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Astronomy final
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| In current scientific opinion, Stonehenge is considered to have been | an astronomical observatory |
| Over a night, stars move in what way? | rise in east, set in west |
| If the sun is north of the celestial equator, it will rise....of due east as seen from the northern hemisphere and...of due east as seen from the southern hemisphere | north;north |
| The celestial sphere is divided into two-hemispheres, each centered on a celestial pole. The division between the hemispheres is called the | celestial pole |
| Remember that a star rises and sets 4 minutes earlier each day. If a star sets at midnight tonight, when will it set one month from now? | 10 p.m. |
| Compared to the horizon, the sun appears to move..and compared to the stars the sun appears to move... | east to west; west to east |
| Your shadow is longest at noon on the | winter solstice |
| RIgorous statistical tests, conducted under controlled conditions by acknowledged scientists and mathematical, have uncontestedly proven the validity of astrology | False |
| At the spring Equinox which of the following is true? | the day and night are about the same length |
| When the moon is in crescent phase, it appears as a crescent because | we see mostly the night side of the moon |
| During a lunar eclipse | the moon moves into the shadow of the earth |
| The motions of the planets compared to the stars were harder to explain in ancient times than the motions of the sun and moon because | the sun and moon do not undergo retrograde motion |
| Greek astronomers differed from other ancient astronomers in that only the Greeks | applied geometry to the heavens |
| Ancient greek scholars knew all of the following except the | cause of retrograde motion |
| Aristarchus estimated the relative distances to the Sun and the Moon by observing the | angle between the quarter Moon and the Sun in the sky |
| Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, the writings of classical Greek astronomers were preserved, and new astronomical observations added, primarily by | Islamic scholars |
| A planet with a sideral orbital period of over a century would have a synodic period of | a little over one year |
| Which of the following is possible? | The sun gets between the earth and mars |
| When can we see venus in opposition | never |
| the retrograde motions of the planets are explained by | the combined motion of earth and planets |
| The best observational astronomer ever, before the invention of the telescope was | tycho |
| What are key elements of Keplers first two laws of planetary motion? | two of the other answers are correct |
| the period of P, of an asteriod orbiting the sun is 8 years. What is the semi-major axis of its orbit, a, in A.U.? | 4 |
| With one of the first telescopes, Galileo discovered | all of the answers are correct |
| A moving object that has no force acting on it will | keep moving at the same speed in same direction |
| If the force of the sun's gravity were suddenly turned off | the earth would continue to move, but in a straight line |
| Remember the definition we are using for velocity. If a satellite orbits a planet in a perfectly circular orbit, then the satellites | velocity changes |
| An object of mass M is accelerating because there is a force acting on it. What happens to the acceleration if I double the force? | it doubles |
| For every action there is an equal but opposite reactionIf i hit a large piece of steel with a hammer (the action) what is the reaction? | The hammer bounces back a little |
| When two objects attract each other by their gravity, if you double the mall of one object, the force becomes...as large, and if you double the mass of both objects, the force become...as large | twice;four times |
| Astronauts are weightless in the space shuttle because | they(and the shuttle) are all falling at the same rate |
| The tides in the earths oceans are primarily due to the gravity of the...on the earths ner side and the gravity of the...on the earths far side | moon pulling stronger; moon pulling weaker |
| The moon pulling on the earths tidal bulge causes....while the Earth's tidal bulge pulling on the Moon causes the... | earth's rotation to slow; moon's orbit to get bigger |
| The gravitational attraction of the sun and the moon on the equatorial bulge of the earth causes the axis of the earth to | precess |
| Because of the precession of the equinoxes | all of these answers are correct |
| The various wavelengths of radiant energy travel in vacuum at a speed which | equals approximately 300,000 kilometers per second |
| Different types of electromagnetic radiation (x-rays,infrared, radio, etc) | have different amounts of energy for each photon |
| The size of Doppler Effect is related to the magnitude of | motion directly towards or away from an observer |
| Which of the following lists is arranged in order of decreasing energy per photon? | gamma rays, visible light, microwaves, radio waves |
| Light can be described | both as wave and as a particle |
| Carbon-14 and Carbon 12 are.....of the element carbon | isotopes |
| The neutral subatomic particle which has a mass nearly the same as that of a proton is the | neutron |
| Photon A is 5 times more energetic than photon B. This means that for photon A, compared to photon B | the wavelength is 5 times shorter |
| The most important assumption in the Bohr model is that | an electron can have only certain energies |
| In the Bohr model of the atom, energy is emitted or absorbed in the various optical spectrum lines when | an electron changes its energy |
| If an atom absorbs a photon, what happens to the photons energy? | it raises an electron to a higher-energy orbit |
| Why do the spectral lines of an element act as a cosmic fingerprint | each element has a unique pattern of lines |
| An atom with two energy levels, E(low) of 5 energy units and E(high) of 20 energy units, has its electron in the E(high) energy level. This atom can | emit a photon with an energy of 15 energy units |
| The concept of a blackbody is useful because radiation emitted by a given area of a blackbody | is 1/16 of the Sun's |
| The limb, or edge, of the Sun looks darker than the center of the disk beacause | in the photosphere, the higher layers are cooler |
| The hottest part of the solar atmosphere is | the corona |
| What is the primary source of energy in the Sun? | the fusion of 4 H nuclei into 1 He |
| A powerful check on calculated models of the interior of the Sun comes from observations of | oscillations in photosphere from sound waves in the sun |
| The best evidence that the earth has a much larger iron core than the moon does is | the moons average density is less than the earths |
| what is the main characteristics feature of all of the terrestrial planets | they all have solid surfaces |
| approaching the surface of the sun from outer space, the following are the layers of the solar atmosphere | corona, chromosphere, photosphere |
| different parts of the sun rotate at different rates | true |
| the number of sunspots varies with a period of about 14 years | false |
| the sun contains...of the mass in the solar system | 99.8% |
| the existence of the various layers inside the earth has been inferred from studies of | seismic waves |
| in general, the older a region on the moon, the | more craters it has |
| The maria of the moon formed roughly....years ago | 3 billion |
| man last set foot on a celestial body other than the earth on | december 11, 1972 |
| The year on mercury is roughly how long? | 3 earth months |
| What formed when the core of mercury cooled off and shrank? | scarps |
| The pressure of the atmosphere at the surface of venus is | about 100 of the pressure of the earths atmosphere |
| the best measurements of the mass of venus came from | measurement of the pull of venus on space probes |
| Which of the following on mars is probably caused by the same process that caused the Hawaiian islands on earth? | olympus mons |
| the largest valley known in the solar system exists on | mars |
| If two oceanic plates move apart, the border of the two plates would most likely be a | mid-oceanic ridge |
| Which planets have mainly carbon dioxide (C)2) for an atmosphere | venus and mars |
| Jovian planets retain much hydrogen and helium while these gases escape from terrestrial planets, because Jovian planets have | stronger gravity and colder temperatures |
| the great red spot on jupiter apparently is | a long lasting anti-cyclonic system in the clouds |
| The spokes in Saturn's rings are transient features caused by | charged bits of dust trapped in saturns magnetic field |
| Which planets were discovered after the invention of the telescope? | uranus, neptune |
| Through a large telescope, Uranus and Neptune have a....color because of... | green; absorption of red light by methane gas |
| The position of Neptune in the sky was predicted by Adams and Leverrier after anomalies had been observed in the orbit of | uranus |
| The clouds in the atmosphere of neptune are made primarily of | methane |
| The single most importat property of a telescope generally is the | diameter of the objective |
| IN additon to direct viewing, modern telescopes allow the astronomer to use | al of the other answers are correct |
| A spectograph may be used to determine | the chemical compostion of the sun and other stars |
| The main reason that the hubble space telescope is more powerful than ground-based telescopes for many astronomical studies is that | its images are not blurred by the earths atmospheres |
| The terrestrial planet...has a much...than the Jovian planet | venus; lower mass;uranus |
| What planet is most similar to Earth in terms of mass and size | venus |
| A general pattern among the Jovian planets is the more mass they have, the | faster the spin and the stronger their magnetic field |
| What is the main reason we have learned so much about the planets since 1960? | exploration and imaging by spacecraft |
| Of the solar system objects we have studied, which has a constant unbearable surface temperature? | venus |
| In chemical composition, Saturn is most like | the sun |
| The interior of Saturn principally consists of | liquified and metallic molecular hydrogen |
| The existence of a strong magnetic field on Jupiter is probably the result of | its rapid rotation and metallic hydrogen interior |
| Evidence of continental drift include | all of the other answers |
| One result of plate motions on Earth is that the | Hawaiian hot spot made a long string of volcanoes |
| What is the main cause for why venus surface temperature is much higher than expected? | the greenhouse effect |
| Clouds on venus are mostly due to | sulphuric acid |
| The polar ice caps on mars are composed of | water ice and dry ice (CO2 ice) |
| Saturn's rings | are made of millions of particles, each in its own orbit |
| The only planet whose rotation axis can point nearly toward the sun at some point in its orbit is | uranus |
| An unusual feature of the magnetic field of neptune is that it | is tipped at a large angle to the rotation axis |
| The planet that has a structure closest to that of Saturn is | Jupiter |
| If a star rises in the southeast, it will set in the | southwest |
| In a time-lapse photo of the stars seen from the North Pole, what would the star tracks look like? | Concentric circles around the North Celestial Pole |
| The celestial sphere is divided into two hemispheres, each centered on a celestial pole. The division between the hemispheres is called | the celestial equator. |
| What is the yearly path of the Sun through the constellations called? | Ecliptic |
| Remember that a star rises and sets 4 minutes earlier each day. If a star sets at midnight tonight, when will it set one month from now? | 10 p.m. |
| The stars in a particular constellation generally | have no physical relationship to one another. |
| Rigorous statistical tests, conducted under controlled conditions by acknowledged scientists and mathemati- cians, have uncontestedly proven the validity of astrology. | False |
| The sidereal period of the Moon is | its period of revolution relative to the stars |
| The motions of the planets compared to the stars were harder to explain in ancient times than the motions of the Sun and Moon because | the Sun and Moon do not undergo retrograde motion |
| Greek astronomers differed from other ancient astronomers in that only the Greeks | applied geometry to the heavens |
| AdifficultproblemthatancientGreekphilosopherstriedhardtoexplainwithoutfindingtherightanswerwas | why planets have retrograde motion |
| Before the Renaissance, the person who most influenced the general ideas of Europeans on the nature of the Universe was | Aristotle. |
| Using the length of the shadow cast by a stick at Noon on the Summer Solstice in two different cities in ancient Egypt, Eratosthenes was able to | accurately determine the circumference of the Earth. |
| Aristarchus argued | for a heliocentric Universe |
| The Ptolemaic theory employs epicycles to explain | the looped motion of planets with respect to stars. |
| Between the fall of the Roman Empire and the Renaissance, the writings of classical Greek astronomers were preserved, and new astronomical observations added, primarily by | Islamic scholars |
| Which of these planets can never be at inferior conjunction? | Mars |
| Pluto takes nearly 249 years to go around the Sun. The time between oppositions of Pluto would be | a little longer than one year. |
| If we on Earth see Mars at opposition, an observer on Mars would see Earth at | inferior conjunction. |
| The first astronomer during the European Renaissance to propose a heliocentric model of the solar system was | Copernicus |
| Copernicus explained the retrograde motion of planets as | a faster planet overtaking a slower planet |
| The person who carefully observed positions of many objects in the sky, and whose observations of Mars were later used to figure out how planets move around the Sun, was | Tycho Brahe |
| Kepler’s second law states that the line joining the Sun to a planet | sweeps out equal areas in equal times. |
| The period, P, of an asteroid orbiting the Sun is 8 years. What is the semi-major axis of its orbit, a, in A.U.? | 4 |
| With one of the first telescopes, Galileo discovered | All of the answers are correct. |
| According to Newton’s First Law, a body | all of the answers |
| If the force of the Sun’s gravity were suddenly turned off | the Earth would continue to move, but in a straight line |
| An object of mass M is accelerating because there is a force acting on it. What happens to the acceleration if I double the force? | It doubles |
| For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction is a statement of | Newton’s third law of motion |
| Newton’s law of gravity and laws of motion | explain Kepler’s laws of planetary motion |
| What is the main cause of tides on the Earth? | Differential gravitational pull of the Moon on the Earth |
| The gravitational attraction of the Sun and the Moon on the equatorial bulge of the Earth causes the axis of the Earth to | precess |
| The speed of light in a vacuum is | 300,000 km/sec. |
| An Earth satellite is powered by a solar panel 1 sq.yd. in surface area. To collect as much Sunlight while orbiting Jupiter (5 A.U. from Sun), the panel’s surface area must be | increased to 25 sq.yds |
| Light is | electromagnetic radiation |
| Waves or rays of the electromagnetic spectrum arranged according to increasing wavelength include: | gamma rays, x-rays, radio |
| The size of Doppler Effect is related to the magnitude of | motion directly towards or away from an observer |
| Which of the following lists the kinds of light in order of highest to lowest energy per photon? | Gamma ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, radio |
| Light can be described as | a wave traveling through space or as a particle |
| Atoms are composed of | a nucleus of protons and neutrons orbited by electrons |
| The strongest force in nature is | the strong nuclear force |
| The simplest atom, hydrogen, is made up of a single ..... and a single ..... . | proton, electron |
| An atom emits or absorbs energy in spectral lines when | an electron changes its orbit |
| Why do the spectral lines of an element act as a cosmic fingerprint? | Each element has a unique pattern of lines |
| An atom has a first energy level of 5 energy units and a second energy level of 17 energy units.When could the atom’s electron be found at an energy level of 9 energy units? | Never |
| Which statement about black bodies is correct? | The energy distribution depends only on its temperature |
| As a hot solid cools, Wien’s Law says that the apparent color of the radiation it emits should | get steadily redder. |
| A very hot blackbody emits | more energy than a cooler blackbody |
| The single most important property of a telescope generally is the | diameter of the objective. |
| The main reason that the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) is more powerful than ground-based telescopes for many astronomical studies is that | its images are not blurred by the Earth’s atmosphere |
| The Astronomical Unit is defined as | the mean distance of the Earth from the Sun |
| Choose the list of planets which has the planets in the correct order of increasing distance from the Sun (not all the planets are listed). | Venus, Mars, Saturn, Neptune |
| The Sun contains ..... of the mass in the solar system. | 99.8 % |
| As far as their internal structures are concerned the Jovian planets differ from the terrestrial planets in being | larger and less dense |
| The magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune are unique in the solar system in that they | are centered far from the centers of the planets |
| The complete list of planets known to have rings is | Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune |
| Different parts of the Sun rotate at different rates. | True |
| Going outward from the surface of the Sun, the following are the layers of the solar atmosphere: | Photosphere, chromosphere, corona |
| The Northern Lights occur primarily at high latitudes on Earth because | charged particles are guided by Earth’s magnetic fields |
| Our best information about the internal structure of the Earth comes from | how waves due to Earthquakes move through the interior |
| The process of fracturing and movement of the outer layers of the Earth is called ..... . | plate tectonics |
| Surveys of the Moon by lunar orbiters and Apollo spacecraft show | maria are nearly all on the side facing us |
| In general, the younger a region on the Moon, the | fewer craters it has. |
| The new theory for the origin of the Moon that seems most plausible at present is that the Moon formed | from debris ejected after a body collided with the Earth |
| What is the cheapest way to determine the rotation period of the solid body of Venus? | Use a radar telescope. |
| Venus | all of the other answers are correct |
| Why is the surface temperature of Venus so much higher than was expected? | Because of the greenhouse effect |
| We believe that at one time water flowed on Mars because of observations of | features which look like dried-up river beds |
| The Great Red Spot on Jupiter apparently is | a long-lasting anti-cyclonic system in the clouds. |
| Jupiter is composed primarily of | hydrogen and helium |
| Which of the moons of Jupiter is most likely to have an ocean of liquid water beneath a thin covering of ice? | Europa |
| Saturn’s rings | are made of millions of particles, each in its own orbit |
| The only satellite with a fairly dense atmosphere is | Titan |
| Uranus and Neptune have a green color when seen through a telescope, because | methane gas absorbs red light |
| The position of Neptune in the sky was predicted by Adams and Leverrier after anomalies had been observed in the orbit of | Uranus |
| The development that made possible a flood of asteroid discoveries in the late nineteenth century was | photography. |
| A rocky-metallic planetesimal from the early solar system that survived to the present day would most likely be classified as | an asteroid |
| The asteroids are mostly found between the orbits of | Mars and Jupiter |
| A typical asteroid probably has | craters on its surface |
| The basic difference between a typical asteroid and a comet is that | asteroids are rocky; comets are rock and ice |
| Between Mars and Jupiter you find ..... ; just beyond the orbit of Neptune you find ..... ; and the most distant objects in the solar system are ..... . | asteroids; Kuiper belt objects; Oort cloud comets |
| What is the Kuiper belt? | A cometary belt beyond Neptune’s orbit |
| Kuiper Belt Objects most likely are made of | dirty ice |
| Going from the inside to the outside of a comet, what is the correct order of its parts? | Nucleus, coma, H cloud, tail |
| What forces the gas tail of a comet to flow away from the Sun? | The ionized gases are picked up by the solar wind |
| Have astronomers ever actually watched when a planetesimal collided with a planet? | Yes, pieces of a comet colliding with Jupiter` |
| The nucleus of a comet is about ..... km in radius | 10 |
| If the dinosaurs were in fact killed off by a collision with an asteroid, they probably were | starved to death |
| Which method is so far the most successful one to find planets around other stars than the Sun? | radial velocity using spectroscopy |
| Our current theory of how planets form around stars ..... measurements in our own solar system, and ..... measurements of other solar systems. | is based on; cannot explain |
| The number of planets which have been detected around other stars than the Sun is currently about | 1000 |
| The planets discovered around other stars are forcing us to revise our ideas about planet formation. Why? | We did not expect massive planets close to stars. |
| What is sometimes called the Goldilock zone in the context of Exo-Planets? | the habitable zone around a star |
| Six billion years ago, most of the atoms in our bodies were probably in the | interstellar medium. |
| According to the prevailing theory of the origin of the solar system, the planets formed in a disk of dust and gas surrounding the early Sun. Evidence for this theory is that | All of the other answers are correct |
| Which of the following is approximately the age of our solar system? | 4.6 billion years |
| The theory presently in favor concerning the origin of the solar system leads one to believe that | Earth was originally formed out of same material as Sun |
| Planetesimals that formed in the inner solar system were composed mostly of ..... while planetesimals that formed in the outer solar system were made of ..... . | rock with some metal; dirty ice |
| The presently accepted theory of the origin of the solar system says that | planets formed from matter left over as the Sun formed. |
| An interstellar cloud with a blue color and an absorption-line spectrum is generally a result of | dust grains scattering light of stars |
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