Test #3 Same types of questions Bring a calculator Study the other exam reviews

What process creates energy in the Sun? Why does the Sun’s size remain stable? How did the Sun become hot enough for fusion in the first place? What do we mean by the “surface” of the Sun? Know the zones of the Sun. Why is energy produced in the Sun at such a steady rate? Why was the Sun dimmer in the distant past? Describe the sunspot cycle.

What is the solar wind? How does solar activity effect humans? What is the difference between Luminosity and Apparent Brightness What is a parsec? How do you determine distance from parallax? How are stars classified into spectral types and what determines a star’s spectral type? KNOW the stellar types and their order! What are the two main elements in all stars?

What is the most important property of a star? What is the Hertzsprung-Russell (HR) diagram? How do stars differ along the main sequence? What do stars on the main sequence have in common? KNOW the paths on the HR diagram that stars take during their lifetimes! What determines the length of time a star spends on the main sequence? How do you determine the age of a star cluster? What factors go into a solar system habitual zone? What factors go into a galactic habitual zone?

What basic stellar property determines how a star will live and die, and why? Summarize the “pre-birth” stages of a star’s life. What is a brown dwarf? What are the major phases of life of a low-mass star? How did past red-giant stars contribute to the existence of life on Earth? State several ways in which high-mass stars differ from low-mass stars. How do high-mass stars produce elements heavier than carbon? What causes a supernova?

Why can’t fusion produce any elements heavier than iron? What is a white dwarf? Why can’t white dwarfs weigh more than 1.4 times the mass of the Sun? What is a neutron star? What is a pulsar? What is the maximum mass of a neutron star? What is a black hole? What observational evidence is there for the existence of black holes?

Describe the general structure of the Milky Way Galaxy. Briefly describe the galaxy’s star-gas-star cycle. How do halo stars differ from disk stars? How do stellar orbits in the disk differ from those in the halo? Why are spiral arms bright? What lies in the center of our galaxy? What is Olbers’ paradox? What are the three types of galaxies?

How do you make an elliptical galaxy? How is the structure of elliptical galaxies different from spiral galaxies? The bluish-white color of irregular galaxies tells you what? Which galaxy type is often found in huge clusters of galaxies? What happens as a result of galaxy collisions? How is the distance between galaxies different than the distance between stars and planets?

What are the five steps in measuring astronomical distances? What is Hubble’s law? Is the Universe expanding? Why? What are Quasars? What are the proportions of normal matter, dark matter, and dark energy in the Universe? What is the difference between a Recollapsing, Coasting, Critical, or Accelerating Universe?

What is the significance of a rotation curve that is flat at large distances from the galactic center? What are three pieces of evidence that indicate that dark matter really exists? How does the distribution of dark matter compare to the distribution of luminous matter in spiral galaxies? What do we mean when we ask whether dark matter is ordinary or extraordinary matter? What are MACHOs, and can they account for dark matter? What are WIMPs, and can they account for dark matter?

What are the three pieces of evidence that support the existence of Dark Energy? What is Dark Energy? What are the two key lines of evidence supporting the Big Bang model? What is the cosmic microwave background? What are the four fundamental forces and what happened to them at the start of the Big Bang? What is the Miller-Urey experiment? What is the age of the Solar System? The Universe? When did life arise on Earth?

How can we identify life on exoplanets? What are the possible solutions of the Fermi Paradox?