ASTRONOMY Exam 1

A total eclipse of the sun is only possible at?

3rd Quarter

The time it takes for the Sun to return to the same place in our sky after the Earth as rotated once is called?

A solar day

On the celestial sphere, halfway between the celestial poles lies the?

Celestial equator

The 88 sectors into which astronomers today divide the celestial sphere (the whole sky) are called?

Constellations

The scientist who first devised experimental tests to demonstrate the validity of the heliocentric model of the solar system was?

Galileo

the first person who regularly turned a telescope to astronomical observations was

Galileo Galilei

The "prime meridian" passes through

Greenwich, England

In Australia, when are the days the shortest and the nights the longest?

In late June

You are on a camping trip, far away from lights. You look up into the dark night sky, and see lots of stars, some brighter, some dimmer. All the stars you see with your unaided eye are?

In the Milky Way

3 laws of planetary motion were discovered by

Johannes Kepler

the earth is farthest from the sun, in which month of the year?

July

In locating objects on the celestial sphere, we call the number of degrees eat or west that something is from Greenwich, England its:

Longitude

the idea that atoms radiate energy only when their electrons move higher to lower energy levels was first advanced by

Niels Bohr

The star that is currently closet to the North Celestial Pole is:

Polaris

a fashion designer decided to bring out a new line of clothing which reflects the longest wavelength of visible light. what color will these articles of clothing be to the human eye

Red

Some college students decide to form a secret society that would meet each year after graduation at a time when the day and night were the same length. which of the following would be a time they could meet?

September 23rd

This scientist determined the nature of the forces that kept the planets in their orbits.

Sir Isaac Newton

Of these, which is the closest to us?

The Moon

Of these, which is the largest?

The Universe

If the Earth goes around the Sun, why is the ecliptic not lined up with the celestial equator?

The earth axis is tilted by about 23.5 degrees from the vertical

Which of the following statements about the nucleus of a typical atom is FALSE?

The nucleus repels the electrons which move around it

which of the following statements about electromagnetic radiation is FALSE

The radiation consists of tiny charged particles given off by the nuclei of atoms

The star that provides energy for life on Earth is?

The sun

Which of the following is the Earth NOT located in?

You can't fool me, we are located in all of the above (solar system, milky way, local group of galaxies, and the virgo superlcuster.

The point in the sky directly above your head at any given time is called the?

Zenith

the largest visible-light telescopes in the world use what device to collect as much light as possible before the light is brought to a focus

a mirror

Chapter 5 discusses that light sometimes act like a photon,what is a photon

a self-contained packet of electro magnetic energy

to break up light into the component colors that it contains, astronomers use a device called

a spectrometer

A large body in space that consistently males its own light (instead of merely reflecting another body's light) is called?

a star

to go from a lower level in atom to higher level, an electron must

absorb a photon of energy

two stars are giving off electromagnetic radiation, the hotter star will

all of the above

Where on Earth do stars always circle the zenith (and never rise and set)?

at the North Pole

From a city in the U.S., where in the sky would you loom to see a star that is not turning with the motion of the sky in the course of a night?

at the north celestial pole

how fast do electro-magnetic waves travel

at the speed of light

why do astronomers prefer to put infrared telescopes on high flying airplanes or on satellites in space

because the water vapor in the lower atmosphere is very good at absorbing infrared

seasons result of?

changing sun angle and changing length of daylight

the most important function of an astronomical telescope is to

collect as much light as possible and bring it to a focus

when white light passes through a prism, it is ____________ and forms a continuous spectrum of all colors

dispersed

by the term universe, astronomers mean?

everything that we can observe

the most common isotope of one element, however, only has two of these 3 types of particles. this element is

hydrogen

two versions of an element with different numbers of neutrons are called

isotopes

when white light passes from the air into a different medium such as glass, it

more than one above

When the moon appears as a thin crescent in the evening sky, just after sunset the Lunar phase is?

new moon

The slow tipping of the Earth's axis in a circle with a period of about 26,000 years is called?

precession

the earliest telescopes used by astronomers were

refractors

when the sun and moon are lined up and pull together, the tides they raise are called

spring tides

Astronomical observations have been available since ancient times, and many cultures set aside special sites for astronomical observations. the thing modern observatories have that was missing from these older observations until about 1610 was:

telescopes

Wien's law relates the wavelength at which a star gives off the greatest amount of energy to the star's

temperature

The Astronomical Unit (AU) as defined by astronomer's is?

the average distance between the Earth and the Sun

When a knowledgeable amateur astronomer tells you that she has a 14-inch telescope, what does the number 14 refer to?

the diameter of the primary lens or mirros

A light year is?

the distance that light travels in one year

The Sun's apparent path around the celestial sphere is called?

the ecliptic

Most ultraviolet radiation does not penetrate to the earth's surface. instead it is absorbed in

the ozone layer

Which of the following is not an important part of how astronomers select places for new telescopes?

the place must be near a university or college

The celestial sphere turns once around every day because

the planet on which we live is rotating

the period of the moon's rotation on its axis is?

the same as its revolution around the earth

which of the following is an important part of the reason it is hotter in summer in North america than in Winter

the sun's rays hit the earth more directly in the summer, and spread out less

what would you have to change about the earth to stop our planet from having significantly different seasons

the tilt of its axis

the light which allows you to see this very interesting exam is made up of waves. in these waves, the distance between crests is called the

wavelength

Which of the following types of telescopes can be used ONLY above the Earth;s atmosphere

x-ray telescope