ASTR 1010 Fall 2019: Study Guide for Quiz #5

READING: Chapter 7; Chapter 8; Section 9.5; Chapter 15

Topics you should know and understand for Quiz #5 (not necessarily a complete list)

1) DEFINITIONS: Extrasolar planet (Exoplanet), Planetary transit, Brown dwarf, Convection, Greenhouse Effect, Magnetic Dynamo, Coriolis Effect (Coriolis Force), Differentiation, Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights), P-waves, S-waves; Troposphere; Stratosphere; Thermosphere (Ionosphere); Mesosphere; Ozone Layer; Solar Wind; Van Allen Belts; Radioactive Decay; Hot Spot Volcanism; Half-life; Continental Drift; Plate Tectonics; Sea Floor Spreading; Asthenosphere; Subduction Zone; Maria (Mare); Highlands; Rilles; Caloris Basin; Scarp.

2)EQUATIONS: The formula for the escape velocity; The relationship between the time it takes for heat to escape from a planet and its size (time for heat to escape is proportional to the radius).

3) OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: How extrasolar planets are found; How the Kepler spacecraft found extrasolar planets; The primary constituents of the atmospheres of each planet and the seven large moons, plus Enceladus and Rhea; What processes produce planetary and moon atmospheres; The factors that determine how fast a planet loses its atmosphere; Why the sky is blue; Relative sizes of the planets and the distances between them; What causes the tides; How scientists have determined the size of the liquid outer core of the Earth; What processes contribute to creating circulation in the atmospheres of planets; The primary constituents of the atmospheres of the planets and moons; What processes produce planetary and moon atmospheres; The four main layers in the Earth's atmosphere; Where the ozone layer is; what ionizes the ionosphere; What the Greenhouse gases are; what constituent of the Earth's atmosphere is most important in absorbing UV light from the Sun; Why Venus is so much hotter than Earth and why it has such a thick atmosphere; Why planets have magnetic fields; What produces the Northern Lights; Why scientists believe the Moon and Mars are likely mostly solid all the way through; How radioactive dating is accomplished; The most likely scenario for how the Moon formed, and the evidence for this scenario; Why the sidereal day of the Earth increases with time; The type of surface features found on the surface of the Moon and Mercury; The relative ages of the surfaces of the terrestrial planets; The relative ages of the surfaces of the Galilean Moons.