SCI 103 Introductory Astronomy

1. Describe the diurnal and annual apparent motion of the Sun, Describe the diurnal and monthly apparent motion of the Moon and lunar phases,
2. Describe the basic ideas of the Copernican model of the Universe,
3. Discuss Galileo’s observations of the Sun. Moon, Jupiter and Venus ,
4. List and solve problems regarding Kepler’s Three laws of Planetary Motion,
5. Contrast the properties of the Terrestrial and Jovian Planets,
6. Describe the Solar Nebula Theory of the formation of the solar system,
7. Describe the Radial Velocity Method of extra-solar planet detection and the characteristics of extra-solar planets,
8. Describe the Sun in terms of a 2-layer model, identifying the properties and function of the core and envelope,
9. Describe how the Sun produces energy by describing the net proton-proton chain reaction,
10. List or identify the definition of the stellar motion terms: Proper motion, Radial velocity, and Space Velocity
11. Describe the various categories of binary stars and state the relevance of binary stars in determining stellar masses
12. Answer questions related to the apparent magnitude, absolute magnitude, spectral type and luminosity class of a set of stars,
13. Utilize a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram to identify a the characteristics of a star or cluster of stars,
14. Describe in detail, using appropriate terminology, the formation of stars,
15. Describe how shell fusion in a star causes the star to become a giant star,
16. Describe the stages of stellar evolution and the characteristics of a Sun-like star at each stage,
17. Describe a type II supernova and its use as a standard candle,
18. Describe how globular clusters have contributed to our understanding of the structure of the Milky Way,
19. List the basic (3) components of the Milky Way and their dimensions.
20. Describe  how the segregated distributions of Pop I and Pop II stars lead to a hypothesis of the formation of the Milky Way, 
21. Describe the characteristics of the galactic center and the significance of the object SO-2, 
22. Describe how density waves create spiral arms by tracing the evolution of a interstellar cloud as it evolves through a density wave,
23. Describe the types of galaxies and their properties in the Hubble Galaxy classification system, 
24. Describe the evolution of galaxy types that occurs in rich galaxy clusters due to galaxy collision,
25. Describe or identify the properties of the Local Group of Galaxies, and poor and rich galaxy clusters,
26. Solve astronomical problems utilizing ratios, proportions, t=d/v, angular size, density, brightness, stellar parallax, Stefan-Boltzmann law, Wien’s law, main-sequence lifetime relation and the mass-luminosity relation.