ASTRONOMY

latitude of the observer

In the Northern Hemisphere, the altitude (height in degrees above the horizon) of the North Star is always roughly equal to the

Galileo used instruments and experiments to show him what nature was doing, instead of relying on pure logic

In what fundamental way did the work of Galileo differ from his predecessors who had thought about the sky?

measure the changes in the planet's radio waves, which are controlled by its magnetic field

One way to measure how long Jupiter takes to rotate is to watch the giant storms in its atmosphere go around. A more fundamental way to measure the rotation is to:

Galileo Galilei

The first person who regularly turned a telescope to astronomical observations (and published his observations) was:

Maxwell

The highest mountain on Venus is also the only feature to be named after a man; its namesake is the Scottish scientist who laid the foundations for our understanding of electro-magnetic waves. This is Mount:

large regions where hot magma rising from the interior of Venus puts pressure on the surface material

The large circular coronae on Venus are:

Yerkes Observatory

The largest refracting telescope in the world, financed by a Chicago millionaire in the 1890's, is at the:

a little less than 30,000 LY from the center

The location of the Earth in the Milky Way Galaxy is _____.

Percival Lowell

The person who really publicized the idea of canals on Mars and impressed it on the public mind was:

zenith

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

precession

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

Arcturus

The star that is currently closest to the North Celestial Pole is

the Sun

The star that provides energy for life on Earth is ______.

Images from orbiting spacecraft reveal ancient channels that look like dried-up river beds on Earth (and our rovers show geological formations made by running water)

What makes astronomers believe that Mars once had rivers and running water?

they are clumpy (or bulging) in places

What makes the rings of Neptune different from those of other planets we know?

retrograde motion

When a planet temporarily moves westward in the sky over the course of several weeks or months (instead of eastward, as it typically does), we call it

the thickness and pressure of its atmosphere

Which of the following is NOT a way that Venus resembles the Earth?

sending spacecraft to Mars which have brought samples of the planet back to Earth

Which of the following is NOT a way we have studied the planet Mars so far?

Atlas (shepherd moon near Saturn's A ring)

Which of the following is NOT one of the largest moons in the Solar System?

the Sun's rays hit the Earth more directly in the Summer, and spread out less

Which of the following is an important part of the reason it is hotter in summer in North America than in winter?

a reflector doesn't have to deal with the twinkling of the stars, as a refractor does

Which of the following is not an advantage that a reflector telescope has over a refractor telescope?

it was discovered by Giovanni Schiaparelli in the 19th century

Which of the following statements about Valles Marineris, the great "grand canyon system" on Mars is true?

droplets of liquid water rain irrigate the surface of Mars regularly

Which of the following statements about the atmosphere of Mars today is FALSE?

it has a thick layer of clouds containing sulfuric acid droplets

Which of the following statements about the planet Venus is true?

Jupiter's axis is hardly tilted so it has no real seasonal variations

Which of the following statements about the seasons on Jupiter is correct?

the extreme (high) heat at most latitudes

Which of the following would NOT be one of the problems faced by an unprotected Earthling stranded on Mars? (Unprotected meaning no space suit.)

all the info given about CCD's is correct CCD's have digital output that can go directly to a computer none of the info given about CCD's is correct CCD's are more efficient; more of the light is recorded and not wasted CCD's allow more accurate measurements of the brightness of each part of the image

Why is an image recorded with a CCD better for astronomers than an image recorded on photographic film or plates?

third quarter

You and some friends decide (during a wild party held at the time of the Full Moon) that you cannot live without having the secret recipe for the veggie burger they serve in the college cafeteria. So you decide to plan a break-in to steal the recipe from the chef's office. So that you don't get caught, you want to carry out your plan when there is no moonlight in the evening. What is the next phase of the Moon with no evening moonlight (i.e. when the Moon rises roughly at midnight or later)?

heat your telescope, so its delicate optics are not cold

You are an astronomer who wants to study a faint star in the process of being born, which gives off most of its faint radiation in the infra-red. Which of the following would NOT be a step you would want to take?

Which of the following is the Earth NOT located in?

You can't fool me, we are located in all of these

Venera

he spacecraft that soft-landed successfully on the surface of Venus (and briefly sent back pictures while sitting in that destructive environment) were called

The Astronomical Unit (AU) as defined by astronomers is

the average distance between the Earth and the Sun

The celestial sphere turns once around each day because

the planet on which we live is rotating

Methane

'the upper clouds in the atmosphere of Neptune are composed of:

violet

A fashion designer decides 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?

star

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

roughly around sunset

A serial killer from a strange cult only kills his victims when the Moon is full. He leaves a note on the body of his latest victim, explaining that the murder was committed when the Moon was rising. What time of day did the murder take place?

moons around the planet Jupiter

According to the geocentric view, everything in the heavens had to go around the Earth, which was the center of the universe. What objects did Galileo discover with his telescope that clearly didn't go around the Earth?

an emission spectrum

An artist who likes working with sources of light decides to make a modern sculpture out of electrified glass tubes that contain very thin (rarified) neon gas. When the sculpture is finished, and the electricity is turned on, the tubes glow with a rich red color. What we are seeing is:

the properties of sound waves coming from a group of musicians on a moving, open railroad car

Christian Doppler discovered what we now call the "Doppler Effect" by measuring:

the Moon

Every celestial object appears to go around the Earth once a day. In addition to this motion,which celestial object has the fastest apparent motion in the sky?

a total lunar eclipse is visible over a much larger part of the Earth's surface than a total solar eclipse

From a particular location on Earth, why can we see many more total eclipses of the Moon than total eclipses of the Sun?

180 degrees

From horizon to opposite horizon, the sky takes up how much angular distance?

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

Galileo

look at the absorption lines in its spectrum

How do astronomers learn what elements are present in a given star?

radio waves (like radar)

I want to examine the surface of a planet which is completely covered by a thick layer of clouds all the time. What wavelength of electromagnetic radiation would I be smartest to use:

right ascension and declination

If you want to locate someone precisely on the surface of the Earth, you specify her exact latitude and longitude. If you want to locate a star precisely on the sky, you need to specify its exact:

in late December

In Australia (in the Southern Hemisphere), when are the days the shortest and the nights the longest?

a large metal dish (antenna)

In a radio telescope, the role that the mirror plays in visible-light telescopes is played by:

300,000 meters

Light travels 3 x 105meters every second. That number in words is

the ozone layer

Most ultraviolet radiation does not penetrate to the Earth's surface. Instead it is absorbed in:

the Very Long Baseline Array of Radio Telescopes, stretching from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii

Of the following, which has the highest resolution (ability to make out fine detail):

celestial equator

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

the length of its day (period of rotation)

One way in which Mars closely resembles the Earth is:

water ice

Saturn's ring particles are composed mainly of:

the south circumpolar zone

Someone who observes the sky every clear night in Boston for many years will NEVER get to see

the ecliptic

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

methane

The bluish color that makes the atmosphere of Neptune so beautiful to the human eye is caused by the interaction of sunlight with what gas?

Jupiter more than one of the above answer Saturn Neptune Uranus

The dwarf planet Pluto was discovered in 1930. Since that time, which jovian planet has completed a full revolution around the Sun?

Neptune

The jovian planet that has the longest year (period of revolution) is:

zodiac

The strip of the sky through which the Sun, the Moon, and the bright planets appear to move in the course of a year is called:

Io

The world in the solar system that is most active volcanically is:

a self-contained "packet" of electro-magnetic energy

This chapter discusses that light sometimes acts like a photon. What is a photon?

These moons were likely formed elsewhere and captured by the giant planets

What do astronomers think is the origin of the many irregular moons around the outer planets (irregular meaning they are orbiting backwards and/or have eccentric orbits)?

impact craters

What features are abundant on Callisto and Ganymede and almost absent on Europa and Io?

the gravitational stress of being so close to Jupiter and its other large moons heats the Io's inside

What is the cause of its many volcanic/geyser-like eruptions on the moon Io?

heliocentric

When it comes to our place in the solar system today, which model do we accept?

the Sun

Which of the following does the composition of a planet like Jupiter resemble:

gamma rays

Which of the following has the highest frequency?

Venus rotates in roughly the same time period as Earth

Which of the following is NOT a correct statement about the rotation of Venus?

The laws of nature (as determined by scientists) can be described many ways. Mark all that are correct.

apply both on Earth and among the stars are often written in the language of mathematics are constructed from many observations, hypotheses, and experiments

The way scientists know that a hypothesis in astronomy is a reasonable description of nature is to

do experiments and observations about the predictions of the hypothesis.

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

everywhere

Some Canadian troops are sent (as part of a U.N. peacekeeping force) to a country located on the Earth's equator. At night, when homesickness makes them gaze sleeplessly at the stars, which of the following will be familiar to them (the same at the equator as in Canada)

none of these are the same on the equator as in Canada

A light year is ______.

the distance that light travels in one year

In Ptolemy's system the planets orbit the Earth rather than the Sun. How did this system explain the retrograde motion of planets like Jupiter?

the planets moved on a small circle whose center, in turn, circled a point near the Earth