Lecture Exam 1 Review
Key Terms to Know
The following is a list of terms and objects that you should be comfortable with for the
upcoming exam. This list should be used as a guide and might not include every term
that was covered in class. For completeness, you should refer to the notes you took in
class or the notes that are posted on the web page.
Anti-Matter
Astronomical Unit
Cosmic Microwave Background
Exoplanets
Facts
Galaxies
Hypothesis
Isotope
Law
Light-Year
Molecule
Moon (Satellites)
Organic Molecule
Planck Time
Planets
Plasma
Star Clusters
Stars
Theory
Universe
Astronomy Overview
Do you understand the goals of science?
What is the process of the scientific method? With what step(s), if any, do astronomers
have difficulty performing?
What are some specific challenges that scientists face in searching for life beyond Earth?
History of the Universe
Can you trace the general evolution of the universe from the Big Bang to the present by
listing the different eras and describing the conditions of the universe during each? Do
you know what evidence suggests that the Big Bang Theory is correct?
Do you know the estimated age of the Universe?
Do you know the four fundamental forces of nature? Can you describe their basic
properties?
Can you describe the structure of an atom? Do you know what makes one element
different from another?
Star/Planet Formation
Accretion
Differentiation
Habitable Zone
Interstellar Medium
Jovian Planet
Outgassing
Planetesimals
Proto-planet
Proto-planetary Disk
Proto-Sun
Solar Nebula Theory
Terrestrial Planet
Are you familiar with the composition of the gas and dust that make up the interstellar
medium (ISM)?
Describe the process by which stars and planets form.
What observations about the solar system suggest that the solar nebula theory is correct?
How does the condensation sequence explain why terrestrial planets formed near the Sun
while Jovian planets formed farther away?
Properties of Life
Extremophile
Greenhouse Effect
Heavy Bombardment Period/Hadean Era
Impact Sterilization
Miller-Urey Experiment
Murchison Meteorite
Natural Selection
Outgassing
Panspermia
Do you know the six (6) necessary conditions for living organisms and which two (2) are
sufficient conditions when defining something as being ‘alive’?
Can you discuss the properties that are unique to the element Carbon that made it beneficial to
the\ formation/evolution of life?
Can you discuss the unique properties of water that assisted in the formation/evolution of life?
Unique Properties of Earth
Describe all of the properties of the Earth that astronomers believe were instrumental to the
development/evolution of life.
What role(s) do astronomers believe the Moon played in the formation/development of life on
Earth?