8th Grade Science Test 10

Which of the following stars is part of the Summer Triangle? Antares, Aldebaran, Altair, or Algol

Altair

Which of the following statements best explains the difference between an asteroid and a comet?

Asteroids are made of metal or rock.

Based on what we know about the cause of planet orbits, why would it be impossible for the sun, moon, and all the planets to orbit the earth?

Because of the sun's gravity, the planets would begin to orbit the sun.

Which of the following characteristics for Uranus and Venus have in common?

Both have a "backward" rotation.

What constellation contains the star Alderamin?

Cepheus

What was the first object to be classified as an asteroid?

Ceres

Halley's comet completes one orbit in about 76 Earth years. Uranus require about 84 Earth years to complete one orbit. Based on this information, which of the following statements must be true? How do you know?

Halley's comet is, on average, closer to the sun that Uranus is because objects with a closer average distance to the sun orbit more quickly.

Which of Jupiter's moons is the most volcanically active body in the solar system?

Io

What is the main reason that Pluto is no longer considered a planet but is instead considered a dwarf planet?

It is near objects not controlled by its gravity

Why can the sun's transition region be studied only using space-based solar observations?

It releases ultraviolet radiation

What is the largest planet in our solar system?

Jupiter

Which planet travels most rapidly through its orbit?

Mercury

What is the only planet to be discovered mathematically before it was seen?

Neptune

Which scientist proposed a system in which Earth and all other planets orbit the sun?

Nicolaus Copernicus

What is the largest known mountain in the solar system?

Olympus Mons

What happens to Earth's orbital speed when Earth approaches aphelion?

Orbital speed decreases

Which constellation is pictured below?

Orion

Which of Mars's two moons obits closer to the planet and more quickly?

Phobos

What is Saturn's outermost major moon, which orbits in the opposite direction of most other moons?

Phoebe

What star is located at the north celestial pole?

Polaris

Which constellation contains the Teapot asterism?

Sagittarius

Which of the following stars can be found by tracing a line from Orion's belt? Polaris, Castor, Arcturus, or Sirius

Sirius

Which of the following statements best explains why the celestial sphere is useful to astronomers?

The celestial sphere represents the view from earth.

Which of Neptune's satellites experiences the coldest known temperatures in the solar system?

Triton

The two groups of asteroids that travel in Jupiter's orbit are called _______________ asteroids.

Trojan

What is the brightest summer star?

Vega

What is the only planet that takes longer to rotate on its axis than to orbit the sun?

Venus

The distance between two objects on the celestial sphere is measured as a _______________.

angle

If a right triangle were drawn with the sun, the earth, and a star at the corners, as shown below, which angle would represent the stellar parallax?

angle at the star

What type of partial eclipse occurs when the moon is too small to cover the sun entirely, leaving a ring of light around the moon?

annular (solar eclipse)

What vale represents the brightness of a star as viewed from Earth?

apparent magnitude

What is a group of stars that are used to form a picture or represent an object?

asterism

What is an object so massive and dense that not even light can escape its gravity?

black hole

What is an extremely bright meteor that explodes in midair called?

bolide

A star that is always above the horizon at a particular latitude is said to be ______________ at that latitude

circumpolar

What is the smallest type of structure formed by a group of galaxies?

cluster

What is the central portion of a comet called?

coma

What is the outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere called?

corona

How many planets were known to ancient astronomers?

five

Aristotle taught what kind of view of the universe?

geocentric

What type of star group travels outside the boundaries of the Milky Way in an unusual orbit around the Galaxy's center?

globular cluster

What are the planets closet to the sun called?

inner planets

What astronomical distance measurement is based directly on the speed of light?

light year

What is a chunk of space debris that has reached Earth's surface?

meteorite

What is a trail of space debris left by a comet?

meteoroid stream

What evidence indicated that the sun is spinning?

movement of sunspots

What are the large clouds of gas and dust commonly contained in spiral and irregular galaxies?

nebulae

What evolutionary idea claims that the solar system formed from a cloud of gas and dust?

nebular hypothesis

Jesus was crucifies around the day of Passover, which falls on a full moon. Matthew 27:45 records that during the Crucifixion there was darkness for three hours in the afternoon. From a scientific point of view, could this darkness have been caused by an eclipse? Why or why not?

no, because a solar eclipse can occur only during a full moon

What is a loose, asymmetrical clump that contains tens, hundreds, or thousands of stars?

open cluster

What other property of a planet's orbit does Kepler's third law relate to the planet's average distance from the sun?

period

What is the visible part of the sun?

photosphere

What is a rapidly rotating neutron star that emits directional beams of radio waves?

pulsar

What is a star-like object believed to be made up of a large black hole surrounded by a glowing ring of gas?

quasar

What are the light-colored streaks surrounding a lunar crater called?

rays

What type of star is cool, small, and dim?

red dwarf

What terms refers to the "backward" rotation of a planet on its axis?

retrograde

What are moons that help keep a planet's rings in place called?

shepherd moon

What is a comet that takes 150 years to complete one orbit called?

short-period comet

What feature of lenticular galaxies can help distinguish them from spiral galaxies?

solid disk

What is the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram used to classify?

stars

What is the primary factor that determines the brightness of average stars in the main sequence?

temperature

What term describes the composition of interplanetary space?

vacuum

What is the phase in which the moon has a bulging shape and is growing larger?

waxing gibbous

What is the imaginary band in the sky containing the moon and planets?

zodiac