copyright © 2010 pearson education, inc. test 2 review outline

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education, Inc.

Test 2 Review Outline


• Refracting telescopes make images with a lens.

• Reflecting telescopes make images with a mirror.

• Modern research telescopes are all reflectors.

• CCDs are used for data collection.

• Data can be formed into image, analyzed spectroscopically, or used to measure intensity.

• Large telescopes gather much more light, allowing study of very faint sources.

• Large telescopes also have better resolution.

Summary of Chapter 3


• Resolution of ground-based optical telescopes is limited by atmospheric effects.

• Resolution of radio or space-based telescopes is limited by diffraction.

• Active and adaptive optics can minimize atmospheric effects.

• Radio telescopes need large collection area; diffraction is limited.

• Interferometry can greatly improve resolution.

Summary of Chapter 3, cont.


• Infrared and ultraviolet telescopes are similar to optical.

• Ultraviolet telescopes must be above atmosphere.

• X rays can be focused, but very differently than visible light.

• Gamma rays can be detected but not imaged.



• Solar system consists of Sun and everything orbiting it.

• Asteroids are rocky, and most orbit between orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

• Comets are icy, and are believed to have formed early in the solar system’s life.

• Major planets orbit Sun in same sense, and all but Venus rotate in that sense as well.

• Planetary orbits lie almost in the same plane.



• Four inner planets – terrestrial planets – are rocky, small, and dense.

• Four outer planets – Jovian planets – are gaseous and large.

• Nebular theory of solar system formation: Cloud of gas and dust gradually collapsed under its own gravity, spinning faster as it shrank.

• Condensation theory says dust grains acted as condensation nuclei, beginning formation of larger objects.




• Planets have been discovered in other solar systems.

• Most are large and orbit much closer to the Sun than the large planets in our solar system do.



• Earth’s structure, from inside out: Core, mantle, crust, hydrosphere, atmosphere, magnetosphere

•Tides are caused by gravitational effects of Moon and Sun.

• Atmosphere is mostly nitrogen and oxygen; thins rapidly with increasing altitude.

• Greenhouse effect keeps Earth warmer than it would otherwise be.



• Can study interior by studying seismic waves.

• Crust is made of plates that move independently.

• Movement at plate boundaries can cause earthquakes, volcanic activity, mountain ranges, and rifts.

• New crust formed at rifts shows evidence of magnetic field reversals.

• Earth’s magnetic field traps charged particles from solar wind.



• Main surface features on Moon: maria, highlands

• Heavily cratered

• No atmosphere and large day–night temperature excursions

• Tidal interactions responsible for synchronicity of Moon’s orbit



• The Moon’s surface has both rocky and dusty material.

• There is evidence for volcanic activity.

• The Moon apparently formed as a result of a large object colliding with Earth.


• Mercury is tidally locked in a 3:2 ratio with the Sun.

• Mercury has no atmosphere; Venus has a very dense atmosphere, whereas the atmosphere of Mars is similar to Earth in composition but very thin.

• Mercury has no maria, but does have extensive intercrater plains and scarps.




• Venus is never too far from the Sun, and is the brightest object in the sky (after the Sun and Moon).

• It has many lava domes and shield volcanoes.

• Venus is comparable to Earth in mass and radius.

• Large amount of carbon dioxide in atmosphere, and closeness to the Sun, led to runaway greenhouse effect and very hot surface.


• Northern and southern hemispheres of Mars are very different.

• South is higher and heavily cratered.

• North is lower and relatively flat.

• Major features: Tharsis bulge, Olympus Mons, Valles Marineris

• Strong evidence for water on Mars in the past



• Mercury has very weak, remnant magnetic field.

• Venus has none, probably because of very slow rotation.

• Neither Venus nor Mars show signs of substantial tectonic activity.




• Jupiter and Saturn were known to the ancients; Uranus was discovered by chance, and Neptune was predicted from anomalies in the orbit of Uranus.

• Jovian planets are large but not dense; they are fluid and display differential rotation.

• Cloud layers have light zones and dark bands; wind pattern, called zonal flow, is stable.



• Storms appear with regularity; the Great Red Spot of Jupiter has lasted for hundreds of years (that we know of).

• Due to conductive interiors and rapid rotation, Jovian planets have large magnetic fields.

• Jupiter, Saturn, and Neptune radiate more energy than they receive from the Sun.



• Outer solar system has 6 large moons, 12 medium ones, and many smaller ones.

• Titan has a thick atmosphere and may have flowing rivers of methane.

• Triton has a fractured surface and a retrograde orbit.

• Medium-sized moons of Saturn and Uranus are mostly rock and water ice.

• Saturn’s rings are complex, and some are defined by shepherd moons.



• The Roche limit is the closest a moon can survive near a planet; inside this limit rings form instead.

• Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune all have faint ring systems.

• Pluto has three moons, Charon, Nix, and Hydra.

• Dwarf planets beyond Neptune (including Pluto) are now known as plutoids.

copyright © 2010 pearson education, inc. test 2 review outline

Documents

pearson education

summary of chapter

large telescopes

large planets

radio telescopes

optical telescopes

ultraviolet telescopes

refracting telescopes