Astronomy Tophat Ch 1-9
Mars' orbit is currently (within the last few hundred years)
elliptical enough to make the intensity of sunlight vary by 40 percent.
The magnetic field of Saturn is
similar in intensity to the Earth's magnetic field.
As the two foci of an ellipse are moved apart, the shape of the ellipse becomes
ke a line between the foci.
The Lunar Maria are thought to have been caused by ancient
lava flows from large impacts.
The presence of frozen water on Mercury is
possible because it has almost no axial tilt so that its poles never directly face the Sun.
By making extensive observations of planetary motion, Tycho Brahe
provided accurate data for the first time.
A full cycle of day and night on Mars is called a `sol.' In terms of 24 hour Earth days, a Martian sol is
slightly longer than one Earth day.
Jupiter has the most mass of any planet in our Solar System and is also the largest planet. Objects that have still more mass than Jupiter and are not stars are usually
smaller than Jupiter.
For the ancient Greeks, the most basic of several clues that the Sun is farther from the Earth than the Moon came from
solar eclipses.
The magnetic field of Jupiter is
tilted relative to the planet's rotation axis but not offset from its center.
Which of the following temperatures is closest to what you might expect on the planet Jupiter?
-250F
A solar sail is a large sheet of light-reflecting plastic spread on an extremely low-mass framework and attached to a spacecraft. Sunlight exerts a force on the sail and moves the spacecraft. Suppose the spacecraft has a total mass of 100kg (including the sail) and sunlight exerts a total force of 2N on the sail. What will be the acceleration of the spacecraft?
0.02m/s².
How many of the moons of Saturn are larger than the Earth's Moon?
1
As of 2018, how many space probes had flown past Uranus closely enough to take detailed pictures?
1.
As of 2018, how many space probes have flown past Neptune closely enough to take detailed pictures?
1.
What total force will cause an object with a mass of 2kg to gain 5 meters per second every second?
10 Newtons.
Suppose that you lift an object by exerting an upward force of 22 Newtons on it. If gravity exerts a force of 10 Newtons downward on the object, what is the total force on the object?
12 Newtons.
Uranus rotates on its axis once in about
17 hours.
The first successful soft landing on the Moon was Surveyor 1 in
1966.
At 8pm, you see that the pointer stars of the Big dipper and the star Polaris are arranged in a vertical line. At what time would you see them arranged in a horizontal line?
1:59:00 am the next day.
Compared to the Earth, the planet Uranus is roughly
4 times as large.
If the planets are numbered from 1 to 8, going outward from the Sun, the planet Mars is number
4.
The density of water is 1000kg/m³, the density of rock is about 3000kg/m³, and the density of iron is 7800kg/m³. Which of the following densities is closest to the average density of the Earth?
5200kg/m³
If the planets are numbered from 1 to 8, going outward from the Sun, the planet Uranus is number
7.
The inclination angle of the planet Uranus is closest to
98°.
Call the time it takes Venus to orbit the Sun a "Venusian year." Call the time it takes Venus to rotate once on its axis relative to the distant stars a "Venusian sidereal day." Which of the following statements about these two time periods is true?
A Venusian year is shorter than a Venusian sidereal day.
Which of the following computer programs is the most likely to be considered a scientific model: A An animated screen-saver that shows waves crashing on the beach. B A simulation game in which people can spend a day at the beach. C A simulation,using currently accepted physical laws, of waves crashing on the beach
A simulation,using currently accepted physical laws, of waves crashing on the beach.
Which of the following types of objects include things that could reasonably be described as "flying rocks" or, for the larger ones, "flying mountains?"
Asteroids.
Astronomy is known for claiming to have measured many things that cannot possibly be probed directly. These measurements are made by combining actual measurements with
Astronomy is known for claiming to have measured many things that cannot possibly be probed directly. These measurements are made by combining actual measurements with
Other people look near Betelgeuse. They see the star and confirm her report. She becomes famous as the discoverer of the first green star. A I saw the Sun set at 4:55pm. B I saw the Sun set at 4:55pm in Richmond, VA. C I saw the Sun set at 4:55pm on December 22 in Richmond VA. D I saw the Sun set twelve hours after it rose.
C
Which of these Mars rovers has been operating on the surface of Mars for six years so far (as of 2018).
Curiosity
Tycho Brahe's careful observations of the planets agreed, to within observational error, with A the Copernican System. B the Ptolemaic System. C the Tychonic System.. D None of these systems.
D
Which of these Mars rovers has been operating on the surface of Mars for fourteen years so far (as of 2018)?
Opportunity
The first telescope was (possibly) built by
Galileo.
Which of the following objects is the largest moon of Jupiter?
Ganymede
Which of the following statements is an observation of the natural world?
I saw a full Moon last night.
The star Sirius can be located by using the pointer stars in
Orion.
The International Space Station (ISS) is in a roughly circular orbit near the surface of the Earth, moving at around 5 miles per second. Suppose that it is desired to raise it to a new circular orbit, farther from the surface by having a rocket give it one or more short boosts. Which of the following schemes will work?
Increase its speed to 6 miles per second to put it on a rising path and give it another speed boost when its distance from the Earth stops increasing.
Joseph Weber designed a series of devices to detect ripples in spacetime, called gravitational waves. After several years of effort, Joe announced that he had detected gravitational waves. He built several versions of his devices and they all detected the waves. When other people tried to build similar devices, none of them detected anything at all. Joe's evidence was ignored by the scientific community because
Joe's observations were not reproduced.
The statement that the orbit of each planet is an ellipse with the Sun at one focus is due to
Kepler.
Which of the following types of object could reasonably be described as "dirty snowballs" or, for the larger ones, "flying icebergs?"
Kuiper Belt Objects.
The Asteroid Belt is between the orbits of
Mars and Jupiter.
Changes in the intensity of sunlight due to shifts in both the Earth's orbit and rotation axis cause
Milankovich cycles.
You are looking down on the Earth from a spacecraft hovering far above. After watching for a while, you notice that, from your perspective, it is rotating counterclockwise. The part of the Earth that is directly below you must be the Earth's
North Pole.
Sarah reports that she saw a green star close to the star Betelguese. She really saw it and was quite surprised. The most likely outcome of her report is that:
Other people look near Betelgeuse. They see the star and confirm her report. She becomes famous as the discoverer of the first green star.
The first space probe to test the air-bag landing system was
Pathfinder
Which of the following spacecraft were the first to fly past Jupiter?
Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11
Which of the following spacecraft was the first to fly past Saturn?
Pioneer 11
Which of these was the Solar System model that assumed the Earth is fixed and the Sun, Moon, and planets all move on epicycles that, in turn move on circular orbits around the Earth?
Ptolemaic model.
The path of the Sun on the Celestial Sphere is called
The Ecliptic.
Which of Kepler's Laws governs how a particular planet speeds up and slows down?
The Equal Area Law.
Which of the following statements is falsifiable? A There is intelligent life on other stars. B The Moon is made entirely of cheese. C Isaac Newton was the greatest scientist. D There is beauty in a sunset. E There is cheese on the Moon.
The Moon is made entirely of cheese.
Compare the magnitude of the acceleration of Earth's Moon to the acceleration of falling objects on the surface of the Earth.
The Moon's acceleration is smaller.
Why couldn't we just fly a Space Shuttle to the Moon for at least a fly-by?
The Space Shuttle did not have enough fuel to reach escape velocity.
Why don't we just shoot all of our really nasty waste products into the Sun where they could not possibly bother anyone?
The Sun is actually the hardest part of the Solar System to get to from here.
The capture theory, in which our Moon forms separately and is captured by the Earth,became popular when computer models showed that such a capture would have been possible.
The capture theory was dropped because it predicts that the Moon should have hydrated rocks and it does not.
An early measurement of noon Sun angles at the summer solstice at Alexandria and Syene needed one additional piece of information in order to determine the size of the Earth.
The distance between Alexandria and Syene.
A horse is pulling a cart along a road. Which of the following pairs of forces is an action-reaction pair?
The force of horse on the road and the force of the road on the horse.
The motion of the Moon around the Earth causes
The phases of the Moon.
Which of the following circumstances would suggest that a rotating planet contains a core of liquid iron?
The planet is much denser than rock and has a magnetic field.
Einstein's Theory of Gravity has passed every well-understood observational test for over 100 years. However there are some anomalous observations which are not well-understood. For example, the Pioneer space probe is showing tiny deviations from its predicted course as it leaves the neighborhood of our solar system. A new theory, called "Modified Newtonian Dynamics," actually does not do as well as Einstein's Theory at predicting most things, but it does predict those tiny deviations and also accounts for several other, apparently unrelated, anomalous observations as well. From what we have said about the way scientists think, which of the following receptions would you expect this new theory to get? A There is great hostility because the new theory challenges the established theory. B There is great disinterest because there is no need to replace a theory that has passed every well-understood observational test. C There is great disinterest because the new theory does not account for as many observational tests as Einstein's Theory does. D There is great interest because the new theory suggests that Einstein's Theory might be wrong.
There is great disinterest because there is no need to replace a theory that has passed every well-understood observational test.
It has been said that the "facts" of science are actually "revisable facts." When do these "revisable facts" get revised?
They conflict with reproducible observations.
Which of the following astronomers is regarded as an early example of government-supported Big Science.
Tycho Brahe.
An atmosphere with about 90 times the surface pressure of Earth's is found on the surface of.
Venus
The Cassini-Huygens spacecraft
Went into orbit around the planet Saturn.
An area of the sky that is marked by a recognizable pattern of stars is called
a constellation.
A sidereal day is
a few minutes shorter than a solar day.
Jupiter has
a few rings made of dark rocks.
The magnetic field of Jupiter indicates that its core must contain large amounts of
a liquid that can conduct electricity.
Aristarchus of Samos is known for a number of things. One of them was
a model in which the Earth rotates on its axis and revolves around the Sun.
The time it takes for the Celestial sphere to rotate once relative to the Earth is called
a sidereal day.
The atmospheric pressure on the surface of Mars is
about 1% the surface pressure of Earth's atmosphere.
So far (as of 2008), the planet Venus has been visited by
about 20 successful space probes.
In comparison to the Copernican Theory, the Ptolemaic Theory made predictions that were of
about the same accuracy.
Since 1990, the major spacefaring nations, Europe, China, Russia, Japan, India, and the U.S., have begun to return to the Moon. As of 2009, of these six space programs,
all except Russia have sent probes or orbiters to the Moon.
A time of 24 hours is
almost exactly equal to a solar day (within a second).
Jupiter has
an atmosphere of Hydrogen and Helium with no real surface.
Neptune has (atmosphere)
an atmosphere of Hydrogen and Helium with some methane.
Saturn has
an extensive ring system made of ice-covered rocks.
Hydrated minerals on the Moon
are almost completely absent.
In the present surface environment of Mars, water has been confirmed to exist
as short-lived spurts of liquid water.
As Saturn rotates,
both its magnetic poles remain almost motionless at its geographic poles.
Suppose that you drop two objects from the same height at the same time. Both objects are heavy enough to be unaffected by air resistance. If one object is twice as heavy as the other, Galileo predicted that
both objects would hit the ground at the same time.
From the way that lunar eclipses happen, the Ancient Greeks were able to
calculate the distance from the Earth to the Moon.
When a space probe uses a gravitational slingshot maneuver, it
comes close to a planet to change the probe's speed and direction.
The discovery that there is water ice on the Moon has motivated many nations to launch Moon missions because it
could make a Moon base possible.
Copernicus said that the rotation of the Earth on its axis caused the
daily motions in the heavens.
Neptune's magnetic North and South poles are
displaced from its rotation axis poles and also from the center of the planet.
Uranus's magnetic North and South poles are
displaced from its rotation axis poles and also from the center of the planet.
Apollo 8 made the first
ewed orbit of the Moon.
The rotation rate of Saturn
has not been exactly determined because different methods give somewhat different results.
The side of the Moon that faces away from the Earth
has only a few small lunar maria.
The circular structures on the surface of the Moon are the result of
impacts.
A model in which the Moon forms from the same rotating cloud of gas and dust as the Earth would predict that the Moon's orbit should be
in the plane of the Earth's equator.
The rotation axis of Neptune is
inclined at an angle to the perpendicular that is similar to Earth's rotation axis.
The rotation axis of Saturn is
inclined at an angle to the perpendicular that is similar to Earth's rotation axis.
The Moon's orbit around the Earth
is elliptical enough to give us an annular solar eclipse when the Moon is near its apogee.
The gravitational attraction of the Earth for other objects,
is smaller for objects farther from the Earth but never vanishes entirely.
An artificial satellite such as the International Space Station stays up because
it falls below a straight-line path in exactly the same way that the curved surface of the Earth does.
One reason that the Copernican System failed to fit Tycho's observations was that
it used circular orbits instead of ellipses.
Aristarchus measured the angle between the Sun and the Moon when exactly half of the Moon was illuminated. If the Sun were actually just two or three times as far away as the Moon, he would have found that angle to be
less than 90 degrees by an amount that was easy for him to measure.
The blue color of the planet Uranus is caused by the presence in its atmosphere of
methane.
When compared to planets that are closer to the sun, planets that are farther from the sun
move slower on the average.
In one day, the position of the Sun on the Celestial Sphere
moves eastward along the ecliptic by 1°.
At midsummer in Murmansk (which is the largest city north of the Arctic Circle), the Sun stays above the horizon for several days. This observation would conflict with the predictions of a model of the Sun's motion that has the Sun
moving over and under a flat Earth.
As seen from North America, the constellation Ursa Major
never sets.
The observed magnetic field of Mercury is surprising because it was expected to have
no magnetic field at all because it rotates so slowly.
s expected that a normal terrestrial planet, with no accidental encounters that could add or subtract moons, should have
no moon.
The daily rising and setting of the Sun happens
only south of the arctic circle and north of the antarctic circle.
Aristotle said that the amount of force on a moving earthly object determines its
speed.
The Soviet Union had a secret program to put the first human on the Moon. This program
test launched their Moon Rocket several times, but it blew up each time.
The stars, as seen from the Earth, appear to be attached to
the Celestial Sphere, a sphere that surrounds the Earth.
The time when the noon sun is highest in the sky is called
the Summer Solstice.
An astronomical unit is defined to be
the average distance from the Earth to the Sun.
The recoil or 'kick' of a gun that is firing a bullet is a force exerted on the gun by
the bullet.
By measuring the angle between the Sun and the Moon when the Moon was in its first or third quarter, the ancient Greeks were able to calculate
the distance from the Earth to the Sun.
According to Galileo, a thrown spear keeps moving after it has left the spear thrower's hand because
the force of friction with the air is not enough to stop the spear.
If you are told that an object that weighs 20 Newtons is raised a distance of 10 meters, you know that.
the force of gravity on the object is 20 Newtons.
The first major failure of the Ptolemaic Theory to predict the results of observations was
the phases of Venus.
Suppose that an object with a mass of one kilogram and an object with a mass of two kilograms are both in free fall near the Earth's surface. As compared to the one kilogram object, the two kilogram object accelerates
the same because gravity pulls on it more strongly and it has more inertia.
The Moon rotates on its axis so that it always keeps
the same side (its far side) pointed away from the Earth.
The ancient Greeks argued that the Earth cannot be moving because such a motion would cause apparent shifts in the positions of stars. This argument was wrong because
the stars are so far away that the shifts due to the Earth's motion are extremely small.
One reason that temperatures are lower in the winter than in the summer is that
the sun is lower in the sky in the winter.
Einstein's Theory of Relativity has passed every observational test for over 100 years. Among other things, it predicts that no material object can go faster than the speed of light. Fred Zveistein (twice as smart as Einstein) has a new theory that predicts that some material objects can go faster than light. Fred presents his new theory at a scientific meeting (in 2009). These meetings have several talks going on at the same time, so people normally move from one room to another to hear the talks they are interested in. When Fred gets up to talk, everyone leaves the room to go to other talks. The reason for this behavior is that
there is no interest in replacing a theory that has passed every observational test.
A planet that is following Kepler's Laws, accelerates
toward the Sun.
Our Sun sends out intense streams of charged particle radiation. Most of these charged particles
trapped by the Earth's magnetic field for a while and then strike the atmosphere over the poles.
Mercury rotates so that its sidereal day lasts for
two thirds of a complete orbit around the Sun.
According to our current model of how magnetic fields arise, the magnetic field of Earth's Moon is
understandable since the Moon rotates slowly and probably has no iron core.
A comet that is passing close to the Sun will have a tail that is most likely
very long because sunlight is pushing on it.
Which of the following phases of the Moon would be seen high in the south at dawn?
waning quarter.
A planet whose atmospheric pressure is exactly at the triple point of water and whose surface temperature has a range that includes the triple point will have
water as ice or vapor, depending on the temperature.
Retrograde Motion refers to the
westward motion of the planets relative to the stars.
If an object is moving at constant speed in a straight line, its acceleration is
zero.
