Dr. Henry Throop / University of Colorado 7-Jul-00 Astronomy 1110 Exam Review - Final Exam ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ General info: The format of the exam will be roughly similar to Exams #1 and #2. It will be cumulative, with a slight emphasis on material covered in the most recent lectures in class. Like the other exams, there will be a combination of multiple-choice, short answer, and essay questions. Also, there will be a slide section, where I'll show several slides of planets, moons, comets, interesting features, etc. You should ID the object and be able to write intelligently about. You'll have a total of 95 minutes. Bring a calculator; all equations and units you'll need will be supplied. o Review sheet #1 Review sheet #2 Plus: Spacecraft design ----------------- Large vs. small missions Financial tradeoffs Mass tradeoffs Risk tradeoffs Congressional tradeoffs Telescopes v. spacecraft Telescopes, are larger, less expensive, further away, easy to repair, easy to modify Instrumentation to put on a spacecraft Cameras, spectrometers, sample return missions, balloons, probes, etc -- Spacecraft Design Workshop handout History of mission failures -- e.g., Mars US approach (smaller, faster, cheaper) is akin to Russian approach of 20 years ago -- launch whatever we have at next launch window Gravitational flyby -- speeds up spacecraft, slows down planet Astrobiology ------------ Life on Mars -- evidence for and against Recent water on Mars -- evidence for and against Various methods on the path to detecting extraterrestrial life, intelligence We live in a golden era -- first generation to be able to actually look for & detect life, planets, intelligence elsewhere Pluto ----- Is it a planet? Is it not a planet? Is it neither? History of discovery How it fits in with planets, JP's How it doesn't fit in with planets, JP's Observing sessions ------------------ Why no planets visible right now Behind the sun Twinkling stars Parking lot / swimming pool effect -- explain Satellites through sky Basic constellations & stars Big dipper, little dipper, arcturus, summer triangle, scorpio, cygnus, Polaris What does color of stars mean? Blue -> hotter Distances to stars -- 10's of ly for bright ones Winter constellations v. summer Light pollution Circumpolar constellations CU's telescopes -- 16", 18", 24" reflectors Ongoing mysteries in Solar System --------------------------------- Where is life? Where is liquid? Where is water? Why is Earth so stable? Venus far too hot, Mars far too cold Why does our system look different than those of extrasolar systems we've discovered? Large planets further out, rather than closer in Key objects ----------- Planets, plus: Martian erosion channels Shoemaker/Levy-9 Titan Mimas Miranda Crater chains Ice rafts on Europa Ridges/cracks on Europa & Ganymede Io Comet tails Asteroids Pluto Extrasolar planets (detected by wobble of their central stars)