AST1033 Practice Test 1 (for "Learn" on Quizlet
69. The official name of the dwarf planet recently discovered to be larger than Pluto and about twice as far from the Sun is _____.
UB 313
66. The various forms of electromagnetic radiation in order of highest to lowest energy are gamma rays, X-rays, _____, visible, infrared, and radio.
Ultra violet
Annual motions move in what direction?
West to East
21. In science, a broad idea that has been repeatedly verified so as to give scientists great confidence that it represents reality is called:
(A. ) a theory.
9. Under the new definition of a Planet issued by the IAU, the reason that Pluto was demoted to Dwarf Planet status was because:
(A. )(It has )not cleared its orbit
19. How did the Ptolemaic model explain the apparent retrograde motion of the planets?
(A. )(The planets moved along )small circles that moved on larger circles (around the Earth.)
2. When we look at an object that is 1,000 light-years away, we see it:
(A. )(as it was )1,000 years ago.
14. You are standing at the Earth's North Pole. Which direction is Polaris, the North Star?
(A. )Nearly overhead.
8. An annular eclipse is:
(A. )a solar eclipse that looks like a ring of light
5. When did humans learn (by a consistent model) that the Earth is not at the center of the universe?
(B. ) (Within the past )600 years.
31. The first major observation that supported the heliocentric model of the solar system and contradicted the geocentric model was:
(B. ) (the) retrograde motion (of the planets.)
23. What is accuracy a measure of?
(B. ) The repeatability of a measurement.
6. Seasons on the earth are caused by:
(B. ) the tilt of the earth's( rotation) axis (with respect to its orbit.)
17. What happens during the apparent retrograde motion of a planet?
(B. )(The planet appears to move )westward (with respect to the stars over a period of many nights.)
28. The wavelength of a wave is:
(C. ) (The) distance between two adjacent peaks( of the wave.)
4. At the summer solstice in San Antonio, the Sun sets:
(C. ) (at its )northern-most point( on the ) west(ern horizon.)
24. What does escape velocity measure?
(C. ) How fast an object (needs to go to) escape (a planet's) gravity.
18. _____ is when a planet is directly between the Earth and Sun.
(C. ) Inferior conjunction
30. Hot, solid objects:
(C. ) the hotter they are, the redder they are.
3. The cause of the diurnal motion of the stars is the:
(C. )Earth's rotation about its axis.
13. Where will a superior planet in retrograde motion rise?
(C. )In the east (just like everything else in the sky).
22. Occam's Razor states that a scientific theory should:
(D. ) (have a )minimum number of arbitrary assumptions.
20. The names of the seven days of the week are based on:
(D. ) (the most important )Norse gods.
15. If the Moon is rising at about 7 am, the phase of the Moon must be:
(D. ) New (or nearly new)
34. The Chandra X-ray Observatory must operate in space because:
(D. ) X-rays do not penetrate Earth's atmosphere.
32. The wavelengths of spectral linD. es emitted from a star that is moving towards us are:
(D. ) blue-shifted (toward shorter wavelengths.)
25. If you were designing a pair of glasses to see animals at night, you would want the glasses to convert:
(D. ) infrared (photons) to optical (visible) (photons).
1. What is the ecliptic plane?
(D. )(The )plane of the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
11. Planets usually move with respect to the background stars:
(D. )(in a slow )eastward (motion.)
10. The highest point on the sky is called the _____:
(D. )zenith.
7. If you counted one number every second, how long would it take you to count to one trillion?
(E. ) (About )32,000 (years)
33. The most important benefit of a larger telescope aperture is:
(E. ) increased light-gathering (power.)
16. Stellar parallax is:
(E. both A. and C.) (A. )(a natural consequence of a )heliocentric model. (C. )(the apparent )angular shift of nearby stars relative to further ones.
54. law of gravity
(10. ) Newton
52. three laws of planetary motion
(11. ) Kepler
53. estimated the size of the Earth by measuring the length of shadows between two cities
(12. ) Eratosthenes
58. greatest naked-eye observer of all time
(13. ) (Tycho) Brahe
56. formulated the rules of spectroscopic analysis
(14. ) Kirchhoff
59. culmination of the geocentric Solar System
(15. ) Ptolemy
55. heliocentric Solar System
(3. ) Copernicus
60. found a shift in the wavelength caused by the relative motion between the source and observer
(4. ) Doppler
51. early model of the atom
(5. ) Bohr
57. discovered Pluto
(6. ) Tombaugh
27. An atom that gains or loses electrons (compared to its natural state) is called:
(? D. )An Ion
70. In a _____ reflecting telescope, light comes to a focus behind the hole in the main mirror.
(?) Cassegrain
35. Suppose you want to observe details on the surface of a distant planet. Which of the following will be most useful to have?
(???) X-ray telescope
29. The type of spectrum that we observe from the Sun is:
(?C. ) (an) absorption-line spectrum.
26. Boice's Comet has just been observed in 2009. It was last seen in early 2001 (and not in between). The comet is approximately ____ average distance from the Sun.
(?C.?)4 AU
12. If we have a new moon today, when we will have the next full moon?
(A. ) (In about )2 weeks.
68. The _____ sphere is the concept of the "bowl of night" that many ancient cultures believed.
Celestial. (Good quote: "Science has broken us out of the ancient bowl of night and into an incomparably wider, richer world. This is one of the forces driving scientists to new discovery. If there is any moral imperative that the cosmos inspires, it must be to strive to know it, and ourselves; to appreciate its intricate and interconnected workings; to act as the eyes and brain of the universe. ``Hidden within every astronomical investigation, sometimes so deeply buried that the researcher himself is unaware of its presence, lies a kernel of awe." ")
Diurnal motions move in what direction?
East to West
67. Constellations through which the Sun and planets appear to move are called the _____.
Zodiak
