Abeka 8th Grade Science Test 10

Short period

A comet that takes 150 years to complete one orbit is a ? comet.

asterism

A group of stars that are used to form a picture or represent an object is a ?

circumpolar

A star that is always above the horizon at a particular latitude is said to be ? at that latitude.

Quasar

A star-like object believed to be made up of a large black hole surrounded by a glowing ring of gas is a (n) ?

geocentric

Aristotle taught a(n)_? view of the universe.

Because of the sun's gravity, the planets would begin to orbit the sun.

Based on what we now know about the cause of planet orbits, why would it be impossible for the sun, moon, and all the planets to orbit the earth?

Halley's comet is, on average, closer to the sun than Uranus is because objects with closer average distance to the sun orbit more quickly.

Halley's comet completes one orbit in about 76 Earth years. Uranus requires about 84 Earth years to complete one orbit. Based on this information, which of the following statments must be true?

five

How many planets were known to ancient astronomers?

angle at the star

If a right triangle were drawn with the sun, the earth, and a star at the corners, as shown below, which angle would represent the stellar parallax?

no. because a solar eclipse can occur only during a new moon

Jesus was crucified around the day of Passover, which falls on a full moon. Matthew 27:45 records that during the Crucifixion there was darkness for three hours in the afternoon. From a scientific point of view, could this darkness have been caused by an eclipse? Why or why not?

nebulae

Spiral and irregular galaxies commonly contain large clouds of gas and dust called ?.

asteroids.

The Hertzsprung-Russell diagram is used for classifying ?

angle

The distance between two objects on the celestial sphere is measured as a(n)?.

Tharsis Bulge.

The largest known mountain in the solar system is ?

Jupiter.

The largest planet in our solar system is?

Neptune

The only planet to be discovered mathematically before it was seen is

waxing gibbous

The phase in which the moon has a bulging shape and is growing larger is called_?.

inner

The planets closest to the sun are the ? Planets

Trojan

The two groups of asteroids that travel in Jupiter's orbit are called? asteroids.

shepherd moon

What are moons that help keep a planet's rings in place called?

rays

What are the light-colored streaks surrounding a lunar crater called?

light year

What astronomical distance measurement is based directly on the speed of light?

Cepheus

What constellation contains the star Alderamin?

Orion

What constellation is pictured below?

movement of sunspots

What evidence indicates that the sun is spinning?

nebular hypothesis

What evolutionary idea claims that the solar system formed from a cloud of gas and dust?

solid disk

What feature of lenticular galaxies can help distinguish them from spiral galaxies?

Orbital speed decreases

What happens to Earth's orbital speed when Earth approaches aphelion?

Phoebe

What is Saturn's outermost major moon, which orbits in the opposite direction of most other moons?

meteorite

What is a chunk of space debris that has reached Earth's surface?

open cluster

What is a loose, asymmetrical clump that contains tens, hundreds, or thousands of stars?

pulsar

What is a rapidly rotating neutron star that emits directional beams of radio waves?

meteoroid stream

What is a trail of space debris left by a comet?

bolide

What is an extremely bright meteor that explodes in midair called?

black hole

What is an object so massive and dense that not even light can escape its gravity?

Vega

What is the brightest summer star?

nucleus

What is the central portion of a comet called?

zodiac

What is the imaginary band in the sky containing the moon and planets?

It is near objects not controlled by its gravity

What is the main reason that Pluto is no longer considered a planet but is instead considered a dwarf planet?

Venus

What is the only planet that takes longer to rotate on its axis than to orbit the sun?

corona

What is the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere called?

temperature

What is the primary factor that determines the brightness of average stars in the main sequence?

cluster

What is the smallest type of structure formed by a group of galaxies?

photosphere

What is the visible part of the sun?

period

What other property of a planet's orbit does Kepler's third law relate to the planet's average distance from the sun?

Polaris

What star is located at the north celestial pole?

vacuum

What term describes the composition of interplanetary space?

retrograde

What term refers to the "backward" rotation of a planet on axis?

annular (solar eclipse)

What type of partial eclipse occurs when the moon is too small to cover the sun entirely, leaving a ring of light around the moon?

Globular cluster

What type of star group travels outside the boundaries of the Milky Way in an unusual orbit around the Galaxies center?

red dwarf

What type of star is cool, small, and dim?

apparent magnitude

What value represents the brightness of a star as viewed from Earth?

Ceres

What was the first object to be classified as an asteroid?

Sagittarius

Which constellation contains the Teapot asterism?

Io

Which of Jupiter's moons is the most volcanically active body in the solar system?

Phobos

Which of Mars's two moons orbits closer to the planet and more quickly?

Triton

Which of Neptune's satellites experiences the coldest known temperatures in the solar system?

Both have a "backward" rotation.

Which of the following characteristics do Uranus and Venus have in common?

Sirius

Which of the following stars can be found by tracing a line from Orion's belt?

Altair

Which of the following stars is part of the Summer Triangle?

Asteroids are made of metal or rock.

Which of the following statements best explains the difference between an asteroid and a comet?

The celestial sphere represents the view from Earth.

Which of the following statements best explains why the celestial sphere is useful to astronomers?

Mercury

Which planet travels most rapidly through its orbit?

It releases ultraviolet radiation

Why can the sun's transition region be studied only using space-based solar observations?

Nicolaus Copernicus

tWhich scientist proposed a system in which Earth and all other planets orbit the sun?