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Contents - Lessons & Practice

Science

Astronomy 2e

OpenStax book

OS

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Astronomy 2e

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Questions from the 30 chapters of Astronomy 2e. Each item asks for a term, a definition, or a claim the chapter itself states.

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Astronomy 2e

30 lessons

One lesson for each chapter of Astronomy 2e, in the book’s order. The lesson teaches what that chapter says you need to know, then checks it.

  1. 1Science and the Universe: A Brief TourIt is also humanity’s attempt to organize what we learn into a clear history of the universe, from the instant of its birth in the Big Bang to the present moment.
  2. 2Observing the Sky: The Birth of AstronomyThe Sun’s annual path on the celestial sphere is the ecliptic—a line that runs through the center of the zodiac, which is the 18-degree-wide strip of the sky within which we always find the Moon and planets.
  3. 3Orbits and GravityAngular momentum is a measure of the motion of a spinning or revolving object and depends on its mass, velocity, and distance from the point around which it revolves.
  4. 4Earth, Moon, and SkyAn analogous celestial coordinate system is called right ascension (RA) and declination, with 0° of declination starting at the vernal equinox.
  5. 5Radiation and SpectraThe electromagnetic spectrum consists of gamma rays, X-rays, ultraviolet radiation, visible light, infrared, and radio radiation.
  6. 6Astronomical InstrumentsThe light-gathering power of a telescope is determined by the diameter of its aperture, or opening—that is, by the area of its largest or primary lens or mirror.
  7. 7Other Worlds: An Introduction to the Solar SystemThe planets can be divided into two groups: the inner terrestrial planets and the outer giant planets.
  8. 8Earth as a PlanetOur planet’s geology is dominated by plate tectonics, in which crustal plates move slowly in response to mantle convection.
  9. 9Cratered WorldsThe Moon’s heavily cratered highlands are made of rocks more than 4 billion years old.
  10. 10Earthlike Planets: Venus and MarsVenus, the nearest planet, is a great disappointment through the telescope because of its impenetrable cloud cover.
  11. 11The Giant PlanetsThe outer solar system contains the four giant planets: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
  12. 12Rings, Moons, and PlutoThe four jovian planets are accompanied by impressive systems of moons and rings.
  13. 13Comets and Asteroids: Debris of the Solar SystemThe rocky ones are generally called asteroids.
  14. 14Cosmic Samples and the Origin of the Solar SystemMeteorites are called finds or falls according to how they are discovered; the most productive source today is the Antarctic ice cap.
  15. 15The Sun: A Garden-Variety StarIn order of increasing distance from the center of the Sun, they are the photosphere, with a temperature that ranges from 4500 K to about 6800 K; the chromosphere, with a typical temperature of 10 4 K; the transition…
  16. 16The Sun: A Nuclear PowerhouseSolar energy is produced by interactions of particles—that is, protons, neutrons, electrons, positrons, and neutrinos.
  17. 17Analyzing StarlightThe apparent brightnesses of stars are often expressed in terms of magnitudes, which is an old system based on how human vision interprets relative light intensity
  18. 18The Stars: A Celestial CensusMost of the nearest stars are intrinsically so faint that they can be seen only with the aid of a telescope.
  19. 19Celestial DistancesHalf the shift in a nearby star’s position relative to very distant background stars, as viewed from opposite sides of Earth’s orbit, is called the parallax of that star and is a measure of its distance.
  20. 20Between the Stars: Gas and Dust in SpaceAbout 1% of the interstellar matter is in the form of solid interstellar dust grains
  21. 21The Birth of Stars and the Discovery of Planets outside the Solar SystemThe accumulation of material halts when a protostar develops a strong stellar wind, leading to jets of material being observed coming from the star.
  22. 22Stars from Adolescence to Old AgeWhen stars first begin to fuse hydrogen to helium, they lie on the zero-age main sequence.
  23. 23The Death of StarsIf the mass of a star’s iron core exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit (but is less than 3 M Sun ), the core collapses until its density exceeds that of an atomic nucleus, forming a neutron star with a typical diameter of…
  24. 24Black Holes and Curved SpacetimeEinstein proposed the equivalence principle as the foundation of the general theory of relativity.
  25. 25The Milky Way GalaxyThe Milky Way Galaxy consists of a thin disk containing dust, gas, and young and old stars; a spherical halo containing populations of very old stars, including RR Lyrae variable stars and globular star clusters; a…
  26. 26GalaxiesThe majority of bright galaxies are either spirals or ellipticals.
  27. 27Active Galaxies, Quasars, and Supermassive Black HolesThe redshifts of the underlying galaxies match the redshifts of the quasars embedded in their centers, thereby proving that quasars obey the Hubble law and are at the great distances implied by their redshifts.
  28. 28The Evolution and Distribution of GalaxiesThe color of a galaxy is an indicator of the age of the stars that populate it.
  29. 29The Big BangCosmology is the study of the organization and evolution of the universe.
  30. 30Life in the UniverseLife on Earth is based on the presence of a key unit known as an organic molecule, a molecule that contains carbon, especially complex hydrocarbons.