This course assumes that the student has no background in astronomy and is typically
very weak in science. Most astronomy text books assume a little background and can
easily lose students if the student does noyt have the same background. Hence the
objectives for the course are divided into the following categories: Nature, Earth,
Solar System, Stars, and Universe.
The objectives are then divided into five lists: one for each test.
AST 1002 OBJECTIVES for TEST I All objectives
are prefaced by the phase "Be able to..." The location in you text for each
objective is given in parenthesis at the end of the objective.
EARTH
1. ...describe the daily and annual motion of the Sun, Moon,
Planets, and Stars as seen relative to the Earth. Ch. 1)
2. ...describe the motion of the Sun, Moon, and planets
relative to the stars, and give the period of the Sun
and Moon for each. (ch. 1)
3. ...give the date, relative length of daylight, and position
of the Sun during the day for each of the following:
Summer Solstice, Winter Solstice, Vernal
Equinox, and Fall Equinox. (Ch. 1)
SOLAR SYSTEM
4. ...state the names of the planets, give their order in the
Solar system, and give their relative sizes. (Appendix B,
Table B)
5. ...state what is required of a scientific model and what it takes
to change a model. (Ch. 2)
NATURE
6. ...describe the characteristics of the following: Electron,
Proton, Neutron, Atom, Molecule. (Ch. 9)
7. ...explain each of the following terms: Speed, Velocity, and
Acceleration. (Ch. 3)
8. ...state and explain Newton's three laws of motion and his law of
Gravitation. (Ch. 3)
9. ...state three forms of Energy and give the two common forms of
units for energy. (Ch. 4)
10. ...list and explain the differences in wavelength, frequency, and
energy of six regions of the
electromagnetic spectrum. (Ch. 9)
11. ...explain temperature in terms of molecular motion and the
significance of the Kelvin temperature
scale. (Ch. 4 & 10)
ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES for TEST II
SOLAR SYSTEM
1. ...describe the atmospheres of the planets, surface features
where appropriate, and sizes
relative to the Earth. (Ch. 4-7)
NATURE
2. ...state and use the inverse square law. (Ch. 11)
EARTH
3. ...explain how the Moon causes two daily high and low tides
most places on the Earth and why Panama
City usually only experiences one high and
low tide daily. (Ch. 5 & in class)
NATURE
4. ...explain how a bright line spectrum results using the Bohr
model of the atom and how an absorption
spectrum can result. (Ch. 9)
5. ...list the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum in relative
order of energy. (Ch. 9)
6. ...explain what a "Blackbody" is and a "Planck
curve". (Ch. 10)
SOLAR SYSTEM
7. ...state the mass, size of the Sun relative to the Earth, and state
what the Photosphere is. (Ch. 10)
8. ...state the "surface" temperature of the Sun and explain
how it is determined. (Ch. 10)
9. ...state what type of spectrum the Sun has, the two major gasses
on its "surface", and how these
gasses are determined. (Ch. 10)
STARS
10. ... explain how the distance to stars can be measured using
parallax. (Ch. 11)
11. ...state the definitions of the units "parsec" and
"light-years". (Ch. 11)
12. ...name the brightest star in the night sky and give its distance
in parsec and light-years. (Ch. 11)
13. ...state what the Milky Way looks like and what it is. (In class)
ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES for TEST III
EARTH
1. ...state eight phases of the moon in order, recognize each phase,
give the synodic period of the Moon, and
state the rotational rate of the Moon on
its axis. (Ch. 1)
2. ...explain what a Solar Eclipse and a Lunar Eclipse is and
why they occur only twice a year at most.
(Ch. 1)
SOLAR SYSTEM
3. ...state what eccentricity is a measure of, what the eccentricity
value is for a circle and a straight
line, and the eccentricity of Mercury,
Pluto, The Earth, and Venus. (Ch. 2 & Apen. B)
4. ...state the meaning of the term Ecliptic, Aphelion, and
Perihelion
and give appropriate dates when applicable. (ch.
2 & in class)
5. ...describe the unusual rotational and/or revolutionary
features of each of the following:
Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Pluto. (Ch 5-7)
6. ...describe what an asteroid is and where most are found. (Ch. 8)
NATURE
7. ...explain the Doppler Shift and explain how it is used to
determine
the radial velocity in astronomy. (Ch. 5)
STARS
8. ...list the spectral classes of stars and explain what the spectral
class stands for. (Ch. 11)
9. ...explain two ways that the "surface" temperature of
stars can be determined. (Ch. 11)
10. ...set up an H-R diagram. (Ch. 11)
11. ...explain how the size of stars can be determined from the H-R
diagram. (Ch. 11)
12. ...state what binary stars are and how they are used to determine
the masses of main sequence stars. (Ch.
11)
13. ...state what a Black Hole is, why it cannot be seen, and how
astronomers think they have located some.
(Ch. 14)
14. ...describe the appearance of "Open Clusters" and
"Globular
Clusters"
and where each are found in the sky. (Ch. 13)
15. ...describe the Milky Way Galaxy and the Sun's position in it. (Ch.
15)
ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES for TEST IV
EARTH
1. ...state and explain the natural law that will affect the
rotational rate of the Earth and Moon in
the future, and explain how these rates
will change. (Ch 6)
2. ...explain how the age of the Earth is determined and give its
presently accepted age. (Ch. 4 and in
class)
SOLAR SYSTEM
3. ...describe Comets by appearance and model. (Ch. 8)
4. ...explain the terms Meteor, Meteoroid, and Meteorite. (Ch. 8)
5. ...state the number of moons for each planet in the solar system
and give the name of the largest moon of
each planet. (Ch. 5-7)
6. ...name and describe the Galilean Moons, and the unusual features
of the moons Titan, and Triton. (Ch 7)
7. ...describe the rings about the Jovian planets. (Ch. 7)
STARS
8. ...explain how Cepheid variable stars can be used to
determine stellar distances. (Ch. 15)
UNIVERSE
9. ...state and describe three major types of galaxies. (Ch.
16)
10. ...describe the Local Group. (Ch. 16)
11. ...state Hubbles law and explain the facts that led to his law.
(Ch. 16)
12. ...explain the consequences of Hubbles Law. (Ch. 18)
13. ...describe a simple version of the Big Bang model (or theory).
(Ch. 18)
ADDITIONAL OBJECTIVES for the FINAL EXAM
EARTH
1. ...describe the position of the moon, Earth, and Sun for
each of the Moon's phases. (Ch. 1 in
class)
2. ...explain the evidence for at least one "mass extinction"
on the Earth being a result of a large
body hitting the Earth. (Ch. 19)
STARS
3. ...explain how the Sun is thought to produce its energy.
(Ch. 10)
4. ...explain what a Sun Spot is and the time for the Sun Spot cycle.
(Ch. 10)
5. ...explain what an emission nebula is. (Ch. 12)
6. ...explain the difference between population I stars and
population
II stars. (Ch. 13)
7. ...explain how heavy atoms are thought to form. (Ch. 19)
8. ...describe the presently accepted model of stellar evolution
including three
possible end results. (Ch. 13-14)
SOLAR SYSTEM
9. ...explain why astronomers think that life could have been
introduced to the
Earth from outer space. (Ch. 12 & 19)
UNIVERSE
10. ...explain three observed facts that support the Big Bang
theory. (Ch 18)
11. ...explain the problem that Quasars present to astronomers.
(Ch.
17)
