?
_____________________________________________________________________________
30) Activity 6 (# 94): What is the significance of the red shift?
_____________________________________________________________________________
31) Activity 6 (#94): How can astronomers find out what distant stars are made of?
_____________________________________________________________________________
32) Activity 6 (#94): Which is the only galaxy that shows a blue shift in the dominant feature of the
hydrogen spectrum?
_____________________________________________________________________________
33) Activity 6 (#94): How do astronomers use the EM spectrum to study objects in our universe?
_____________________________________________________________________________
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34) Activity 7 (# 103): What two forces are in equilibrium while a star is in the main sequence
portion of its lifetime?
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35) Activity 7 (# 103): Illustrate the two pathways in the life cycle of a a)massive star; b) medium to
small star.
36) On a HR diagram, label the main sequence, blue giants, sun-class stars, red dwarfs, white dwarfs,
red giants, and supergiants.