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ASTR116/116H Introduction to Astronomy

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 Glossary of 1600 astronomical terms from A to Z

Chapter Review

Exploring the heavens    Chapter 1 Copernican Revolution Chapter 2 Light and Matter Chapter 3 Telescopes Chapter 4 Solar System Chapter 5 Earth and Moon Chapter 6 Terrestrial Planets Chapters 7-8 Jovians and Pluto Ghapter 9 The Sun Chapter 10 Properties of Stars Chapter 11 Birth of Stars Chapter 12 Stellar Evolution Chapter 13 Neutron Stars and Black Holes Chapter 14 Milky Way Galaxy Chapter 15 Normal and Active Galaxies Chapter 16 Galaxies and Dark Matter Chapter 17 Cosmology Chapter 18 Life in the Univers

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Using your CD-ROM and the Internet as learning tools

• View the book on your CD-ROM using your favorite Web browser. Old 4th edition only.
• Study the animations and videos.
• Link to the publishers website for online study guides, quizzes, and the latest images and news: 
• http://www.prenhall.com/chaisson/details4.html
  

For each chapter (online at textbook website)

Review LEARNING GOALS.

Take the online tests.

Link to DESTINATIONS for more information, images, videos, and simulation.

Before a test, for each chapter

• Read the Chapter Summary.
• Review Learning Goals.read each one and explain it to your grandmother.If you cant explain it, review the appropriate sections.
• Link to the online Study Guide and answer all the questions.
• See Glossary for unknown words.If not there, consult dictionary.com

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Useful numbers (see the Appendix in your book for more)

Scientific (powers of ten) Notation 

150x10^6 = 150x10⁶ = 150 x 10 to the 6th power = 150 x 10x10x10x10x10x10. This means 150 followed by 6 zeros, that is 150,000,000 or 150 million.

• 1 mile (mi) = 1.6 kilometers (km), 1 kilometer = 1000 meters (m), 1 meter = 100 centimeters (cm),  I inch = 2.54 centimeters.
• 1 light year (ly)=9.46x10¹² km (= 9 trillion km) =5.88x10¹² mi.(= 6 trillion miles)
• 1 parsec (pc)=3.26 ly.
• speed of light c=3x10⁸ m/s = 3x10⁵ km/s = 186,000 miles/second.
• 1 year = 31.6 million seconds = 365.25 days

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You should memorize the following numbers:

• Earth-Sun distance = 1 AU = 150 million kilometers = 93 million miles.
• The Sun is 100 times bigger than the Earth.
• Sun-Pluto average distance = 40 AU  (~size of solar system).
• Average distance between stars in the Milky Way (near the Sun) ~  a few light years ~ 1pc.
• Diameter of Milky Way ~ 100,000 ly ~ 30,000 pc..
• The Sun is 26,000 ly ~ 8,000 pc from Milky Ways center.
• Average distance between galaxies ~ a few million light years ~ 1 Mpc (1 megapaececs) M= Mega = 1 million.
• Age of the Earth = 4.5 billion years.
• Age of Universe ~ 14 billion years (best value = 13.7 billion years - February 2003).

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