109
Spring Astronomy 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
1. Galileo's telescopic discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter was important because it
showed that
a. Jupiter was much more massive than Earth.
b. Jupiters moons orbited in epicycles.
c. the universe could contain centers of motion other than Earth.
d. all of the above
2. The average distance from Earth to the sun is
a. 1 billion km
b. 1 AU
c. 1 million km
d. 1 million miles
e. 1 ly
3. If continuous spectrum light from a star passes through a cool low density gas on its
way to your telescope and spectroscope, ____ spectrum on the continuous spectrum
results.
a. a very bright continuous
b. a bright (emission) line
c. a dark (absorption) line
4. If the nearest star is 4.2 light-years away, then
a. the star is 4.2 million AU away.
b. the star must be very old.
c. the light we see left the star 4.2 years ago.
d. the star must have formed 4.2 billion years ago.
e. the star must be very young.
5. If the size of the Sun is represented by a baseball with the Earth about 15 meters away,
how far away, to scale, would the nearest stars to the Sun be?
a. 100 meters away
b. About the distance across 50 football fields.
c. About the distance across the United States.
d. About the distance between New York and Boston.
6. Scientific notation is used in science because
a. all astronomical distances are expressed in metric units.
b. it makes conversions between units easy.
c. it makes it easy to write very large or very small numbers.
d. none of the above.
e. all of the above.
1
Astronomy 109
Spring 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
7. The Milky Way Galaxy
a. is located about 2.2 million light years from the sun.
b. is the largest known object in the universe.
c. Only a and b are correct.
d. is about 75,000 light-years in diameter.
e. contains about 100 stars.
8. Which sequence is correct when ordered by increasing size?
a. Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, galaxy clusters
b. Galaxy clusters, Solar System, Milky Way, Earth
c. Earth, Milky Way, Solar System, galaxy clusters
d. Solar System, Earth, galaxy clusters, Milky Way
9. How is a planet different than a star?
a. Planets are brighter than stars.
b. Planets are larger than stars.
c. Stars move faster in the sky than planets.
d. Planets reflect light while stars produce their own light.
10. A constellation must consist of a number of stars, all
a. at various different distances from the Earth.
b. all at the same distance from the Earth.
c. all connected by mythology
d. within a boundary in the same general angular area of the sky.
11. The names of stars usually come from
a. Chinese.
b. ancient English.
c. Russian.
d. ancient Arabic.
e. Latin.
12. Violet light has a wavelength of approximately ____.
a. 7000 nm
b. 400 nm
c. 700 nm
d. 3108 m
e. 4000 nm
2
Astronomy 109
Spring 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
13. The apparent visual magnitude of a star is 7.3. This tells us that the star is
a. very close to Earth.
b. one of the brighter stars in the sky.
c. not visible with the unaided eye.
d. bright enough that it would be visible even during the day.
14. Galileo's observations of the gibbous phase of Venus proved
a. that all of the planets orbit the sun.
b. that Venus orbits the sun.
c. that Earth orbits the sun.
d. that Venus has an atmosphere.
e. that the moon orbits Earth.
15. The celestial equator is
a. a line around the sky directly above Earth's equator.
b. the dividing line between the north and south celestial hemispheres.
c. the path that the sun appears to follow on the celestial sphere as Earth orbits the sun.
d. a and c.
e. a and b.
16. What causes summer here in the northern hemisphere? In the summer, at this point
a. the Earth's northern hemisphere is tilted away from the sun.
b. the Earth's northern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun.
c. the Earth is closer to the sun
17. The sun moves ____ along the ecliptic among the stars.
a. eastward
b. The sun does not appear to move.
c. westward
18. In the Milankovitch theory, the elliptical shape of the Earth's orbit, its axis tilt, and
axis precession vary with time. These combined at times to create ____ on Earth.
a. daily temperature variations
b. day and night
c. the constellations
d. ice ages
e. seasonal temperature variations
19. Stars in a constellation
a. may actually be very far away from each other.
b. must have been discovered at about the same time.
c. probably formed at the same time.
d. must be part of the same cluster of stars in space
3
Astronomy 109
Spring 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
20. A solar eclipse occurs when
a. the Sun passes between Earth and Earth's Moon.
b. the Earth's Moon passes between Earth and the Sun.
c. Earth passes between the Earth's Moon and the Sun.
21. Ptolemy's model of the universe
a. was geocentric.
b. contained epicycles.
c. included circular orbits
d. all of the above
e. none of the above
22. ____ has (have) wavelengths that are longer than visible light.
a. Ultraviolet light
b. X-rays
c. Infrared radiation
d. Gamma-rays
23. The Copernican system was no more accurate than the Ptolemaic system in predicting
the positions of the planets because
a. in the Copernican system only Mercury and Venus orbit the sun, all other planets
orbited Earth.
b. the Copernican system used the old value for the radius of Earth.
c. Copernicus had been unable to detect parallax.
d. the Copernican system included uniform circular motion.
e. Copernicus used inaccurate data from Ptolemy's system.
24. An atom that is excited
a. is an isotope.
b. can emit a photon when the electron moves to a lower energy level.
c. is also ionized.
d. can a emit photon when the electron moves to a higher energy level.
e. has had its electron moved to the lowest energy level.
25. A galaxy contains
a. primarily planets.
b. a single star and planets.
c. large amounts of gas and dust but very few stars.
d. large amounts of gas, dust, and stars.
4
Astronomy 109
Spring 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
26. The purpose of using epicycles and deferents to explain the motion of the planets in
the night sky was to account for
a. Mercury and Venus' limited angular distance from the Sun.
b. precession of the equinoxes.
c. non-uniform speed of the planets in their orbits.
d. prograde motion.
e. retrograde motion.
27. Keplers Laws describe
a. How planets move around the Sun
b. Why the Earth has an atmosphere
c. Why apples fall to the Earth
d. How to describe the surface of the Moon
28. Observations of radio waves from astronomical objects suffer from poorer resolution
than visible observations because
a. the signals are so weak in the radio region.
b. radio telescopes don't use solid mirrors.
c. the wavelength of radio waves is much longer than the wavelengths of visible light.
d. radio telescopes are generally much smaller in diameter than optical telescopes.
e. it is very difficult to detect radio waves.
29. Which of the following can be determined from the spectrum of a star?
a. chemical composition
b. radial (along line of sight) velocity
c. surface temperature
d. all of the above
30. According to Galileo, the acceleration of two objects freely falling due to gravity is
a. dependent on their mass
b. dependent on their composition
c. always the same
d. always different
31. The apparent visual magnitude of a star is a measure of the star's
a. temperature.
b. size.
c. intensity.
d. color.
e. distance.
5
Astronomy 109
Spring 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
32. Total lunar eclipses always occur
a. during the time of full moon.
b. during the time of new moon.
c. on either the summer or winter solstice.
d. on either the vernal or autumnal equinox.
e. when the moon is near one of the solstice points.
33. Gravity obeys the inverse square law. This statement implies that the gravitational
force of one body on another will be
a. always the same
b. stronger when they are closer together
c. weaker when they are closer together
d. independent of their mass
34. The ____ produce(s) tides on the Earth.
a. moon and sun
b. sun alone
c. moon alone
35. Precession of the rotation axis of Earth takes ____ to complete a cycle.
a. 26,000 years
b. 24 hours
c. one year
d. 260 years
e. 260,000 years
36. According to the theory of general relativity, gravity is caused by
a. the equivalence principle.
b. the constant speed of light.
c. the curvature of space-time.
d. the change in mass of a moving body.
e. none of the above.
37. The force due to gravity between two objects depends on
I.
the mass of each object.
II.
the distance each object is from Earth.
III.
the distance between the two objects.
IV. the speed of light.
a. I, II, & III
b. II & IV
c. I, II, III, & IV
d. I & II
e. I & III
6
Astronomy 109
Spring 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
38. What is the wavelength of the longest wavelength (red light) light visible to the
human eye?
a. 3108 m
b. 7000 nm
c. 4000 nm
d. 400 nm
e. 700 nm
39. The ability of a telescope to resolve fine detail is known as the telescope's ____.
a. resolving power
b. aberration
c. light gathering power
d. telescope detailing
e. focal length
40. Infrared astronomy is often done from high-flying aircraft because
a. infrared telescopes only need to get above the ozone layer.
b. infrared photons are quite energetic.
c. infrared telescopes are not very heavy.
d. infrared radiation does not penetrate through the Earth's atmosphere.
41. The main reason for building large optical telescopes on the Earth's surface is
a. to collect as much light as possible from faint objects.
b. to magnify astronomical objects to make them larger.
c. that there is a lot of money in science that needs to get spent.
d. to enhance color and thus produce higher resolution images.
42. Chromatic aberration occurs in a ____ telescope when
a. refracting; light of different wavelengths get absorbed by the lens.
b. reflecting; light of different wavelengths get absorbed by the mirror.
c. refracting; different colors of light do not focus at the same point.
d. reflecting; different colors of light do not focus at the same point.
43. Light can behave as a particle or as a wave.
a. True
b. False
7
Astronomy 109
Spring 2011
Thompson
Name:
Answer each question on the Scantron Form. Turn in the Scantron and the Exam
44. The neutral hydrogen atom consists of
a. one proton and one electron.
b. one proton.
c. one proton, one neutron, and one electron.
b. one proton and one neutron.
e. an isotope and an ion.
45. The most massive part of the atom is(are) the ____ which has(have) a ____ charge.
a. nucleus, negative
d. electrons, positive
c. nucleus, positive
d. electrons, negative
46. Brahe's description of the Solar System was the same as the Copernican universe
except that
a. the sun did not move.
b. the orbits followed uniform circular motion.
c. the orbits were elliptical with the sun at one focus.
d. Earth did not move.
e. the moon orbited the sun.
47. Blue stars are hotter than red stars.
a. False
b. True
48. Astronauts living in the Space Station orbit the Earth approximately 350 km above
the Earths surface. The astronauts
a. do not feel the effects of the Earths gravity
b. are constantly falling toward Earth with the Space Station as it orbits
c. feel a gravitational force considerably smaller than people on the Earths surface.
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