1. In your own words, define astronomy.

Astronomy is a branch of natural science that investigates astronomical objects and

natural events. It explains their evolutionary history using mathematical concepts,
physics, and chemistry. It's a study of just about everything beyond Earth's
atmosphere in the universe. This includes objects we can see with our own eyes,
such as the Stars, Moon, and planets. It also includes objects that can only be seen
through telescopes or other instruments, such as distant galaxies, constellations,
and tiny particles are among the points of interest.

2. What are the scales of the universe?

In a such a tricky perspective, the solar system could be compared to your house,
and the Galaxy to your town, which is made up of many houses and buildings.
Galaxies extend as far into space as our telescopes can see, with many billions of

1026 meters in all directions. It is 10,000 times more empty than our Galaxy on
them visible to modern instruments. Our observable universe spans more than

average. Even the Galaxy, as we've seen, is mostly empty space. Each cubic
centimeter of air we breathe contains approximately 10x1019 atoms—and we
usually think of air as empty space. There is one atom in every cubic centimeter of
the Galaxy's interstellar gas. Intergalactic space is so heavily populated that to find
one atom, we must search through a cubic meter of space on average.

3. What is SETI Institute? Give at least one of its discovery.

Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is the abbreviation. Teams of astronomers
searching for exoplanets are a very active part of astronomy. It is an attempt to
find evidence of technological civilizations that may exist elsewhere in the
universe, specifically in our Galaxy. A mysterious radio signal seemingly coming
from the Sun's nearest star, Proxima Centauri, has sparked excitement among
scientists. The discovery, which was reported by the Guardian but has yet to be
published in a scientific journal, may be the search for extraterrestrial intelligence's
simply BLC-1, is the name given to it.
( SETI) first real genuine candidate signal. Breakthrough Listen Candidate 1, or

4. How many kilometer s ar e ther e in a light -year ?

One light-year equals 5,878,625,370,000 miles (9.461 × 1012 kilometres)

5. Where can we find evidence today about cosmic events that occurred billions of
years ago?
Astronomers can see billions of years into the past by looking billions of light-
years into space. We can reconstruct the history of the universe and get a sense of
how it has evolved over time this way. This is one of the reasons why astronomers

. . m ore
strive to build telescopes that can collect more and more of the universe's faint
lightw e gather,the fainterthe objects w e can see becom e.
Because shorter wavelength objects are farther away on average, they can tell us
about periods of time even further in the past. With that information, they could
turn back the clock and calculate when the Big Bang occurred. The universe's age
is the time span between then and now.

6. Give the three adjacent or neighbor Galaxies of Milky Way Galaxy .

lies 75,000 light-years from the Sun in the direction of the constellation
Sagittarius dwarf galaxy discovered in 1993, the nearest galaxy is a small one that

Sagittarius, where the smog in our own Galaxy makes it especially difficult to
discern.

Magellanic Clouds - two other small galaxies that lies beyond the Sagittarius
dwarf galaxy, about 160,000 light-years away.

Andromeda galaxy- the nearest large galaxy is quite similar to our own with spiral
shape, located in the constellation of Andromeda; it is also known by one of its
catalog numbers, M31.
7. Why is it that even our most familiar solids are mostly space?
Molecules are made up of atoms, which are the tiniest particles of an element that
can still be identified as such. Every atom is made up of a central, positively
charged nucleus that is surrounded by negatively charged electrons. The nucleus
contains a high proportion of the matter in each atom, which is made up of
positively charged protons and electrically neutral neutrons that are all tightly
packed together in a very small space. The distance between an atomic nucleus
and its electrons is usually 100,000 times larger than the nucleus itself. This is why
even solid matter is mostly made up of space. The average atom is far more devoid
of matter than the solar system from Earth to Neptune. (For example, the distance
between the Earth and the Sun is only 100 times the size of the Earth.) This is one
of the reasons why atoms aren't like miniaturized solar systems.

.
8. The five major parallels of latitudes from north to south. Give its corresponding

The equator marks the locations on earth that are equidistance from the North and
South Poles. The equator crosses 78.7% water and 21.3% land and is about 24,901
miles (40,075 km) long.

The Tropic of Cancer marks the location where the sun reaches the zenith (point
directly above one’s head) at this latitude. The exact latitude is not a fixed point
and the latest measurement for 2014 is 23° 26′ 14.675″ (23° 26′ 16″).

23° 26′ 14.440″.

The Tropic of Capricorn is the parallel line of latitude that is currently located at

The Arctic and Antarctic Circles are the parallels of latitude that are roughly 66.5
degrees (66° 33′ 44″ or 66.5622°).

9. Differentiate Latitude to Longitude and Prime meridian to equator.

The latitude of a location signifies its distance north or south of the equator . The
longitude signifies the location's distance east or west of the Prime Meridian, an
imaginary line connecting the North and South Poles. The main distinction
between the Equator and the Prime Meridian is that the Equator is a line that
circles the Earth halfway between the North and South poles, whereas the Prime
Meridian is a line that passes across Greenwich, England. The Equator is an
imaginary line that circles the Earth's middle point.

10.Differentiate Parallel to Meridian and Zenith to Horizon.

Parallels run east to west and never intersect, whereas meridians run north to south
and intersect at the north and south poles. The Meridian divides the sky into halves
and can be thought of as a division between rising and setting objects (those to the
east of the meridian) and those to the west of the meridian. The zenith is the point
directly overhead on the celestial sphere for any observer, and it is always 90
degrees from the horizon. The horizon is the visible horizontal line that appears to
connect the earth to the sky. In other words, the horizon is the point at which the
sky meets the ground.

11.Give the importance of astronomy in early civilization.

According to my previous classes in planetary science, astronomy was once used
to measure time, mark the seasons, and navigate vast oceans. It allowed ancient
people and civilizations to keep track of the passage of the seasons. As a result,
they were able to better time when to plant and harvest crops. This natural science
was useful in early civilizations for farming and navigation.

Explain:

1. Give a situation in your life where you find astronomy useful (Ex. Full moon
the dictates the rising and ebbing of the tides). Explain your answer.

For countless generations, humans have gazed up into the sky in search of
meaning, time, and order. As a result, prehistoric societies adopted the moon's path
as their first cosmic guide. The first calendars were based on the Moon's
movement, which is part of the study of astronomy. The basic standards for
determining the periods of our calendar are provided by these celestial bodies.
Their movement as they rise and set is now understood to be a reflection of the
Earth's rotation, although not perfectly uniform but it provide a suitable calendar
day.A solar year, or the time it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun, lasts approximately
365 days, whereas a lunar year, or 12 full cycles of the Moon, lasts approximately
354 days. These calendars are useful tools in my daily life for keeping track of
upcoming meetings, deadlines, and school classes. This calendar allows me to
visualize my schedule and reminds me of important events like holidays and
vacation time.

Convert the following into Scientific notation:

1. 580,000,000
5.8 × 10^8

2. 34,000,000,000
3.4 × 10^10

2 × 10^3
3. 2,000

4. 1,200,000
1.2 1 06

2.412 1 011
5. 241,200,000,000

. the process.

1. 3.567x105
356700

2. 45.900x109
45, 900, 000, 000
5, 600, 000
3. 0.56x107

4. 325x1010
3, 250, 000, 000, 000

111, 000, 000

5. 1.11x108

Show your solution:

1. The Spaceship Pugo is due south from your observing location in the Northern
Hemisphere. You note the time, and then later, you note the time that Spaceship
Pugo sets below the horizon. You find that Spaceship Pugo has traveled an angular
distance of about 60° in 4 h. About how many hours will it take for Spaceship
Pugo to return to its original location?

2. An asteroid named Kiaw is due south from your observing location in the
Northern Hemisphere. You note the time and it was 7 pm, and then at 11;30 pm,
sets below the horizon. You find that Kiaw has traveled an angular distance of
about 85°. About how many hours will it take for Kiaw to return to its original
location?

Module 2

QUIZ 2

1. Explain how Earth’s tilt on its axis accounts for seasons on Earth .
This is Due to the elevation of the Earth at which the amount of sunlight reach
certain areas. The axis of the north-south pole is 23.5 degrees off the solar plane.
The solar plane is the plane that extends from the sun's equator all the way through
the solar system. And the earth tilts at 93.5 degrees relative to that plane. When the
northern hemisphere celebrates the first day of summer, the solar plane is 23.5
degrees north of the equator. When the southern hemisphere observes summer, the
northern hemisphere experiences the sun's rays at a very indirect angle of 47
degrees off the solar plane which result for winter season. Because the Earth is
constantly rotating around the sun, the approximate location of the solar beam on
the Earth is also constantly shifting, resulting in the ever-changing months of the
season.

2. Explain how the positions of the Earth, Moon, and Sun vary during a solar
eclipse and a lunar eclipse.
When the Moon passes between both the Sun and the Earth, the lunar shadow is
visible as a solar eclipse on Earth. When the Earth moves around the sun between
the Sun and the Moon, its shadow causes a lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses can occur
once the Moon is appeared alongside the Sun in the sky, which happens once a
month and is known as a full Moon.

3. Why are neap tides less extreme than spring tides?

Spring tides occur just after every full and new moon, when the sun, moon, and
earth align. That is when the lunar and solar tides align and reinforce each other,
resulting in a larger total tide. Neap tides occur when the moon is in its first or
third quarter, forming a right angle with the sun, earth, and moon. Acting in
opposite directions, the moon's and sun's gravitational pulls decrease each other as
well, leading in less noticeable low and high tides than usual.

4. When you watch a tall ship sail over the horizon of the Earth, you see the

This is due to the fact that it is traveling around the planet's arc . A continuous
bottom part of it disappear faster than the top part. Why does this happen?

portion of a curved line of the Earth which also described as above and below the
horizon.
5. Why are we able to use magnets to determine north-south directions on Earth?

The magnetic field is created by the iron and nickel within the Earth .
Because the Earth is surrounded by a magnetic field with north and south poles.

6. Describe the difference between Earth’s rotation and its revolution .

Revolution is the movement of the Earth around the Sun in an orbital path, while
rotation is the motion of the Earth spinning on its axis. The distinction is that
revolution revolves around the Sun, whereas rotation (is a process of spinning
around a central point) revolves around the Earth.

7. What is the force that keeps the Earth and other planets in their orbital paths?
The Sun's gravity keeps the planets in their orbits. They remain in their orbits since
no other force in the Solar System can control them. The gravitational pull that
pulls us to the Earth's surface also keeps the planets in orbit around the Sun.

8. In its elliptical orbit around the Sun, the Earth is closest to the Sun in January .
If Earth is closes to the Sun in January, why is January winter in the Northern
Hemisphere?
Because the North Pole is tilted away from the sun, the Earth is tilted on its axis.

9. Where on Earth would Foucault’s pendulum appear to not be moving? Where

This might move even more on the equator because it moves the fastest . The poles
would it appear to be moving the most?

would move the least since they move the slowest.

10. Would life on Earth be impacted if Earth lost its magnetic field?
Our planet is shielded from cosmic radiation and charged particles emitted by our
Sun by its magnetic field. If the Earth's magnetic field vanished, the entire human
race - indeed, all living things, those life – would have been in big trouble. Cosmic
rays would destroy our tissue and potentially damage our DNA, increasing the
global risk of mortality.
EXERCISE 2

1. Draw a picture that shows how the Earth, Moon, and Sun are lined up during
the new moon phase. Draw the effect of this alignment to tides. What type of tide?

2. List down what element makes up the moon (with percentage). Rusting is a
process that happens when oxygen reacts chemically with iron, in the presence of
water. Can rusting occur on the Moon? Explain your answer.

Rust, appears to exists on the moon since the discovery of hematite. Hematite is an
iron oxide that forms when iron is exposed to oxygen and liquid water. Other
processes can form hematite, but they are hampered by the presence of hydrogen
far from where the rust occurred. The presence of hydrogen on the lunar surface is
due to solar wind. The dust particles that frequently strike the moon aid in the
release of water molecules, which mix with iron on the surface. Then there's the
oxygen component. Because of its relatively close to Earth, the moon hosts trace
amounts of oxygen that travel from Earth's upper atmosphere all the way to the
moon.

POST-TEST/EVALUATION
Answer the following questions clearly and neatly. Write your answer in your
notebook. Your paper must be written with a black or blue ballpoint pen.
PART 1 IDENTIFICATION

..

..

PART2: EXPLAINATION

1. How does low and high tide occur?

The moon is responsible for high and low tides. The tidal force is caused by the
moon's gravitational pull. The tidal force causes Earth—and its water—to move up
and down around on the sides closest to and farthest from the moon. These water
bulges are caused by high tides.

2. Differentiate lunar from solar eclipse.

Solar eclipses happen when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun,
casting a moving shadow on the Earth's surface. When the Earth passes between
the Sun and the Moon, it casts a shadow on the Moon.

3. Why earth is almost spherical?

The Earth is powerful enough just to keep its pretty much exactly spherical shape
under the influence of gravity. The centrifugal force produced by rotation around
its north-south axis increased its share of its deflection from spherical. The sphere
is deformed into an oblate ellipsoid as a result of this force.

4. Compare the composition of the Moon’s surface with the composition of

The Moon's composition is very similar to that of the Earth . Its rocks are similar to
Earth’s surface.

those found on Earth and contain several of those, however not all, within the
same minerals. The Moon, on the other hand, has no atmosphere, no evidence of
past or present life, and no water in its rocks. The Moon rocks demonstrate that the
lunar surface is very old.

5. Why is there no weather on the Moon?

Somewhat on Moon, there's really obviously no weather. The existence of an
atmosphere, such as the cover of gas molecules that envelops Earth, is required for
weather to occur. The Moon has little or no atmosphere seeing as, at one-quarter
the diameter and slightly more than half the density of Earth, the gravity of the
Moon is about one-sixth that of Earth.

6. Rusting is a process that happens when oxygen reacts chemically with iron, in
the presence of water. Can rusting occur on the Moon? Explain your answer.
According to new research, the Moon's surface has rust, which is quite unusual.
One of the minerals discovered by scientist on the lunar surface is hematite .
Hematite is an oxidized iron that develops when iron is exposed to oxygen and
liquid water. Other processes that can produce hematite are disturbed by the
presence of hydrogen. To begin with, while the Moon lacks an atmosphere, it does
contain trace amounts of oxygen. I believe our planet is the source of that oxygen.
Because the Moon has been drifting away from Earth for billions of years, it's
possible that more oxygen jumped across this abyss when the two were closer in
the past. Then there's the theory of the solar wind delivering all that hydrogen.
Water ice can be found in shadowed lunar craters on the Moon's far side, despite
the fact that most of the Moon is bone dry. However, the hematite was discovered
far from the ice.

When looking at the Moon, the terrae are the bright areas. Terrae, also known as
7. What is the difference between maria and terrea?

highlands or uplands, cover 84 percent of the Surface of the moon. Maria are vast
basins devoid of water that contain lava flows marked by craters, ridges, faults,
and straight and meandering valleys known as rilles. There are approximately 20
major areas of this type, with the majority of them, such as the largest, placed on
the side of the Moon that mostly faces Earth.

The Moon has a diameter of 3,476 km, which is roughly one-fourth the size of
8. How does the Moon’s interior differ from Earth’s?

Earth. The satellite is also not as dense as the Earth; gravity on the Moon is one-
sixth that of the Earth. On the Moon, an astronaut can jump six times as high as he
can on Earth!

9. How much do landscape features on the Moon change over time compared to
landscape features on Earth? Explain your answer.
If there were no atmosphere, plate tectonics or erosion, the Earth's surface would
have been covered with meteorite craters just like what happened to the moon. The
Moon was constantly bombarded by meteorites between 3.0 and 3.5 billion years
ago. Some of these meteorites was quite massive that they pierced the newly
formed surface of the Moon, causing magma to flow out and fill the craters.
Scientists estimate that volcanic activity on the Moon peaked around 1.2 billion
years ago, and yet the largest proportion occurred much earlier. The dark areas on
the Moon’s surface are known as maria, which means "seas," because the ancients
thought they were seas. However, the maria are not bodies of water, but rather
solid, flat areas of basaltic lava. Terrae, or highlands, are the lighter regions of the
Moon. The terrae are higher than maria and include many high mountain areas.
The terrae are the light silicate minerals that precipitated from the ancient magma
ocean and constituted the ancient lunar surface.

10. Why is the force of gravity on your body weaker on the Moon than on the
Earth?

The Moon also tends to attract every other celestial object gravitationally, although
it is relatively low. Surface gravity refers to the downward "pull" that objects feel
when they are resting or moving on a larger body. The average surface gravity of
the Earth is 9.8 meters per second. The Moon's surface gravity is about 1.6 meters
per second per second, which is less than Earth's because it is far less massive. The
greater an object's mass, the greater its gravitational force. The term "mass" refers
to the body's resistance to inertia. If you don't add or subtract body matter, your
mass is the same here as it is on the Moon. "Weight" refers to the gravitational
attraction that the planet has on your body. On Earth, we do not have the same
weight as you would on the Moon. Because the Moon's surface gravity is so low,
that's why astronauts were able to leap higher than on Earth.

Module 3

LESSON 1

THE SOLAR SYSTEM

QUIZ

1. What does geocentric mean?

Any theory of the structure of the solar system (or the universe) in which Earth is
assumed to be at the center of everything. The idea that the sun revolves around
the earth is an example of geocentric thinking.

2. Describe the geocentric model and heliocentric model of the universe.

According to the geocentric model, the earth is at the center of the cosmos or
universe, and the planets, sun, moon, and stars revolve around it. Alexandrian
astronomer, geographer, and mathematician theory that the earth is the center of
the universe and that the heavenly bodies revolve around it. Also known as
Ptolemaic theory.

The sun is considered the center of the early heliocentric models, and the planets

(Sun-centered) theory. The theory was proven by Galileo's observations of Venus.

revolve around it. Galileo was aware of and agreed with Copernicus' heliocentric

Galileo discovered that Venus, like our Moon, went through phases using his
telescope.

3. How was Kepler‘s version of the heliocentric model different from

Copernicus‘?
While Copernicus was correct in observing that the planets revolved around the
Sun, it was Kepler who interpreted their orbits. The planets' orbits are ellipses,
with one focus at the Sun. Kepler developed a heliocentric model of the Solar
System in Epitome astronomiae Copernicanae between 1617 and 1621, in which
all planets have elliptical orbits. This substantially improved the accuracy of
predicting the positions of the planets. His precise observations of planetary
motion demonstrated that circular orbits will not work.
4. Name the eight planets in order from the Sun outward. Which are the inner

The inner planets (in order of distance from the sun, closest to furthest ) are
planets, and which are the outer planets?

. Saturn,
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. After an asteroid belt comes the outer planets,
U ranus and N eptune.

5. Compare and contrast the inner planets and the outer planets.

Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars are the inner planets, which are closer to the Sun
and smaller and rockier. The four inner planets have shorter orbits, slower spin
rates, no rings, and are composed of rock and metal. The outer planets are farther
away, larger, and mostly composed of gas. They have longer orbits and spins, are
made up of gases and liquids, and have numerous moons and rings. Because the
outer planets are made of hydrogen and helium, they are known as gas giants.

Aside from being planets, they all have an elliptical orbit, are spherical, and are
mostly made of iron and nickel.

6. What object used to be considered a planet, but is now considered a dwarf

planet? What are the other dwarf planets?
Pluto is no longer considered the ninth planet in the series of major planetary
objects, but rather one of many so-called dwarf planets. When the New Horizons
spacecraft passed by Pluto, it reveals a surprising geological complexity of the
Pluto. The only distinction between a planet and a dwarf planet is the size of the
area around each celestial body. A planet has cleared the area around its orbit,
whereas a Pluto "dwarf planet" has not. Ceres, Eris and Makemake have been
designated as dwarf planets as it does not fit to the features of the planets and
characteristics.

Pluto appears to outgas like a comet, and it appears to have more of a carbon
monoxide, CO, atmosphere. Pluto has a highly elliptical orbit, more like a comet
or asteroid than a planet. It is so elliptical that Pluto‘s orbit crosses inside the orbit
of Neptune for a short period. And the orbit of Pluto is highly tilted against the
plane of the solar system‘s planets.

7. What keeps planets and moons in their orbits?

Gravity keeps the planets in orbit around the sun and the moon in orbit around
Earth. The gravitational pull of a planet is determined by its size and mass.
Furthermore, gravity – a universal force which attracts objects – is the reason the
Moon remains in orbit.

8.
The age of the solar system is estimated to be near 5 billion years, based on the
How old is the solar system? How old is Earth?

study of meteorites (thought to be the oldest accessible material on the planet); the
age of the Earth is estimated to be 4.6 billion years. Earth is compatible with
current estimations of the Milky Way Galaxy's age of 11 to 13 billion years (based

15 billion years.
on the stage of evolution of globular cluster stars) and the Universe's age of 10 to

9. Use the nebular hypothesis to explain why the planets all orbit the Sun in the
same direction.
According to the nebular hypothesis, our solar system formed at the same time as
our Sun. The nebular hypothesis proposes that a spinning cloud of dust composed
mostly of photons, known as a nebula, flattened into a protoplanetary disk and
evolved into a solar system composed of a star and orbiting planets. Because the
Sun and planets all formed from the same nebular cloud, they all rotate in the same
direction that the disk of material was induced to rotate as it coalesced. The planets
not only rotate counter-clockwise around the Sun, but the Sun and nearly all of the
planets also rotate counter-clockwise about there own axes.

LESSON 2

THE TERRESTRIAL PLANETS

QUIZ

1. Name the inner planets from the Sun outward. Then name them from smallest
to largest.

2. Why do the temperatures on some planets vary widely? Why are some
temperatures much less variable?
It all depends on whether or not they have an atmosphere. An atmosphere serves
as both an insulator for the planet's surface and a heat exchanger. The thick
atmosphere of Venus creates a nearly uniform temperature across the planet. The
Earth's atmosphere moderates temperature differences between day and night and
at different latitudes. Mars' thin atmosphere does little to keep temperatures cool.
Also note that the there is no atmosphere on Mercury. Since the sun's rays are
decelerated in the Earth's atmosphere, the atmosphere causes a wide range of
weather changes.

3. Why does Venus have higher temperatures than Mercury?

Venus is hotter than Mercury due to its denser atmosphere. The atmosphere, the
gaseous layer that surrounds a planet, is similar to a blanket. Mercury is closer, but
because it has a very thin atmosphere or none at all, the heat escapes into space.
Venus' clouds (which are mostly carbon dioxide) warm the planet's surface.
Typically, a planet's surface warms throughout the day and cools at night by
releasing infrared radiation (heat) back into space. However, the carbon dioxide in
Venus' clouds absorbs a lot of energy from infrared radiation and "traps" the heat
on the planet, making it very hot. This is known as a "runaway greenhouse effect,"
and it does not occur on Mercury because its atmosphere is thin and contains little
carbon dioxide.

4. How are maps of Venus made?

Microwave radiation is used to map the surface of Venus and penetrate its thick
atmosphere. SAR images are black and white images that show surface features
based on the intensity of radar return (echo), which can be caused by surface
roughness or orientation.

5. Name two major ways in which Earth is unlike any other planet .
Earth differs from other planets in two major ways: it can sustain life and has a
greater water supply than any other planet.

6. Why is Mars red?

Many rocks on Mars are iron-rich, and when exposed to the elements, they
'oxidize' and turn reddish, similar to how an old house roof rusts. When rusty dust
from those rocks enters the atmosphere, it turns the mars sky reddish or pink.

7. Suppose you are planning a mission to Mars. Identify two places where you
might be able to get water on the planet. Why is this important?
I will go to the he sides of Mars South and North poles because they are the
coldest places on Mars where ice could form. That is, since there is water present
in a form of ice, it would be extremely beneficial to life. If there is water, I can
plant food, grow bacteria or create a mini-ecosystem laboratory on Mars for
research.

LESSON 3

THE OUTER PLANETS

QUIZ

1. Name the outer planets

a) in order from the Sun outward,

b) from largest to smallest by mass,

Neptune has slightly more mass than Uranus, but it is slightly smaller in size.
c) from largest to smallest by size.

2. Why are the outer planets called gas giants?

Gas giants are large planets made mostly of gases like hydrogen and helium, with

Neptune — are officially known as the Jovian planets. Because they contain the
a small rocky core. Our solar system's gas giants — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and

same basic elements as stars, gas giants are also known as failed stars.

3. How do the Great Red Spot and Great Dark Spot differ?
The Great Red Spot is extensive. It's a high-pressure storm system based in
Jupiter's troposphere, far beneath the cloudtops. The Great Dark Spot appears to be
shallow and bound to Jupiter's upper stratosphere. Although the Great Dark Spot,
that has some of the highest measured wind speeds in the Solar System, wind
speed data for the Small Dark Spot was not collected. In addition, unlike the Great
Dark Spot, the spot was observed without any white "companion clouds" around
its edges.

4. Name the Galilean moons and explain why they have that name .

The four largest are known as the Galilean moons because they were discovered
by Galileo Galilei using his telescope in 1610. In order of distance from Jupiter,
the four moons are Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Their names are derived
from Zeus's lovers in Greek mythology.

(as suggested by another astronomer, Johannes Kepler) are still in use today .
Simon Marius, a German astronomer proposed the names for the moons in 1614

5. Why might Europa be a likely place to find extraterrestrial life?

Europa's vast and incomprehensibly deep ocean is widely regarded as the most
promising location to search for life beyond Earth. As of now, there seems to be
no evidence of life on Europa, however it has prevailed as being one of the Solar
System's most likely locations for potential habitability. Life may exist in its
under-ice ocean, possibly in an environment similar to that of Earth's deep-ocean
hydrothermal vents.

6. What causes gaps in Saturn‘s rings?

There are several gaps in the Saturn’s rings that scientists believe were formed by
either (1) the gravitational pull within the rings or (2) the gravitational forces of
Saturn and moons outside the rings.

7. Why are scientists interested in the atmosphere of Saturn‘s moon Titan?

Scientists are fascinated by Titan's thick atmosphere, which is mostly made of
nitrogen gas, and its liquid methane and ethane oceans. The main component of
organic material before life existed on Earth. Titan intrigues scientists because it
resembles Earth billions of years already when life existed.

8. What liquid is found on the surface of Titan?

Flowing methane and ethane hollowed river channels and fill great lakes with
liquid natural gas on Titan's surface. Aside from Earth, no other planet in the solar
system has that level of liquid activity on its surface.

9. Why is Uranus blue green in color?

The blue-green color is caused by methane gas absorption of red light in Uranus'
deep, cold, and amazingly clear atmosphere.

10. What is the name of Neptune‘s largest moon?

Neptune has 13 moons, the largest of which is Triton. It is unique in our solar
system because it is the only large moon that orbits in the opposite direction of its
planet's rotation (a retrograde orbit). Triton is thought to be a Kuiper Belt Object
that was captured by Neptune's gravitational attraction millions of years ago.

LESSON 4

THE MINOR MEMBER OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

QUIZ (5 points each)

1. What are the different types of minor bodies found in our solar system?
Minor Bodies are the solar system's smaller, often non-spherical objects. Minor
bodies include asteroids, comets, meteoroids, the Kuiper Belt Objects, Trans-
Neptunian Objects, and Oort Cloud Objects, as well as other space junk and dust .

2. List the characteristics of asteroids, including Near-Earth Asteroids (NEOs)

and Potentially Hazardous Asteroids (PHAs)
Asteroids are most-likely leftover material from the formation of the solar system.
Most asteroids are quite irregular in shape, with sizes ranging from around 0.6
mile to 590 miles.

The Near-Earth Asteroids or NEAs ; these asteroids pass close to Earth . About
10,000 NEAs have been discovered to date. And over 1,400 have been classified
as Potentially Hazardous Asteroids or PHAs ; those asteroids that could pose a
threat to Earth.PHAs come closer to Earth than about 5 million miles. Astronomers
employ the Torino Scale for categorizing the impact hazard associated with PHAs;
the scale ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being no chance and 10 being 100% chance
of collision.

Asteroid 99942 Apophis was discovered in 2004, originally it was called 2004
MN4. The diameter of Apophis is approximately 325 meters or 1,066 feet.
Apophis will pass dangerously close to Earth in 2029 and 2036. Observations and
orbital calculations show there is no chance of impact during either of these close
passages.

3. Differentiate meteoroids, meteors, and meteorites.

Meteors are fireballs or "shooting stars" that form when meteoroids enter Earth's
atmosphere at high speeds and burn up. A meteorite is formed when a meteoroid
survives its journey through the atmosphere and lands on the ground.
4. List the characteristics of three types of meteorites.
Meteorites are classified into three types:

1. Iron meteorites are almost entirely composed of metal.

2. stony-iron meteorites: These meteorites contain nearly equal amounts of
metal and silicate crystals.
3. Stoney meteorites are composed primarily of silicate minerals.

5. List the characteristics of comets.

Comets are make up of (CO2), water ices, silicates, and organic material. As seen
up close on Comet Tempel-1, the materials on the comet's surface are of talc -like
fineness.

The nucleus of a comet is its solid core structure. The coma or head is the fuzzy
haze that surrounds the nucleus of the comet. The tail could be made of dust, gas,
or both. The coma and tail are visible from Earth. Comet nuclei have been
observed to have diameters of up to 30 kilometers (20 miles). When a comet
approaches the sun, it begins to heat up and outgas, resulting in the coma and, in
some cases, a tail.

6. List the characteristics of centaurs.

Centaurs exhibit characteristics of both asteroids and comets; the previously clear
distinction between comets and asteroids had vanished. So far, water ice on their
surfaces, comet-like tails, and the fundamental make-up of asteroids rather than
comets have been discovered. There could be a link between centaurs and Kuiper
Belt Objects.

7. Explain the discoveries of Pluto and Eris.

Pluto was discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory. The
first two letters of PL uto are also for P ercival L owell, who mathematically
predicted the location. In Roman mythology, Pluto (Greek: Hades) is the god of
. zone"
the underworld. The discovery of Pluto contributed to our understanding of the
ofthe solarsystem ,the K uiperbelt.

Eris was discovered by Dr. Mike Brown on October 21, 2003. After multiple
observations in July 2005, the discovery of Eris was confirmed and formally
announced. Like Pluto, Eris is probably a very large comet or ice ball with a moon.
Eris is named after the Greek Goddess of chaos and strife. A moon has been
discovered orbiting Eris, named Dysnomia (Eris‘ daughter who was the spirit of
lawlessness). Dysnomia is about 250 kilometers in diameter. When first
discovered, Brown gave Eris the name Xena, and its moon Dysnomia the name
Gabrielle. Later the International Astronomical Union adopted the names Eris and
Dysnomia.

The discovery of Eris was a major factor in Pluto's downgrade to dwarf planet
status in 2006. Eris' orbit is not cleared, so it did not meet one of the requirements.
As a result, it was classified as a dwarf planet, alongside Pluto, which did not meet
all of the criteria for being called a planet.

8. List the characteristics of the Trans-Neptunian objects, Kuiper Belt, and the

TNOs are either grey-blue or very red in color. They are thought to be made up of
Oor t Cloud.

rock, amorphous carbon, and volatile ices like water and methane that have been
coated with tholins and other organic compounds.

The Kuiper Belt has been shaped by a giant planet, though it is more of a thick
disk than a thin belt. Kuiper Belt is a region of space beyond Neptune that is
dynamically stable (like the asteroid belt); the source region for most short-period
comets

The Oort Cloud is the large spherical region around the Sun from which most
“new” comets come; a reservoir of objects with aphelia at about 50,000 AU. It's
similar to a bubble with a thick shell. The Oort Cloud is composed of icy space
debris of both comets and asteroids. Most objects in the Oort cloud will consist of
various ices such as frozen water, methane, ethane, carbon monoxide, and
hydrogen cyanide.

Comets from the Oort cloud help us sample material that formed very far from the
Sun, whereas the shortperiod comets from the Kuiper belt sample materials that
were planetesimals in the solar nebula disk but did not form planets.

EXERCISE (30 points)

1. Draw the solar system with its inner and outer planets and the minor member of
the solar system. Label each accordingly. Use whole bond paper.

POST-TEST/EVALUATION

Answer the following questions clearly and neatly. Write your answer in your
notebook. Your paper must be written with a black or blue ballpoint pen.

1. terrestrial planets
2. False
3. 14 C or 57 C
4. True

5. The ______ do not collide with the planet because how it orbits the sun in
relation to the parent planet. These asteroids share an orbit with a larger planet.
Trojan asteroids

6. __Meteoroids ____ are materials orbiting in space and are smaller than
asteroids.

7. ___Meteors___are the streaks we see in the sky, commonly called shooting or

falling stars ; also can be fireballs and/or bolides.

8. _Meteorites _____ are materials that makes it to the surface of a planet,

satellite, etc.
9. _____Stony Irons _ are a combination of iron and stony meteorite properties
and the rarest type or class of meteorite.

10. The MESSENGER spacecraft has been studying Mercury in detail since 2005.
The craft is currently in orbit around the planet, where it is creating detailed maps .
MESSENGER stands for ______ . Mercury Surface Space Environment
Geochemistry and Ranging

11. The processes of weathering and erosion do not wear down structures on the
planet Mars because of its ______. little atmosphere

12. A year on Mercury — the length of time it takes to orbit the Sun — is just
____88__ Earth days.

13. Each day on Mercury is ____57__ Earth days long.

14. The atmosphere of Venus is so thick that the atmospheric pressure on the
planet‘s surface is ___90___ times greater than the atmospheric pressure on
Earth‘s surface.

15. Venus is the hottest planet because of the greenhouse effect. Temperatures at
the surface reach __465 degrees Celsius ____. That is hot enough to melt lead.

16. Mars has two very small moons that are irregular rocky bodies called ______ .
They are named after characters in Greek mythology — the two sons of Ares, who
followed their father into war. Phobos anf Deimos

17. Earth‘s moon is the only large moon orbiting a terrestrial planet in the solar
system. TRUE or FALSE?

18. The outer planets are made primarily of gases and liquids, so they are also
called ______ Gas giants

19. The gas giants are made up primarily of __Hydrogen and helium ____, the
same elements that make up most of the Sun.
20.___Jupiter ___ is named for the king of the gods in Roman mythology. The
planet is enormous, the largest object in the solar system besides the Sun.

21. Astronauts trying to land a spaceship on the surface of Jupiter would find that
there is a solid surface at all! Jupiter is made mostly of hydrogen, with some

22.The Great Red Spot has been on Jupiter for at least ____300__ years, since
helium, and small amounts of other elements. TRUE or FALSE?

23.The view of believing that Earth was at the center of the universe . This view is
astronomers could first see the storm through telescopes.

24.In Ptolemy‘s version of the geocentric model, a planet moves in a small circle .
called the ____Geocentric Model __.

25. ___Nicolaus Copernicus ___ proposed that Earth and all the other planets
This circle moves around Earth in a larger circle, called a ____deferent__.

26.Another proposed model of the universe is that Earth and all the other planets
orbit the Sun.

orbit the Sun. With the Sun at the center, this model is called the ___Heliocentric
model or Sun-centered model ___.

27. ___Johannes Kepler ___ refined the heliocentric model so that the planets
moved around the Sun in ellipses (ovals), not circles.

28.The planets emit their own light and not just only reflect light from the

29.Since the early 1990s, astronomers have discovered other solar systems, with
Sun.TRUE or FALSE?

planets orbiting stars other than our own Sun. these planets are called ______ .
Exoplanets or Extrasolar planets
30.The ___Coma or head___ is the fuzzy haze that surrounds the comet‘s
nucleus.

2061___.
31. The next close passage of Halley‘s Comet on Earth will be in ___July
32.__Centaurs____ behave with characteristics of both asteroids and comets.
33. ___Pluto ___ enters the solar system‘s stage. The then 9th planet was
discovered in 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh at Lowell Observatory.
34.___Venus ___ is the only planet named after a female. its thick clouds reflect
sunlight well, so it is very bright. When it is visible, it is the brightest object in the
sky besides the Sun and the Moon.
35. ___Mars ___ is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the first planet beyond
Earth‘s orbit. It is a quite different from Earth and yet more similar than any other
planet. It is easy to observe so Mars has been studied more thoroughly than any
other extraterrestrial planet.
36.Astronomers without modern telescopes could determine the distances to other
planets within the solar system by using ______. Or bital per iod
37. _____Universal law of Gravitation_ was defined by Newton which states
that a force of attraction, called gravity, exists between all objects in the universe.

38.According to the law defined by newton, the greater the objects‘ mass, the
greater the force of attraction, in addition, the greater the distance between the
objects, the smaller the force of attraction. TRUE or FALSE?

39.Gravity at the center of the disk attracted heavier particles, such as rock and
metal and lighter particles remained further out in the disk. Eventually, the
planetesimals formed ___Protoplanets___, which grew to become the planets and
moons that we find in our solar system today.

40.Jupiter‘s moons — Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto — were first

discovered by Galileo in 1610, so they are sometimes referred to as the __Galilean
moons ____. They are larger than the dwarf planets Pluto, Ceres, and Eris.

41. Scientists are particularly interested in this Jupiter‘s moon called

__Europa____because it may be a place to find extraterrestrial life.
42.Uranus has a faint system of rings. The rings circle the planet‘s equator, but

vertical 90 degrees angle ____ to the planet‘s orbit.

because Uranus is tilted on its side, the rings are almost __perpendicular /

43.Uranus has 27______ known moons and all but a few of them are named for
characters from the plays of William Shakespeare.

44.__Neptune ____ is the only major planet that cannot be seen from Earth
without a telescope. It was named for the Roman god of the sea because of its
bluish color.

45.Neptune‘s blue color is mostly because of __Frozen Methane gas____.

46.Gravity at the surface of Uranus is weaker than on Earth‘s surface so if you

were at the top of the clouds on Uranus, you would weigh about 11% less than
what you weigh on Earth. TRUE or FALSE?

47. __Valles marineris____ is 4,000 km (2,500 mi) long, as long as Europe is

wide, and one-fifth the circumference of Mars. The canyon is 7 km (4.3 mi) deep.
By comparison, the Grand Canyon on Earth is only 446 km (277 mi) long and
about 2 km (1.2 mi) deep.

48.According to __Giant nebula hypothesis ____, the Sun and the planets of our
solar system formed about 4.6 billion years ago from the collapse of a giant cloud
of gas and dust, called a nebula.

49.___Galileo Galilei ___ first turned a telescope to the heavens in 1610 and
made several striking discoveries such as that the planet Jupiter has moons orbiting
around it.

50.Asteroid impacts cause ___Catastrophism___: the sudden shaping of a

planet‘s or satellite‘s surface due to an asteroid impact.
51. There are several gaps in the rings of Saturn that scientists think have
originated because (1) the material was cleared out by the gravitational pull within
the rings or (2) by the gravitational forces of Saturn and of moons outside the
rings. TRUE or FALSE?

52.Earth‘s moon is not the only large moon orbiting a terrestrial planet in the solar
system. TRUE or FALSE?

53. Scientists are interested in Saturn‘s moon called _Titan_____ because its
atmosphere is similar to what Earth‘s was like before life developed.

54. ___Eris___ was discovered by Dr. Mike Brown on October 21, 2003. After
multiple observations in July 2005, its discovery was confirmed and formally
announced.

55. __Trans- Neptunian Objects (TNOs) ____ are any solar system minor planet
that orbits the sun at a greater average distance than Neptune.

56. _Halley‘s Comet _____ is perhaps the best-known comet has been a regular
visitor through the solar system for thousands of years.

57. All of the outer planets have no moons. They do not have planetary rings,
composed of dust and other small particles that encircle the planet in a thin plane.
TRUE or FALSE?

58.In geocentric model of the universe, the Greeks placed the planets closer to
Earth since the planets appear to move much slower than the stars. TRUE or
FALSE?

59.In Ptolemy‘s version of the geocentric model, a planet moves in a small circle
called an ___epicycle___.

60.The ____Great Red Spot __ is an enormous, oval-shaped storm found south

of Jupiter‘s equator.
61. Venus has many more volcanoes than any other planet in the solar system and
some of those volcanoes are very large. TRUE or FALSE?

62.___Olympus Mons___ is a shield volcano, similar to the volcanoes that make

up the Hawaiian Islands. This volcano is the largest mountain in the solar system.

63.__Ceres____ is the largest asteroid found to date and was reclassified as a

Dwarf Planet in 2006.

64.___Minor bodies ___ are the smaller, often non-spherical objects found in the
solar system. It includes the asteroids, comets, meteoroids, the groups of objects
referred to as the Kuiper Belt Objects, Trans-Neptunian Objects, and Oort Cloud
Objects, and other space junk and dust.

65.There is a lot of water in the form of ice and even prominent ice caps on Mars .
TRUE or FALSE?

66.___Saturn___ is also the least dense planet in the solar system. It is less dense
than water.

67. Saturn‘s rings circle the planet‘s equator and appear tilted because Saturn itself
is tilted about ____27__ degrees.

68.__Stony Meteorites ____ are composed of silicates and other materials.

Mostly contain metal in the form of iron and nickel.

69.___Comet___ often called dirty snowballs are really more like snowy dirtballs.

70.____Comet__ are the sources for the majority of our meteor shower
―material;‖ the fine dust comets leave behind like breadcrumbs as they orbit the
sun.

71. The comet‘s ___Nucleus ___ is the solid, core structure of a comet.
72. ____Uranus __ is named for the Greek god of the sky. From Earth, it is so
faint that it was unnoticed by ancient observers.
73. Neptune has 13 known moons. ___Triton ___ is the only one of them that has
enough mass to be spherical in shape.

74. The ___Oceans and atmosphere ___ help keep Earth‘s surface temperatures
fairly steady.

75. The __Mercury ____ is the smallest planet and the closest to the Sun.

76. __Minor Planets ____ specifically refer to the dwarf planets, asteroids,
centaurs, Kuiper belt objects, and other trans-Neptunian objects.

77. The __Asteroids____ are a group of the solar system‘s minor bodies that are
much like the Rocky Planets in composition: carbon-rich, silicate materials (rock),
and/or metal.

78.The word Asteroid means star-like. Asteroids are also called ____Minor
planets __.

79.An ___impactor___ is an object that strikes, or impacts, another object.

80.Asteroids orbiting between Mars and Jupiter are classified into ___Asteroid
belt ___ group. This contains the majority of known asteroids and is estimated to

(meteoroids and dust).

have 1 to 2 million asteroids and a significantly higher number of smaller pieces
Module No. 4
STUDYING THE SUN

CHAPTER 4

RADIATION AND SPECTRA

QUIZ: CHAPTER 4 (RADIATION AND SPECTRA) EXPLANATION (5 Points

Each)

1. What distinguishes one type of electromagnetic radiation from another? What

are the main categories (or bands) of the electromagnetic spectrum?

2. What is a wave? Use the terms wavelength and frequency in your definition .

3. Is your textbook the kind of idealized object ( described in section on radiation

laws) that absorbs all the radiation falling on it? Explain. How about the black
sweater worn by one of your classmates?

4. Where in an atom would you expect to find electrons? Protons? Neutrons?

5. Explain how emission lines and absorption lines are formed. In what sorts of
cosmic objects would you expect to see each?

6. Explain how the Doppler effect works for sound waves and give some familiar
examples.

7. What kind of motion for a star does not produce a Doppler effect? Explain.
8. Describe how Bohr‘s model used the work of Maxwell.

9. Explain why light is referred to as electromagnetic radiation .

10. Explain the difference between radiation as it is used in most everyday

language and radiation as it is used in an astronomical context.

11. What are the differences between light waves and sound waves?

12. Which type of wave has a longer wavelength: AM radio waves (with
frequencies

in the kilohertz range) or FM radio waves (with frequencies in the megahertz

range)? Explain.

13. Explain why astronomers long ago believed that space must be filled with
some kind of substance (the ―aether‖) instead of the vacuum we know it is today.

14. Explain what the ionosphere is and how it interacts with some radio waves .

15. Which is more dangerous to living things, gamma rays or X-rays? Explain .

16. Explain why we have to observe stars and other astronomical objects from
above Earth‘s atmosphere in order to fully learn about their properties.

17. Explain why hotter objects tend to radiate more energetic photons compared to
cooler objects.
18. Explain how we can deduce the temperature of a star by determining its color .

19. Explain what dispersion is and how astronomers use this phenomenon to study
a star‘s light.

20. Explain why glass prisms disperse light.

21. Explain what Joseph Fraunhofer discovered about stellar spectra.

22. Explain how we use spectral absorption and emission lines to determine the
composition of a gas.

23. Explain the results of Rutherford‘s gold foil experiment and how they changed
our model of the atom.

24. Is it possible for two different atoms of carbon to have different numbers of
neutrons in their nuclei? Explain.

25. What are the three isotopes of hydrogen, and how do they differ?

26. Explain how electrons use light energy to move among energy levels within an
atom.

27. Explain why astronomers use the term ―blueshifted‖ for objects moving
toward us and ―redshifted‖ for objects moving away from us.

28. If spectral line wavelengths are changing for objects based on the radial
velocities of those objects, how can we deduce which type of atom is responsible
for a particular absorption or emission line?

CHAPTER 4 EXERCISES: COMPUTATION

(5 Points Each)

1. What is the wavelength of the carrier wave of a campus radio station,

broadcasting at a frequency of 97.2 MHz (million cycles per second or million
hertz)?

2. What is the frequency of a red laser beam, with a wavelength of 670 nm, which
your astronomy instructor might use to point to slides during a lecture on galaxies?

3. You go to a dance club to forget how hard your astronomy midterm was. What
is the frequency of a wave of ultraviolet light coming from a blacklight in the club,
if its wavelength is 150 nm?

4. If the emitted infrared radiation from Pluto, has a wavelength of maximum

intensity at 75,000 nm, what is the temperature of Pluto assuming it follows
Wien‘s law?

POST-TEST
Answer the following questions clearly and neatly. Write your answer in your
notebook. Your paper must be written with a black or blue ballpoint pen.
PART 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE. (2 point each)

Directions: Read each question carefully and choose the correct answer.

PART II: EXPLAINATION/ENUMERATION. (10 point each)

. Read each question carefully and answ erbriefly.

1. Make a list of some of the many practical consequences of Maxwell‘s theory of

electromagnetic waves (television is one example).

2. With what type of electromagnetic radiation would you observe:

1. A star with a temperature of 5800 K?

2. A gas heated to a temperature of one million K?

3. A person on a dark night?

3. Why is it dangerous to be exposed to X-rays but not ( or at least much less)

dangerous to be exposed to radio waves?

4. Go outside on a clear night, wait 15 minutes for your eyes to adjust to the dark,
and look carefully at the brightest stars. Some should look slightly red and others
slightly
blue. The primary factor that determines the color of a star is its temperature.
Which is hotter: a blue star or a red one? Explain

5. Water faucets are often labeled with a red dot for hot water and a blue dot for
cold. Given Wien‘s law, does this labeling make sense?

6. Suppose you are standing at the exact center of a park surrounded by a circular
road. An ambulance drives completely around this road, with siren blaring. How
does the pitch of the siren change as it circles around you?

7. How could you measure Earth‘s orbital speed by photographing the spectrum of
a star at various times throughout the year? (Hint: Suppose the star lies in the plane
of Earth‘s orbit.)

8. Astronomers want to make maps of the sky showing sources of X-rays or

gamma rays. Explain why those X-rays and gamma rays must be observed from
above Earth‘s atmosphere.

9. The greenhouse effect can be explained easily if you understand the laws of
blackbody radiation. A greenhouse gas blocks the transmission of infrared light.
Given that the incoming light to Earth is sunlight with a characteristic temperature
of 5800 K (which peaks in the visible part of the spectrum) and the outgoing light
from Earth has a characteristic temperature of about 300 K (which peaks in the
infrared part of the spectrum), explain how greenhouse gases cause Earth to warm
up. As part of your answer, discuss that greenhouse gases block both incoming and
outgoing infrared light. Explain why these two effects don‘t simply cancel each
other, leading to no net temperature change.
10. An idealized radiating object does not reflect or scatter any radiation but
instead absorbs all of the electromagnetic energy that falls on it. Can you explain
why astronomers call such an object a blackbody? Keep in mind that even stars,
which shine brightly in a variety of colors, are considered blackbodies. Explain
why.

11. Why are ionized gases typically only found in very high-temperature
environments?

12. Explain why each element has a unique spectrum of absorption or emission
lines.

CHAPTER 5

ASTRONOMICAL INSTRUMENTS

QUIZ: ENUMERATION AND EXPLAINATION

5 Points each
1. What are the three basic components of a modern astronomical instrument?
Describe each in one to two sentences.

2. Name the two spectral windows through which electromagnetic radiation easily
reaches the surface of Earth and describe the largest-aperture telescope currently in
use for each window.

3. List the largest-aperture single telescope currently in use in each of the

following bands of the electromagnetic spectrum: radio, X-ray, gamma ray.

4. When astronomers discuss the apertures of their telescopes, they say bigger is
better. Explain why.

5. The Hooker telescope at Palomar Observatory has a diameter of 5 m, and the

Keck I telescope has a diameter of 10 m. How much more light can the Keck
telescope collect than the Hooker telescope in the same amount of time?

6. What is meant by ―reflecting‖ and ―refracting‖ telescopes?

7. Why are the largest visible-light telescopes in the world made with mirrors
rather than lenses?

8. Compare the eye, photographic film, and CCDs as detectors for light. What are
the advantages and disadvantages of each?

9. What is a charge-coupled device (CCD), and how is it used in astronomy?

10. Why is it difficult to observe at infrared wavelengths? What do astronomers do
to address this difficulty?

11. Radio and radar observations are often made with the same antenna, but
otherwise they are very different techniques. Compare and contrast radio and radar
astronomy in terms of the equipment needed, the methods used, and the kind of
results obtained.

12. Look back at Figure 56 in Radio Telescopes, which shows Cygnus A, and read
its caption again. The material in the giant lobes at the edges of the image had to
have been ejected from the center at least how many years ago?

13. Why do astronomers place telescopes in Earth‘s orbit? What are the
advantages for the different regions of the spectrum?

14. What was the problem with the Hubble Space Telescope and how was it
solved?

15. Describe the techniques radio astronomers use to obtain a resolution

comparable to what astronomers working with visible light can achieve.

16. What kind of visible-light and infrared telescopes on the ground are
astronomers planning for the future? Why are they building them on the ground
and not in space?

17. Describe one visible-light or infrared telescope that astronomers are planning
to launch into space in the future.
CHAPTER 5 EXERCISE: COMPUTATION

CHAPTER 5 EXERCISE: COMPUTATION

5 Points each

1. What is the area, in square meters, of a 10-m telescope?

2. Approximately 9000 stars are visible to the naked eye in the whole sky
(imagine that you could see around the entire globe and both the northern and
southern hemispheres), and there are about 41,200 square degrees on the sky. How
many stars are visible per square degree? Per square arcsecond?

3. Theoretically ( that is, if seeing were not an issue) , the resolution of a telescope
is inversely proportional to its diameter. How much better is the resolution of the
ALMA when operating at its longest baseline than the resolution of the Arecibo
telescope?

4. In broad daylight, the size of your pupil is typically 3 mm. In dark situations, it
expands to about 7 mm. How much more light can it gather?

than by your fully dark-adapted eye at 7 mm?

5. How much more light can be gathered by a telescope that is 8 m in diameter

6. How much more light can the Keck telescope (with its 10-m diameter mirror )
gather than an amateur telescope whose mirror is 25 cm (0.25 m) across?

7. People are often bothered when they discover that reflecting telescopes have a
second mirror in the middle to bring the light out to an accessible focus where big
instruments can be mounted. ―Don‘t you lose light?‖ people ask. Well, yes, you
do, but there is no better alternative. You can estimate how much light is lost by
such an arrangement. The primary mirror (the one at the bottom in Figure 44 of
Telescopes) of the Gemini North telescope is 8 m in diameter . The secondary

to estimate what fraction of the light is blocked by the secondary mirror .

mirror at the top is about 1 m in diameter. Use the formula for the area of a circle

8. Telescopes can now be operated remotely from a warm room, but until about 25

pointed in exactly the right place. In a large telescope, like the Palomar 200-inch
years ago, astronomers worked at the telescope to guide it so that it remained

secondary mirror is located, as shown in Figure 44 of Telescopes). Assume for the

telescope, astronomers sat in a cage at the top of the telescope, where the

purpose of your calculation that the diameter of this cage was 40 inches . What
fraction of the light is blocked?

9. How much more light can the James Webb Space Telescope (with its 6-m
diameter mirror) gather than the Hubble Space Telescope (with a diameter of 2.4
m)?

10.The Palomar telescope‘s 5-m mirror weighs 14.5 tons. If a 10-m mirror were
constructed of the same thickness as Palomar‘s (only bigger ), how much would it
weigh?

POST-TEST
Answer the following questions clearly and neatly. Write your answer in your
notebook. Your paper must be written with a black or blue ballpoint pen.
PART 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE. (2 point each)
Directions: Read each question carefully and choose the correct answer
PART II: EXPLAINATION. (10 point each)

Directions: Read each question carefully and answer briefly.

1. What happens to the image produced by a lens if the lens is ―stopped down‖

(the aperture reduced, thereby reducing the amount of light passing through the
lens) with an iris diaphragm—a device that covers its periphery?

2. What would be the properties of an ideal astronomical detector? How closely do

the actual properties of a CCD approach this ideal?

Observatories each received about 60 nights per year for their observing programs .
3. Many decades ago, the astronomers on the staff of Mount Wilson and Palomar

Today, an astronomer feels fortunate to get 10 nights per year on a large telescope .
Can you suggest some reasons for this change?

4. The largest observatory complex in the world is on Mauna Kea, the tallest
mountain on Earth. What are some factors astronomers consider when selecting an
observatory site? Don‘t forget practical ones. Should astronomers, for example,
consider building an observatory on Denali (Mount McKinley) or Mount Everest?

5. Suppose you are looking for sites for a visible-light observatory, an infrared
observatory, and a radio observatory. What are the main criteria of excellence for
each? What sites are actually considered the best today?

6. Radio astronomy involves wavelengths much longer than those of visible light,
and many orbiting observatories have probed the universe for radiation of very
short wavelengths. What sorts of objects and physical conditions would you expect
to be associated with emission of radiation at very long and very short
wavelengths?

CHAPTER 6
THE SUN

QUIZ: ENUMERATION AND EXPLAINATION 5 points each

1.Describe the main differences between the composition of Earth and that of the
Sun.

2.Describe how energy makes its way from the nuclear core of the Sun to the
atmosphere. Include the name of each layer and how energy moves through the
layer.

3.Make a sketch of the Sun‘s atmosphere showing the locations of the

photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. What is the approximate temperature of
each of these regions?

4.Why do sunspots look dark?

5.Which aspects of the Sun‘s activity cycle have a period of about 11 years?
Which vary during intervals of about 22 years?

6.Summarize the evidence indicating that over several hundreds of years or more
there have been variations in the level of the solar activity.

7.What it the Zeeman effect and what does it tell us about the Sun?

8.Explain how the theory of the Sun‘s dynamo results in an average 22-year solar
activity cycle. Include the location and mechanism for the dynamo.

9.Compare and contrast the four different types of solar activity above the
photosphere.

10. What are the two sources of particles coming from the Sun that cause space
weather? How are they different?

11. How does activity on the Sun affect human technology on Earth and in
the rest of the solar system?

12. How does activity on the Sun affect natural phenomena on Earth?

13. How do we know the age of the Sun?

14. Explain how we know that the Sun‘s energy is not supplied either by chemical
burning, as in fires here on Earth, or by gravitational contraction (shrinking).
15. What is the ultimate source of energy that makes the Sun shine?

16. What are the formulas for the three steps in the proton-proton chain?

17. How is a neutrino different from a neutron? List all the ways you can
think of.

18. Describe in your own words what is meant by the statement that the Sun is in
hydrostatic equilibrium.

19. Two astronomy students travel to South Dakota. One stands on Earth‘s surface
and enjoys some sunshine. At the same time, the other descends into a gold mine
where neutrinos are detected, arriving in time to detect the creation of a new
radioactive argon nucleus. Although the photon at the surface and the neutrinos in
the mine arrive

at the same time, they have had very different histories. Describe the differences.

20. What do measurements of the number of neutrinos emitted by the Sun tell us
about conditions deep in the solar interior?

21. Do neutrinos have mass? Describe how the answer to this question has
changed over time and why

22. Neutrinos produced in the core of the Sun carry energy to its exterior. Is the
mechanism for this energy transport conduction, convection, or radiation?
23. What conditions are required before proton-proton chain fusion can start in the
Sun?

24. Describe the two main ways that energy travels through the Sun.

CHAPTER 5 EXERCISE: COMPUTATION

CHAPTER 5 EXERCISE: COMPUTATION

5 points each

1.The edge of the Sun doesn‘t have to be absolutely sharp in order to look that
way to us. It just has to go from being transparent to being completely opaque in a
distance that is smaller than your eye can resolve. Remember from Astronomical
Instruments that the ability to resolve detail depends on the size of the telescope‘s
aperture. The pupil of your eye is very small relative to the size of a telescope and
therefore is very limited in the amount of detail you can see. In fact, your eye
cannot see details that are smaller than 1/30 of the diameter of the Sun (about 1
arcminute). Nearly all the light from the Sun emerges from a layer that is only
about 400 km thick. What fraction is this of the diameter of the Sun? How does
this compare with the ability of the human eye to resolve detail? Suppose we could
see light emerging directly from a layer that was 300,000 km thick. Would the Sun
appear to have a sharp edge?
2.Show that the statement that 92% of the Sun‘s atoms are hydrogen is consistent
with the statement that 73%of the Sun‘s mass is made up of hydrogen, as found in
Table 9. (Hint: Make the simplifying assumption, which is nearly correct, that the
Sun is made up entirely of hydrogen and helium.)

3.From Doppler shifts of the spectral lines in the light coming from the east
and west edges of the Sun, astronomers find that the radial velocities of the two

edges differ by about 4 km/s, meaning that the Sun‘s rotation rate is 2 km/s. Find
the approximate period of rotation of the Sun in days. The circumference of a
sphere is given by 2πR, where R is the radius of the sphere.

4.Assuming an average sunspot cycle of 11 years, how many revolutions does

the equator of the Sun make during that one cycle? Do higher latitudes make more
or fewer revolutions compared to the equator?

5.This chapter gives the average sunspot cycle as 11 years. Verify this using
Figure 158: Numbers of Sunspots over Time.

6.Suppose you observe a major solar flare while astronauts are orbiting Earth . Use
the data in the text to calculate how long it will before the charged particles ejected
from the Sun during the flare reach them.

7.Suppose an eruptive prominence rises at a speed of 150 km/s. If it does not

change speed, how far from the photosphere will it extend after 3 hours? How
does this distance compare with the diameter of Earth?
8.From the information in Figure 160: Flare and Coronal Mass Ejection,
estimate the speed with which the particles in the CME in parts (c) and (d) are
moving away from the Sun.

9.Estimate the amount of mass that is converted to energy when a proton

combines with a deuterium nucleus to form tritium, 3He.

10. How much energy is released when a proton combines with a deuterium
nucleus to produce tritium, 3He?

11. The Sun converts 4 × 109kg of mass to energy every second. How many years
would it take the Sun to convert a mass equal to the mass of Earth to energy?

12. Assume that the mass of the Sun is 75% hydrogen and that all of this
mass could be converted to energy according to Einstein‘s equation E = mc2. How
much total energy could the Sun generate? If m is in kg and c is in m/s, then E will
be expressed in J. (The mass of the Sun is 1.989 × 1030 kg.)

13. In fact, the conversion of mass to energy in the Sun is not 100% efficient . As
we have seen in the text, the conversion of four hydrogen atoms to one helium
atom results in the conversion of about 0.02862 times the mass of a proton to

10−27 kg for the mass of the hydrogen atom, which, for all practical purposes, is
energy. How much energy in joules does one such reaction produce? (Use 1.673 ×

the mass of a proton.)

14. Now suppose that all of the hydrogen atoms in the Sun were converted into
helium. How much total energy would be produced? (To calculate the answer,you
will have to estimate how many hydrogen atoms are in the Sun. This will give you
good practice with scientific notation, since the numbers involved are very large!)

15. Models of the Sun indicate that only about 10%of the total hydrogen in the
Sun will participate in nuclear reactions, since it is only the hydrogen in the central
regions that is at a high enough temperature. Use the total energy radiated per
second by the Sun, 3.8 × 1026 watts, alongside the exercises and information
given here to estimate the lifetime of the Sun. (Hint: Make sure you keep track of
the units: if the luminosity is the energy radiated per second, your answer will also
be in seconds. You should convert the answer to something more meaningful, such
as years.)

16. Show that the statement in the text is correct: namely, that roughly 600 million
tons of hydrogen must be converted to helium in the Sun each second to explain its
energy output. (Hint: Recall Einstein‘s most famous formula, and remember that
for each kg of hydrogen, 0.0071 kg of mass is converted into energy.) How long
will it be before 10%of the hydrogen is converted into helium? Does this answer
agree with the lifetime you calculated in problem number 16?

17. Every second, the Sun converts 4 million tons of matter to energy. How long
will it take the Sun to reduce its mass by 1%(the mass of the Sun is 2 × 1030)?
Compare your answer with the lifetime of the Sun so far.

18. Raymond Davis Jr.‘s neutrino detector contained approximately 1030

chlorine atoms. During his experiment, he found that one neutrino reacted with a
chlorine atom to produce one argon atom each day.

1. How many days would he have to run the experiment for 1% of his tank to
be filled with argon atoms?
2. Convert your answer from A. into years.

3. Compare this answer to the age of the universe, which is approximately

14 billion years (1.4 × 1010 y).

4. What does this tell you about how frequently neutrinos interact with matter?

POST-TEST

Answer the following questions clearly and neatly. Write your answer in your
notebook. Your paper must be written with a black or blue ballpoint pen.

PART 1: MULTIPLE CHOICE. (2 point each)

Directions: Read each question carefully and choose the correct answer

PART II: EXPLAINATION. (10 point each)

Directions: Read each question carefully and answer briefly.

1.Table 7 indicates that the density of the Sun is 1.41 g/cm3. Since other
materials, such as ice, have similar densities, how do you know that the Sun is not
made of ice?

2.Starting from the core of the Sun and going outward, the temperature decreases .
Yet, above the photosphere, the temperature increases. How can this be?

3.Since the rotation period of the Sun can be determined by observing the apparent
motions of sunspots, a correction must be made for the orbital motion of Earth.
Explain what the correction is and how it arises. Making some sketches may help
answer this question

4.The text explains that plages are found near sunspots, but Figure 142: Numbers
of Sunspots over Time shows that they appear even in areas without sunspots.
What might be the explanation for this?

5.Why would a flare be observed in visible light, when they are so much brighter
in X-ray and ultraviolet light?

6.How can the prominences, which are so big and ‗float‘ in the corona, stay
gravitationally attached to the Sun while flares can escape?

7.If you were concerned about space weather and wanted to avoid it, where would
be the safest place on Earth for you to live?

8.Suppose you live in northern Canada and an extremely strong flare is reported
on the Sun. What precautions might you take? What might be a positive result?

9.Someone suggests that astronomers build a special gamma-ray detector to detect

gamma rays produced during the proton-proton chain in the core of the Sun, just
like they built a neutrino detector. Explain why this would be a fruitless effort.

10. Earth contains radioactive elements whose decay produces neutrinos . How
might we use neutrinos to determine how these elements are distributed in Earth‘s
interior?
11. The Sun is much larger and more massive than Earth. Do you think the
average density of the Sun is larger or smaller than that of Earth? Write down your
answer before you look up the densities. Now find the values of the densities
elsewhere in this text. Were you right? Explain clearly the meanings of density and
mass.

12. A friend who has not had the benefit of an astronomy course suggests that
the Sun must be full of burning coal to shine as brightly as it does. List as many
arguments as you can against this hypothesis.

13. Which of the following transformations is (are) fusion and which is (are)
fission: helium to carbon, carbon to iron, uranium to lead, boron to carbon, oxygen
to neon? (See https://courses.lumenlearning.com/towson-astronomy-2/chapter/the-
chemical-elements/ for a list of the elements.)

14. Why is a higher temperature required to fuse hydrogen to helium by means of

the CNO cycle than is required by the process that occurs in the Sun, which
involves only isotopes of hydrogen and helium?

15. Earth‘s atmosphere is in hydrostatic equilibrium. What this means is that the
pressure at any point in the atmosphere must be high enough to support the weight
of air above it. How would you expect the pressure on Mt. Everest to differ from
the pressure in your classroom? Explain why.

16. Explain what it means when we say that Earth‘s oceans are in hydrostatic
equilibrium. Now suppose you are a scuba diver. Would you expect the pressure to
increase or decrease as you dive below the surface to a depth of 200 feet? Why?
17. What mechanism transfers heat away from the surface of the Moon? If the
Moon is losing energy in this way, why does it not simply become colder
andcolder?

18. Suppose you are standing a few feet away from a bonfire on a cold fall
evening. Your face begins to feel hot. What is the mechanism that transfers heat
from the fire to your face? (Hint: Is the air between you and the fire hotter or
cooler than your face?)

19. Give some everyday examples of the transport of heat by convection and by
radiation.

20. Suppose the proton-proton cycle in the Sun were to slow down suddenly and
generate energy at only 95%of its current rate. Would an observer on Earth see an
immediate decrease in the Sun‘s brightness? Would she immediately see a
decrease in the number of neutrinos emitted by the Sun?

21. Do you think that nuclear fusion takes place in the atmospheres of stars? Why
or why not?

22. Why is fission not an important energy source in the Sun?

23. Why do you suppose so great a fraction of the Sun‘s energy comes from its
central regions? Within what fraction of the Sun‘s radius does practically all of the
Sun‘s luminosity originate (see Figure 161)? Within what radius of the Sun has its
original hydrogen been partially used up? Discuss what relationship the answers to
these questions bear to one another.
24. Explain how mathematical computer models allow us to understand what is
going on inside of the Sun.