Key Concepts:
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What is a science? A scientific hypothesis? Theory? What is the place of astronomy in the sciences?
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What units do we use to measure mass, time, distance?
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What is the celestial sphere and how do the stars and sun relate to it?
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What are the effects of the Earth’s rotation, its revolution, and its tilt? This is really a very broad question, and it is the stuff that typically gives students the most trouble. Spend some time with it!
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Explain the phases of the moon and eclipses.
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How did the motions of the planets shape the history of astronomy?
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What were the major contributions of Ptolemy, Copernicus, Brahe, Kepler, and Galileo? What are Kepler’s Laws?
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How do we describe motion? What are Newton’s Laws and why are they so important?
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What is the Universal Law of Gravitation? How does it relate to tides?
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What is energy? What is meant by a conservation law, and specifically, the conservation of energy. What are some of the different forms of energy?
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What is the nature of light? In what ways does it behave like a wave and in what ways does it behave like a particle? What are the important properties of light waves? Describe the electromagnetic spectrum. What kinds of things do we see when we pass light from an astronomical source through a prism? What kinds of information can we glean from these spectra?
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How do telescopes help us in astronomy?
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What are some of the interesting properties of our solar system? How did our solar system form?
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How old is the solar system? How do we know?
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What are the similarities and differences between the terrestrial and jovian planets?
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What is the structure of the planets? What types of atmospheres do they have? How do the properties of the planets relate to one another? moons?
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What are the interesting facets of the moons and rings in the outer solar system?
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What is an asteroid and where do they live? What is a comet and where do they live? How do planets, dwarf planets, and comets and asteroid differ?
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How might you identify a meteorite?
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How do we search for extrasolar planets?
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What kinds of planets have we found outside our solar system? Does that jive with our theory of solar system formation?
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What are the important properties of stars? How do we measure those properties? What powers stars?
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Describe the life cycle of stars. How do stars of different masses live differently?
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What are the different results of the deaths of stars of different masses? Describe the battle between gravity and pressure at the end of the lives of stars.
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Why do black holes distort time and light near them?
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What would it be like to visit a black hole?
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How has the existence of black holes been confirmed through observations?
According to observations of intense gravitational attraction and energy in the center of galaxies made by the Hubble Space Telescope since the early 1990s, there is evidence for supermassive black holes at the heart of nearly all large galaxies, including our Milky Way.
Terms
- Science
- scientific hypothesis
- astronomy
- meter
- second
- kilogram
- astronomical unit (AU)
avg distance between earth and sun
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light-year
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parsec
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parallax
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constellation
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celestial sphere
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celestial pole
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celestial equator
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ecliptic
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horizon
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circumpolar
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latitude
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longitude
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solar day
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sidereal day
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summer solstice
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winter solstice
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vernal equinox
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autumnal equinox
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precession
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waxing
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waning
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crescent
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gibbous
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solar eclipse
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lunar eclipse
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umbra
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penumbra
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apparent retrograde motion
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displacement
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velocity
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speed
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acceleration
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force
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momentum
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Newton’s Laws
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ellipse
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focus
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semimajor axis
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Kepler’s Laws
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Eccentricity
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Weight
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Universal Law of Gravitation
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inverse square law
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tidal force
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spring tide
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neap tide
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tidal friction
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synchronous rotation
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momentum
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kinetic energy
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potential energy
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radiative energy
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temperature
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Kelvin scale
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photon
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electromagnetic spectrum
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wavelength
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frequency
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proton
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neutron
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electron
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nucleus
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ion
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isotope
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atomic number
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atomic mass number
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solid
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liquid
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gas
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plasma
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electron energy levels
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ground state
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excited state
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emission spectrum
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absorption spectrum
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continuous spectrum
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Doppler effect
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redshift
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blueshift
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refraction
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reflection
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angular resolution
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twinkling
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light pollution
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adaptive optics
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interferometry
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terrestrial planet
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jovian planet
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asteroid
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solar nebula
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condensation
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accretion
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planetesimal
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nebular theory of solar system formation
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frost line
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protoplanetary disk
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condensation
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accretion
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radiometric dating
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half-life
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core
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mantle
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crust
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lithosphere
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differentiation
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heat transfer
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conduction
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convection
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radiation
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volcanism
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tectonics
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erosion
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atmosphere
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greenhouse effect
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maria
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tidal heating
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Coriolis effect
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comet
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asteroid
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Oort cloud
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Kuiper belt
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dwarf planet
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nucleus
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coma
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plasma tail
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dust tail
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Nuclear fusion
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Proton-proton chain
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Gravitational equilibrium
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Neutrino
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Positron
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Accetion disk
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Brown dwarf
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White dwarf
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Luminosity
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Binary star system
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Protostar
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Main sequence
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Red giant star
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Supergiant star
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Thermal pressure
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Degeneracy pressure
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Electron degeneracy
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Neutron degeneracy
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Shell fusion
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Planetary nebula
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Neutron star
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Pulsar
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Black Hole
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Special Theory of Relativity
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General Theory of Relativity
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Event horizon
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Schwarzschild radius
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Nova
a sudden and dramatic increase in a star’s brightness
- White dwarf supernova
occurs when a white dwarf star explodes in a binary star system
- Massive star supernova
When the pressure drops low enough in a massive star, gravity suddenly takes over and the star collapses in just seconds