{"id":72,"date":"2016-05-05T19:47:18","date_gmt":"2016-05-05T19:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/?page_id=72"},"modified":"2026-02-24T16:28:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T16:28:16","slug":"astr-311-study-guide","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/?page_id=72","title":{"rendered":"ASTR 311 Study Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-group\"><div class=\"wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained\">\n<table border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"10\" align=\"center\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#intro\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\">Introduction<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#cosmo\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\">Cosmology &amp; The Big Bang<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#einstein\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\">Our Strange Universe<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#et\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\">Extraterrestrial Life<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><a target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\" name=\"intro\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 align=\"center\">Introduction &amp; Background Material<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>What is science? What sets it apart from, say, pseudo-science?<\/li>\n<li>Define three units of length used in astronomy.<\/li>\n<li>How do we use scientific notation?<\/li>\n<li>What is our cosmic address?<\/li>\n<li>Where does our modern society fall on the Cosmic Calendar?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\" name=\"cosmo\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 align=\"center\">Cosmology &amp; The Big Bang<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>What is cosmology?<\/li>\n<li>What was the `Steady State&#8217; model?<\/li>\n<li>What are spectra? What is Doppler Shift? What information do they provide?<\/li>\n<li>Describe how Hubble deduced that distant galaxies are receding.<\/li>\n<li>What is Hubble&#8217;s Law? \u00a0How did it lead to a model where the universe is expanding?<\/li>\n<li>Describe Olber&#8217;s Paradox and its solution.<\/li>\n<li>How old is the Universe? How do we know?<\/li>\n<li>How many fundamental forces exist today? What are they?<\/li>\n<li>Why do we believe all of the forces were once unified?<\/li>\n<li>What is the Big Bang Theory? What evidence supports it?<\/li>\n<li>List at least one important event or occurrence in EACH Big Bang &#8220;era&#8221;.<\/li>\n<li>Why is science limited about what it can tell us of the moment of the Big Bang itself?<\/li>\n<li>What is inflation? What do we think caused it? What issues does it help resolve?<\/li>\n<li>What is the Cosmic Microwave Background? \u00a0What does it represent?<\/li>\n<li>Did stars and galaxies form during the Big Bang itself? Explain.<\/li>\n<li>What are the possible fates of the Universe? Which is most likely to occur?<\/li>\n<li>What are Dark Matter and Dark Energy? What evidence do we have for each?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\" name=\"einstein\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 align=\"center\">Our Strange Universe<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Why are Einstein&#8217;s theories named &#8220;Relativity&#8221;?<\/li>\n<li>What assumptions does Special Relativity make?<\/li>\n<li>What effects does Special Relativity predict for fast moving objects?<\/li>\n<li>What does Special Relativity tell us about the speed of light?<\/li>\n<li>How are Special and General Relativity different from each other?<\/li>\n<li>Describe 3 tests performed on Relativity.<\/li>\n<li>What is a star? What happens in the cores of all stars?<\/li>\n<li>What determines the eventual fate of a star? What will happen to our Sun?<\/li>\n<li>How do black holes form? What evidence do we have they exist?<\/li>\n<li>What are `wormholes&#8217;?<\/li>\n<li>Where is Quantum Theory valid and important?<\/li>\n<li>What was the Photoelectric Effect? What did it clearly illustrate?<\/li>\n<li>What is `wave-particle duality&#8217;?<\/li>\n<li>What is a `probability wave function&#8217;? \u00a0What does it tell us?<\/li>\n<li>What does the Double Slit Experiment imply about the nature of reality?<\/li>\n<li>Describe the ramifications of the Uncertainty Principle.<\/li>\n<li>What is the `Standard Model&#8217;? How do we test its predictions?<\/li>\n<li>What is String Theory? Why is it not accepted as a true theory?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a target=\"_top\" rel=\"noopener\" name=\"et\"><\/a><\/p>\n<h2 align=\"center\">Extraterrestrial Life<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Describe Fermi&#8217;s Paradox.<\/li>\n<li>Why do we believe life began quickly on the Earth?<\/li>\n<li>List the (bear) `necessities&#8217; of life (as far as we know).<\/li>\n<li>What are some likely locations to search for life in our own solar system? Why?<\/li>\n<li>What is the `habitable zone&#8217; of a star?<\/li>\n<li>Where do we search for life beyond Earth? Why?<\/li>\n<li>Why are extrasolar planets difficult to detect directly?<\/li>\n<li>Describe the three methods most commonly used to find extrasolar planets.<\/li>\n<li>What sort of extrasolar planets do we tend to find most easily? Why?<\/li>\n<li>What does the Drake Equation tell us? What are its limitations?<\/li>\n<li>What is SETI?<\/li>\n<li>What is the most likely `language&#8217; to communicate with alien life? Why?<\/li>\n<li>What challenges exist with regard to interstellar space travel?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Introduction Cosmology &amp; The Big Bang Our Strange Universe Extraterrestrial Life Introduction &amp; 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 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/?page_id=72\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":366,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-72","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/72","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=72"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/72\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4129,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/72\/revisions\/4129"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.viu.ca\/arkosg\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=72"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}