Study Questions Week 1  Astronomy 104: Stellar Astronomy Fall 2002

1) Define and describe the systems of celestial coordinates and reference points (e.g. celestial equator, right ascension, etc.) Know all the terms on the handout of Celestial Coordinates from the first day of class.

2) What is trigonometric parallax? Explain how it is used to find the distances to stars. Do we use this method for nearby or far away stars? What limits the usefulness of trigonometric parallax?

3) What is a parsec?

4) Explain the difference between a solar day and a sidereal day.

5) What is precession?

6) What is an "astronomical unit"? What does it measure?

From the text:

Review and Discussion

Ch. 1: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, 19

Study questions from other weeks:

week 1 | week2 | week 3 | week 4 | week 5 | week 6 | week 7 | week 8 | week 9 | week 10 | week 11 | week 12 | week 13 | week 14| week 15 | week16