Astr 122
How many miles up does the ISS orbit the Earth?
250
One complete cycle of precession on Earth takes this many years:
26,000
1 parasec
3.25 light years
How many light-years away is our nearest neighbor star?
4
In the "Grapefruit Scale", how far away is Earth from the Sun?
50 feet
Outer space is ______ miles straight up.
62
How far is outer space?
62 miles
It takes light this many minutes to travel between the Sun and the Earth.
8
How many constellations are there in the entire sky?
88
Star system
A star and all the material that orbits it, including its planets and moons - name of sun is Sol -> ours is Solar system
What part of the EM spectrum does SOFIA observe when it is in flight?
infrared
The age of the universe is _________ billion years.
13.8
How many planets are in our Solar System (as of October 2020)?
14
What is the diameter of the mirror in The Robbins telescope in inches?
14 inches
How fast is the speed of light (c)?
186,000 miles per second
What year was the first telescope at PMO installed?
1968
What kind of material did Miller and Urey find in the "sludge" they made in their experiment?
Amino acids
All knowledge comes from science.
False
Enceledus
Moon of Saturn; water ice fountains suggest might have liquid water (possible life?)
The two main types of galaxies are
Spiral and Elliptical
Which of the following are reasons that we build telescopes on top of mountains?
- Mountain peaks often have smooth winds and airflow - Mountain summits are generally at high altitudes. - Mountain summits are often very dry with little precipitation. - Mountain summits are typically very dark
What is the name of the spacecraft that we discussed in detail in class?
Cassini
Match the parts of the Sun with the correct temperatures.
Core: 15 million Photosphere: 6,000 Corona: 1 million
What is the largest type of solar event we discussed?
Coronal mass ejection
Why do stars rise and set?
Earth rotates west to east, so stars appear to circle from east to west
Time to destinations
Eugene to New York: .02 seconds Moon: 1 second Sun: 8 minutes Pluto: 5.5 hours Alpha Centauri: 4.4 years Orion Nebula: 1,300 years Andromeda Galaxy: 2.5 million years Most distant galaxy: 10 billion years
How much of the Earth and Moon is lit up by sunlight right now?
Exactly half
Can the biggest telescopes in the world observe the entire Universe?
False
Dr. Fisher wants you to buy your own telescope
False
Telescopes in space (like Hubble) produce high-quality images because they are closer to the objects they are observing.
False
The word theory means the same thing in both normal language and when talking in a scientific context.
False
There is a spacecraft in orbit around Saturn right now.
False
Pluto is the largest object in the Kupier belt.
False: Since 2006, larger objects have been discovered in the Kuiper belt. For example, the object named Xena is larger than Pluto.
Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the Solar System.
False; The tallest mountain is Olympus Mons on Mars
The Earth is closest to the Sun in summer.
False; closest to the Sun in January!
Earth is closer to the Sun in summer and farther in winter
False; seasons are opposite in N+S hemispheres, so distance cannot be reason. Real reason is tilt of Earth's Axis
What is the process that powers the Sun (and all stars)?
Fusion
Galactic Facts
Milky Way contains at least: - 100 billion stars - theories say approx 1 planet per star
Using every day language, match these objects with how long it takes for light to reach us from them. This is related to their "Lookback Time"
Moon: a second the Sun: a few minutes Stars: tens to hundreds of years Galaxies: millions of years The Planets: a few hours
Can we see the entire Universe?
No. The observable portion of the universe is about 13.8 billion light-years in radius. cannot see past this
When is the Sun the highest in the sky?
Noon on the summer solstice
What is the "surface" of the Sun called?
Photosphere
Rare Earth Hypothesis
Proposes that planets like the Earth, for whatever reason, might be very uncommon.
There are two atmospheric windows we discussed in class. What two regions of the EM spectrum do these windows allow to pass through the atmosphere?
Radio, visible
Why do we put telescopes in space?
Space telescopes are unaffected by the atmosphere, no pollution, refraction or weather Telescopes in space have no atmosphere distortion and interference.
What quantity determines how an object will emit radiation?
Temperature
interstellar medium
The gas and dust that exists in open space between the stars.
What is the name scientists have given to the very first life form on Earth?
root
Seasons are caused by the _____ of the Earth's _______
tilt, axis
We have discovered water on Mars.
true
moon illusion
true and angular size of moon stays the same whether or not it is near your horizon
Hallmarks of Science
#1: seeks explanations for observed phenomena that rely solely on natural causes (cannot include divine intervention or metaphysics) #2: science progresses through creation and testing of models of nature that explain the observations as simply as possible #3: scientific model must make testable predictions about natural phenomena that would force us to revise or abandon the model if the predictions do not agree with observations
"Solar cycle"
- 11 years - number of sunspots caries with an 11 year period - has to do with magnetic field of the sun - in 2020 we just passed by solar minimum and are not starting cycle 25
How big is the Moon? (choose all correct answers!)
- 2100 miles in diameter - roughly the size of the US - about 1/4 the size of Earth
Celestial sphere
- 88 official constellations cover the celestial sphere - objects appear to lie on the celestial sphere, but this is an illusion
Which of these things cannot be involved when dealing with science?
- Divine intervention - Metaphysics
Earliest life forms
- Earth formed from cloud of ISM about 4.5 billion years ago - life probably arose on Earth more than 3.85 billion years ago, shortly after end of heavy bombardment - evidence comes from fossils and carbon isotopes
International Space Station
Total weight: 450 tons Orbit: 250 miles
The Hubble Space Telescope can take pictures of individual stars in the Andromeda galaxy.
True
The domes of the telescopes on Maunakea can be seen from many miles away
True
There are telescopes that have mirrors that are made of multiple pieces of glass.
True
Adaptive objects
rapid changes in mirror shape compensate for atmospheric turbulence; can overcome the distorting effects of Earth's atmosphere
Since we always see the same face of the Moon from Earth, this means that the Moon ______ and ________ at the same rate.
rotates, precesses
Cassini
space craft that used to orbit saturn; detected Hydrogen and sand particles in plumes of Enceladus; proves hydrothermal vents
Where did Wiley and his team build their scaled Solar System?
the Black Rock desert
Luminosity
the amount of energy that an object gives off each second
light year
the distance light travels in one year; about 6 trillion miles
The ecliptic
the plane of the Solar System All planets orbit the sun in a plane
Humans have sent maps to Earth out into space as part of SETI.
true
There is a planet in our solar system inhabited completely by robots.
true
Adaptive optics is technology that helps correct for distortions caused by atmospheric
turbulence
the great silence
we're not worth it. advanced life forms do not wish to reach out to us
not life as we know it
we've had it wrong the whole time. ETs may not be biological beings like us
Solar Eclipse
when Earth moves through shadow of the moon
Lunar Eclipse
when moon moves through the shadow of the Earth
To have the chance to use a big telescope like Hubble or Gemini, a person must:
write and submit a proposal
Precession
direction of earth's axis slowly changes over period of 26,000 years
early birds
earth had a head start
the great filter
earth subjected to 5 major extinction events but still evolved. maybe all other civilizations were hit with asteroid and only earth survived
A Solar eclipse happens when the _____ moves through the shadow of the ______
earth, moon
The plane of the Solar System is called the:
ecliptic
When we see the Milky Way in the sky from Earth, we see it in a __________ orientation.
edge on
Galactic Recycling
elements that make planets were made in stars and then recycled through interstellar space... There is evidence from other gas clouds
What kind of object does PANOPTES search for?
exoplanet
Exoplanets are too far away to take photos of.
false
Mars is outside the habitable zone of the Sun.
false
The angular size of an object stays the same at all times.
false
We have a 100% complete fossil record of early life on Earth.
false
The type of nuclear energy that powers the Sun is called:
fusion
Where were (most) of the atoms that make up your body created?
inside the cores of stars
What is the purpose of a laser guide star system?
it creates an artificial star that a telescope can lock onto which helps adaptive optics systems
What is special about the moon Enceladus?
it has an ocean under its surface
What was the first research result from the Robbins telescope?
it imaged a supernova in a galaxy
Star
large, glowing ball of gas that generates heat and light through nuclear fusion
Refracting
lenses
When speaking about the two different types of telescopes, we can say that refracting telescopes contain _______ and reflecting telescopes contain _______.
lenses, mirrors
Where did life first form
likely at hydrothermal vents
What elements were created in the Big Bang (i.e. the Prime Event)?
lithium. hydrogen, helium
long road ahead of us
long way to go, a lot more searching to do
Segmented mirror
made up of multiple pieces that fit together into a single mirror
Reflecting
mirrors - basically all telescopes today are reflecting
A lunar eclipse happens when the ____ moves through the shadow of the ______
moon, earth
How does the sun produce energy?
nuclear fusion; releases energy by fusing 4 hydrogen nuclei into one helium nucleus
Necessities for life
nutrients, energy, liquid water
Match the following number of seconds with an equal amount of time.
one thousand (1000) seconds= 16.66 minutes one million (1,000,000) seconds= 11 days one billion (1,000,000,000) seconds= 31.5 years
Science
- a process - based on proposing and testing hypotheses - must be supported by evidence
Cosmic Calendar
- a scale on which we compress the history of the universe into 1 year - Prime Event happened January 1 00:00:00 - Now is December 31 11:59:59
Dr. Hubble discoveries
- all galaxies outside local group are moving away from us - more distant= faster racing away
Kuiper Belt Object
- an object with an orbit that extends beyond neptune and into the Kuiper Belt - Pluto
Earliest fossils
- bacteria like organisms 3.5 billion years ago - carbon isotope pushes origin of life to more than 3.5 billion years ago
Asteroid belt
- between Mars and Jupiter - failed planet - Ceres largest: 600 miles in diameter
What causes eclipses?
- earth and moon cast shadows - when either passes through the other's shadow, we have eclipses
Hubble's Law
- galaxies that are farther away are moving away from us faster - we live in expanding universe
The Ultimate Speed Limit
- light travels at finite speed, nothing faster -186,000 miles/sec approx 7 times around earth in 1 second
"Tree of Life"
- mapping genetic relationships between different species has led to discover how all life is related to each other - plants and animals only small part of tree - suggests likely characteristics of common ancestor
Synchronous rotation
- moon rotates exactly once with each revolution around the Earth - backside never faces the earth - exactly 1/2 is always lit up and other 1/2 is always dark
Grapefruit Scale
- reduce scale by 10 billion - Sun is size of a large grapefruit - Earth is size of tip of pen - Earth is 50 feet from the sun - Moon 1.5 inches from earth - Alpha Centauri (nearest star to sun) is the distance of the US, 2500 miles
Constellations
- region of the sky - 88 constellations - shapes actually called asterisms
Comet
- relatively small and icy object that orbits a star - nucleus small= size of mountain - tail is much larger= millions of miles long - tails form as ice+gas boils away as comet nears sun - water ice+CO2 ice (dry ice)
Hubble Ultra Deep Field
- roughly 10,000 galaxies - area of sky= 1/10 size of moon - took about 11 days to observe this "deep" -"emptiest part of the sky"
Rosetta Mission
- spacecraft will follow the comet around the Sun
Size of moon
-2100 miles diameter -roughly 4x smaller than earth - Distance to moon: 250,000 miles; 1 light-second
Galaxy
-A great island of stars in space, all held together by gravity and orbiting a common center - Two main types: Spiral and Elliptical
theory
-A hypothesis that has been tested with a significant amount of data - scientific theory must: explain wide variety of observations with few simple principles, be supported by large, compelling body of evidence, NOT have failed any crucial test of validity
Why do the constellations we see depend on latitude and time of year?
-Latitude bc position on earth determines which constellations remain below the horizon - time of year bc position of earth in its orbit changes the apparent location of the sun among the stars
Exo-Planet
-moderately large object that orbits a star that is NOT the sun - 4201 as of August 2020 - theories suggest approx all stars in our galaxies have planets - first discovered in 1990s - too far for detailed images
Asteroid
-relatively small and rocky object that orbits a star -in asteroid belt between mars and jupiter
How large is the diameter of the Milky Way galaxy?
100,000 light-years
How many Earths will fit across the diameter of the Sun?
109
How many telescopes are on top of Maunakea?
13
The newest telescope at PMO was installed in
2015
Pluto is now designated as a member of the
Kuiper Belt
Coordinates on Earth
Latitude: position north or south of equator Longitude: position east or west of prime meridian
Infrared
Longer wavelength than visible light
lookback time
The amount of time since the light we see from a distant object was emitted. If an object has a lookback time of 400 million years, we are seeing it as it looked 400 million years ago.
Universe
The sum total of all matter and energy; that is, everything within and between all galaxies
Are there constellations up in the sky during the day?
Yes. There are always constellations in the sky
Planet
a moderately large object that orbits a star and shines by reflecting light. may be rocky, icy or gaseous
How many galaxies are visible in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (HUDF)?
about 10,000
How long ago did life get started on Earth?
about 4 billion years ago
Gaian Bottleneck
alien beings are all dead
in a galaxy, far away
aliens are just too far
interfermetry
allows us to link many telescopes together so they act as a larger one
Moon (or satellite)
an object that orbits a planet
What is the ROCC?
an on-campus remote control center for PMO
Angualr size
angle that is subtends at a given distance; NOT constant, decreases with distance
aurora borealis
caused by the interaction of the solar winds with the magnetic field of earth. The magnetic field funnels the particles toward the poles where they slam into the atmosphere at incredible speeds. These particles in the wind hit atoms in the atmosphere and cause them to glow
habitable planet
contains necessities for life
Where does fusion happen in a star?
core