Astr 1030 Final Exam (Quizzes 1 - 6)

Front 1

A solar system contains

Back 1

a single star and planets.

Front 2

How many centimeters are there in one kilometer?

Back 2

100,000

Front 3

The average distance from Earth to the sun is

Back 3

1 AU

Front 4

64,200,000,000 is equal to

Back 4

6.42´1010

Front 5

4.4´106 divided by 8.8´1010 is equal to

Back 5

5.0´10-5

Front 6

If light takes 8 minutes to reach Earth from the sun and 5.3 hours to reach Pluto, what is the approximate distance from the sun to Pluto?

Back 6

40 AU

Front 7

The sun is

Back 7

all of the above.

Front 8

If the nearest star is 4.2 light-years away, then

Back 8

the light we see left the star 4.2 years ago.

Front 9

Which arrangement is in order of increasing size, left to right?

Back 9

planet, star, solar system, galaxy

Front 10

The Milky Way Galaxy

Back 10

contains about 100 billion stars.

Front 11

In science fiction movies, it is common to use a space craft to travel across the Milky Way Galaxy or to assert that we have been visited by alien space craft from the other side of the Milky Way Galaxy. If one has a space craft that can travel at the speed of light, to an observer on the earth, how long will it take to go from one edge of the Milky Way Galaxy to the other and return?

Back 11

150,000 years

Front 12

Suppose we wish to travel to the nearest star using a super space ship capable of traveling at 1´1010 km/yr. We have nothing even close to this space ship yet. How long will it take us to get to the nearest star which is about 4´1013 km away from us?

Back 12

4000 years

Front 13

Which sequence is correct when ordered by increasing size?

Back 13

Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, galaxy clusters

Front 14

If we say that an object is 1,000 light-years away we see it

Back 14

as it looked 1,000 years ago.

Front 15

If the distance from the Sun to the Earth is represent by roughly 15 meters, then the distance from the Earth to the Moon on the same scale would be

Back 15

smaller than your hand.

Front 16

If light takes 8 minutes to reach Earth from the sun and 5.3 hours to reach Pluto, what is the approximate distance from the sun to Pluto?

Back 16

40 AU

Front 17

In one way of naming stars, a ____ letter indicates its brightness relative to the other stars in the constellation.

Back 17

Greek

Front 18

Most of the constellations in use today originated in ____ mythology.

Back 18

Both answers (a) and (b)

Front 19

____ is the brightest star in the constellation of Ursa Majoris.

Back 19

a Ursa Majoris

Front 20

The apparent visual magnitude of a star is 7.3. This tells us that the star is

Back 20

not visible with the unaided eye.

Front 21

Table 2-1StarName Apparent Visual Magnituded Dra 3.07a Cet 2.53r Per 3.98Nim 8.07a CMa -1.46

Which star in Table 2-1 would not be visible to the unaided eye of an observer on Earth?

Back 21

Nim

Front 22

The celestial equator is

Back 22

a line around the sky directly above Earth's equator.

the dividing line between the north and south celestial hemispheres.

A and B

Front 23

An observer in the Northern Hemisphere watches the sky for several hours. Due to the motion of Earth, this observer notices that the stars near the north celestial pole appear to move

Back 23

counter clockwise.

Front 24

You live at a latitude of 39° S. What is the angle between the southern horizon and the south celestial pole?

Back 24

39°

Front 25

You live at a latitude of 16° S. What is the angle between the southern horizon and the south celestial pole?

Back 25

16°

Front 26

What is the approximate latitude of the observer in the diagram below?

Back 26

50° N

Front 27

An observer in the Northern Hemisphere takes a time exposure photograph of the night sky. If the illustration depicts the photograph taken by the observer, which direction was the camera pointing?

Back 27

straight south

Front 28

An observer in the Northern Hemisphere takes a time exposure photograph of the night sky. If the illustration depicts the photograph taken by the observer, which direction was the camera pointing?

Back 28

straight north

Front 29

When it is winter in the northern hemisphere, it is ____ in the southern hemisphere.

Back 29

summer

Front 30

The sun moves ____ along the ecliptic among the stars.

Back 30

eastward

Front 31

The summer solstice (at the start of summer) is the point on the ecliptic where the sun

Back 31

is farthest north of the celestial equator halting its northward movement.

Front 32

At the time of the winter solstice (the start of winter) the sun is

Back 32

farthest south of the celestial equator.

Front 33

At the time of the winter solstice (the start of winter) the sunlight is at a lower angle and thus is ____ than(as) in the start of summer.

Back 33

less intense

Front 34

The inclination of the axis of the earth varies from 22° to 24° degrees taking ____ to complete a cycle.

Back 34

41,000 years

Front 35

During the month of June the north celestial pole points towards Polaris but during the month of December it points

Back 35

at about noon.

Front 36

A lunar eclipse occurs when

Back 36

Earth passes between the Earth's moon and the sun.

Front 37

During a total lunar eclipse, which of the following are true?

I. The photosphere of the sun is obscured.

II. The moon is in Earth's umbra.

III. The moon is new.

IV. The moon is full.

Back 37

II, IV

Front 38

A totally eclipsed moon glows coppery red because

Back 38

red light is better able to pass completely through Earth's atmosphere and reach the moon.

Front 39

During a total lunar eclipse

Back 39

the moon will glow a coppery red.

Front 40

If the moon enters Earth's shadow but does not reach the umbra, the eclipse is termed

Back 40

penumbral.

Front 41

A marble has a diameter of 2 cm. At what distance would the marble have an angular diameter of 1 arc second? Here one radian is 57.3 degrees, and one arc second is 1/3600 of a degree.

Back 41

4.1 km

Front 42

If the Moon's orbital plane was aligned with the celestial equator we could

Back 42

have eclipses only at the equinoxes.

Front 43

In which direction does the daily motion of the Moon occur in the sky, against the background stars, when viewed from the Earth?

Back 43

Toward the east

Front 44

Parallax is the apparent change in location of an object due to the motion of the observer.

Back 44

True

Front 45

Which of these were things ancient Greek astronomers never even considered in astronomy?

Back 45

Wrong! They considered the possibility of all the above.

Front 46

The Almagest

Back 46

is a collection of the science and mathematics of the Greeks.

Front 47

A(n) ____ is a circle whose center is located on the circumference of another circle.

Back 47

epicycle

Front 48

Ptolemy's model of the universe

Back 48

contained epicycles

Front 49

____ introduced the concept of the eccentrics and epicycle to planetary motion about Earth, created a star catalog, and is generally credited with the development of trigonometry.

Back 49

Hipparchus

Front 50

The distance from Alexandria to Syene is about 500 miles. On the summer solstice the sun is directly overhead at noon in Syene. At Alexandria on the summer solstice, the sun is 1/50th of the circumference of the sky (about 7°) south of the zenith. Based on this information, what is the circumference of Earth?

Back 50

25,000 miles

Front 51

Which of the following people did not accept a heliocentric model of the universe?

Back 51

Tycho

Front 52

The book "De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium"

Back 52

first described the Copernican theory.

Front 53

The Ptolemaic model of the universe was heliocentric.

Back 53

False

Front 54

The Copernican system was no more accurate than the Ptolemaic system in predicting the positions of the planets because

Back 54

the Copernican system included uniform circular motion.

Front 55

Brahe's universe was the same as the Copernican universe except that

Back 55

Earth did not move.

Front 56

Tycho Brahe's greatest contribution to astronomy was

Back 56

his years of careful observations of the planets.

Front 57

A ____ is a commonly accepted set of scientific ideas and assumptions.

Back 57

paradigm

Front 58

Galileo's observations of the gibbous phase of Venus proved

Back 58

that Venus orbits the sun.

Front 59

Galileo's telescopic discoveries of mountains on the moon and spots on the sun were controversial because they suggested that the sun and moon

Back 59

are not perfect.

Front 60

The Copernican model of the solar system has the planets orbit the sun along elliptical paths.

Back 60

False

Front 61

Galileo's telescopic discovery of moons orbiting Jupiter was important because it showed that

Back 61

the universe could contain centers of motion other than Earth.

Earth might move along an orbit and not leave the moon behind.

A and B

Front 62

A ____ is a single conjecture that can be tested.

Back 62

hypothesis

Front 63

A ____ is a system of rules and principles that can be applied to a wide variety of circumstances but may not be universally accepted.

Back 63

theory

Front 64

Which of the following was not based on uniform circular motion?

Back 64

the Rudolphine Tables

Front 65

Halley's Comet has an orbital period of 76 years. What is the average distance of Halley's Comet from the sun?

Back 65

18 AU

Front 66

Saturn is on average 10 AU from the sun. What is the approximate orbital period of Saturn?

Back 66

32 years

Front 67

In pre-Copernican astronomy, it was almost universally believed that

Back 67

the Earth was at the center of the universe.

Front 68

An apparent westward motion of a planet in the sky compared to the background stars (as viewed from the Earth) when observed on successive nights is referred to as

Back 68

retrograde motion

Front 69

Galileo wrote the Almagest.

Back 69

False

Front 70

The purpose of using epicycles and deferents to explain the motion of the planets in the night sky was to account for

Back 70

retrograde motion.

Front 71

Which of the following objects cannot transit (i.e. pass in front of) the Sun as seen from Jupiter?

Back 71

Saturn

Front 72

The greatest inaccuracy in Copernicus' model of the solar system was that the planets

Back 72

traveled in circular orbits with uniform motion.

Front 73

Which of the following planets can be seen as a crescent phase from Earth?

Back 73

Mercury

Venus

A and B

Front 74

According to Aristotle an object with no forces in it will

Back 74

stop moving eventually.

Front 75

According to Galileo, the acceleration of a freely falling object due to gravity is ____ the larger the mass of the object.

Back 75

always the same

Front 76

According to Aristotle, which of the following would be an example of violent motion?

Back 76

a person pushing a car along the street

Front 77

Newton concluded that some force had to act on the moon because

Back 77

a force is needed to pull the moon away from straight-line motion.

Front 78

When two objects of unequal mass orbit each other, the center of mass is

Back 78

always closer to the more massive of the two objects.

Front 79

Gravity obeys the inverse square law. This statement implies that the gravitational force of one body on another will be ____ apart.

Back 79

nine times stronger at 2 meters than at 6 meters

Front 80

Perigee is

Back 80

the point in an object's orbit around Earth, when the object is closest to Earth.

Front 81

A comet near the sun whose orbit is ____ would never be near the sun again.

Back 81

hyperbolic

Front 82

Newtonian physics tells us that Kepler's second law

Back 82

is a result of the conservation of angular momentum.

Front 83

The circular velocity of a satellite orbiting Earth is given by mc010-1.jpg. In this equation,

Back 83

M represents the mass of Earth and r the radius of the satellite's orbit.

Front 84

The diagram below illustrates the orbit of a satellite around Earth. Which letter indicates the location of perigee?

Back 84

C

Front 85

A(n) ____ orbit is one where the orbiting object is always above the same location on Earth's surface.

Back 85

parabolic

Front 86

Which of the following is not an example of conservation of angular momentum?

Back 86

A basketball that spins slower and slower as it spins on your finger.

Front 87

The radius of Earth is 6378 km. The force of gravity on a 1 kg ball at Earth's surface is 9.8 kg m s-2. What is the force of gravity on this same ball when the ball is located 12,756 km from Earth's center?

Back 87

2.45 kg m s-2

Front 88

If the orbital velocity of the moon is 1.0 km/s, what is the orbital velocity of a satellite that is 1/16th as far from Earth as the moon? Hint: There is a long way and a short way to do this calculation. G = 6.67´10-11 N m2 kg-2 and mc016-1.jpg

Back 88

4 km/s

Front 89

What is the escape velocity from the moon for a lunar landing module sitting on the moon's surface? Hints: Ve= square root of (2GM/r); the mass of the moon is 7.2´1022 kg; its radius is 1.738x106 m; G = 6.67´10-11 N m2 kg-2

Back 89

2300 m/s

Front 90

What is the circular velocity of an object orbiting Earth at a distance of 1.0x108 m from Earth's center? G = 6.67´10-11 N m2 kg-2 mc018-1.jpg

Back 90

2000 m/s

Front 91

Tides occur because the gravitational force of the moon on the Earth ____ with increasing distance from the moon.

Back 91

decreases

Front 92

Spring tides occur

Back 92

at new moon and full moon.

Front 93

According to the theory of general relativity, gravity is caused by

Back 93

the curvature of space-time.

Front 94

One of the first tests of the general theory of relativity was

Back 94

the determination of the rate of advance of the perihelion of Mercury's orbit.

Front 95

Due to the curvature of space-time by the sun, light from stars that passes near the edge of the sun will

Back 95

be bent so that the stars appear further from the edge of the sun than if space-time was not curved.

Front 96

The second postulate of special relativity states that

Back 96

the speed of light is constant and will be the same for all observers independent of their motion relative to the light source.

Front 97

How much energy is released if 2 kg of matter is converted into pure energy? Hint: E = mc2 and c = 3.0´108 m/sec

Back 97

1.8´1017 joules

Front 98

If the mass of the Earth decreased by a factor of two with no change in radius, your weight would

Back 98

decrease by a factor of 2

Front 99

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.

Back 99

I & III

Front 100

Since gravity behaves as an inverse square relation the force due to gravity between two masses

Back 100

will decrease as the square of the distance between the two masses increases.

Front 101

Which type of curve would accurately represent a closed orbit?

Back 101

ellipse

Front 102

How often do spring tides occur?

Back 102

Twice a month

Front 103

Granulation is caused by

Back 103

rising gas below the photosphere.

Front 104

In some regions of the corona, the magnetic field does not loop back to the sun, and the gas escapes unimpeded. These regions are called ____ and are believed to be the source of the solar wind.

Back 104

coronal holes

Front 105

Most of the light we see coming from the sun originates in the

Back 105

photosphere.

Front 106

Modern astronomers suspect the corona is heated by

Back 106

the solar magnetic field.

Front 107

Most of the visible light from the sun originates in the photosphere.

Back 107

True

Front 108

The diagram below shows a plot of the temperature of the sun as a function of distance above the bottom of the photosphere. At what distance above the bottom of the photosphere does the temperature of the sun change the most rapidly with distance?

Back 108

2,300 km

Front 109

The ____ is(are) the hot gases that are the moving extension of the sun's corona.

Back 109

solar wind

Front 110

The corona of the sun can be observed

Back 110

with a coronagraph.

Front 111

Most of the energy emitted by the sun is generated in the

Back 111

core.

Front 112

Fusion is promoted in the core of the sun by the ____ there.

Back 112

high temperature and high density

Front 113

Neutrinos are created in reaction in the ____ of the sun.

Back 113

core

Front 114

Sunspots are known to be magnetic phenomena because

Back 114

the Zeeman Effect is observed in sunspots.

Front 115

Sunspots are dark because

Back 115

the strong magnetic field inhibits the currents of hot gas rising from below.

Front 116

The solar constant is a measure of

Back 116

the amount of solar energy reaching the earth.

Front 117

The sunspot cycle affects

I. the latitude at which sunspots are visible at a given time.

II. the number of sunspots that are visible at a given time.

III. the rotation rate of the sun's equator at a given time.

IV. the magnetic polarity of the sunspots at a given time.

Back 117

I, II, & IV

Front 118

The sun's magnetic field is evident in the looped shapes of

Back 118

solar prominences.

Front 119

There is only one form of neutrino.

Back 119

False

Front 120

What evidence supports the contention that other sun-like stars also show a spot cycle much like our sun's sunspot cycle?

Back 120

the variation in the total brightness of sun-like stars

Front 121

The most recent sunspot maximum occurred in 2001. When is the next sunspot maximum expected if the solar cycle continues?

Back 121

2012

Front 122

The variation in the strength of the calcium H and K emission from sun-like stars implies that these stars

Back 122

probably have a magnetic cycle similar to the sun's.

Front 123

A ____ is believed to occur when energy, stored in a twist in the solar magnetic field above a sunspot, is suddenly released.

Back 123

solar flare

Front 124

The United States consumes 2.5´1019 J of energy each year. A typical solar flare releases 5.0´1024 J of energy. How many years could we run the United States on the energy released by this solar flare if all of the released energy could be used?

Back 124

200,000 years

Front 125

What is the explanation for the pattern of granulation seen on the visible surface of the Sun?

Back 125

The granules are the tops of hot gas that have risen from the Sun's convective zone.

Front 126

The element most abundant in the Sun is oxygen.

Back 126

True

Front 127

The gas motions within granules on the solar surface are

Back 127

upward in the bright cell centers and downward around the darker edges.

Front 128

What are the three layers of the Sun's atmosphere, in order of increasing distance from the surface?

Back 128

Photosphere, chromosphere, corona

Front 129

The rotation of the Sun is

Back 129

fastest at the equator, slower at mid-latitudes, and slowest near the poles.

Front 130

Why is the temperature at the region of a sunspot cooler than the photosphere?

Back 130

Powerful magnetic fields inhibit the convective flow of the gases of the photosphere allowing them to cool for longer than would normally be permitted.

Front 131

A filtergram is a photograph of the sun's surface made

Back 131

with only those photons emitted in a specific spectral line.

Front 132

____ occur(s) because photons we receive from the edge of the solar disk are emitted further from the base of the photosphere than the photons we receive from the center of the solar disk.

Back 132

Limb darkening

Front 133

The nebular theory of the origin of the solar system was proposed by

Back 133

Laplace.

Front 134

The passing star mechanism of the origin of the solar system was proposed by

Back 134

Buffon.

Front 135

Why do astronomers believe that the angular momentum problem is no longer an objection to the solar nebula problem?

Back 135

The sun's magnetic field interacted with gas leaving the nebula and slowed the sun's rotation.

Front 136

Which one supports the solar nebula theory of the origin of the solar system?

Back 136

Disks are common around young stars.

Front 137

The oldest rocks found on Earth are about ____ years old.

Back 137

4.4 billion

Front 138

Which of the following is not a characteristic of the terrestrial planets?

Back 138

low average density

Front 139

The age of the solar system is believed to be approximately 4.6 billions years old based on the data from

Back 139

all of the above

Front 140

In observations, ____ has a heavy element core, and a deep atmosphere made mostly of hydrogen.

Back 140

Uranus

Front 141

The condensation sequence suggests that ____ should condense closest to the sun.

Back 141

metals and metal oxides

Front 142

Condensation in the solar nebula probably led to the formation of

Back 142

all of the above

Front 143

Protoplanets of the Jovian planets could have grown very hot from

Back 143

the infall of material at high velocity.

Front 144

The planets all lie in nearly the same plane resulting in a disk-like structure for the solar system. This disk-like structure is believed to exist because

Back 144

the original solar nebulae had a disk-like structure.

Front 145

Which one of the following objects is most like the planetesimals that formed in the solar nebular?

Back 145

asteroids

Front 146

The large planetesimals would have grown faster than the smaller planetesimals because

Back 146

their stronger gravity would pull in more material.

Front 147

Accretion among the grains in the solar nebula would have been aided by

Back 147

static electricity.

Front 148

If a star is found with five planets orbiting it, which of the planets would be expected to have the greatest uncompressed density if the system was formed by a process like that described in the solar nebula theory?

Back 148

the one closest to the star

Front 149

The current atmosphere of Earth is believed to be

Back 149

composed of gases that were baked from the rocks sometime after the planet formed.

Front 150

The discovery that Jovian-like planets are common around other stars and that gas and dust is swept out of the solar neighborhood fairly early in the formation of a star suggests that

Back 150

the Jovians may have formed directly, without the core accretion phase.

Front 151

On a photograph of the moon, the moon measures 30 cm in diameter, and a small crater measures 0.2 cm. The moon's physical diameter is 1738 km. What is the physical diameter of the small crater?

Back 151

about 12 km

Front 152

Once a terrestrial planet had formed from a large number of planetesimals, heat from ____ could have melted it and allowed it to differentiate into a dense metallic core and a lower density crust.

Back 152

radioactive decay

Front 153

A future news release might report that a new planet has been found around a star very similar to our sun. This newly discovered planet is claimed to have a mass 40 times that of Earth and is located nearly 25 AU from the star it orbits. Which of the following would be a reasonable prediction about this planet?

I. The planet will probably have a mean density of around 5 g/cm3.

II. The planet will probably have a radius of around five to ten times greater than Earth's.III. The planet will probably have several satellites.

IV. The planet will probably have a composition that is mostly hydrogen and helium.

Back 153

II, III, & IV

Front 154

Most planets thus far discovered around other stars were found by

Back 154

varying Doppler shifts of the stars.

Front 155

Planets are thought to be forming today in ____ around stars.

Back 155

hot disks

Front 156

What observation made of other stars seems to suggest the solar nebula hypothesis is correct?

Back 156

Young stars are found to have hot disks that surround them.

Front 157

Venus is often called Earth's sister planet because it is similar to the Earth in terms of

Back 157

All of the above.

Front 158

Compared to the terrestrial planets, Jovian planets

Back 158

have a much larger diameter.

Front 159

The asteroid belt is found between which two planets?

Back 159

Mars and Jupiter

Front 160

If the catastrophic theory of the formation of the solar system is correct then we should expect

Back 160

to find a very few number of planetary systems like our own.

Front 161

How is radioactive dating used to determine the age of an object?

Back 161

How is radioactive dating used to determine the age of an object?

Front 162

How is the presence of space debris accounted for by solar system models?

Back 162

Space debris was formed by the collision of objects after the planets formed.