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AST 101 Exam 1 Study

QuestionAnswer
Astronomy attempts to answer which of the following questions? It offers answers to all of the above.
The light from a galaxy that is 10 billion light-years away has been traveling toward Earth for 10 billion years
The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.
According to size, starting with the smallest, which of the following is the correct sequence of astronomical objects? Earth, Proxima Centauri, Milky Way Galaxy, galaxy cluster
Scientific notation is used in science because it makes it easy to write big or small numbers
Which of the following statements is correct? The Milky Way Galaxy consists of billions of stars.
The average distance from Earth to the sun is 1 AU
The expression 1.65 billion is the same as 1.65 x 10^9.
A galaxy contains lots of gas, dust, and stars
How many centimeters are there in one kilometer? 100,000
Astronomy makes use of the scientific disciplines of all of the above
If light takes 8 minutes to reach Earth from the sun and 5 hours to reach Pluto, what is the distance from the sun to Pluto? 37.5 AU
Between 1979 and 1999, Pluto was closer to the sun than Neptune
How many centimeters are there in ten meters? 1,000
The first-quarter moon rises At about noon
A solar eclipse that occurs when the moon’s umbra does not reach Earth’s surface is a(n) _______ solar eclipse. Annular
At what two celestial locations do the celestial equator and ecliptic coincide? autumnal equinox and the vernal equinox.
A “phase” of the moon is determined by the portion of sunlight reflected by the lunar surface toward Earth.
When the moon is in a "waning" phase, it means the moon appears to be shrinking with each successive day
When the moon is located between Earth and the sun, the phase of the moon is said to be new
The sun is on the celestial equator at the times of the autumnal equinox and the vernal equinox.
Total lunar eclipses always occur at the time of full moon
The ______________________ moon is visible above the western horizon a couple of hours before sunrise. waning gibbous
Although Earth is closer to the sun in January than in July, Earth’s seasons depend on the tilt of Earth’s rotation axis with respect to the ecliptic.
A ____________________ is a commonly accepted set of scientific ideas and assumptions. paradigm
As observed from Earth, the planets speed up, slow down, stop, and move backward with respect to the background stars.
Galileo’s telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and moon were not perfect spheres
The semi-major axis of an ellipse is half the length of the longest diameter of the ellipse.
Galileo’s observations of the gibbous phase of Venus proved that Venus orbited the sun
A ____________________ is a system of rules and principles that can be applied to a wide variety of circumstances, but that is not universally accepted. theory
A celestial object that appears to move faster and then slower, stops, and then moves backward against the background stars is best identified as a planet
Which of the following people did not accept a heliocentric model for the universe? Tycho
The friction created when tidal forces move ocean waters over the seabeds slows the rotation of Earth, gradually making the days longer.
The change in motion an object experiences is proportional to the force acting on it and in the direction of the force.
In scientific notation, 38,000 can be written as 3.8 x 10x. What is the value of x? 4
The distance that light travels in one year is defined as the light-year
Scientific notation can be used to write large numbers without a great many zeros.
At present, astronomers think that the largest structure in the universe is filaments of galaxy superclusters.
Because the speed of light is not infinite, the farther away in space astronomers look, the farther back in time astronomers see
Of the following units of distance measurement, the one that is most convenient in describing distances in the solar system is the astronomical unit
Which of the following is a correct representation for 5,000,000? 5.00 x 10^6
How much time does it take for the light from a star 400 light-years away to reach Earth? 400 years
Scientific notation is the method by which large numbers are written powers of ten
Of the following objects, the one that is the smallest is a planet
The study of the universe and its contents falls under the discipline of astronomy
Galaxies range in diameter from 1,500 to 300,000 ______. light-years
How many centimeters are there in one meter? 100
A solar or lunar eclipse will occur when the sun is near the line of nodes of the moon and the moon is new or full
On the vernal equinox, the sun is on the celestial equator and moving north with respect to the equator
During a total lunar eclipse, the moon's color will be affected by Earth's atmosphere
A totally eclipsed moon glows coppery red because only red light is able to pass completely through Earth’s atmosphere and reach the moon.
As the moon orbits Earth, the moon rotates on its axis once
A waxing crescent moon is visible near the western horizon just after sunset.
If the perihelion of Earth were noticeably closer to the sun than is currently the case, but the aphelion remained the same as it is now, what would be the probable effect on the climate of the southern hemisphere? Their summer season would be much warmer than present
The waxing phase of the moon occur when the moon appears to be growing larger with each successive day
A ____________________ is a single conjecture that can be tested. hypothesis
Tycho Brahe measured the position of a “new star” in the sky. Today it is called Tycho’s supernova.
A(n) ____________________ is a circle whose center is located on the circumference of another circle. epicycle
Tycho’s greatest contribution to astronomy was his 20 years of careful observations of the planets.
Gravity obeys an inverse square relation. This statement implies that the force resulting from gravity between two masses will decrease as the square of the distance between the two masses increases.
A(n) _______________ orbit is one in which an object orbiting Earth has an orbital period equal to the rotation period of Earth. geosynchronous
Kepler’s first law of planetary motion implies that the distance between the planet and the sun changes as the planet orbits the sun.
Newton concluded that some force had to act on the moon because a force is needed to pull the moon away from straight-line motion.
Parallax is the apparent motion of an object due to the motion of the observer.
When we say that gravitation is universal, we mean that it is a property of all matter throughout the universe.
When tidal bulges are not in a direct Earth-moon line but slightly ahead of the moon, their gravitational field pulls the moon forward in its orbit, causing it to recede from Earth.
The friction created when tidal forces move ocean waters over the seabeds slows the rotation of Earth, gradually making the days longer.
Retrograde motion can be described as the westerly motion of a planet against the background stars.
The __________________ of an object is a measure of the amount of matter it contains. On the other hand __________________ is a measure of the gravitational force on an object. mass; weight
Spring tides occur at new moon and full moon.
Ptolemy’s model of the universe contained epicycles
A ____________________ is a description of some natural phenomenon that can’t be right or wrong. It is merely a convenient way to think about a natural phenomenon. model
The period of time required for the moon to go from new to full and then back to new again is called the synodic period
When the moon is in a "waning" phase, it means the moon appears to be shrinking with each successive day
Arrange the following distances in order from smallest to largest. I. kilometer II. light-year III. yard IV. astronomical unit III, I, IV, II
Created by: tacobatman
 

 



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