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.