Study Guide for Rest of Course Material
Hints for studying for final exam:
- Remember, your book is a better REFERENCE than guide. There are many things in the various chapters that we didn't cover i
n class. You will not be tested on things that we did not cover in lecture.
- 1. Use the REVIEW SHEET (below) in combination with the other three review sheets.
Be able to define the terms listed below, and know the CONTEXT in which they fit in (exam
ple, know what the properties of a neutron star are, but more than that, know what evolutionary state the neutron star represe
nts (i.e. will the Sun become a neutron star?), and HOW we detect it (i.e. can we see neutron stars with the Hubble Space Telescope?
Have we ever observed a neutron star or is just a theory? At what wavelength do we study neutron stars?).
- 2. Review your COURSE NOTES for overall context - recall that we first studied the Sun in quite a bit of detail, then move
d onto the formation of stars, then our Galaxy, galaxy clusters and eventually the universe. Make sure to review the review s
heets for each of the exams. This review sheet is not as detailed as the ones for the in-class exams.
- 3. Go over the various pictures, diagrams, chapter summaries in your textbook.
- 4. Study on your own and in study groups. Ask each other lots of questions and make each other accountable for explaining
these concepts. Make sure to probe the knowledge of your classmates - by having to explain these concepts to each other, you a
re forced to really learn and think about this material. This material is not something you can just memorize!
- 5. The questions at the beginning and end of each chapter of your textbook are an excellent way
to review - ask your study partners these questions or try to write down the answerws without using your book or notes. In the case of this semester's textbook, these questions often appear in GREEN in the text.
Below is a list of the various topics we've touched on since the third exam; however, the final
will cover material on review sheets 1, 2, and 3 in addition to these topics:
Cosmology
- Hubble's Law & expansion of the universe
- The age of the universe - what is our best estimate?
- Cosmic microwave radiation - what is it? How do we detect it?
- Variations in the CMB - what do they tell us?
- The early universe - what were the physical conditions like?
- Density of the universe (luminous + dark matter); critical density
- How is Hubble's Law changing with time?
- How do SN Type 1 tell us about fate of universe?
- dark energy - what is it? what fraction of the universe do we think is made of dark energy?
Life in the Universe
- chemical basis for "life" - carbon, water
- possible evidence in the solar system (Mars, Europa, Titan - how, what?)
- exoplanets- methods for detecting, how many planets found, what are they like?
- three methods for exoplanet finding: indirect; one method : direct
- "looking" outside the solar system - what are the best 'windows' in the EM spectrum?
- interstellar travel?
- communications? how? what wavelengths?