Chapter 1 Astronomy

13) On a cosmic calendar, in which the history of the universe is compressed into 1 year, when did Kepler and Galileo first discover that we live on a planet in a solar system? A) 1 second ago B) December 30 C) December 25 D) 1 day ago E) 1 week ago

A) 1 second ago

19) Imagine that we put a raisin cake into the oven, with each raisin separated from the others by 1 cm. An hour later, we take it out and the distances between raisins are 3 cm. If you lived in one of the raisins and watched the other raisins as the cake expanded, which of the following would you conclude? A) More distant raisins would be moving away from you faster. B) All raisins would be moving away from you at the same speed. C) It depends: If you lived in a raisin near the left side of the cake, you'd see other raisins moving away from you, but they'd be coming toward you if you lived in a raisin near the right side of the cake. D) More distant raisins would be moving away from you more slowly.

A) More distant raisins would be moving away from you faster.

12) 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) a few seconds B) less than a millionth of a second C) about a month D) about half the year E) a few hours

A) a few seconds

16) Most of the mass in the Milky Way Galaxy is A) in the halo (above/below the disk). B) in the central bulge of the galaxy. C) in the stars in the spiral arms. D) in the gas and dust. E) within the disk.

A) in the halo (above/below the disk)

14) How long does it take our solar system to complete one orbit around the Milky Way Galaxy? A) 230 thousand years B) 230 million years C) 100 million years D) 1 million years E) 10 thousand years

B) 230 million years

18) By studying distant galaxies in the 1920s, Hubble made the following important discovery that led us to conclude that the universe is expanding. A) All galaxies outside the Local Group are moving away from us, and all are moving away at nearly the same speed. B) All galaxies outside the Local Group are moving away from us, and the farther away they are, the faster they're going. C) All galaxies were born at the same time, and all will die at the same time. D) All galaxies outside the Local Group are orbiting the Local Group. E) All galaxies contain billions of stars, and all galaxies have spiral shapes.

B) All galaxies outside the Local Group are moving away from is, and the farther away they are, the faster they're going

7) Which of the following correctly describes the concept of galactic recycling A) Life is continuously being spread from star to star in the Milky Way. B) New stars are continuously being formed in the Milky Way out of gas that has been ejected from a previous generation of stars. C) In the formation of a star, no matter is wasted as all excess material ends up recycled into planets. D) New galaxies are continuously being formed out of gas ejected from a previous generation of galaxies. E) Stars near the center of the Milky Way are continually recycled to the outskirts of the disk by their orbital motion.

B) New stars are continuously being formed in the Milky Way out of gas that has been ejected from a previous generation of stars.

11)Which of the following best describes the Milky Way Galaxy? A) a spherically shaped collection of stars including our solar system and about a dozen other solar systems, stretching about 4 light-years in diameter B) a spiral galaxy with a disk about 100,000 light-years in diameter and containing between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars C) a spherically shaped collection of about 1 million stars that is about 100 light-years in diameter D) a spiral galaxy with a disk about a billion kilometers in diameter and containing between 100 million and 1 billion stars E) a spiral galaxy with a disk about 100,000 light-years in diameter and containing about 100,000 stars

B) a spiral galaxy with a disk about 100,000 light-years in diameter and containing between 100 billion and 1 trillion stars

3) Earth is made mostly of metals and rocks. Where did this material come from? A) It was produced in the Big Bang. B) It was made by our Sun. C) It was produced by nuclear fusion in stars. D) It was made by nuclear fission of uranium and other radioactive materials. E) It was created by chemical reactions in interstellar space.

C) It was produced by nuclear fusion in stars

5) Which of the following statements does not use the term light-year in an appropriate way? A) A light-year is about 10 trillion kilometers. B) It will take the Voyager spacecraft about 20,000 years to travel just 1 light-year. C) It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment. D) It's about 4 light-years from here to Alpha Centauri. E) The Milky Way Galaxy is about 100,000 light-years in diameter.

C) It will take me light-years to complete this homework assignment.

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

C) Our solar system is located very close to the center of the Milky Way

17) From the fact that virtually every galaxy is moving away from us and more distant galaxies are moving away from us at a faster rate than closer ones, we conclude that A) we are located at the center of the universe. B) the farthest galaxies will eventually be moving faster than the speed of light. C) the universe is expanding. D) the Milky Way Galaxy is expanding. E) the universe is shrinking.

C) the universe is expanding

10) If we use 1 millimeter to represent 1 light-year, how large in diameter is the Milky Way Galaxy? A) 100 millimeters B) 1 kilometer C) 1 million millimeters D) 100 meters E) 100 kilometers

D) 100 meters

6) Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit. Which of the following describes the size and distance of Earth on the same scale? A) Earth is the size of a golf ball about 1 meter away from the Sun. B) Earth is the size of a marble about 25 miles away from the Sun. C) Earth is the size of a point about 1 meter away from the Sun. D) Earth is the size of a point about 15 meters away from the Sun. E) Earth is the size of a golf ball about 15 meters away from the Sun.

D) Earth is the size of a point about 15 meters away from the Sun

8) What is the Sun mainly made of? A) hydrogen and oxygen B) oxygen and carbon C) carbon and nitrogen D) hydrogen and helium E) nearly equal portions of all the elements

D) hydrogen and helium

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

D) size of a typical galaxy

4) What is nuclear fusion? A) the process of splitting nuclei to produce energy B) the process of turning matter into pure energy C) a process that only occurs in bombs D) the process of combining lightweight nuclei to make heavier nuclei E) an explosion caused by putting together two volatile chemicals

D) the process of combining lightweight nuclei

1) The farthest bright galaxies that modern telescopes are capable of seeing are up to A) 1 billion light years away B) 1 trillion light years away C) 10 million light years away D) 1 million light years away E) 10 billion light years away

E) 10 billion light years away

2) Suppose we imagine the Sun to be about the size of a grapefruit. How big an area would the orbits of the nine planets of the Solar System cover? A) the size of a small city B) the size of a western state (e.g., Colorado) C) the size of a typical dorm room D) the size of a typical campus building E) the size of a typical campus

E) the size of a typical campus

20) Our solar system is located in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy

False

22) The observable universe is the same size today as it was a few billion years ago.

False

25) Earth is always precisely 1 AU from the Sun.

False

21) One light year is about 10 trillion kilometers.

True

23) The Milky Way is moving further away from most other galaxies in the Universe.

True

24) No galaxies existed before the Big Bang.

True