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135 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Both the Sun and Moon subtend an angle of about 1/2 degree on the sky. What is the angular size of the Sun or the Moon measured in arcseconds? [60 arcminutes = 1 degree and 60 arcseconds = 1 arcminute]
a. 3600 arcseconds b. 30 arcseconds c. 1800 arcseconds d. 60 arcseconds |
c. 1800 arcseconds |
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Which of the following best describes the ecliptic? a. All options are correct b. The ecliptic is the line on the sky followed by the sun, moon and planets c. The ecliptic can be thought of as the plane of the solar system viewed from the inside. d. The ecliptic lies at a 23.5 degree angle with respect to the celestial equator |
a. All options are correct
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Which of the following is not one of the subjects in the quadrivium?
b. Geometry c. Psychology d. Music |
c. Psychology |
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Which of the following is not true about Pythagoras? a. He was a vegetarian. b. He is the first person we know of to call himself a philosopher. c. He invented music. |
c. He invented music. |
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All objects in the sky appear to move except for one. Which object is this?
b. Moon c. Milky Way d. Polaris |
d. Polaris |
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What do we believe was the function of the Antikythera Mechanism?
b. It was a model of the Greek universe which was capable of predicting the positions of the sun, planets and stars as well as solar and lunar eclipses to very high precision. c. It was used by aliens to navigate the galaxy but accidentally dropped in the Mediterranean Sea near the island of Antikythera. d. It was a mechanical tool for building unsinkable ships. |
b. It was a model of the Greek universe which was capable of predicting the positions of the sun, planets and stars as well as solar and lunar eclipses to very high precision. |
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There are 3.6 × 10^3 seconds of arc in one degree, written in scientific notation. What is this number written out?
a. 36,000 b. 0.0036 c. 3.6 d. 3,600 |
d. 3,600 |
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The two times of year when the sun crosses the celestial equator are referred to as _____________ .
a. eclipses b. holidays c. equinoxes d. solstices |
c. equinoxes |
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Why did the Babylonians find it so useful to have a system of numbers based on 60? We've inherited this system to help us keep track of time. a. The Babylonians had 60 fingers. b. There are exactly 60 days in one year. c. Pythagoras convinced the Babylonians to worship the number because of its healing properties. d. 60 is divisible by so many numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30 and 60), which helps when dividing up quantities in various ways. |
d. 60 is divisible by so many numbers (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30 and 60), which helps when dividing up quantities in various ways. |
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If the Sun has moved one quarter of the way around the ecliptic, relative to the background stars, about how much time has transpired?
a. 6 hours b. 10 years c. 8 days d. 4 months |
d. 4 months |
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If the earth's axis were tilted by only 10 degrees with respect to its orbital plane around the sun instead of 23.5 degrees, which of the following would be true?
b. Seasons would be less pronounced. c. Seasons would be more pronounced. d. Eclipses would happen less often. |
b. Seasons would be less pronounced |
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If you observe a solar eclipse from earth, what would an astronaut on the moon observe the earth's phase to be?
a. 3rd quarter earth b. full earth c. new earth d. 1st quarter earth
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b. full earth |
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On the evening of April 15, 2014 there was a total lunar eclipse visible from Santa Barbara. What must have been the phase of the moon on April 15?
a. Waxing Gibbous b. Waning Crescent c. Full Moon d. New Moon
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c. Full Moon |
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March 21 in Australia will correspond to which astronomical event?
b. Autumnal Equinox c. Vernal Equinox d. Winter Solstice |
b. Autumnal Equinox |
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How much time does it take the moon to travel one complete cycle around the ecliptic?
b. 1 year c. 1 month d. 1 hour |
c. 1 month |
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Seasons on earth happen due to which of the following?
b. Lengthening and shortening of the distance between the earth and sun c. Merging of the ecliptic and the celestial equator d. All options are correct |
a. Lengthening and shortening of daylight hours and the changing angle of incidence of the sun's light |
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Why has it historically been so difficult to predict the positions of the planets on the night sky?
b. The planets can be seen at any point on the sky. c. All options are correct. d. No planets had ever been viewed until the invention of the telescope.
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a. The planets move a different speeds relative to the background stars and many planets exhibit occasional retrograde motion. |
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Why did Ptolemy advocate for a model of planetary motion using epicycles in addition to the circular planetary orbits?
b. Observations of moons orbiting Jupiter had to be taken into account. c. Epicycles were needed to explain why each of the known planets remained more or less on the ecliptic. d. Epicycles helped him make accurate predictions of planetary positions and provided a simple explanation for retrograde motion. |
d. Epicycles helped him make accurate predictions of planetary positions and provided a simple explanation for retrograde motion. |
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The average distance between the earth and sun is known as an astronomical unit, which is approximately equal to 1.5 x 10^11m in scientific notation. What would this number look like written out?
b. 150 m c. 1,500,000,000,000 m d. 150,000,000,000 m |
d. 150,000,000,000 m |
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Why have calendars been such a nuisance throughout history? a. The orbit of the Earth around the Sun is not exactly divisible by a whole number of rotations of the Earth on its axis. b. The background stars are shifting their positions relative to each other making it difficult to keep track of the year. c. The Earth is spiraling away from the Sun so years get longer and longer over time. d. The Earth's rotation speeds up and slows down depending on the temperature of the surface.
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a. The orbit of the Earth around the Sun is not exactly divisible by a whole number of rotations of the Earth on its axis. |
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Which of the following is NOT true regarding the book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium?
b. The book argued for a model of the universe with the sun at the center. c. Orbits of the planets are still described as circles according to the heliocentric theory. d. Copernicus used the telescope to derive the observational evidence supporting his arguments |
d. Copernicus used the telescope to derive the observational evidence supporting his arguments |
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Galileo was ____________ to provide proof to the inquisition based on measurements of ____________ to show that the Earth was moving through space.
b. unable / parallax c. able / sunspots d. able / parallax |
b. unable / parallax |
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Which of the following observations of the planet Venus by Galileo provided support for a heliocentric model of the solar system?
b. All options are correct. c. Venus appears to go through phases like the Moon. d. Venus can only be seen just before sunrise or just after sunset. |
b. All options are correct. |
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Which of the following people was burned at the stake in Rome due to their heretical beliefs about the universe?
a. Johannes Kepler b. Nicolas Copernicus c. Giordano Bruno d. Galileo Galilei |
c. Giordano Bruno |
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Why did Kepler reject his original theory of planetary motion involving nested spheres inscribed within the 5 perfect solids?
b. It was not a heliocentric theory. c. He was forced to renounce the theory due to pressure from the Catholic church. d. The predictions of the positions of Mars were too far off from actual measurements of Mars. |
d. The predictions of the positions of Mars were too far off from actual measurements of Mars. |
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Which of the following is NOT one of Kepler's laws of planetary motion? a. A line drawn between the Sun and the planet will sweep out equal area in equal time intervals. b. The square of the period of the planet's orbit (measured in years) will be equal to the cube of the semi-major axis of the ellipse followed by the planet (measured in AU's). c. Planets orbit the Sun in an ellipse with the Sun at one focal point. d. Planets are bound to the Sun by the law of gravity, the strength of which decreases the farther away the planet is located from the Sun. |
d. Planets are bound to the Sun by the law of gravity, the strength of which decreases the farther away the planet is located from the Sun. |
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Kepler's second law implies that a planet must be moving faster at ____________ and slower at ____________ in order to keep the area swept out by the line connecting the planet and Sun in a given time interval equal.
b. aphelion / perihelion c. solstices / equinoxes d. perihelion / aphelion
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d. perihelion / aphelion |
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Which of the following best describes the difference between the Ptolemaic and Copernican models for the solar system? a. Copernicus promoted a heliocentric system whereas Ptolemy promoted a geocentric system. b. Ptolemy promoted a heliocentric system whereas Copernicus promoted a geocentric system. c. Copernicus described the motions of the planets as ellipses whereas Ptolemy used only circles. d. Copernicus used epicycles to describe retrograde motion whereas Ptolemy dealt only with circles. |
a. Copernicus promoted a heliocentric system whereas Ptolemy promoted a geocentric system. |
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Why is it impossible to lift yourself up by your own bootstraps?
b. An object exerting a force on itself cannot cause an acceleration. c. The leather straps are simply not strong enough to carry the weight of an adult. d. Only a well-trained acrobat could perform such a feat.
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b. An object exerting a force on itself cannot cause an acceleration. |
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Which of the following is NOT one of Newton's three laws of mechanics? a. If one object pushes on a second object with a given force, the second object pushes on the first with a force of equal magnitude but in the opposing direction. b. An object stays at rest or in straight line motion at constant velocity unless acted upon by an outside force. c. An object moves in a direction corresponding to the internal forces inherent to the nature of the object. d. The acceleration of an object due to the application of an outside force is inversely proportional to the mass of the object.
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c. An object moves in a direction corresponding to the internal forces inherent to the nature of the object. |
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The "rocket wagon" demonstration in lecture demonstrated which of the following?
b. It's possible to accelerate without any external forces. c. If the rocket pushes fuel particles in one direction, the fuel particles push on the rocket with equal force in the opposite direction. d. Rockets don't obey Newton's laws of mechanics.
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c. If the rocket pushes fuel particles in one direction, the fuel particles push on the rocket with equal force in the opposite direction. |
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Which is true regarding Newton's universal law of gravitation?
b. All options are correct. c. If the earth had the same mass but were to orbit the sun at twice the distance, the force of gravity between the earth and sun would have one-quarter the magnitude. d. The constant "G" is a fundamental constant of nature describing the strength of gravity in our universe. |
b. All options are correct. |
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Which of the following is true about an astronaut on the moon?
b. She would experience weightlessness on the moon because of the lack of a lunar atmosphere. c. She would experience a change in mass compared with her mass while standing on the earth. d. No options are correct. |
a. She would experience a change in weight compared with her weight on the earth. |
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Which of the following is NOT one of the "conic sections" corresponding to a potential trajectory of an object under the influence of a strong centralized gravity?
b. regular polygon c. hyperbola d. ellipse |
b. regular polygon |
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Which of the following best describes the mathematical properties of an ellipse?
b. All options are correct. c. A circle is a special type of ellipse with the two foci at the same point. d. The length of the longest distance between two points on an ellipse is known as the major axis. |
b. All options are correct. |
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If the sun is at a distance of 1 AU = 1.5 x 10^11 m from the earth and light from the sun travels at a speed of c = 3 x 10^8 m/s, how many seconds will a photon of the sun's light require to reach the earth? |
b. 500 seconds |
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In class we showed that the earth is orbiting the sun at a speed of 30,000 m/s. The speed of sound in the earth's atmosphere is about 300 m/s. How many times faster is the earth's motion than the speed of sound? a. 1,000
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b. 100 |
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What did Newton conclude from his experiments with light passing through a prism? a. The prism has the property of giving colors to white light.
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b. White light is a mixture of all the colors of the visible part of the spectrum. |
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The Planck formula... a. includes the Planck constant, h, which is an extremely small number
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d. All options are correct. |
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Select the list ordering parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in decreasing (highest to lowest) frequency. a. Gamma, Ultraviolet, Visible, Radio |
a. Gamma, Ultraviolet, Visible, Radio |
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The moon is drifting away from the earth at a rate of about 4 cm/yr. How long will it take for the moon to drift 40 km farther from the earth?
a. 1,000 years
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b. 1,000,000 years |
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When an electron in an atom moves from a higher energy level to a lower energy level... a. a photon will be emitted corresponding to that specific transition.
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a. a photon will be emitted corresponding to that specific transition. |
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Which of the following waves can travel through the vacuum of space?
a. sound waves |
d. light waves |
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Blue light will have a higher ____________ than red light.
a. speed
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d. energy |
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Light with a frequency of 300 MHz (megahertz) will have a wavelength of ____________ and belong to the ____________ part of the electromagnetic spectrum. [Note: you'll need to use the formula to convert frequency to wavelength given in lecture.]
a. 1 mm, microwave
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c. 1 m, radio |
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What might it mean if a terrestrial planet is not covered with craters? a. Geological activity and erosion from atmospheric effects has erased evidence of previous cratering.
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a. Geological activity and erosion from atmospheric effects has erased evidence of previous cratering. |
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Differentiation is a process of separation of planetary material within a planet into layers according to density. Which of the following is a result of differentiation in terrestrial planets? a. All options are correct.
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c. Gravity pulls denser material to the cores of the planets whereas the less dense material rises to the crust. |
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Which of the following is NOT a rover built to study the surface of Mars? a. Spirit
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c. Chance |
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Which is true about Mars's two moons Phobos and Deimos? a. Other than our Moon, these are the only other moons in the inner solar system. b. All options are correct.
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b. All options are correct. |
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Which is true regarding the atmosphere of Venus? a. The surface is so hot that you could melt lead.
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d. All options are correct. |
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If the Earth would have the same mass but twice the volume, what would be the average density of the Earth? a. Unable to determine without seismic wave research.
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c. Half the current density. |
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Which of the following is NOT true regarding the greenhouse effect. a. Without the greenhouse effect the Earth would be about 30 C (or 54 F) cooler than it is now.
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b. There is a current debate about whether or not humans are solely responsible for the Earth's greenhouse effect. |
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Which of the following lists the terrestrial planets in order of largest to smallest?
a. Mercury, Mars, Venus Earth
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c. Earth, Venus, Mars, Mercury |
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Who discovered the planet Uranus?
a. Edwin Hubble b. Johann Bode
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c. William Herschel |
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Would it be possible to land a spacecraft at the surface of a Jovian planet? a. No, because there is no surface, only a gaseous atmosphere which becomes more and more dense as you fall towards the center.
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a. No, because there is no surface, only a gaseous atmosphere which becomes more and more dense as you fall towards the center. |
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Underneath Jupiter's cloud layers is a vast liquid interior made of mostly metallic hydrogen. This material is responsible for which property of Jupiter?
a. The nuclear reactions at Jupiter's core.
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c. Jupiter's formidable magnetosphere. |
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Which of the following expresses the Jovian planets in order from least to most massive? a. Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus
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d. Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Jupiter |
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Which of the following makes Pluto unique among all the Kuiper Belt objects discovered (about a thousand of them) thus far? a. None of the options are correct.
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a. None of the options are correct. |
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The surface gravity on Saturn's moon Titan is 14% of the surface gravity on Earth. How much would an astronaut weigh on Titan who weighs 100 lbs on Earth?
a. 86 lbs
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d. 14 lbs |
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Voyager I is the farthest travelled man-made object in history, currently at a distance of about 1.9 x 10^13 m (and increasing!) from the Sun. What is the distance between Voyager I and the Sun expressed in Astronomical Units? (Recall that 1 AU = 1.5 x 10^11 m) a. 420 AU
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b. 127 AU |
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Which outer solar system moon contains a multitude of lakes thought to be formed by a methane rain from its atmosphere? a. Enceladus
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b. Titan |
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Which of the following makes Pluto unique among all the Kuiper Belt objects discovered (about a thousand of them) thus far? a. Pluto is the only Kuiper Belt object known to have a moon.
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d. None of the options are correct. |
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Which of the following is true regarding the Roche limit? a. All options are correct.
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a. All options are correct. |
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Which is true regarding Saturn's rings?
a. All options are correct b. Saturn has the most prominent rings because it has the strongest magnetic field of all the planets. |
d. Saturn's rings are only about 10 meters thick. |
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Uranus rotates around its axis at a tilt of 98 degrees relative to the plane of its 84-year orbit around the Sun. If you were to stand at the North Pole of Uranus, how much continuous sunlight would you have in a Uranian year? a. 84 years
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d. 42 years |
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Which of the Galilean moons displayed the first account of active volcanism in the solar system outside the Earth?
a. Io
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a. Io |
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In which part of the electromagnetic spectrum does the Sun produce light most intensely? a. infrared
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d. visible |
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Which of the following was NOT an ingredient in the comet we created in class last Friday? a. dry ice |
d. beer |
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Roughly how many Joules of energy would be produced if you converted the entire mass of a 100 kg person, according to E=mc^2?
a. 100 Joules
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b. 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules |
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How does the Sun produce energy? a. Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction, where the temperature remains extremely high in the core due to the increasing pressure from continual collapse of the Sun
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c. nuclear reactions, where the conditions at the core of the Sun are such that Hydrogen atoms fuse together to produce Helium, converting some of the original mass into energy |
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____________ is a nuclear reaction producing energy by converting light elements to heavier elements where ____________ is a nuclear reaction producing energy by converting heavy elements to lighter elements. a. Explosion, detonation
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c. Fusion, fission |
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Hydrostatic equilibrium in the Sun is a balance of the inward pressure from ____________ and the outward pressure from ____________ .
a. sunspots, solar flares
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d. gravity, nuclear reactions |
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What are the units of luminosity? a. Newtons
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d. Watts |
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Wien's Law states that the hotter an object is, the ____________ is the wavelength of maximum intensity.
a. lower energy |
c. shorter |
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Where is the Chicxulub rater located? a. Florida's panhandle
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d. Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico |
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Which of the following best characterizes Hyperion?
a. contains oceans under its surface |
c. highly chaotic rotation |
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Triton is a moon with cryovolanic activity. Which of the following does not erupt from a
a. lava |
a. lava |
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Why is the planet Mercury shrinking?
a. it orbits very close to the sun
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b. the core is cooling from a liquid to a solid |
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Which hypothetical collection of objects is thought to be the origin of comets and lies at the outer boundary of the solar system?
a. Kuiper Belt
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b. Oort Cloud |
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Carbon can be separated from methane in the upper atmosphere of jovian planets by lightning. What happens when this carbon clumps together to form graphite, which falls towards the core of the planet under extreme pressure?
a. magnetic storms |
b. diamond hail |
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Star A exhibits a parallax angle of 0.1 arcseconds and star B exhibits a parallax angle of 0.01 arcseconds. What can you conclude from this information?
a. Star A is 100 parsecs away whereas star B is 10 parsecs away.
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c. Star A is 10 parsecs away whereas star B is 100 parsecs away. |
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Star A appears red and star B appears blue. What can you conclude? a. Star A must be farther away than star B.
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d. Star A must have a lower surface temperature than star B. |
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What is a parsec?
a. An abbreviation for a "parallax arcsecond".
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c. All options are correct. |
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In which part of the electromagnetic spectrum does the Sun produce light most intensely?
a. visible d. all wavelengths
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a. visible |
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A black body curve can be used to show how a star with a surface temperature of 12,000 K will appear ___________ while a star with a surface temperature of only 3,000 K will appear ____________ . a. white, yellow
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c. blue, red |
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Roughly how many Joules of energy would be produced if you converted the entire mass of a 100 kg person, according to E=mc^2? a. 0 Joules
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d. 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 Joules |
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70% of the mass of the Sun is comprised of which element? a. Carbon
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c. Hydrogen |
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What is the surface temperature of our Sun? a. 12,000 K
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c. 5,800 K |
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Which country is responsible for creating the largest artificial explosion in human history, a hydrogen bomb with a yield of 50 million tons of TNT? a. China |
b. Soviet Union |
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Which of the following quantities from the Sun is actually measured by astronomers? a. temperature of the solar surface |
c. the amount of the Sun's energy hitting a square meter detector every second (solar flux) |
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Which type of star will spend the shortest amount of time on the main-sequence, converting H to He in its core? a. high-mass blue stars
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a. high-mass blue stars |
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A star is found whose luminosity and surface temperature put it in the upper right corner of an H-R diagram. What can you conclude? a. the star has a large radius
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a. the star has a large radius |
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Star A and B both have the same luminosity. Star A is three times closer to an observer than star B. What can you conclude? a. Star A will be three times hotter than star B.
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c. Star A will appear nine times brighter than star B. |
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Where are the largest stars found on the H-R diagram?
a. all along the right side where all the red stars are located c. along the left side where there is the highest surface temperature
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d. towards the top, especially the upper right |
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Which type of star has a main-sequence lifetime longer than the current age of the universe? a. white dwarf
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d. red dwarf |
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What types of stars are found on the portion of the H-R diagram running from the upper left to the lower right? a. main-sequence stars, converting H to He in their cores |
a. main-sequence stars, converting H to He in their cores |
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Which of the following is an observed property of a star? a. luminosity |
d. brightness |
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Star A appears red and star B appears blue. What can you conclude?
a. Star A must have a lower surface temperature than star B.
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a. Star A must have a lower surface temperature than star B. |
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Which of the following objects is a star? a. an astronomical object with a surface temperature and a color |
b. an large gaseous object whose core has sufficient gravitational pressure to fuse atoms together |
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At which stage on the H-R diagram does a star spend the majority of its life? a. along the main sequence |
a. along the main sequence |
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In the year 1054 AD Chinese astronomers noted the observation of a "new star" in the constellation Taurus the Bull. Astronomers in the 20th century looked in the same region of the sky and noticed flashes of x-ray and gamma-ray radiation apparently due a. birth of a star, hot accretion disk |
c. supernova, neutron star |
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What will be the fate our our Sun after it leaves the main sequence? a. first a red giant and eventually a white dwarf |
a. first a red giant and eventually a white dwarf |
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According to Einstein's theory of general relativity, a clock under a strong gravitational field will appear to tick ____________ than a clock under a weak gravitational field. a. more irregularly |
b. slower |
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Over the course of a star's lifetime...
a. it can only move towards the top of an H-R diagram. |
b. it will spend most of the time on the main sequence of the H-R diagram. |
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When are most of the heavy elements in the periodic table created? a. during the advanced fusion processes of red giant stars |
d. in the violent explosions of massive stars |
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Which quantity determines the complete evolution of a star, from how long it will spend on the main sequence to its eventual fate after nuclear fusion is finished.
a. initial mass |
a. initial mass |
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Based on Einstein's theory of special relativity, and verified by experiments, a clock moving relative to a stationary observer will actually tick ____________ . a. slower |
a. slower |
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A "planetary nebula" is observed by an astronomer, which is a shell of diffuse gas ejected from the envelope of a red giant star. Which type of spectral features would be observed in a planetary nebula? a. absorption lines |
c. emission lines |
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Einstein asked what it would be like to ride along with a photon at the speed of light. After developing his theory or relativity what would be his answer? a. an observer not traveling at the speed of light would conclude that you wouldn't experience the passage of time |
d. all options are correct |
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Which of the following objects generates energy by nuclear fusion? a. red dwarf |
a. red dwarf |
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Which stellar remnant has a mass of slightly more than our Sun and a size roughly that of the Earth? a. neutron star |
b. white dwarf |
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The magnitude scale originated with Hipparchus who made a catalog of all the stars he could see, ranging on a scale between 1 and 6. What is the difference in brightness between a magnitude 1 star and a magnitude 6 star? a. 2.5 |
b. 100 |
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Object A has an apparent magnitude of -1.3 and object B has an apparent magnitude of 18. Which object will appear brighter on the sky? a. A |
a. A |
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Which of the following is true about time travel?
a. Time travel is impossible and will always be impossible. |
b. It is necessary to travel forward in time (if you have mass) but you can change how quickly time will tick relative to another reference frame. |
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If you travelled along at 60% the speed of light relative to a stationary observer, how much longer one tick on your clock take than on a stationary clock? a. 0.8 times |
b. 1.25 times |
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What is dark matter? a. 75% of the energy in the universe which causes space to expand for some unknown reason |
d. a new type of matter whose effects can be seen gravitationally but the light from which remains undetected
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Two two main categories of dark matter candidates are WIMPs and MaCHOs. What do each of these stand for, respectively? a. a weak and cowardly or unadventurous person, a man who is aggressively proud of his masculinity
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d. weakly interacting massive particles, massive compact halo objects
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About how far away is the Sun from the center of the Milky Way? a. 30 kiloparsecs
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b. 8 kiloparsecs |
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In class we estimated values for the Drake equation in order to get a sense of ...
a. how many communicating alien civilizations may be out there. |
a. how many communicating alien civilizations may be out there. |
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Olbers's paradox states that since the night sky is relatively dark ...
a. the universe cannot be infinite in both space and time.
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a. the universe cannot be infinite in both space and time. |
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If any object is moving towards you the light emitted from that object will appear to have a ____________ wavelength.
a. shorter
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a. shorter |
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The singularity of black hole is best described as ...
a. the point where material inside a black hole gets sent to another universe |
d. a point where the mathematical equations used to describe black holes gives infinite answers, which are hard to explain physically
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Using the orbital mechanics of stars around the very center of our Milky Way and Newton's form of Kepler's 3rd Law, astronomers have concluded that there must be a supermassive black hole there with a mass of ...
a. four million times the mass of our Sun.
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a. four million times the mass of our Sun. |
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The first large dataset of exoplanets showed that most of the exoplanets were at least the size of Jupiter and orbiting within 1AU of their stars. Why was this the case?
a. All options are correct.
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a. All options are correct.
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Which of the following techniques for finding exoplanets have been most successful; i.e., found the most planets?
a. light curve dimming due to planet transit across star
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a. light curve dimming due to planet transit across star
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What is the cosmic microwave background?
a. the best model for an explanation of dark energy b. the background temperature of the universe due to all the stars in all the galaxies c. the radiation leaked away from Earth into space, which might be detected by alien civilizaions d. the leftover heat or radiation from the Big Bang, currently at a temperature of about 3 K
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d. the leftover heat or radiation from the Big Bang, currently at a temperature of about 3 K
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What is dark energy?
a. 75% of the energy in the universe which causes space to expand for some unknown reason b. a new type of matter whose effects can be seen gravitationally but the light from which remains undetected c. the term for the mysterious sucking mechanism around black holes d. the force keeping a nucleus bound together even though there are only positive or neutral charges there
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a. 75% of the energy in the universe which causes space to expand for some unknown reason
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Before the discovery of dark energy it was thought that the only force able to slow down the expansion of the universe was the mutual gravitational attraction of all the matter in the universe. If there would be enough mass created during the big bang to overcome the initial energy of expansion, what would be the fate of such a universe?
a. an asymptotically stable universe b. a big crunch c. a universe expanding forever d. a big rip
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b. a big crunch
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Which of the following best gives the value of the Hubble constant, H0?
a. 13.7 km/s/Mpc b. 500 km/s/Mpc c. 0.0029 km/s/Mpc d. 70 km/s/Mpc
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d. 70 km/s/Mpc
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If any object is moving towards you the light emitted from that object will appear to have a ____________ wavelength.
a. faster b. longer c. slower d. shorter
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d. shorter
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Hubble's measurements of the redshifts and distances from galaxies lead him to conclude ...
a. the farther away a galaxy is from another the faster they are moving apart b. all galaxies will eventually collide with our Milky Way c. the Milky Way is unique in that all galaxies seem to be moving away from it d. all of the above
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a. the farther away a galaxy is from another the faster they are moving apart
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Which type of supernova always explodes with the same luminosity and thus was used as a "standard candle" for measuring extremely large distances?
a. type 2-P b. type 1b c. type 2b d. type 1a
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d. type 1a
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Which of the following expressions is a way to calculate the age of the universe from the Hubble constant, H?
a. t=1/(2H) b. t=2H c. t=1/H d. t=H
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c. t=1/H
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Which is true regarding cepheid variable stars?
a. They can be used as a standard candle since the observed pulsation period tells us the luminosity of the star. b. There is a direct correlation between the pulsation period of the star and the luminosity. c. They are so hot that they oscillate between two luminosities as the outer layers are pushed away and then fall back onto the star. d. All of the above.
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d. All of the above.
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The Roman poet Lucretius provides us with the earliest, if not the first, use of the word universe in "On the Nature of Things". Which of the following is true regarding his concept of the universe?
a. The word comes from the original Latin language. b. The phrase translates literally to "everything turned into one". c. All options are correct. d. The "unvorsum" is past tense and passive voice, leaving an ambiguity whether the action has been performed by man or by a higher power.
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c. All options are correct.
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