The exam will be 80 minutes in duration and will be divided into two parts - a 20 item multiple choice and a 3 question long answer. Each section could contain some of the following topics:the following topics:.

Topic One: Stars and Star Clusters

Things to know:

  • terminology (open clusters, globular clusters, O-B associations etc.)
  • how to read a color-magnitude diagram and an HR-diagram
  • stellar populations
  • stellar populations and distributions
  • how to use the distance/magnitude relationships
  •   how to use the P-L relationship
  • distance modulus

Topic Two: Galactic Structure and Galaxies

Things to know:

  • classification
  • structural features and dimensions
  • theories of spiral arms
  • theories of galaxy formation
  • peculiar galaxies facts about peculiar galaxies

Topic Three: The Large Scale Structure of the Universe

Things to know:

  • Walls, superclusters, voids, Geller maps etc.
  • Hubble's expansion law and the redshift relation
  • Dark matter - what it is and why we think something is missing
  •   how to measure distances in inter-galactic space

 

Mathematical Considerations:

You should be able to do a distance calculation, use the red shift formula and apply Hubble's Expansion Law - similar to what you have done in past lab exercises.  Otherwise do not worry about lot's of math - The focus of the exam is conceptual.

Formulae will be provided!