Briefly explain the importance of adaptive optics and interferometry
What will be an ideal response?
A telescope performs best on a high mountaintop where the air is thin and steady, but even at good sites atmospheric turbulence spreads star images into blobs 0.5 to 1 arc seconds in diameter. That situation can be improved by a difficult and expensive technique called adaptive optics, in which rapid computer calculations adjust the telescope optics and partly compensate for seeing distortions. This limitation on the amount of information in an image is related to the limitation on the accuracy of a measurement. All measurements have some built-in uncertainty, and scientists must learn to work within those limitations.One way to improve resolving power is to connect two or more telescopes in an interferometer, which has a resolving power equal to that of a telescope as large as the maximum separation between the individual telescopes. Modern technology has allowed astronomers to connect optical telescopes to form interferometers with very high resolution.
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What happened during the accretion phase of the early solar system?
A) Atoms and molecules in the gas bonded together and solidified. B) Particles grew by colliding and sticking together. C) The solar nebula differentiated into metals inside of the frost line and ices beyond. D) Large planetesimals captured atmospheres from the solar nebula. E) Earth gained its oceans from icy planetesimal capture.
A monochromatic (single frequency, single wavelength) light ray in air (n = 1) enters a glass prism (n = 1.5). In the glass prism
A. both the frequency and the wavelength are the same as in air B. the frequency is the same, but the wavelength is greater than in air. C. the frequency is the same, but the wavelength is smaller than in air. D. the wavelength is the same, but the frequency is greater than in air. E. the wavelength is the same, but the frequency is smaller than in air.
Most of the mass of an atom is ____
a. in the electron cloud b. spread evenly through the atom c. made up of electrons d. concentrated in the nucleus e. concentrated in a disk around the nucleus
Pure water is classified as
A. an insulator. B. a conductor. C. a semiconductor. D. all of these choices are correct E. none of these choices are correct