Study Questions Week 8  Astronomy 104: Stellar Astronomy Fall 2002

Study questions from Chapter 19 (Star formation)

  1. Explain how the competition between gravity and heat is related to star formation.
  2. Explain how rotation and magnetism effect star formation.
  3. Describe the chain of events that lead to the formation of a star.
  4. Describe the observational evidence of star formation.
  5. How does star formation depend on the mass of the star formed?
  6. What is a failed star?
  7. What wavelength region do we use to observe evidence of contracting cloud fragments? What wavelength region do we use to observe protostars? 
  8. why do stars tend to form in groups?
  9. Describe bipolar flows and how they are related to star formation.
  10. What is the role of shock waves in stellar formation?
  11. How does the formation of massive stars effect subsequent stellar formation?
  12. Why is the HR diagram useful for studying stellar evolution?
  13. What is an evolutionary track?
  14. Compare and contrast the characteristics of open clusters and globular clusters.
  15. What information can we learn about a cluster from its HR diagram?
  16. What is main sequence fitting? What is the main sequence turnoff?

 

More questions on star formation (from the internet reading):

  1. What are "evaporating gasseous globules" (EGG's)?
  2. Explain how the column or finger-like structures seen in the HST images of M16 form.
  3. What is "photoevaporation"?
  4. What role does photoevaporation play in determining the mass of a forming star?
  5. Explain the features seen in this image of HH30 in terms of the theory of star formation.

 

Energy generation in the Sun

  1. How is energy produced in the interior of the Sun?
  2. Describe the proton-proton cycle.
  3. How is energy produced in the sun?
  4. What are solar neutrinos?
  5. Why are neutrinos expected form the sun?
  6. How are neutrinos detected?
  7. Since neutrinos are observed to be coming from the sun, what is the "solar neutrino problem"?
  8. What are the two main possible explanations of the problem? Which seems to be the correct answer?

 

 

Review and Discussion:

Chapter 19: all

 

Study questions from other weeks:

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