AST 115 Exam 1

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How far from Earth is the Moon?

1 light second

Approximately, what is the age of the Universe?

14 billion years

How long does it take our solar system to complete one orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy?

230 million years

How many arcseconds are in one degree?

3,600

How far from Earth is the nearest star besides the Sun?

4.2 light years

Approximately, what is the age of the Earth?

4.5 billion years

How many arcminutes are in one degree?

60

How many arcseconds are in one arcminute?

60

If your mass is 60 kg on Earth, what would your mass be on the Moon?

60 kg

If traveling at the speed of light, approximately how far could you travel in one second?

7 times around the earth

How far from Earth is the Sun?

8.3 light minutes

On the scale of the cosmic calendar, in which the history of the universe is compressed to 1 year, how long has human civilization (i.e., since ancient Egypt) existed?

A few seconds

Which of the following statements about scientific models is true?

A model can be used to explain and predict real phenomena

Kepler's second law, which states that as a planet moves around its orbit it sweeps out equal areas in equal times, means that

A planet travels faster when it is nearer to the Sun and slower when it is farther from the Sun

On a scale where the Sun is about the size of a grapefruit and the Earth is about 10 meters away, how far away are the nearest stars besides the Sun?

About the distance across the United States

What causes the apparent retrograde motion of the planets?

As Earth passes another planet, the other planet appears to move backward with respect to the background stars, but the planet's motion does not really change

How did Eratosthenes estimate the size of Earth in 240 B.C.?

By comparing the maximum altitude of the Sun in two cities at different latitudes

Gasoline is useful in cars because it has

Chemical potential energy

The controversial book of this famous person, published in 1543 (the year of his death), suggested that Earth and other planets orbit the Sun.

Copernicus

If the sun is a grapefruit (10cm), what is the size and distance of Earth?

Earth is a poppy seed about 10 meters away.

In which direction does a quarter moon rise?

East

A solar eclipse occurs only when the Moon is new.

False

Columbus was the first person to discover that Earth is round.

False

Earth is always precisely 1 AU from the Sun.

False

Kepler deduced his laws of planetary motion once Newton had published his universal law of gravitation.

False

The Moon and Sun are approximately the same physical size.

False

The Ptolemaic model of the solar system was useless for predicting planetary positions.

False

The solar system contains about 250 billion stars.

False

There is no gravity in space.

False

When energy is converted from one form to another, a tiny amount is inevitably lost.

False

If the Moon is setting at 6 A.M., the phase of the Moon must be

Full

When we see Venus in its full phase, what phase would Earth be in as seen by a hypothetical Venetian?

Full

Galileo observed which of the following phases of Venus?

Full, crescent, new, gibbous

He discovered that Jupiter has moons.

Galileo

One of the "nails in the coffin" for the Earth-centered universe was

Galileo's observations of the moons of Jupiter

Which of the following is not a phase of the Moon?

Half moon

How does the Space Shuttle take off?

Hot gas shoots out from the rocket and, by conservation of momentum, the shuttle moves in the opposite direction

The principle of Occam's Razor states that

In explaining natural phenomena, the simplest explanation consistent with the observations is to be preferred

On a cosmic calendar, in which the history of the universe is compressed into 1 year, when did the dinosaurs become extinct?

In late December

What makes the North Star, Polaris, special?

It appears very near the north celestial pole.

He discovered that the orbits of planets are ellipses.

Kepler

The ultimate source of energy that powers the Sun is

Mass energy of hydrogen fusing into helium

The mass of Jupiter can be calculated by

Measuring the orbital period and distance from Jupiter of one of Jupiter's moons

At approximately what time would a full moon be on your meridian?

Midnight

In the Ptolemaic model of the solar system, Venus should exhibit which of the following phases?

New and crescent

The fact that Voyager 10 continues to speed out of the solar system, even though its rockets have no fuel, is an example of

Newton's First Law of Motion

Has Polaris always been the "North Star"?

No, because the Earth's axis slowly changes the direction it points

You are standing on Earth's equator. Which way is Polaris, the North star?

On the Northern horizon

Which of the following statements about the Milky Way Galaxy is not true? Our solar system is located very close to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. One rotation of the galaxy takes about 200 million years. The galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter. It contains between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars.

Our solar system is located very close to the center of the Milky Way Galaxy.

He developed a system for predicting planetary positions that remained in use for some 1,500 years.

Ptolemy

How many galaxies are there in the observable universe?

Roughly (within a factor of 10) the same as the number of stars in our galaxy)

Which of the following is largest? size of Pluto's orbit size of a typical galaxy 1 light-year distance to the nearest star (other than our Sun)

Size of a typical galaxy

Which of the following is smallest? 1 AU 1 light-second size of a typical star size of a typical planet

Size of a typical planet

If you see Polaris directly overhead at midnight, you must be at

The North Pole

Why is it summer in the Northern Hemisphere when it is winter in the Southern Hemisphere?

The Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun and receives more direct sunlight

The tides on Earth are an example of

The Universal Law of Gravitation

An astronomical unit (AU) is

The average distance between Earth and the Sun

Which of the following is the reason for the solar day being longer than a sidereal day?

The combined effect of the rotation of Earth and its orbit about the Sun

The Earth is instantly replaced in its orbit by a speck of dust. Which statement best describes the subsequent orbital motion of that piece of dust?

The dust particle will continue in the same orbit as the Earth did, orbiting the Sun in 1 year

You are standing on a scale in an elevator. Suddenly you notice your weight decreases. What do you conclude?

The elevator is accelerating downwards

Where does the energy come from that your body uses to keep you alive?

The foods you eat

Orion is visible on winter evenings but not summer evenings because of

The location of Earth in its orbit

In addition to the conditions required for any solar eclipse, what must also be true in order for you to observe a total solar eclipse?

The moon's umbra must touch the area where you are located

What conditions are required for a lunar eclipse?

The phase of the Moon must be full, and the nodes of the Moon's orbit must be nearly aligned with Earth and the Sun

What conditions are required for a solar eclipse?

The phase of the Moon must be new, and the nodes of the Moon's orbit must be nearly aligned with Earth and the Sun

What is the ecliptic plane?

The plane of Earth's orbit around the Sun

What happens during the apparent retrograde motion of a planet?

The planet appears to move eastward with respect to the stars over a period of many nights

0 degrees Kelvin is

The temperature at which all random particle motion stops

If the Moon is rising at midnight, the phase of the Moon must be

Third-quarter

Why did Ptolemy have the planets orbiting Earth on "circles upon circles" in his model of the universe?

To explain the fact that planets sometimes appear to move westward, rather than eastward, relative to the stars in our sky

A lunar eclipse occurs only when the Moon is new.

True

One light-year is about 10 trillion kilometers.

True

The Moon and the Sun are approximately the same angular size.

True

The Moon is constantly falling toward Earth.

True

The solar system is a member of a galaxy containing approximately 250 billion stars.

True

Which of the following critical features of the heliocentric model leads to Venus exhibiting a full range of phases?

Venus passes on the far-side of the sun from the Earth's perspective

The total number of stars in the observable universe is about

the same as the number of grains of sand on all the beaches on Earth


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