Astronomy Test #1

Front 1

The Milky Way Galaxy is

Back 1

a disk-shaped collection of more than 100billion stars, including the Sun.

Front 2

Which of the following has the various objectslisted in order from smallest to largest?

Back 2

the solar system; the Milky Way; the Local Group

Front 3

Most of the material that makes up Earth andall life on Earth, including humans, was formed

Back 3

inside stars that died before Earth formed.

Front 4

When we look at the most distant observableobjects in the universe, we see them

Back 4

as they were about 14 billion years ago

Front 5

What is the observable universe?

Back 5

everything out to a distance of about 14 billionlight-years from Earth

Front 6

Which of the following has astronomicaldistances listed in order from smallest tolargest?

Back 6

1 AU, the size of the solar system, 1 light-year

Front 7

Which of the following distances isapproximately equal to the distance from theSun to Earth?

Back 7

8 light minutes

Front 8

The International Astronomical Union does notclassify Pluto as a planet because

Back 8

it has not cleared its orbital neighborhood ofother objects

Front 9

The distance to the nearest star to the Sun is

Back 9

about 4 light-years

Front 10

The diameter of the Milky Way is about

Back 10

100,000 light-years

Front 11

If the Sun were reduced to the size of agrapefruit, Earth on the same scale would be

Back 11

the size of the tip of a ballpoint pen, about 15meters away from the Sun

Front 12

If the age of the universe were compressed toone year, with the Big Bang on January 1,about when did the solar system form?

Back 12

in September

Front 13

If the age of the universe were compressed toone year, with the Big Bang on January 1,about when did the Milky Way Galaxy form

Back 13

in February

Front 14

If you could count all the stars in the Milky WayGalaxy at a rate of one star per second, itwould take

Back 14

about 3000 years

Front 15

Which of the following ranks your differentastronomical motions from slowest to fastest?

Back 15

rotation of Earth; motion of Earth around the Sun;motion of the Sun around the center of the Milky Way

Front 16

Your speed due to Earth's rotation is

Back 16

about 1,000 km/hour

Front 17

Ever since the Big Bang

Back 17

space has continued to expand with clusters of galaxiesmoving away from each other, but stars remaining ingalaxies and galaxies remaining in clusters

Front 18

The Sun completes one revolution of the MilkyWay galaxy every

Back 18

230,000,000 years

Front 19

Earth's axis of rotation is tilted about 23.5degrees relative to

Back 19

the axis of its orbit around the Sun

Front 20

Which of the following astronomical endeavorshas not affected human history

Back 20

All of the above have affected human history

Front 21

The ecliptic is

Back 21

the path of the Sun on the celestial sphere AND the projection of Earth's orbit onto the celestialsphere

Front 22

The meridian is

Back 22

the boundary between the eastern and westernhalves of your local sky

Front 23

All of the following are points on your local sky.Which one does not move on the celestialsphere over the course of a day?

Back 23

the north celestial pole

Front 24

If the Sun and a constellation are at the samelocation in your local sky, then that constellationis

Back 24

visible at a different time of year AND part of the zodiac

Front 25

A star near the north celestial pole, observedfrom the northern hemisphere

Back 25

will never rise or set AND is called a circumpolar star

Front 26

In order to see all of the celestial sphere atnight, one must

Back 26

observe from different longitudes

Front 27

On the (northern) spring equinox the Sun

Back 27

all of the above

Front 28

The Sun is at its most southern position on thecelestial sphere

Back 28

on the winter solstice (December 21)

Front 29

If you are at a latitude of 23.5 degrees north,when will the Sun be directly overhead?

Back 29

at noon on the summer solstice (June 21)

Front 30

Which lists the various motions of Earth inincreasing order of the period (duration) of themotion

Back 30

rotation, revolution, precession

Front 31

Which of the following is not changed by theprecession of Earth's axis?

Back 31

the location of the North Celestial Pole in yourlocal sky

Front 32

When the phase of the Moon is full

Back 32

the Moon and Sun are on opposite sides of Earth.

Front 33

When the phase of the Moon is gibbous

Back 33

more than half of the visible face of the Moon isilluminated AND the Moon is closer to Full Moon than to New Moon

Front 34

What time does the first quarter moon rise?

Back 34

noon

Front 35

When the Moon passes through Earth's shadow,this is called

Back 35

a lunar eclipse

Front 36

Which of the following results in an annularsolar eclipse?

Back 36

Earth passes behind the Moon's umbra

Front 37

Lunar eclipses do not occur every monthbecause

Back 37

the orbit of the Moon is tilted relative to theecliptic.

Front 38

The Saros cycle describes

Back 38

the 18+ year cycle of lunar and solar eclipses.

Front 39

What causes the apparent retrograde motion ofMars?

Back 39

When Earth passes Mars it appears to change itsmotion relative to the background stars.

Front 40

Stellar parallax is

Back 40

the changing position of nearby stars comparedto background stars as Earth orbits the Sun.

Front 41

Scientific thinking is

Back 41

all of the above

Front 42

Which of the following is not an example ofmeasurements of ancient astronomers?

Back 42

All of the above were measurements made byancient astronomers.

Front 43

Which is longer, a solar year or a lunar year?

Back 43

A solar year, because a lunar year is 12 lunar monthsthat are 29–30 days long each, for a total of 354–355days

Front 44

What does the 19-year Metonic cycle describe?

Back 44

the time it takes for phases of the Moon to repeat on thesame dates

Front 45

How did Ptolemy's model differ from Aristotle'smodel of the universe?

Back 45

Ptolemy's model had the planets moving in smaller circlesattached to the larger spheres.

Front 46

How was the great library of Alexandriadestroyed?

Back 46

It was destroyed deliberately by people in the 5th centuryA.D.

Front 47

Why didn't scientific thinkers immediatelyaccept the Copernican model of the solarsystem?

Back 47

B and D

Front 48

Who observed a nova in 1572, showing thatthere could be changes in the realm of theheavens?

Back 48

Tycho Brahe

Front 49

Which of the following is not a contributionmade by Tycho Brahe to the CopernicanRevolution?

Back 49

He measured the parallax of stars, showing that the Earthorbits the Sun.

Front 50

Which of the following is not one of Kepler'slaws of planetary motion?

Back 50

The rotation of a planet is always aligned with itsorbital motion around the Sun.

Front 51

Which of the following parts of an ellipse is ameasure of its shape?

Back 51

the eccentricity

Front 52

Which of the following was not an observationmade by Galileo supporting the Sun-centeredmodel?

Back 52

He measured the parallax of a comet.

Front 53

A scientific model

Back 53

uses math and logic to describe and predict thebehavior of a real-world system.

Front 54

The concept of a scientific model comes from

Back 54

Greek philosophers.

Front 55

If an experiment or observation contradicts ascientific theory, then

Back 55

the theory must be revised to account for the newdata, or discarded.

Front 56

Which of the following is not a hallmark ofscience?

Back 56

A scientific theory is built on logic and common sense toexplain observed phenomena.

Front 57

Which of the following is an astrologicalprediction?

Back 57

When Saturn enters a particular constellation, theweather will improve.

Front 58

Astrology is

Back 58

not a scientific enterprise because it does not maketestable predictions.

Front 59

Which of the following is not changing forsomeone driving a car in a circle at 30 milesper hour?

Back 59

acceleration

Front 60

What does a force acting on an object do to thatobject's motion?

Back 60

A force changes an object's momentum.

Front 61

Space Station astronauts are weightless because

Back 61

their acceleration is equal to the accelerationdue to gravity.

Front 62

If you take off in a rocket accelerating upward

Back 62

your weight increases and your mass stays thesame.

Front 63

Which of the following was Newton's insightabout gravity?

Back 63

It is responsible for the motion of the Moonaround Earth.

Front 64

Newton's second law of motion states that

Back 64

the acceleration of an object is equal to the force actingon it divided by its mass.

Front 65

All of Newton's laws of motion express theconcept that

Back 65

a force (and only a force) always changes themomentum of an object.

Front 66

Which of the following describes how a rockettakes off?

Back 66

The backward momentum of the rocket exhaust iscanceled by the forward momentum of the rocket.

Front 67

When two objects collide

Back 67

all of the above

Front 68

What is required to change an object's angularmomentum?

Back 68

a twisting force

Front 69

The energy of Earth's rotation is an example of

Back 69

kinetic energy

Front 70

When a ball is dropped, some of the ball'senergy changes from

Back 70

gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy

Front 71

Which of the following processes violates aconservation law?

Back 71

An object orbiting the Sun and affected only by the Sun'sgravity spirals into the Sun

Front 72

How does the force of gravity between twoobjects depend on the distance between theobjects?

Back 72

It increases in proportion to 1/distance squared.

Front 73

What happens to the energy of an object whileit follows an unbound orbit around the Sun?

Back 73

The total remains constant while gravitational potentialenergy is converted to kinetic energy as it approachesthe Sun.

Front 74

The masses of orbiting objects can bedetermined from

Back 74

Newton's version of Kepler's third law.

Front 75

Objects on bound orbits

Back 75

all of the above

Front 76

The Moon always keeps the same face towardEarth because

Back 76

friction due to tides slowed the rotation of the Moon untilit reached the point where it always keeps the same facetoward Earth.

Front 77

Tidal forces from the Moon and Sun add up tomake larger tides on Earth when the Moon is

Back 77

new and full.

Front 78

The acceleration due to gravity of an object onthe surface of Earth depends on

Back 78

the radius of Earth and the mass of Earth.