Relativity
Black Holes
Our Galaxy
Other Galaxies
Quasars & AGN
Cosmology
2) Describe the Milky Way galaxy with a diagram with both 'face-on' and 'edge-on' projections. Label at least five important components (not including the Sun) and then describe WHAT they are made of.
3) Describe the Unified Model for AGN with a diagram. Label and name the five major components and show how the orientation of the observer creates the differing AGN observed in the universe.
1) What are the two basic principles of Special Relativity?
2) Name three strange effects which come about when moving near the speed of light.
3) What is Einstein's 'equivalence principle'? Why was it important (what theory did it lead to)?
4) What is the meaning of 'space-time'? What does matter do to 'space-time'?
5) What is required to be a black hole? What is the Schwarzchild Radius (Event Horizon)?
6) If the Sun became a Black Hole how would it effect the Earth? (orbit, life on earth)
7) Where is there evidence for black holes? Is it scientifically accepted we've found black holes?
8) As a person begins to enter a black hole, how will their watch be seen to progress?
9) Why were early astronomers confused about the structure and scale of our Galaxy?
10) Where is the Sun in the Milky Way? Why is it difficult to determine our galaxy's structure?
11) What are the orbital characteristics, size and components of the Disk? The Bulge? The Halo?
12) What is a Rotation Curve? What can it be used for? What is differential rotation?
13) What creates the spiral arms in a galaxy? Why do we see them? What's a density wave?
14) What's going on at the very center of our Galaxy? What observations prove this?
15) What do Elliptical galaxies look like? Why are there no young stars in Ellipticals?
16) What does the Sa, Sb, Sc mean? What about SBa, SBb, SBc? What is our Milky Way Galaxy?
17) What is the Local Group? How many galaxies? What is the most common type of galaxy?
18) What is the future of the Milky Way and Andromeda? What is the Virgo Cluster?
19) What is the size (light years) of super clusters? How are galaxies distributed?
20) What is the Hubble Law? What is it measuring? Why is knowing Ho so important?
21) What did the high redshift (if cosmological) of Quasars say about their Luminosity?
22) What is the size of the luminous region of a Quasar and how do we know this?
23) What characteristics are seen in Seyfert galaxies? What are radio galaxies? What's an AGN?
24) How are Quasar distances estimated? How old are these objects? Are many nearby?
25) Know the unified model for AGN and how it explains all the active galaxies.
26) What is cosmological redshift? What causes it? How is it related to distance?
27) Is it possible to estimate the age of the universe? How is it done?
28) What are the three kinds of space-curvatures possible in the Universe and which is ours?
29) What is dark matter? What is dark energy? How was it discovered and why is it important?
ESSAY QUESTIONS The 5 point essay question will be one of the following:
1) Describe the two views of an astronaut jumping into a Black Hole, from the view outside the black hole by an outside observer, and as seen by the astronaut jumping in. A diagram would be helpful but is not required.