Introduction & Background Material
- What is science? What sets it apart from, say, pseudo-science?
- Define three units of length used in astronomy.
- How do we use scientific notation?
- What is our cosmic address?
- Where does our modern culture fall on the Cosmic Calendar?
Cosmology & The Big Bang
- What is cosmology?
- What was the `Steady State’ model?
- What is a spectrum? What is Doppler Shift? What do they tell us?
- Describe how Hubble deduced that distant galaxies are receding.
- What is Hubble’s Law? How did it lead us to believe the universe is expanding?
- Describe Olber’s Paradox and its solution.
- How old is the Universe? How do we know?
- How many fundamental forces exist today? What are they?
- Why do we believe all of the forces were once unified?
- What is the Big Bang Theory? What evidence do we have for it?
- Why is science limited about what it can tell us of the moment of the Big Bang itself?
- What is inflation? What do we think caused it? What problems does it solve?
- What is the Cosmic Microwave Background? What does it represent?
- Did stars and galaxies form during the Big Bang itself? Explain.
- What are the possible fates of the Universe? Which is most likely to occur?
- What are Dark Matter and Dark Energy? What evidence do we have for each?
Our Strange Universe
- Why are Einstein’s theories named “Relativity”?
- What assumptions does Special Relativity make?
- What effects does Special Relativity predict for fast moving objects?
- What does Special Relativity tell us about the speed of light?
- How are Special and General Relativity different from each other?
- Describe 3 tests that Relativity has been subject to.
- What is a star? What happens in the cores of all stars?
- What determines the eventual fate of a star? What will happen to our Sun?
- How do black holes form? What evidence do we have they exist?
- What are `wormholes’?
- In what realm is Quantum Theory valid?
- What was the Photoelectric Effect? What fact(s) did it illustrate?
- What is a `wave-particle duality’?
- What is a `probability wave function’?
- What does the Double Slit Experiment imply about the nature of reality?
- Describe the meaning of the Uncertainty Principle.
- What is the `Standard Model’? How do we test its predictions?
- What is String Theory? Why is it not fully accepted?
Extraterrestrial Life
- Describe Fermi’s Paradox.
- Why do we believe life began quickly on the Earth?
- List the `necessities’ of life (as we know it).
- What are some likely locations to search for life in our own solar system? Why?
- What is the `habitable zone’ of a star?
- Where do we search for other life? Why?
- Why are planets difficult to detect directly?
- Describe the three methods most commonly used to find extrasolar planets.
- What sort of extrasolar planets do we tend to find? Why?
- What does the Drake Equation tell us? What are its limitations?
- What is SETI?
- What is the most likely `language’ to communicate with alien life? Why?
- What challenges exist with regard to interstellar space travel?