Final Review Sheet 2003

 

The final will be on Thursday March 20th, 2003, 8 a.m – 11 a.m.

 

THIS IS A LIST COVERING THE SECOND HALF OF THE COURSE ONLY. TOPICS PRIOR TO THE MIDTERM ARE COVERED ON THE MIDTERM REVIEW SHEET. THIS IS NOT AN ABSOLUTE LIST OF WHAT MAY BE ON THE EXAM.

 

Orbits and Gravity (recap)

 

·        Kepler’s three laws. What are they?

·        Newton’s three laws. What are they?

·        How do we get from Newton’s equation for gravity to Kepler’s law that P2=R3? (Hint: remember about centrifugal force).

 

Mars

 

·        Properties of Mars.  How big, density, composition?

·        Orbital dynamics – year-length, tilt, variation in tilt with time.

·        Atmosphere of Mars. Amount, composition, how does it interact with the surface? (polar caps).

·        Surface conditions. Temperature, pressure, wind speed, rock types.

·        Geological features of Mars – volcanoes, rift valleys, impact craters, channels, gullies valleys, sand dunes.

·        Martian meteorites – how do we know they’re from Mars? What do they tell us about Mars?

·        How has Mars changed with time? Evolution of temperature, pressure, surface conditions over time.

·        Mars’ magnetic field. Does it have one now? Did it ever have a magnetic field? How do we know?

 

Meteorites and Asteroids

 

·        Asteroid orbits – where are they? How eccentric? Which planets’ orbits can they cross?

·        Kirkwood gaps – where are they? Why do they occur?

·        Asteroid properties – how big? How dense? What shape? What albedo?

·        Asteroid composition – three classes of asteroids. Variation in occurrence with distance from the Sun.

·        Meteorites – definition. How do we classify them? Where do they come from? How did they form?

·        Chondrites – what are they? Why are they important?

·        Terrestrial meteorite impacts. How rare? How do we detect them?

·        Dinosaur-killing impact. How do we know it happened? Where is the crater? What were the effects?

 

Jupiter

 

·        Properties of Jupiter.  How big, density, composition.

·        Jupiter’s structure. Phase changes, central core.

·        Atmospheric behaviour. Ideal gas law, exponential decay of pressure with height. Clouds. Great Red Spot.

·        Atmospheric terminology. Stratosphere, tropopause, troposphere. Pressure and temperature variations with height.

·        Jupiter’s rotation. How fast? Effect on atmospheric circulation. Coriolis effect. Angular momentum.

·        Jupiter’s energy balance. What energy does it receive? Why does it give out more than it receives?

·        Jupiter’s magnetic field. How big? How does it vary in space? How is it produced?

 

Outer Planets

 

·        Which do we mean? Where are they? What are their orbital properties?

·        Gas giants. How big, density, composition, internal structure. Spin rate, magnetic fields.

·        Gas giant atmospheres. Winds, clouds, storms.

·        Rings. Where are they? What are they? Why the gaps and sharp edges? How formed?

·        Pluto/Charon. Orbital properties. Composition. How big? Where from?

 

Outer Planet Satellites (Io, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Titan, Triton)

 

·        All of them – Where are they? How big? Composition? Internal structure? Surface age? Surface features?

·        Tidal heating – How does it work? Where is it important? How does it relate to resonance?

·        Ganymede – magnetic field. Two episodes of deformation –why?

·        Tidal evolution – difference between prograde and retrograde. Synchronous orbit. Phobos and Triton.

·        Water. Phase diagram. Density variations. Implications for structure. How do we detect oceans (induction).

·        Titan – atmospheric composition.

·        Triton – unusual orbit. Geysers. Where did it come from? Why?

 

Comets and Extra-Solar Planets

 

·        Comet structure.  Composition, albedo. Nucleus, coma, two tails. Halley’s comet an example.

·        Comet location. Where from? Orbits (long period vs short period). How did they get there? Kuiper Belt. Oort Cloud.

·        Extra-Solar Planets. How do we detect them? What are they like? Why are they where they are?

·        Doppler shift and concept of center of mass. Astrometry and occultation. Hot Jupiters. Selection effects.

 

Putting it all together

 

·        Astronomical observations. T-Tauri phase, diffuse nebula, young stars, dispersion of the nebula.

·        Nebular collapse – Jeans collapse, gravity vs. temperature, angular momentum conservation, orbital consequences.

·        Accretionary phase – energy release, differentiation, orbit circularization, Jupiter’s influence, Moon formation.

·        Compositional variations – temperature gradients, condensation temperatures, location of volatiles.

·        Chance events – Moon formation, Venus rotation, dinosaur extinction.

·        Universal issues – impacts, accretion/differentiation, convection, resonances/tides, the role of water. 

 

 

 

Three More Equations You Should Be Familiar With

 

Ideal gas law:   P = R T r

                                 m

(here P is the pressure, R is the universal gas constant, r is the density, T is temperature and m is the molecular weight of the gas).

 

Pressure decay law:    P = P0 e –z / H

                                        

(here P0 is the pressure at height z=0 and P is the pressure at height z. H is the scale height and e is a constant with value 2.718 . . .. This expression only works for a gas at constant temperature).

 

Magnetic field strength:  B =  B0

                                          (r/Rp )3

(here B0 is the field strength at the planet’s surface, B is the field strength at a distance r from the center of the planet, Rp is the planetary radius).

 

 

 

Terms You Should Know

 

ellipse                                                 Valles Marineris                                valley network

focus                                                   outflow channel                                  regolith

aeolian erosion                                   Trojan asteroid                                   Lagrange point

Amor asteroid                                    Apollo asteroid                                   Kirkwood gaps

resonance                                           albedo                                                 (carbonaceous) chondrite

solar nebula                                        iridium                                                 achondrite

meteor/meteorite                               Galilean satellite                                phase change/phase diagram

metallic hydrogen                               scale height                                        convection

radiation                                 conservation of angular momentum              Coriolis effect

Great Red Spot                                  tropopause                                          troposphere

stratosphere                                       magnetosphere                                   solar wind

dipole moment                                    Cassini division                                  Roche limit

ring arcs                                              shepherding satellites                        Kuiper belt

chaos terrain                                      grooved terrain                                  Laplace resonance                            

prograde/retrograde                          synchronous orbit                               induction

cantaloupe terrain                              cryovolcanism                                    geysers

coma/nucleus                                      long period/short period comet          zodiacal light

Oort cloud                                           Kuiper belt                                         occultation

center of mass                                    astrometry                                          Doppler shift

metallicity                                           light year                                            diffuse nebula

T-Tauri star                                        Jeans collapse                                    protostellar disk

refractory materials                           Hot Jupiters