Frequently Asked Questions
I will try to answer here your main questions from lecture (not just
"frequently asked" ones, but any well-posed questions). Please ask
again if anything is still not clear! Note that sometimes
I will go back later and add to or amend an answer.
- January 10 FAQ 1 Introduction, distance scales: pdf html
- January 12 FAQ 2 Scales of time, the expanding universe: pdf html
- January 17 FAQ 3 Velocity scales, stellar cycles: pdf html
- January 19 FAQ 4 Constellations, celestial sphere, local sky, seasons: pdf html
- January 22 FAQ 5 Precession, lunar phases, eclipses: pdf html
- January 26 FAQ 6 Planetary motion, parallax, celestial time-keeping: pdf html
- January 29 FAQ 7 SkyGazer, celestial coordinates: pdf html
- January 31 FAQ 8 Celestial navigation: pdf html
- February 2 FAQ 9 Tycho, Kepler's laws: pdf html
- February 9 FAQ 12 Newton's version of Kepler's laws, orbits, escape velocity: pdf html
- February 12 FAQ 13 Light, particles and waves, spectra: pdf html
- February 14 FAQ 14 Thermal spectra, Doppler shift: pdf html
- February 16 FAQ 15 The Sun, neutrinos: pdf html
- February 19 FAQ 16 Solar magnetic activity, sunspots, auroras, luminosity and magnitudes, spectral types: pdf html
- February 21 FAQ 17 Review of celestial coordinates, local sky, Kepler and Newton: pdf html
- February 28 FAQ 18 The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, star clusters: pdf html
- March 2 FAQ 19 Lives of low mass and high mass stars, core collapse supernovae: pdf html
- March 5 FAQ 20 White dwarfs, neutron stars, black holes: pdf html
- March 7 FAQ 21 The Milky Way: pdf html
- March 9 FAQ 22 Galaxy classification and formation: pdf html
- March 19 FAQ 23 The Cosmic Distance Ladder, Hubble's Law: pdf html
- March 21 FAQ 24 Evidence for dark matter: pdf html
- March 23 FAQ 25 Dark matter candidates: pdf html
- March 26 FAQ 26 Special relativity, Einstein's postulates, time dilation, length contraction: pdf html
- March 28 FAQ 27 Extra dimensions, spacetime, gravity: pdf html
- March 30 FAQ 28 Tests of general relativity, gravitational waves, black holes, warp drive: pdf html
- April 2 FAQ 29 Fate of the universe, dark energy: pdf html
- April 4 FAQ 30 Antimatter, the Big Bang: pdf html
- April 6 FAQ 31 Inflation, Olbers' paradox: pdf html
- April 9 FAQ 32 Formation of the solar system, radioactive dating: pdf html
- April 13 FAQ 33 Exploration of the solar system: pdf html
- April 16 FAQ 34 Terrestrial and jovian planets: pdf html
- April 18 FAQ 35 Extrasolar planets: pdf html
- April 20 FAQ 36 Carbon cycle, origin of life on Earth, impacts: pdf html
- April 23 FAQ 37 Extraterrestrial life: pdf html
- April 25 FAQ 38 Review: pdf html