ASTRONOMY 101
Spring 2001
Exam 4 Study Guide
Note: The Exam will be similar in style to the second and third exams.
The
Exam will be closed book and closed notes. You may bring a calculator to
use, although I don't expect you to need it.
The emphasis will be on
the topics and material we covered and discussed in class, including
web posted readings and some
material from the textbook that fill in details or build on our classwork.
I will not be searching through readings for trivia on which to base questions;
rather, I will be focusing on important concepts and logical thinking.
Nevertheless, some numbers are important, especially when they provide
important comparisons or critical evidence concerning present or past phenomena
in the solar system. Also, while the homework questions and topics
are important, they are by no means a comprehensive guide to important
topics.
Note 2: there were no homeworks posted/assigned for this section of
the course, just in case you thought you missed them.
The last exam will be a one-hour exam (like all the others) but you
will have the full two-hour exam period to work. I am not expecting answers
that are twice as long, but you will have more than enough time to check
and double check your work.
Let me emphasize two things:
-
answer the questions I ask (this is what I'm grading), not the
questions you hoped I'd ask. Read the questions carefully in
this regard.
-
provide complete answers. If the answer is "z" and I say "provide
a short answer," then "z" is all you need to say. But if I want a
more detailed answer (i.e., a 10 point rather than a 3 point question),
then "z" is inadequate. Instead, I want to know why or how you get
"z" as your answer, in which case you need to provide adequate coverage
from "a ... z". Hope that makes sense.
The Exam will cover material from April 4 through the lectures of April
23. Earlier material will be covered only indirectly .
The following topics/leading questions are meant as a guide but are
not guaranteed to be a comprehensive listing of all relevant and important
topics covered thus far.
1. Mars
-
basic comparison to Earth (size, atmosphere, surface features, "day," "year,"
etc.)
-
contents of atmosphere (comparison to Earth)
-
most important places (e.g., Valles Marineris, Olympus Mons, Hellas Basin,
Tharsis Bulge)
-
water: forms, places, evidence
-
craters: sizes, distribution, explanations thereof
-
age(s) of surface
-
some exploration history (Viking misssions, Pathfinder, Global Surveyor)
2. Venus
basic comparison to Earth (size, atmosphere, surface features, "day,"
"year," etc.)
contents of atmosphere (comparison to Earth)
most important places (Aphrodite, Ishtar, Maxwell Montes)
craters: sizes, distribution, explanations thereof
some history of exploration (Veneras, Pioneer, Magellan)
3. Atmospheres
-
most important contents of terrestrial atmospheres
-
likely origin of gases in terrestrial atmospheres
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similarities, differences among terrestrial atmospheres
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Urey reaction: what is it, what materials are involved, who cares?
-
water/oxidation reactions: what's the point?
-
water on Venus: how much, where is it, how do we know this, what is the
likely history of Venus, as deduced from our understanding of the history
of water, why is Venus different from Earth?
-
what is the Greenhouse effect? How does it work? what level of an effect
does it have on Earth, Venus, Mars?
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why does the Earth have a GH when it has less CO2 than does Mars?
-
why does Venus have a big GH whereas Mars has none when they both have
the same percentage of CO2 in their atmospheres?
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water on Mars: outflow channels, valley networks: locations, ages. Evidence
for/against ancient oceans, lakebeds.
-
history of water on Mars
3. "The" Martian meteorite ALH 84001
what is a Martian meteorite? how do we know they're from Mars?
ages, types of material in martian meteorites
what is the evidence for fossil life in ALH 84001?
what is the history of ALH 84001?
what is the status of the debate over ALH 84001?
who cares?
4. The Drake Equation and the Copernican Principle
-
Are we alone? What have we learned in recent years that could affect our
debate over the Copernican Principle?