READING: Sections 2C (p. 11-13), 3A1 (p. 14-16), 3F2 (p. 39-42), 3D2 (p. 25-28); the NASA web pages on stars and stellar evolution and death (linked to the course web page).

Topics you should know and understand for Quiz #2 (not necessarily a complete list)

1) DEFINITIONS: the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, the Local Group, the Virgo Cluster; alpha particle; alpha capture; supernova; planetary nebula; white dwarf stars; main sequence star; neutron star; black hole; brown dwarf; heat radiation (thermal radiation; blackbody radiation); extrasolar planet; Doppler shift; redshift; blueshift; planetary transit (eclipse); tidal locking; spectral lines; emission-line spectrum; absorption-line spectrum; excited atom; continuous spectrum; ionization; ion.

2) MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIPS: For heat radiation, the relationship between the wavelength of the peak of the spectrum and the temperature of the object (as the temperature increases, the wavelength of the peak of the spectrum decreases); F = MA.

3) OTHER THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW: The two largest galaxies in the Local Group; the two galaxies visible without a telescope in the southern sky; the approximate relative sizes of the Earth and Sun, and their separation; the approximate relative sizes of the Andromeda and Milky Way Galaxies, and their separation; Where the elements between carbon and iron were created; where elements heavier than iron are formed; which stars create iron; the main set of nuclear reactions that occur in stars; what produces an emission-line spectrum vs. a continuous spectrum; the characteristic spectrum of heat radiation; why stars have different colors; the seven standard types of stars and their order with decreasing temperature, decreasing mass, and increasing main sequence lifetime (OBAFGKM); the type of star our Sun is; how long a G star stays on the main sequence (i.e., how long it fuses hydrogen to helium in its core); the final fate of our Sun; the final fate of a massive star; Newton's three Laws of Motion; how most extrasolar planets have been found; how astronomers can tell the difference between an extrasolar planet in an elliptical orbit from one in a circular orbit; what wavelength of light is best to detect extrasolar planets directly.