The final exam is comprehensive, with 100 multiple-choice questions. Questions are evenly distributed across chapters 1-13 and chapter S1. Chapters 12 and 13 are detailed here, with older topics covered in study guides for exams 1-3. An equation sheet is available on iCollege.
Located between Mars and Jupiter.
Asteroids are primarily composed of metals and carbon-rich rock.
The inner and outer edges are determined by orbital resonances with Jupiter.
Gaps exist within the asteroid belt due to orbital resonances.
Jupiter's gravity prevented the formation of a large object in this region.
The asteroid belt is less crowded than perceived.
Objects are widely spaced, making collisions rare.
The total mass is less than the mass of Earth's moon.
Ceres
The only dwarf planet within the asteroid belt.
Contains approximately 1/3 of the main belt's mass.
Spherical shape due to its mass, unlike other irregular asteroids.
Initially considered a planet, later reclassified.
Ida: The first asteroid found to have its own moon.
Trojan asteroids: Located in Jupiter's L4 and L5 Lagrangian points, outside the main belt.
Beyond Neptune's orbit but closer than the Oort cloud.
Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) are mainly icy, similar in composition to comets.
Short-period comets (T < 200 years) originate from here.
Inner and outer edges shaped by orbital resonances with Neptune.
Neptune's gravity hindered the formation of a single large object here.
At least four dwarf planets reside here: Pluto, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea.
Pluto
Has five moons, including Charon, which is half Pluto's size.
First detected object in the main belt; initially considered a planet before the remaining objects in the belt were discovered, then “demoted”.
Its orbit crosses Neptune's but avoids collision due to a 2:3 orbital resonance.
Orbit is inclined at about 17 degrees from the main plane of the planets.
Eris: Slightly more massive than Pluto; its discovery led to the creation of the "dwarf planet" classification.
Spherical distribution of icy objects at the solar system's edge.
Origin of long-period comets (T > 200 years).
Objects were scattered into highly elliptical orbits by gas giants early in the solar system's history.
Two primary populations:
Long-period comets (T > 200 years): Highly inclined orbits, originating from the Oort cloud.
Short-period comets (T < 200 years): Orbits lie in the main plane of the solar system, originating from the Kuiper Belt.
Only a small fraction of comets enter the inner solar system and the majority reside in the Kuiper Belt or Oort Cloud.
Comets are frozen ice lumps when distant from the sun.
They develop comas (gaseous atmospheres) and tails as surface ice sublimates near the sun.
Comas form at a minimum distance of 3-5 AU from the sun.
Tails form at approximately 1 AU.
Comets possess two tails:
A plasma tail pointing directly away from the sun.
A dust tail curving away from the sun.
Satellite Exploration of Comets:
Deep Impact: Launched a rocket at a comet, analyzing debris' spectral features.
Stardust: Flew through a comet's coma, collecting samples for Earth return.
Rosetta: Deployed a lander on a comet's surface, with limited success.
Meteor showers occur when Earth intersects a comet's orbit.
Direct imaging: Limited to planets with wide orbits around nearby stars.
Astrometry: Detects a star's slight movement caused by a planet's gravitational pull.
Doppler shifts: Measures the blueshift/redshift of a star's spectra due to a planet's pull.
Transits: Observes dips in a star's luminosity as a planet passes in front of it.
The first extrasolar planet was found orbiting a pulsar by observing timing offsets in its pulsations caused by the planet's gravity.
Discovered thousands of exoplanets using the transit method.
Planets are common; rocky, Earth-sized planets are more prevalent than gas giants.
On average, each star hosts at least one planet.
Planets exist in multi-star systems and around single stars.
The distance range around a star where a planet with an atmosphere can sustain liquid water on its surface.
Located far from hot, high-mass stars and close to cooler, low-mass stars.
Around 1/5 of sun-sized stars have an Earth-sized planet within their habitable zone.
High-mass stars may be less conducive to life due to their short lifespans.
Low-mass stars may be less hospitable, as planets in their habitable zones become tidally locked.
Brown dwarf: An intermediate object between a gas giant and a star, lacking sufficient mass for nuclear fusion.
Rogue planets: Objects ejected from their star systems, orbiting the galactic center independently.
Astro 1010 Final Exam Study Guide - Chapters 12 & 13
The final exam is comprehensive, with 100 multiple-choice questions. Questions are evenly distributed across chapters 1-13 and chapter S1. Chapters 12 and 13 are detailed here, with older topics covered in study guides for exams 1-3. An equation sheet is available on iCollege.