Astronomy Test #1

*Visible light occupies what position in the whole electromagnet spectrum?

(A) Between Infrared and Ultravilot

Pieces of metal are heated by carrying amounts in a flame. The hottest of these will be the one that shows which color most prominently

(A) Blue

The chemical makeup of a star's surface is usually inferred:

(A) By spectroscopy of the light emitted by the star

Which of the following has the longest wavelength?

(A) Radio

Who was the first astronomer to build and use a telescope to observe the night sky?

(B) Galileo

*The spectrum of sunlight , when spread out by a spectrograph, has what characteristic appearance?

(C) A continuous band of color, crossed by innumerable dark absorption lines

In the geocentric model for the solar system developed by Ptolemy, to what does the word "epicycle" refer?

(C) A small circle about which a planet moves while the center of this circle moves around the Earth

What does Wien's Law reveal?

(C) Hotter objects emit more radiation at a shorter ("bluer") wavelengths

The temperature scale most often used by scientist is the:

(C) Kelvin Scale

The Earth's Atmosphere is mostly transparent to which of the following types of electromagnetic radiation?

(C) Radio Waves

The light- gathering power of a telescope is related directly to:

(C) The area of its primary mirror or lens

*What was the first extraterrestrial radio source to be detected?

(C) The center of our Galaxy

Which type of telescope uses a sense as the main optical element?

(D) A refracting telescope

*The Doppler effect is the change in the wavelength of light caused by the source:

(D) Moving with respect to the observer

A scientist reports that his measurements of the temperature of the surface of a newly discovered planet is -20K. What conclusion can you draw from this report?

(D) The result is erroneous since one cannot have negative absolute temperatures

The major reason why astronomers seek after funds to build larger telescopes is:

(D) To collect more light from distant objects

Atoms in a thin, hot has (such as a neon advertising sign), according to Kirchhoff's law emit light:

(D) at specific wavelengths, the pattern depending upon the element

In what way does a photon of blue light NOT differ from a photon yellow light in in a vacuum?

(A) Speed

A high mountaintop, such as Mauna Kea Hawaii, is a good site for an infrared observatory because it

(B) Above most of the moisture in the Earth's atmosphere

*The speed of light:

(B) Always has the same value in vacuum, but is slower in transparent materials such as water and glass

As a new star evolves from cool dust and gas to a hot star, the peak wavelength of its spectrum of emitted electromagnetic radiation will:

(B) Change from the infrared to the visible wavelengths

When an electron resides at a greater than normal distance from its parent nucleus, the anton is said to be in what state?

(B) Excited State