Review Sheet for First Exam #1

 APAS 1110     SECTION 001

This sheet is to help you prepare for the first exam.  It is not a ``sample'' of the exam.  Instead it is designed to help you focus on  the most important aspects of a large body of material.

The exam is “closed book”, but useful formulae and constants will be provided if needed.

1. Be able to evaluate complicated expressions involving scientific notation.   Calculators are permitted.

2.  Know a little about the scales of the universe.  In particular, know the smallest and largest scales studied by humans.

3. Know latititude, longtitude, Right Ascension and Declination. Know the definitions of the zero longitude

and zero RA.

4. Know the motions of the stars, Moon and Sun across the sky.

5. Know the motions of the planets across the sky. Know the difference between the inferior and superior planets and how that affects their motion.

6. Armed with nothing but a watch, date, and a clear sky be able to calculate your position on Earth.

7. Calculate the time of day from an observation of the Moon.

8. Understand how the tilt of the Earth causes seasons and how the ecliptic is tilted.  Be able to extrapolate to other planets with other tilts.

9. Be able to predict the motion of the Sun through the sky at any latitude at any time of day.

10. Understand retrograde and prograde motion of the planets.

12. Understand the Copernican Theory of the Solar System.