Tuesday December 13, 2010 at 9:50 am -11:40 am in PSF 166 (our classroom)

Taking this exam is required to pass the course!

If you have lost your copy, they are available on the web- linked from the class syllabus.

Chapter 24: The Outermost Planets: Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

1. Look at Celestial File 9 (Look at the Celestial Profiles for all the planets)

2. When was Uranus discovered and by whom?

3. How is the direction of rotation of Uranus different from that of the Earth? How does that affect the seasons on Uranus?

4. What is the structure and composition of its atmosphere? I showed recent pictures of the clouds in class.

5. What do we know about the internal structure of Uranus?

6. What is the direction and strengths of the magnetic fields of the outer planets? Why are those of Uranus and Neptune so unusual? (Figure 24-7)

7. How were the rings of Uranus and Neptune discovered? How do they differ from those of Saturn?

(See pages 534-535)

8. What do we know about the Shepherd satellites of the Uranus rings?

9. How many moons does Uranus have? How many had we found before the Voyager flights?

10. The largest moon is Titania. How does its size compare to that of our own Moon?

11. Look at the pictures on Pages 536 and 537. What are the various explanations of the surface features of Miranda? (Figure 24-12)

12. Where, in the Solar System, is it thought that Uranus and Neptune originated?

1. Be familiar with the data in Celestial Profile 10 (and the other Celestial Profiles).

2. When was Neptune discovered and by whom?

3. We know very little about Neptune - even with the Voyager flyby. It shows a lot more atmospheric features than does Uranus. 4.What do we know about the internal structure of Neptune?

5.Do the rings of Neptune also have shepherding satellites?

6. What is so unusual about Triton? How is its orbital plane tilted with respect to the ecliptic? What causes the plumes and geysers?

1.How was Pluto discovered? Could there be any more "planets "as large as Pluto in our Solar System but farther away? (Yes, nearly as large so far)

2. What is the surface of Pluto like?

3 What is Charon.

4. How was Charon discovered?

5. How many moons does Pluto have?

6. Is Pluto massive enough to affect the orbit of Neptune? How long have we known this?

7. What was important about the transits of Charon across Pluto?

8. Does Pluto have an atmosphere? What is its surface like?

9. What are the Kuiper Belt Objects? What is a Plutino?

1. What are meteoroids, meteors, meteorites, meteorwrongs? Where do the particles in meteor showers come from? What is a radiant?

2. What is a Fall and a Find?

3. Where is the Barringer Meteorite Crater? How old is it?

4. What are the different kinds of meteorites? What is the importance of carbonaceous chondrites?

5. What is meant by pre-solar grains in meteorites?

6. What do the existence of iron, stony-iron, and stony meteorites tell us about the asteroid belt?

7. Do some meteorites come from Asteroids? From the Moon? From Mars?

8. What is the importance of the isotope of aluminum called aluminum-26.

1. Who was the first to discover an asteroid? When was this and which asteroid was it? How many are known now- roughly?

2. Where are most of the asteroids located? What do they look like? What are their sizes?

3. What are the Kirkwood gaps? What are the Trojan asteroids? Where are they located? What is the importance of earth crossing asteroids to us?

4. What is the evidence for asteroid collisions?

5. NEAR orbited and took pictures of which asteroid? (Page 560-561)

6. What is so interesting about Mathilde?

7. What are the major classes of asteroids?

8. What recent spacecraft visited Vesta and took pictures (In a recent Astronomy Picture of the Day).

9. What is the evidence that some meteorites come from Vesta?

1. What are the various parts of a comet? How big are they? What is the composition of the Coma?

2. What is a gas tail? A dust tail? What causes them to face away from the sun? What are the names of some famous comets? (Pages 568-569)

3. What happens to the debris from a comet after a passage near the sun? How is this material related to Meteor Showers?

4. How long does a comet last? How does its appearance change as it orbits the sun?

5. What was Shoemaker-Levy 9? What does its existence and behavior tell us about hits on the earth?

6. What is the Oort cloud? The Kuiper belt?

7. How often do collisions of asteroids and comets with the Earth occur?

8. What is the evidence for these collisions? Is there a nearby crater?

9. What is now thought to have caused the extinction of the dinosaurs? Where is the crater probably located?

10. What was the Tunguska Event? When did it happen? What do people think was the cause?

1. Read Section 26-1 but you will not be held responsible for this material.

2. What is the evidence that life may have existed at one time on Mars - probably not correct as we know now.(Page 593)

3. How do we know that some meteorites found on Earth originated on Mars?

4. What is the Habitable zone of a star? How many planets in our own solar system can be found in the habitable zone of the Sun? This was discussed in class.

5. What can we say about life in other parts of the solar system?

6. What is the evidence that other stars have planets?

7. Is there any evidence that we have been visited by Extra-terrestrial Aliens? (NO).

8. What is the likelihood of interstellar communication? Read about the attempts at interstellar communication.

9. What is the water hole? (Figure 26-11) And why is it important.

10. The material on Pages 596-598 (see also Table 26-1) is called the Drake equation after Frank Drake who first proposed it. It provides a guesstimate of the number of communicating galactic civilizations.

11. Do you think you could figure out the message in Figure 26-10 without help?