Exam #3 Friday April 11
This is a 50-question multiple-choice exam. Bring a clean,
uncrumped ParSCORE Student Enrollment form
(the larger 6"x11" pink form), some #2 pencils & an eraser.
This is a "closed-book exam". No calculators/PDAs/ipods/cell phone/etc.
are allowed.
** For homework, fill out your ParSCORE form before the day of the
exam.**
Be sure to put your Red ID on both sides of the form, and don't add
an extra zero to the front of your Red ID number. Fill in "Test Form A"
and "Exam # 003". (Don't enter your phone number or a test code on the
front of the form.)
Please follow the instructions for filling out the
scantron forms - don't throw away points!!
Common errors include:
. putting an extra zero in front of your Red ID
. incorrectly entering your Red ID
. not marking the scantron bubbles dark enough in your Red ID
. accidentally filling in two answers
Please be careful - you will lose 1 point per error. In past semesters,
some student lost up to 6 points!
Material you will be responsible for knowing:
+ All class notes: The class notes are the most imporant source of
information for the exam.
+ Textbook: Chapter 4.4 (p 96) about Kepler's 3rd Law
+ Textbook: Chapter 5 (except the section on Thermal Radiation p 118)
+ parts of Chapter 6 (Mars, Jovian planets, dwarf planets and extrasolar
planets)
+ Chapter 7.3 Mars
+ all of Chapter 8
+ all of Chapter 9
+ All homework problems, including all reading assignment in the
textbook and reviews of external web pages
+ Previous important concepts like the speed of light, gravity,
temperature, Kepler's laws, the greenhouse effect, extrasolar planets,
Doppler effect, spectroscopy, emission & absorptio lines, etc.
Things to skip for this exam:
- Mercury, Venus, Earth
- greenhouse effect
- Formation of the planets
- P and S seismic waves (page 189)
- subduction and details of plate tectonics
- specific detailed structure of Jovian interiors or atmospheres
- details of radioactivity and radiometric dating p 168 (but do know what
these are)
- Kirchwood Gaps & gravitational resonances (p 255)
- dates & names of meteor showers (Table 9.1)
Some examples of things you should know:
- What does the Doppler effect tell us? How?
- What is regolith?
- What is an extrasolar planet?
- How are extrasolar planets discovered?
- What are the main characteristics of extrasolar planet?
- What is the atmosphere of Mars chiefly composed of?
- What is Olympus Mons? Valles Marineres?
- What was the main objective of the Viking mission? What was the
result?
- Why do we think there was once liquid water on the surface of Mars?
- What was the main discovery of the Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
mission?
- What are the jovian planets mostly made out of?
- What is the Roche limit?
- What is the Great Red Spot?
- Which planets have rings?
- What are planetary rings composed of?
- What are the Galilean satellites? What are the characteristics of each
one?
- What is the asteroid belt?
- What is the Kuiper belt? What is a Kuiper Belt Object?
- What is Pluto? Charon? Eris?
- What are Near-Earth Objects (NEOs)?
- What is Eris?
- What is Ceres?
- What is a dwarf planet?
- What are the 3 types of meteorites?
- What causes a meteor shower?
- What are comets made of? What causes a comet's tail?
- What was the Cassini/Huygens mission about?
- What are comets?
- What is sublimation?
- What probably caused the demise of the dinosaurs?
- What is hydrostatic equlibrium?
- What is a "transit"?
- What is a "Potentially Hazardous Asteroid"?
- What is the "K-T" event?
- How are spectral lines formed?
- If the spectral line is observed to be at a larger than
normal wavelength, what does that tell us?
- Why do astronomers search for liquid water?
- What is a "hot Jupiter"?
- How can you tell how far a planet is from its star by knowing only the
star's mass and the planet's orbital period? (hint see page Ch 4 p96)
and
- Be sure you've done all of the "observe the sky homework" assignments.
Sample Questions:
Currently, the most geologically active object in the Solar System is
A) Titan
B) Ceres
C) Earth
D) Io
How is Titan different from all the other moons in the Solar System?
A) continuously erupting volcanos are observed upon it.
B) it possesses a thick atmosphere rich in organic material.
C) its orbit carries it directly through the rings of Saturn.
D) it is larger than the Earth.
Why are there no craters on Jupiter?
A) Jupiter has a very dense atmosphere and the meteoroids burn up
before they reach the surface.
B) Jupiter is so far away that we can't see the craters, but they do
in fact exist.
C) Jupiter has no solid surface; it is a fluid body.
D) Jupiter has a strong magnetic field which deflects the meteoroids.
Which of the following is approximately the speed of light in a vacuum?
A) 186,000
B) 300,000
C) 300,000,000
D) 300,000 km/s
E) all of the above
How many nanometers in a meter?
Which of the following is a speed?
A) (0.10 nm / 656.3 nm) x 300,000
B) 656.4 nm - 656.3 nm
C) (-0.1 nm) x 300,000 km/s
D) (-0.1 nm / 656.3 nm)
E) (0.1 nm / 656.3 nm) x 300,000 km/s
A student observes the spectral lines from a distant star for part of her
senior thesis project. She sees both the H beta line (level 4 --> level 2
transition in hydrogen) and the H alpha line (level 3 --> 2). The H beta
line is measured to be at 486.5 nm. In the lab, the rest wavelength is
486.1 nm.
Is the spectrum redshifted or blueshifted (or not shifted at all)?
How fast is the star moving, and it is heading towards us or away?
Does the H beta photon contain more or less energy than the H alpha
photon?
Does the H beta photon have a longer or shorter wavelength than the
H alpha photon?
Does the H beta photon have a lower or higher frequency than the H
alpha photon?
General hints for exam preparation:
- Make use of the Astronomy Help Room.
- Do *ALL* the "Quick Quiz" questions at the end of each chapter.
- Read the "Big Picture" and "Summary of Key Concepts" sections at the end
of each chapter several times over a span of days/weeks.
- Go to the "Astronomy Help Room"!
- Read the material from on-line sources (those very helpful links on the
class web page) to clarify and reinforce ideas and concepts.
- Try to answer all the questions at the end of each chapter.
- Go to the "Astronomy Help Room"!!
- As always, nothing beats one-to-one tutoring during my office hours.