Astronomy Unit Final Exam Review Package

THE BIG BANG Text Reference pages 278-285 1. What is the Big Bang Theory? The Big Bang Theory is an explanation of how our universe started o scientists know that the universe began in a singularity o a singularity is a point that is infinitely dense o this point exploded and rapidly expanded creating our universe Hubble along with many other scientists provided evidence of the Big Bang. Review the contributions of each of the following scientists using the chart below and your notes from class/text to help you complete the table below. What did he/she/they find? by studying galaxies Hubble noticed that the further away the galaxies are from us the faster they are moving using a ground radio antenna they noticed background static coming from the universe (radio and microwaves) these forms of light are remnants from the big bang noticed that the universe has different temperatures throughout this is important as it helps to explain why the universe is not How did they study this? Hubble studied galaxies using telescopes

2.

Scientist Edwin Hubble

Penzias and Wilson (AT & T)

ground radio antenna

COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer satellite)

satellite

uniform throughout (that is when we look at the universe galaxies are not uniformly distributed)

3. 4.

What is the electromagnetic spectrum? different forms of light (light can be visible, radio, microwaves, x-rays etc) Scientists can study the spectral lines to determine if far away objects, like galaxies, are moving towards or away from us. The absorption spectra of two different galaxies (1,2) are illustrated below. Use the chart to describe the motion of these galaxies and explain your response.

Absorption Spectra

Are the lines blue or red shifted? blue shifted (notice the middle parallel lines have moved to the left)

Blue Red

Is the galaxy moving towards you or away from you? towards you

Explain

Blue Red

red shifted (notice the

away from you

blue light has greater frequency (the waves are closer together) Think of the duck moving towards you, the waves get closer together (Diagram on Page 283) red light has less frequency (the waves

middle parallel lines have moved to the right)

are further apart) Think of the duck moving away from you, the waves get more spaced out (Diagram on Page 283)

GALAXIES Text Reference pages 268-275 4. What are galaxies made up of? galaxies are primarily made up of hydrogen gas they are also composed of: o stars, planets o dust o black holes, (supermassive black hole in the centre) o dark matter o globular clusters and open clusters Use a series of diagrams to explain how galaxies form. Use your PowerPoint notes to help you with this question.

5.

galaxies form from a nebula (HUGE ball of hydrogen gas) that spins o as this ball of gas spins, it becomes more and more dense o spiral galaxies differ from elliptical galaxies by creating a rotating central disk

6.

Classify each of the following galaxies as either being a (spiral, barredspiral, irregular/peculiar, elliptical)

spiral galaxy

elliptical

peculiar

irregular

barred spiral

7. Super massive black holes are found at the centres of all galaxies. Explain:
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a.

How do black holes form? black holes form from the explosion of super red giant stars when these stars explode as a supernova, the star contracts so much that it creates a hole in space-time What do black holes do and what is hypothesized to be at the "bottom" of the black hole. black holes suck in anything that come within a certain radius nothing can escape a black hole all matter that enters the black hole is destroyed and joins the singularity (a point of infinite density) as the bottom of the black hole

b.

c.

Why are black holes difficult to study? (Hint: think about what cannot escape it) black holes are difficult to study since light cannot escape since we cannot see black holes we can only study them by looking at how they impact matter around them e.g. stealing gas from a star 8. What is the majority of the universe made up of? Why is it important for scientists to study this type of matter? the majority of the universe is made up of dark matter dark matter is important to study as it important in creating the structure of the universe 9. Examine the diagram below and answer the following questions:

a.

What are globular clusters? spherical cluster of stars oldest group of stars in a galaxy often find hundreds or thousands of stars in this type of cluster a globular cluster would be found above and below the disk of a galaxy as seen in the diagram above (the disk is the horizontal line through the galaxy) How do globular clusters compare to open cluster stars? globular clusters are much older than open cluster stars

b.

10. Place the following levels of organization of the universe in order: local cluster planets & stars local supercluster local group solar system milky way galaxy universe planet & stars --> milk way galaxy --> local groups --> local clusters --> MANY local superclusters --> universe LIFE CYCLE OF STARS Text Reference pages 294-301 1. Examine the diagram below outlining the life cycle of an average star. Write a caption explaining what each part of the diagram illustrates.

from a nebula (a huge ball of gas of hydrogen), the ball of gas contracts and spins a protostar forms and then an average star forms the average star uses hydrogen through nuclear fusion reactions once the hydrogen has been used up the star expands forming a red giant once all it's fuel has been used up the star explodes in a nova forming a planetary nebula at the centre of this planetary nebula is a white dwarf the white dwarf continues to glow until it dies out forming a black dwarf 2. How does the life cycle of a high mass star compare to the diagram above. Be sure to explain what a neutron star/pulsar and a black hole are. the life cycle of a high mass star differs by: o the star expands into a super red giant o once all of its fuel has been used up it expodes as a supernova (larger explosion) o if the star was large enough the star will form a black hole o if the star was a bit smaller a pulsar (neutron star) forms Use a series of diagrams to illustrate the life cycle for a low mass star.

3.

red dwarf

white dwarf

black dwarf

4. o

What is a protostar? a protostar is a star before nuclear fusion reaction form this is a early stage of star formation

5. 6. 7.

What element is the major source of "fuel" for stars? What is the name of the reaction that stars do? hydrogen nuclear fusion Stars are constantly battling two key forces. What are these two key forces that are at "battle" with one another? nuclear fusion (combining hydrogen atoms together to form helium) o outward force that emits light, solar wind and heat gravitational force that holds the star together Stars are considered to be our "element factories". What does this mean? How do stars accomplish this? stars are responsible for forming all the elements we see in our universe through nuclear fusion reactions for example by combining hydrogen and hydrogen atoms together helium is formed o this is because hydrogen has one proton o combining two hydrogen atoms together means we now have two protons o the only element with two protons is helium Complete the following table comparing size of a star with its' life span and final outcome. Average Life Span 100 billion years 10 billion years 7 billion years Final Outcome(s) black dwarf

8.

Type of Star Low Mass Star

Medium Mass Star (e.g. Our Sun) High Mass Star

black dwarf black hole or neutron star

9.

What is a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram? a Hertzprung-Russell diagram graphs the relationship between a star's o temperature o luminosity (brightness) and

10. o 11.

o surface temperature What are main sequence stars? main sequence stars are stars that are in the stable part of the star life-cycle most stars are found along this sequence this sequence is found on the Hertzsprung-Russel diagram this band stretches from the upper left-hand corner to the bottom right-hand corner Complete the following table comparing stars by their colour, luminosity and surface temperature.

Colour of Star Blue Yellow Red

Luminosity (Brightness) Very Bright Bright Dim

Surface Temperature

Very Hot ( 15 000 C) Hot (9 000 C) Coolest stars (3000 C)

12.

White dwarfs and red giants do not fit along the main sequence. Use the chart below to explain why. Colour white red Brightness dim bright Temperature hot cool

Type of Star White Dwarfs Red Giants

OUR SOLAR SYSTEM Text Reference page 313-315 13. What are planets? an object that orbits one or more stars in a spherical shape 14. What are the rocky planets? (List them in order from the sun). Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars these planets are made up of rocks and are found closest to the sun
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15.

How did the rocky planets form? when the solar system formed, particles of dust and rock collided these particles stuck together and got progressively larger (think of a snowball getting bigger and bigger as you roll it across the snow)

16. How did our Moon form? our early Earth was hit be a Mars-sized object the cores of the Mars-sized object and Earth melted and merged a part of Earth that was knocked off from the collision formed the Moon 17. Where is the asteroid belt? the asteroid belt is found between Jupiter and Mars 18. Scientists that look for earth-like planets look for the presence of an asteroid belt in other solar systems. Why? since the Earth is a rocky planet we want to find evidence of rocky planets the presence of asteroids indicate that there are rocky planets that orbit the star since the asteroids are the remnants from the formation of the rocky planets 19. Asteroids/meteors that have fallen to earth are useful in understanding the characteristics of our solar system. What information can scientists gather from these rocks? it helps to provide an estimate of the age of our solar system and the Earth The rocky materials of the solar system is estimated to be 4.56 billion years old the solar system itself is estimated to have formed 5 billion years ago 20. 21. What are the outer planets? (List them in order from the sun). The outer planets are: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune How did the outer planets form? during the formation of our solar system the solar wind blew away gases beyond the "snow line" water past the snow line freezes o ice in this region acted as a glue allowing gas and dust particles to stick together o from this method the gas giants formed

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