astronomy parts 1-3
Not including Earth, on how many planets or moons in our solar system do we have definitive evidence of life? (Enter a number.)
0
If a star is located 90 parsecs away, what would its parallax angle be? (Don't forget to include units.)
0.0111 arcseconds
A planet is orbiting a star at a distance D, and at that distance there is a certain gravitational attractive force F between the star and the planet. If somehow the planet were now moved so it is a distance 9D from the star, the gravitational force would now be
0.0123456790123457
If a star is located 36 parsecs away, what would its parallax angle be? (Don't forget to include units.)
0.028 arcseconds
If a star is located 23 parsecs away, what would its parallax angle be? (Don't forget to include units.)
0.0435
Using the same telescope and eyepiece, What is the angular diameter of this ball?
0.0764 degrees
12/16/2013 Was an apogee full moon (minimal moon). Since the Moon is 3476 km across, calculate the distance to the Moon.This telescope has a 1 degree field of view What is the angular diameter of the Moon in this image? What is the angular diameter of the Moon in this image? What is the distance to the Moon in this image?
0.49 degrees 29.4 arc min 406479.184 km
This image of the Sun was taken during the Venus transit in 2012.This telescope has a 1 degree field of view What is the angular diameter of the Sun in this image? What is the angular diameter of the Sun in this image? If the Sun is 1,390,000 km in diameter, What is the distance to the Sun in this image?
0.53 degrees 31.8 arc min 150277358.49 km
12/16/2013 Was an apogee full moon (minimal moon). Since the Moon is 3476 km across, calculate the distance to the Moon.This telescope has a 1 degree field of view What is the angular diameter of the Moon in this image? What is the angular diameter of the Moon in this image? What is the distance to the Moon in this image?
0.54 degrees 32.4 arc min 368842.2 km
A planet is orbiting a star at a distance D, and at that distance there is a certain gravitational attractive force F between the star and the planet. If somehow the planet were now moved so it is a distance 0.125D (that is, one-eighth the original distance from the star), the gravitational force would now be
64
this star looks ______ times brighter than other one
64
The sketch below shows groups of stars on the H-R diagram labeled A through E. Note that A represents the entire main sequence while C and D represent only small parts of the main sequence. 1. Which group represents Red Giant stars? 2. Which group represents low mass main-sequence stars? 3. Which group represents main-sequence stars with the longest lifetimes?
1. e 2. d 3. d
You have just discovered a new planet orbiting the Sun, which you call "Planet X". If the distance from the Sun to Planet X is 5 AU, approximately how long is its orbital period in years? (Choose closest answer.)
11 years
The Arecibo radio telescope sends a radar pulse towards Venus. The reflected pulse returns in 847 seconds. On this day, how far away is Venus?
127050000 km
You measure the parallax angle of a star, finding it to be 0.04 arcseconds. How far away is the star? (Don't forget to include units.
25 parsec
Imagine that we could build a spaceship that was able to travel at one-ninth the speed of light. How long would it take to travel to a star system that is 280 light-years away from Earth?
2520 years
The James Webb Space Telescope, a planned successor to the Hubble Space Telescope that is currently under construction, is 6.5 meters in diameter. How many times more light-collecting area does it have than a human eye, with a typical pupil diameter of 4.0 mm?
2640625
At a cross staff distance of 51 cm, a cell phone tower appears to be 14.7 cm tall.If the cell phone towwer is 80 m tall, how far is the tower from the observer?
277.551
A planet is orbiting a star at a distance D, and at that distance there is a certain gravitational attractive force F between the star and the planet. If somehow the planet were now moved so it is a distance 0.143D (that is, one-seventh the original distance from the star), the gravitational force would now be
49
How long are the arms of the LIGO interferometers?
4km
As you know from lecture and/or the reading, a mass-extinction event is some event (for example, an asteroid impact) that causes most species of life on Earth to suddenly go extinct. How many mass extinction events have there been in Earth's history?
5
If a star has a temperature of 4000 kelvin, what will be the peak wavelength in its spectrum?
750 nm
The distance to M31, the Andromeda Galaxy, is about 2.5 million LY. That is equivalent to
766871 parsecs.
At a cross staff distance of 53 cm, an electric utility pole appears to be 7.5 cm tall.If the utility pole is 11 m tall, how far is the pole from the observer?
77.7
You have just discovered a new planet (named "Planet-2018") in our own Solar System. Assume it has a circular orbit around the Sun. If you determine the orbital separation distance between the Sun and Planet-2018 to be 4 AU, what should you measure for its orbital period?(Hint: use the form of Kepler's Third Law where the units are AU and years)
8 years
The light-sensitive electronic chips used as detectors in modern cameras and spectrographs are called
CCD
Three of the four events listed below occurred during the first 5 minutes after the Big Bang; the fourth event occurred much later. Which one of the events is the one that occurred much later?
Electrons were trapped by nuclei to form atoms.
In which type of galaxy would you least expect to find a lot of O-type and B-type main sequence stars?
Elliptical Galaxy
Kepler was the first to show that planets move
Elliptical orbits around the sun
Consider three widely separated galaxies in an expanding universe. Imagine that you are located in Galaxy 1 and observe that both Galaxies 2 and 3 are moving away from you. If you asked an observer in Galaxy 3 to describe how Galaxy 2 appears to move, what would he or she say?
Galaxy 2 is moving away from me.
Which of the following has the various categories of light in the correct order from shortest wavelength to longest wavelength?
Gamma rays, X-rays, Ultraviolet, Visible, Infrared, Microwave, Radio
Notice the blue ovals (such as those indicated by the arrows) in this image of a galaxy cluster. The oval structures are not really located where they appear to be, but instead are multiple images of a single galaxy that lies directly behind the cluster. What do we call the process that creates these multiple images?
Gravitational Lensing
_______is the bending of the path of light rays due to gravity.
Gravitational lensing
Which of the following best summarizes what we mean by dark energy?
It is a name given to whatever is causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate with time.
What do we mean by the event horizon of a black hole?
It is the distance from the black hole inside of which neither light nor anything else can escape
Ozone, the O3 molecule, is present in Earth's atmosphere, in the stratosphere. Why is ozone of great importance to life on Earth?
It protects the surface from ultraviolet light from the Sun.
How would you expect a star that formed recently in the disk of the galaxy to differ from one that formed early in the history of the disk?
It should have a higher fraction of elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.
The Universe was opaque in the first 380,000 years after the Big Bang because...
It was a plasma, an ionized gas of free nuclei and electrons.
Below is an energy output vs. wavelength graph for a source of light. If you were to look at the light from the source after it passed through a diffraction grating that spreads out the different wavelengths, what would you see?
It would look like a rainbow with most colors, except red would be dimmer than violet, and there would be a dark area where green light should be.
Approximately where in the sky would you find a third quarter moon at sunset? (Assume you're observing from High Point, NC)
It's not up in the sky then
Which of these planets have rings?
Jupiter, uranus, neptune, saturn
Which of these choices has the zones of the solar system arranged in the correct order, from the Sun outwards?
Terrestrial planets, asteroid belt, Jovian planets, Kuiper Belt, Oort cloud
Which of the following best describes how the overall optical color of a globular cluster changes as it evolves, if you could watch it from the time when all of its stars are born to the time when most of its stars have 'died'? (Choose the best answer; assume the cluster starts off with main sequence stars of all allowable masses/temperatures.)
The color changes from blue to red
You are part of the team that has just sent a probe past a moon never before seen up close. The images returned show that one region (A) of the moon has hardly any impact craters, and an adjacent region (B) has lots and lots of impact craters. What can you conclude?
The moon is geologically active, with Region A being relatively young and Region B being old.
What does Hubble's law tell us?
The more distant a galaxy, the faster it is moving away from us.
What is the Hubble Flow?
The motion of galaxies away from each other due to the expansion of the Universe
These days, pencil lead is actually made of carbon, not lead. According to current scientific understanding, where did the carbon atoms in the pencils we use come from?
They were formed inside of a star.
According to current scientific understanding, where did gold atoms, which are heavier than iron, come from?
They were formed when a massive star underwent a supernova explosion.
Which of the following statements is probably true about the very first stars in the universe?
They were made only from hydrogen and helium.
Main-sequence stars begin life as
a cloud of gas and dust
If a light curve shows two regularly spaced dips of un-equal depths, this light curve most likely represents
an eclipsing binary star
If all of the stars listed below are currently fusing hydrogen on the main sequence, which has the highest luminosity? (Choose the best answer; the colors describe how the stars would appear to the human eye, assuming perfect vision)
blue star
An object that is just barely NOT a star because it doesn't have enough mass is called a
brown dwarf
How do we know that galaxies farther away from us are moving faster than nearby galaxies?
by measuring the redshifts of galaxies.
Compared to surrounding regions on the photosphere sunspots are
cooler
All of the energy of the Sun is generated in the
core
The space probe New Horizons flew past Pluto in July 2015. The shape of its trajectory past Pluto was a/an
hyperbola
What is the overall shape or geometry of the Universe according to the best evidence we have now?
flat
The radio station WAST broadcasts at 104 MHz, which is the _______ of the radio waves
frequency
What food item do spiral galaxies such as the Milky Way and M31 most resemble?
fried egg
In the picture below, a planet orbits a star. The locations of the planet (A - L) shown are all exactly 1 month apart. During which segment is the planet moving the slowest?
from a-b
What is the phase of the Moon if the moon is at the highest point in the sky at midnight ?
full
What is the phase of the moon in letter position E in this diagram?
full
In order for a lunar eclipse to occur, it has to be what moon phase?
full moon
What do we call the bright, sphere-shaped region of stars that occupies the central few thousand light-years of the Milky Way Galaxy?
galaxy bulge
Who discovered that Venus has phases, similar to the Moon?
galileo
Who discovered that moons orbit Jupiter?
galileo
Who discovered that the Milky Way is composed of so many faint stars that, to the naked eye, they seemingly blend together to form the faint white swath across the sky that gives our galaxy its name?
galileo
Who discovered that the Sun has sunspots on its surface?
galileo
who discovered that the Moon is not smooth, but rather has many, many craters on its surface
galileo
What are the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, in order from short wavelength to long wavelength?
gamma ray x-rays ultraviolet visible light infrared radiation microwaves radio waves
The image below shows the location of the Sun and several constellations at noon on a particular day. (On this day, the Sun is in Gemini.) Which constellation will the Sun mostly likely be in, a few hours later on that same day?
gemini
What holds galaxies together? That is, how come the stars and nebulae do not fly off, escaping the galaxy?
gravity
In the proton-proton chain that powers the Sun and other stars, the total mass of the four hydrogen nuclei that combine is _______the mass of the helium nucleus that results.
greater than
Consider two main-sequence stars, Fred and Lamont. The mass of Star Fred is greater than the mass of star Lamont. The luminosity of star Fred will be
greater than the luminosity of Star Lamont.
Which of the following has the highest energy?
green visible light
The region around a star where planets might currently have liquid water (i.e. it's not too hot nor too cold) is called the ___________
habitable zone
During the full Moon phase, how much of the Moons total surface is being illuminated by sunlight?
half
During the new Moon phase, how much of the Moons total surface is being illuminated by sunlight?
half
Star Harry emits twice as much energy in the form of light as does Star Hermione, and Harry is twice as far away from Earth as is Hermione. When viewed from Earth, Harry will be
half as bright as Hermione.
The Milky Way's globular clusters are located in the ______
halo
For a white dwarf to experience a nova, it is necessary for it to
have a companion star.
The Sun's location in the Milky Way Galaxy is
in the galactic disk, roughly halfway between the center and the outer edge of the disk
The name usually given to this phenomenon is
inertia
Of the following wavelengths of electromagnetic energy (colors of light), Which has the longest wavelength?
infra red
What kind of electromagnetic radiation is most useful for being able to see through dust clouds in the interstellar medium?
infrared
What element is Earth's core primarily made of?
iron
Star George has a mass of 4 solar masses and Star Weesie has a mass of 2 solar masses. The lifetime of Star George will be
less than one-half the lifetime of Star Weesie
A graph of Brightness versus Time for a star is called a
light curve
The nuclei that directly resulted from the Big Bang were...
lithium-helium-hydrogen
When we look at a distant object through a telescope, we are
looking back in time.
You measure the brightness of a star and also its parallax (from which you can determine the distance). These will then allow you to calculate what other important property of the star?
luminosity
Stars that are reddish in color are spectral type
m
The lowest-temperature main-sequence stars are spectral type
m
A _______is a device used to measure magnetic fields.
magnetometer
the sun is
main sequence star
Select all stages of stellar evolution the Sun will go through, or already has gone through.
main sequence, Protostar, White dwarf, Planetary. Nebula, red giant
the sun is at the zenith at noon for people at this latitude on
march 21st & september 22nd
What one property of a star, as a result of its formation, essentially determines all its other properties and its fate?
mass
Particles created during the nuclear fusion reactions in the Sun's core, and which escape the Sun almost immediately, are called...
neutrinos
What is the phase of the moon in letter position A in this diagram
new
In order for a solar eclipse to occur, it has to be what moon phase?
new moon
Who discovered that the force of gravity pulling two objects together is proportional to both of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them squared?
newton
If the TESS spacecraft observes a solar system viewed from the poles (above or below the plane of the solar system) will it be able to detect the presence of exoplanets?
no
During the new Moon phase, how much of the illuminated portion of the Moon is visible from Earth?
none
sunspots occur in pairs
true
In the image, letter B represents what part of the shadow of the Earth?
umbra
If a small weather satellite and a larger communications satellite with twice the mass of the weather satellite are orbiting Earth at the same altitude above Earths surface, the large communications satellite will have an orbital period that is
none of the above
Of the following wavelengths of electromagnetic energy (colors of light), Which has the greatest frequency?
unltra violet
Which planet is unusual, in that it has pretty much a uniform distribution of impact craters over its surface, implying that the entire planet's surface is about the same age
venus
A black hole is produced when a
very massive star undergoes a type II supernova
If it is first quarter moon today, what will the moon phase be seventeen (17) days from now?
waning crescent
If it is full moon today, what will the moon phase be three days from now?
waning gibbous
For most of Earth's history, life
was single-cellular.
The "habitable zone" around a star is the range of distances where _______ can exist on the surface of a planet.
water
Tidal forces between Saturn and its moon Enceladus cause
water to be liquid (instead of frozen ice), forming a vast ocean under the surface crust
What is the phase of the moon in letter position B in this diagram?
waxing crescent
If the moon is a waxing crescent today, what will the moon phase be in one week?
waxing gibbous
If today the moon has a waning crescent phase, what will the moon phase be fourteen (14) days from now?
waxing gibbous
What is the phase of the Moon if it sets at 3 AM ?
waxing gibbous
What is the phase of the moon in letter position D in this diagram?
waxing gibbous
Except for hydrogen, most of the nuclei in the atoms of your body
were created inside dying and exploding stars
A solar eclipse occurs: (choose the most correct answer)
whenever there is a NEW moon AND the moon is on the ecliptic.
The Sun will eventually become a
white dwarf
When the core of a low-mass star collapses, it forms a
white dwarf
Which is hotter, a red giant that gives off 10,000 times more light than the Sun, or a white dwarf which gives off 100 times less light than the Sun?
white dwarf
After a type II supernova explosion, the remains of the stellar core
will be either a neutron star or a black hole.
Energetic particles continually flying off the Sun out in all directions is called the solar
wind
The hydrogen atoms in your body were created
within a few minutes after the Big Bang
If the star Vega were suddenly moved 4 times farther from Earth, what would happen to its luminosity?
wouldnt change
Of the following wavelengths of electromagnetic energy (colors of light), Which has the greatest energy?
x-ray
The sun is highest in the sky when it crosses this line, at __________.
noon
The creation or formation of elements (more specifically, the nuclei of atoms) can happen in several different ways, but in general is called
nucleosynthesis
The most luminous main-sequence stars are spectral type
o
What is the primary form of evidence that has led astronomers to conclude that the expansion of the universe is accelerating
observations of white dwarf supernovae
The planet Krypton has a mass that is twice the mass of Earth, and its radius is twice the radius of Earth. Your weight on Krypton would be
one-half of your weight on Earth.
The Miller-Urey Experiment, first conducted in the 1952, showed that a mixture of water, gases thought to be similar to Earth's early atmosphere, and lightning (sparks) were sufficient to easily and quickly create
organic molecules
Which of those layers of the Earth's interior is made primarily of liquid iron and is the source of Earth's magnetosphere?
outer core
Arrange these regions of the Solar System in order, from the center outwards
outermost Oort Cloud Kuiper Belt jovian planets asteroid belt terrestrial planets Sun Center
Arrange these regions of the Solar System in order, from the center outwards.
outermost Oort Cloud Kuiper Belt jovian planets asteroid belt terrestrial planets Sun center
Arrange these parts of the Sun in order, from the center outwards.
outermost corona chromosphere photosphere convective zone radiative zone core center
In the image, letter A represents what part of the shadow of the Earth?
penumbra
Astronomers use light curves to detect planets orbiting stars by looking for
periodic decreases in the intensity of the light from the star
What event happened at the last scattering surface?
photon decoupling
The light we receive from the Sun comes from the Sun's
photosphere
Which of the following rankings is correct for the size (width) of the following objects from smallest to largest?
planet, star, solar system, galaxy, universe
When a low-mass star dies, its gases expand to form a
planetary nebula
Early in the history of the universe, many galaxies had supermassive black holes in their centers that were being fed by matter falling into them. The matter would collect into an accretion disc, be compressed and heated to millions of degrees, and radiate light thousands of times brighter than our galaxy today. These objects are the furthest things we can see, and are called
quasars
Of the following wavelengths of electromagnetic energy (colors of light), Which has the longest wavelength?
radio
What kind of electromagnetic radiation is most useful for identifying molecules (as opposed to atoms, ions, or dust) in the interstellar medium?
radio
What part of the ENTIRE electromagnetic spectrum has the longest wavelength and the lowest energy?
radio waves
Which of the following has the lowest frequency?
radio waves
What are the parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, in order from lowest energy to highest energy?
radio waves microwaves infrared radiation visible light ultraviolet x-rays gamma ray
Which of the following is not a method astronomers use to look for exoplanets?
radio-wave reflections
During a lunar eclipse, some of the Sun's light passing through Earth's atmosphere is NOT scattered, it refracts around the Earth (the atmosphere acting like a lens) and comes out again, "leaking" into the Earth's shadow. Most of the light that survives this process is _____ light, which is why the darkened Moon takes on this color during the eclipse.
red
What part (color) of the VISIBLE spectrum has the longest wavelength and the lowest energy?
red
Of the stars listed below, which has a habitable zone that is closest to the star?
red dwarf
What kind of telescope uses a converging lens to form the prime-focus image, rather than a converging mirror?
refractor
What kind of seismic waves can NOT travel through a liquid?
s-waves
What part of a reflecting telescope allows the observer's head (or camera or spectrograph) to be located NOT directly in front of the primary mirror?
secondary mirror
It is also the ______ of the earth orbit
semimajor axis
Main-sequence stars that have more mass live ______ than low mass stars
shorter
Consider a red star and a yellow star, which have the same radius. Which, if either, has the greater luminosity?
yellow star
Do both low-mass and high-mass main-sequence stars typically become red giants?
yes
What property of seismic waves, as measured by a seismograph, allows the distance to an earthquake to be calculated?
the time interval between when the P-waves arrive and the S-waves arrive
The TESS mission is discovering exoplanets by using
the transit method
The method that has detected the most exoplanets is
the transit method
Both a planet and its star orbit around their common center of mass. Which takes longer to complete one orbit?
they take the same time to complete one orbit
If it is full moon today, what will the moon phase be seven days from now?
third quarter
What is the phase of the Moon if the moon is at the highest point in the sky at 6 AM (sunrise)?
third quarter
The heat source that allows liquid water to exist under the crust of Europa and other moons of Jupiter and Saturn is
tidal interactions with the planet
The ______ is the point in the sky that is directly overhead.
zenith
Under the force of gravity, the path of an object (say, a probe) near a planet could potentially be a/an... (Check all that apply.) The thing that determines which of the above is the actual path is the probe's
~ ellipse, hyperbola, parabola, circle ~velocity
There are similarities between the formation of solar systems and spiral galaxies. In both cases, the collapse of a cloud of gas is caused by _______. As the cloud collapses, any spin it originally has______.Much of the material forms a disc _______to the axis of the spin.
~ gravity ~increases ~perpendicular to
INFO: The half-life of C-14 is about 6000 years. You are an archaeologist. You retrieve a sample of wood from an ancient burial site and send it to a lab. The folks at the lab use a mass spectrometer to determine the concentration of C-14 in the sample is only one-sixteenth (1/16) of the normal concentration. ~How many halflives have passed since the sample was alive? ~How old is the sample?
~4 ~24000 years
Which of the following observations support the Big Bang model? (Check all that apply.)
~Hubble's law -- running it backwards tells us everything was once at the same location ~the entire sky glows in microwaves with an average temperature of 2.7 K (the "Cosmic Microwave Background" radiation) ~the Cosmic Microwave Background shows a continuum spectrum
A _____ eclipse occurs when the Earth is directly between the Sun and the Moon, causing the shadow of the _____ to fall on the ______. This can happen only when the moon's phase is _____.
~Lunar ~earth ~moon ~new
Why is it that Earth has so many fewer craters than the Moon? Check all that apply.
~Plate tectonics "recycles" continental plates. ~Earth has weather, which erodes craters. ~Some craters on Earth are filled with water, so people just assume they are ordinary lakes.
What are the primary reasons why it is hotter in summer than it is in winter? Select two answers.
~The Sun is higher in the sky during the summer than the winter. ~The there are more hours of daylight in summer than in winter.
What does it mean when we say a planet is "differentiated"? Which of the terrestrial planets is differentiated? Check all that apply.
~The densest material has sunk to the center of the planet. ~Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
Some telescopes are placed in orbit around the Earth primarily for which of the following reasons? (Select two answers.)
~The light is refracted by the air, in random ever-changing ways, which blurs the image. ~Some of the light from objects in space is absorbed by Earth's atmosphere.
Which of the following statements accurately describe our Solar System? (Check all that apply.)
~The orbits of the planets are all approximately in the same plane. ~Most of the mass is in the Sun. ~Small rocky planets are close to the Sun, large gaseous planets are farther away from the Sun. ~All of the planets orbit the Sun in the same direction.
What is very odd about the craters on the surface of Venus This indicates that____
~They are randomly but evenly distributed across the entire surface of the planet. ~Venus's entire surface is about the same age.
Why do we think dark energy exists? (Check all that apply)
~We know the universe is flat, but there is not enough 'normal matter' and 'dark matter' to make it flat, so there must be some other form of mass-energy in the universe. ~The expansion rate of the universe is accelerating.
Which are the Main-Sequence stars? Which are the white dwarfs? Which are the giants? Which are the supergiants? Which group, on average, has the highest luminosity? Which group, on average, is the hottest? What kind of star is the Sun?
~a ~d ~b ~c ~c ~d ~a
The Cambrian Explosion was _____ that occurred around
~a dramatic increase in the complexity and variety of life on Earth ~530 million years ago
On Earth, if you're at the beach, the time from one high tide to the next high tide is... Why is it that value?
~about 12.5 hours ~There are two tidal bulges on opposite sides of Earth, and while the Earth spins the Moon does move forward (eastward) somewhat in its orbit.
A bright blue star is moving away from Earth. Which of the choices best completes the following statement describing the spectrum of this star?It is a(n) ___________ spectrum that is ________ relative to a similar stationary star.
~absorption ~redshift
Two stars, let's call them Alice and Bob, are identical in every way, except that Bob is 12 times farther away from us than Alice is.Which one looks brighter? the star looks...
~alice ~144
The average Earth-Sun distance is called the _______. It is also the _____ of the earths orbit.
~astronomical unit ~semimajor axis
Which of these things can be considered "dead" stars -- that is resulting from a regular star that has run out of the hydrogen fueling the nuclear reactions in its core? Check all that apply.
~black hole ~white dwarf ~neutron star
Two stars, let's call them Alice and Bob, are identical in every way, except that Alice is 4 times farther away from us than Bob is.Which one looks brighter the star looks
~bob ~16
Two stars, let's call them Alice and Bob, are identical in every way, except that Alice is 11 times farther away from us than Bob is. Which one looks brighter? This star looks ______ times brighter than the other one.
~bob ~121
An object that is too small to be a star, but larger than a planet, is called a ________. In the center of these objects, the pressure and temperature are sufficient to cause nuclear fusion of_________ but not _________ like in true main - sequence stars
~brown dwarf ~deuterium ~hydrogen
23.5°N latitude is the tropic of ______ The sun is at the zenith at noon for people at this latitude on
~cancer ~june 21st
23.5°S latitude is the tropic of _______ The sun is at the zenith at noon for people at this latitude on
~capricorn ~december 21st
What kind of optics can be used as the first light-collecting and image-forming part of a telescope? Check all that apply.
~concave mirror ~convex lens
When it dies, a star of 50 solar masses will______and its remnant will be
~explode as a supernov ~blackhole
When it dies, a star of 13 solar masses will _________ and its remnant will be a______
~explode as a supernova ~ neutron star
The radio station WJRR transmits at 100 kHz, which is the _______ of the radio waves. The λ of those radio waves is _______
~frequency ~ 3000 m
When it dies, a star of 3 solar masses will ________and its remnant will be a
~gently blow off its outer layers to form a planetary nebula ~white dwarf
Hot objects glow. If you increase the temperature of a hot, glowing object so that it is even hotter, what happens to the light it emits? Check all that apply.
~gets brighter ~gets bluer
Tidal forces" are really an effect of the ______ , which gets _____ On Earth, if you're at the beach, the time from one high tide to the next low tide is...____
~gravitational force ~weaker ~about 6 hours
Which of the following observations help support the existence of dark matter? (Select all that apply.)
~gravitational lensing of galaxies ~rotation curves of galaxies
From this list, which two atoms or molecules are most likely to escape into space, or will escape into space the fastest? Select two. This is true because these have the and are therefore most likely, at a given temperature, to be moving faster than the planet's
~helium and hydrogen ~smallest mass ~escape speed
When we say that a star is "dying", that means that it has run out of _______ in its______ . The star will go through a complex process, but will end up as either a white dwarf, neutron star, or black hole. A low- or medium-mass star will end up as a ________ The very most massive stars (which are rare) will end up as a_________ Stars in between will end up as a__________
~hydrogen ~core ~white dwarf ~black hole ~neutron star
In recent years two comets passed through our solar system that had________ trajectories, indicating that they came from outside our solar system. Their names are I1 ______ and and I2/ ______.
~hyperbolic ~oumuamua ~borisov
The greenhouse effect happens when gases in a planet's atmosphere block _____ radiated by the surface from escaping into space. Three important greenhouse gases in Earth's atmosphere are
~infrared light ~methane, carbon dioxide, water vapor
The radial velocity and transit methods have an easier job detecting planets that are______ and ______
~large ~in small orbits
________ is the coordinate for measuring North-South position on the surface of a planet. _______ is the coordinate for measure North-South position on the celestial sphere.
~latitude ~declination
_______ is the coordinate for measuring East-West position on the surface of a planet. ________is the coordinate for measure East-West position on the celestial sphere.
~longitude ~right ascension
Which of these are the "terrestrial" planets?
~mercury ~venus ~mars ~earth
Check all of the below that are electromagnetic waves.
~microwaves ~radio waves ~infrared ~gamma rays ~ultraviolet ~x-rays ~visible light
In 2006, Pluto was demoted from being considered a planet because it did NOT meet which one of the following criteria, newly adopted at the time for an object to be considered a full-fledged planet? Instead, Pluto is now classified as a_____
~must have cleared its orbit of debris ~dwarf planet
In order for an object to be officially classified as a "planet", which of the following criteria must be met? (assume the IAU's definition of planet; check all that apply)
~must orbit the Sun ~must have sufficient mass to have a nearly round shape ~must have cleared its neighborhood of debris (around its orbit
Which of these are the "jovian" planets?
~neptune ~Jupiter ~saturn ~uranus
The source of a star's energy is ______ reactions occurring in the _______ of the star. These reactions combine four______ ______ into a _______ ________.
~nuclear ~core ~hydrogen ~nuclei ~helium ~nucleus
The kind of stars found outside of the disc of a spiral galaxy, in the so-called "halo", are called Population II stars. These stars are typically _________ the stars found in the disk and contain__________fraction of heavy elements than disc stars. These stars orbit the center of the galaxy_______
~older than ~a lower ~pretty much in the same plane
What is the name of the first interstellar object observed to pass through our solar system, in 2017? We know it was an interstellar visitor because its trajectory (path) was...
~oumuamua ~hyperbolic
Do this experiment right now: Use any single light source that is not a point, so don't use a cell phone or LED flashlight. An ordinary lamp will do. Hold your hand up in such a way to cast a shadow onto a sheet of blank paper. Look carefully at the shadow. Notice that the edge of the shadow is fuzzy, not sharp; this region is where your hand is only partially blocking the light coming from the source. The inner uniform dark part of the shadow is where all the light is being blocked. Now, from your reading and/or lecture, what are the names of these regions? The outer "partial shadow" is known as the _________. The darker, inner part of the shadow is the __________.
~penumbra ~umbra
A red wall is red because the _______ in the paint ________ red light, but doesn't do that to the other colors.
~pigment ~reflects
The thing inside a spectrograph that is used to disperse the light (separate it into its different colors) can be either a ______ or a ______ _______
~prism ~diffraction ~grating
The type of telescope most effective for detecting molecules (as opposed to atoms or ions) in the interstellar medium is... The reason for this is that...
~radio telescopes ~the difference of energy levels of molecules (due to their vibration and rotation) is LESS than the typical difference of energy levels of electron orbits in individual atoms.
In 1992 comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 broke into 20+ pieces because it passed inside the ______ of _______, causing it to be torn apart by ______ . This comet became famous because two years later the fragments collided with _______,the first time this had ever been observed.
~roche limit ~Jupiter ~tidal forces ~jupiter
A ______ eclipse occurs when the Moon is directly between the Sun and the Earth, causing the shadow of the _______ to fall on the ________ This can happen only when the Moon's phase is _________
~solar ~moon ~earth ~new moon
In addition to the high and low tides in Earth's oceans, the tidal interaction between Earth and the Moon is causing, VERY gradually,...
~the Moon's orbit to grow larger ~Earth's spin to slow down ~the length of the day to increase ~the Moon to move slower ~the length of the month to grow longer
In order to determine the distance to an object (let's say it's a galaxy) using a "standard ruler" technique, what TWO pieces of information do you need in order to calculate the distance?
~the angular size of the galaxy ~the diameter of the galaxy
In order to determine the distance to an object (let's say it's a star) using a "standard candle" technique, what TWO pieces of information do you need in order to calculate the distance?
~the luminosity of the star ~the brightness of the star
The Chandrasekhar Limit is The actual value of the Chandrasekhar Limit is
~the most mass a white dwarf can have, above which it will collapse to form a neutron star ~1.4
The LIGO observatories, in Louisiana and Washington state, are instruments that can detect extremely _________. With these, we have been able to observe________
~tiny ripples in space itself ~mergers of black holes and neutron stars
To distinguish between an eclipsing binary star light curve and a planet transit, the light curve must be carefully examined. Planet transits typically have a ___ shape light curve whereas binary stars typically have a ____
~u ~v
Carbon dioxide, water vapor and methane are all gases that are opaque to infrared light. These gases' presence in an atmosphere will block infrared light from escaping the planet into space. This causes the planet to be ______than it would otherwise be. This is called the ______
~warmer ~greenhouse effect
The H-R diagram below plots all of the stars closest to Earth, along with 5 other stars marked with big symbols (Stars A, B, C, D, E). Match each description below with the star it most accurately identifies. (Each description should only be used once; some will not be used at all.) Star B Star A Star E Star C Star D
~white dwarf ~blue supergiant ~red dwarf ~red giant ~red supergiant
What is the distinction between brightness and luminosity? ______is the actual power (that is, energy per time) output of a light source, often measured in watts. The ________ describes the appearance of the light source to the observer. The brightness isn't really a property of the light source, because it also depends on the observer' _______ from the light source.
~ luminosity ~brightness ~distance
Hot objects glow. If you increase the temperature of a hot, glowing object so that it is three times as hot as before (as measured on the absolute kelvin scale), then... its peak wavelength will be _____ its brightness will be_____
~0.333333333333 ~81
The temperature of the Suns photosphere is about
6000 K
Which planets are made mostly of hydrogen and helium?
Neptune, Jupiter,Uranus, Saturn
Which list of moon phases below is in the correct chronological order, when read from left to right?
New Moon, 1st Quarter Moon, Full Moon, 3rd Quarter Moon
The Voyager 1 probe, launched in 1977, continues to move out of our solar system even though it is not burning any rocket fuel. The idea that a spacecraft can continue in motion even when it has no fuel is an example of
Newton's first law of motion.
The Voyager 1 spacecraft continues to move out of our solar system, even though it is not burning any rocket fuel. The idea that a spacecraft can continue in motion even when it has no fuel is an example of
Newtons first law of motion.
What would stars be like if Hydrogen (instead of Iron) had the smallest mass per nucleon and the strongest nuclear binding energy of all the elements? (Choose the best answer)
Nuclear fusion would not occur in stars
Of the four atoms shown below, which atom is absorbing the bluest photon?
atom a
The normal ("rest") wavelength of the Hα spectral line of hydrogen is 656 nanometers. Using a spectrograph attached to a large telescope, you measure the wavelength of that spectral line as 660 nm.Is the galaxy moving towards or away from us?
away
In this solar eclipse diagram, which letter represents the penumbra shadow of the moon?
b
If the radius of the Earth suddenly suddenly became 5 times larger, but its mass remained exactly the same, the gravitational force that the Earth exerts on you would
be 25 times smaller
If the mass of the Earth suddenly tripled, but its radius remained exactly the same, the gravitational force that the Earth exerts on you would
be 3 times larger
The Doppler effect causes light from a source moving toward you to
be shifted to shorter wavelengths.
our sun will
become a steadily cooling white dwarf.
After it runs out of nuclear fuel and "dies", our Sun will eventually...
become a white dwarf, gradually cooling for eternity.
A hot piece of metal is hot. So hot that it is glowing. If the temperature of the metal is decreased, the wavelength of light at which it is glowing most brightly will
become longer
Of the following wavelengths of electromagnetic energy (colors of light), Which has the greatest frequency?
blue
Which of the following stars would have the highest temperature?
blue
Small areas of the Sun appearing relatively dark when seen in the visible part of the spectrum are called
sunspots
A light year is a unit of
distance
A light-year is a unit of
distance
A parsec is a unit of
distance
If the star Vega were suddenly moved 3 times closer to Earth, what would happen to its luminosity?
doesnt change
Gold atoms (and all other atoms heavier than iron) were created
during a supernova explosion
The carbon atoms in your body were created _____
during the red giant or supergiant phase of a dying star's life
During a lunar eclipse, the shadow of the Earth on the Moon is seen to be curved because...
earth is round
Order the following systems according to how easy they are to detect using the radial velocity method, starting with the easiest (top) and ending with the most difficult (bottom). (Assume the stars are identical in all three cases)
easiest = High-mass planets close to their host stars more difficult= High-mass planets far away from their host stars most difficult=Low-mass planets far away from their host stars
Who was it who, in 1916, predicted the existence of gravitational waves?
einstein
Arrange these things in order by size, from smallest to largest.
electrons quarks protons & neutrons atoms molecules cells meteoroids asteroids & comets dwarf planets,planetesimals terrestrial planets jovian planets brown dwarfs stars open star clusters globular star clusters galaxies galaxy clusters galaxy superclusters the Universe he Multiverse (if it exists)
In which type of galaxy would you expect to see mostly red stars?
elliptical
What feature of Ptolemaic, geocentric models of the Universe was created as an attempt to explain retrograde motion of the planets?
eqicycles
The gravitational force that the Sun exerts on the Earth is
equal to the gravitational force that the Earth exerts on the Sun
0 degrees latitude is the __________.
equator
Suppose that a white dwarf is gaining mass through accretion in a binary system. What happens if the mass someday reaches the 1.4 solar mass limit? The white dwarf will
explode completely in a type Ia supernova.
Suppose that a white dwarf is part of a binary star system. Its companion has turned into a red giant, swelled up, and is transferring material to the white dwarf. What happens when the mass of the white dwarf reaches 1.4 solar masses? The white dwarf will
explode completely in a type Ia supernova.
Microorganisms that can withstand very acidic conditions (acidophiles), very high temperatures (thermophiles), very low temperatures (psychrophiles) and other extreme conditions that would kill most organisms are all called
extremophiles
What part of a telescope is the "magnifying glass", that allows the viewer to see a larger version of the prime-focus image?
eyepiece
TRUE or FALSE: All systems of planets discovered around other stars look identical to our Solar System.
false
TRUE or FALSE? The TESS spacecraft may be able to detect a Mercury sized planet.
false
Enzo star gives off the same amount of energy in the form of light as Ferdinand star. But, Enzo star is much much hotter than Ferdinand star. Which star has the greater surface area?
ferdinand
What is the phase of the Moon if the moon is at the highest point in the sky at 6 PM (sunset)?
first quarter
Hubbles observation that galaxies farther away from us are moving faster implies
the Universe is expanding.
The Big Bang theory is supported by two major lines of evidence that alternative models have not successfully explained. What are they?
(1) the theory predicts the existence of and the specific characteristics of the observed cosmic microwave background; (2) the theory correctly predicts the observed overall chemical composition of the universe.
Early radio broadcasts began on Earth around the year 1920. Imagine that there exists an alien civilization lives in another part of the galaxy that is 2000 light-years away from Earth. (a) In what Earth year could these aliens first detect one of our early radio broadcasts? (b) Assuming that the aliens are excited by this discovery and immediately send a radio reply back toward Earth, in what Earth year would we receive this reply?
(a) 3920 ad (b) 5920 ad
The planets in the orbits shown in the drawings below obey Keplers Laws. (a) Which of the planets shown would experience the greatest change in speed during its orbit? (b) Which of the planet orbits is least like the Earths orbit around the Sun?
(a) a (b) a
Below are the energy output vs. wavelength graphs for two different objects A (solid) and B (dashed). (a) Which object, if either, is emitting more red light? (b) Which object, if either, would appear reddish in color? (c) Which object, if either, would appear bluish in color?
(a) object b (b) object a (c) object b
Use the four spectra for objects D-G, shown below, to answer the next two questions. Note that one of the spectra is from an object at rest (not moving relative to Earth) and the remaining spectra come from objects that are all moving away from Earth. (a) Which object would be at rest? (b) Of the objects that are moving, which is moving with the fastest speed?
(a) object g (b) object e
The Sun (a) What part of the Sun is the visible disc that you see when looking at the Sun? (b) In which part of the sun is energy transported by the movement of gases? (c) Large dark spots that appear regularly on the sun's surface and cause communication disruptions and the aurorae are (d) Energy is transported by the absorption and emission of radiation in the (e) What are the two most abundant elements in the Sun? (f) Of the two most abundant elements in the Sun, which one makes up 94% of the Sun's atoms? (g) The sun will continue to shine for ~ ________ more years.
(a) photosphere (b) convection zon (c) sunspots (d) radiative zone (e) hydrogen and helium (f) hydrogen (g) 5 billion
Below is an energy output vs. wavelength graph for a source of light. (a) If you were to look directly at the source of light, what color would it appear to be? (b) If you put this light through a diffraction grating to spread out all the wavelengths and then looked at the spectrum, what would it look like?
(a) white (b) It would look like a rainbow with all the colors, green being the brightest color.
At a distance of 60 m this one meter rod fills the field of view of the telescope with a low power eyepiece. What is the angular field of view of this telescope in degrees?
0.955 degrees 57.2958 arc min
If the sun takes 365 days to circle completely around the ecliptic, what is its approximate angular speed in the Eastward direction with respect to the background stars? (You can do this without a calculator.)
1 deg/day
A star that has a parallax angle of 1 arcsecond is a distance of
1 parsec from Earth.
In order for a light sensor to detect the transit of a Jupiter-sized planet, it must have a light sensitivity of
1 part in 100 (that is, 1%)
Match each description of an astronomical object with its name. 1. A group of stars (from a few dozen to a few million) bound together by gravity 2. Particles that make up protons and neutrons. 3. A spherical mass of hydrogen and helium that is not quite large enough to be a star. 4.A cloud of gas and/or dust floating between the stars. 5. The dense center of an atom, around which the electrons orbit. 6. Everything (maybe). 7.A group of galaxies, gravitationally bound. 8. Neutral particles that make up physical objects; when combined, these things make up molecules. 9. Positive particle inside the nucleus of an atom 10. A small rocky object, smaller than a planet or asteroid, orbiting the Sun 11. A self-gravitating ball of mostly hydrogen and helium, with nuclear fusion reactions occurring in its center. 12. An object made primarily of ice, leftover from the formation of the solar system and orbiting the Sun 13. A system of billions of stars, gravitationally bound, also often containing nebulae. 14. A more-or-less spherical ball of stuff orbiting a star, but not a star itself. 15. Two stars orbiting each other. 16. A neutral particle inside the nucleus of an atom 17. A group (or cluster) of galaxy clusters.
1 star cluster 2 quarks 3 brown dwarf 4 nebula 5 nucleus 6 the universe 7 galaxy cluster 8 atom 9 proton 10 meteoroid 11 star 12 comet 13 galaxy 14 planet 15 binary star 16 neutron 17 galaxy supercluster
Who made each of these discoveries? 1. The Milky Way is one of many galaxies. 2. There is far more dark matter than regular matter in galaxies. 3. The Universe is expanding. 4. The shape of spacetime is affected by mass 5. The Cosmic Microwave Background.
1. Edwin Hubble 2. Vera Rubin 3.Edwin Hubble 4.Albert Einstein 5.Arno Penzias & Robert Wilson
1. This kind of telescope was invented by the same person who figured out that white light is a mixture of all the colors of the rainbow. 2. This kind of telescope has a parabolic primary mirror that has a hole in the center. 3. The first kind of telescope invented 4. The Hubble Space Telescope is this kind. (See diagram below.) 5. The kind of telescope used by pirates at sea. (See photo below.)
1. newtonian reflector 2. Cassegrain reflector 3. refractor 4. cassegrain reflector 5. refractor
Below is a graph of Luminosity versus Temperature for five objects, A - E. 1. Which of the following objects is giving off the greatest amount of energy? 2. Which of the following objects has the greatest temperature? 3. Which object is giving off the same amount of energy as Object B? 4. Object D is... 5. Object A is...
1. object d 2. object a 3. object c 4. larger than object b 5. smaller than object b
Match each description with the type of telescope 1. Doesn't use any mirrors. 2. Uses a parabolic primary mirror and flat secondary mirror. 3. When pointed up at the sky, this type of telescope puts the eyepiece near the top of the telescope. 4. Most large research telescopes are this kind.
1. refractor 2. Newtonian reflector 3. Newtonian reflector 4. Cassegrain reflector
How many stars are there in each of these things? 1. A globular star cluster. 2.A galaxy. 3. Our solar system. 4. An open star cluster. 5. A binary star system
1. typically a few hundred thousand to a few million 2.typically many billions 3. 1 4. tipically a few dozen 5. 2
The speed of sound in air is 343 m/sec. The Vernier motion detector pictured sends an ultrasonic sound pulse toward a toy cart some distance away. The reflected echo returns to the detector in 6.4 milliseconds. How far is the cart from the detector?
1.098 meters
how fast is the galaxy moving?
1.83e+06 m/sec
Match each of these phenomena with the relevant physics concept that causes it or explains it. 1. You see yourself in the bathroom mirror. 2. Rainbows. 3. Blue stars are hotter than red stars. 4. A pencil or fork, sitting in a glass of water, looks bent or broken at the surface of the water. 5. The sky is blue. 6. You see clouds in the sky when looking down on a rain puddle on the ground. 7. Light from a hydrogen gas in a distant galaxy is longer wavelength than light from glowing hydrogen gas in a lab on Earth. 8. Lenses focus light.
1.reflection 2.dispersion 3.Wien's Law 4.refraction 5. Rayleigh scattering 6. reflection 7. Doppler Effect 8. refraction
How far away is a star whose parallax angle is measured to be one-tenth of an arcsecond?
10 parsecs
The diameter of the Milky Way galaxy is about
100,000 light years
What is the z of the last scattering surface, from whence the cosmic microwave background comes?
1000
If a star has a temperature of 3000 kelvin, what will be the peak wavelength in its spectrum?
1000 nm
A newly-discovered asteroid in our solar system has an orbit with semimajor axis of 22.85 astronomical units.What is the period of that orbit? (Be sure to include units.)
109 years
Current estimates place the age of the universe at about
14 billion
What is the distance to this 20 cm ball?
150 meters
The Arecibo radio telescope sends a radar pulse towards Venus. The reflected pulse returns in 1231 seconds. On this day, how far away is Venus?
184650000 km
Twenty years from now you are an asteroid miner. In your spaceship you are approaching an asteroid that is known to be 21 kilometers in diameter. At this moment you are 2300 kilometers away from it. What is the asteroid's angular size to you at that moment?
1880 arcsec
You are observing a binary star system with an orbital period of 2 years. If the two stars are separated by a distance of 2 AU, what is the total mass of the system? (Give answer in units of solar mass, )
2 M
The λ of those radio waves is
2.88 m
If a star has its peak wavelength at 1500 nm, it temperature must be
2000 kelvin
In what year did LIGO detect its first black hole merger?
2015
The Hubble Space telescope is 2.3 meters in diameter. How many times more light-collecting area does it have than a human eye, with a typical pupil diameter of 5.0 mm?
211600
You are looking to buy a telescope. The Acme Model A is 5 cm in diameter, whereas the Saturn Superscope is 75 cm in diameter. You decide to buy a Superscope because it collects _______ times more light than the Model A.
225
The Earth rotates on its axis once, 360 degrees, in...
23 hours 56 minutes
One sidereal day, the time it takes the stars to return to the same relative position night after night, is closest to which of the following? (assume you're on Earth)
23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds
While stargazing one night from HPU, you see the star "Antares" off in the West, right near the peak of a mountain. How long will you have to wait to see Antares return to this same relative position on the sky? (Choose best answer; assume you keep observing from the same location)
23 hr, 56 min, 4 sec
The radio station WHPU broadcasts at a frequency of 91.0 MHz. What is the wavelength of that electromagnetic wave?
3.3m
The Late Heavy Bombardment occurred about
3.9 billion
After taking a spectrum of your favorite star, you notice it has an absorption line due to Hydrogen at 451 nm. If the rest-frame (non-moving) wavelength of this Hydrogen line is supposed to be 410 nm, what is the approximate radial velocity of this star in kilometers per second (km/s)? Choose the best answer. (Assume for simplicity that the speed of light 'c' is 300,000 km/s)
30,000 km/s away from you
Imagine that we could build a spaceship that was able to travel at one-tenth the speed of light. How long would it take to travel to a star system that is 300 light-years away from Earth?
3000 years
If a star has a temperature of 10,000 K, what will be the peak wavelength in its spectrum
300nm
One degree equals ______ arcseconds.
3600
The speed of light in vacuum is
3e8 m/sec
The black hole at the center of the Milky Way is thought to have about
4 million
Star Frasier and Star Niles each put out the same amount of energy in the form of light, but Frasier appears to be 16 times as bright as Niles when viewed from Earth. This means that Niles is
4 times as far away from Earth as Frasier.
If a star were 0.25 parsecs away from Earth, what would be its parallax angle?
4.0 arcsec
Write forty-five thousand twenty-eight in scientific notation.
4.5028 x10^4
The earth formed about __________ years ago.
4.56 billion
The age of Earth is about
4.6 billion years
At a cross staff distance of 66 cm, an electric utility pole appears to be 17.1 cm tall.If the utility pole is 11 m tall, how far is the pole from the observer?
42.456 meters
The MMT telescope in southern Arizona is 6.5 meters in diameter. How many times more light-collecting area does it have than a portable telescope an amateur astronomer might have, with a typical diameter of 10. cm?
4225
If an asteroid orbits at a distance of 3 A.U. from the Sun, about how long will it take to complete one orbit?
5.2 eath years
Which of the following black holes would have the largest Schwarzschild radius? (Schwarzschild radius = event horizon = radius inside of which not even light can escape.)
50 msun
(Don't forget to include units.)
50 parsecs
You measure the parallax angle of a star, finding it to be 0.02 arcseconds. How far away is the star? (Don't forget to include units.)
50 parsecs
suppose an incoming ray of light strikes a flat mirror with an incident angle of 6 degrees, The light will reflect with an angle of
6
The semimajor axis of Uranus's orbit is 19.191 astronomical units.What is the period of that orbit?
84.1 years
Write eighty billion in scientific notation.
8x10^10
A telescope with a radius of 6 meters will collect how much more light than a telescope with a radius of 2 meters?
9 times as much light
Write 0.00096707 in scientific notation.
9.6707 x 10 ^-4
The Arecibo radio telescope sends a radar pulse towards Venus. The reflected pulse returns in 619 seconds. On this day, how far away is Venus?
92850000 km
What is a pulsar?
A rapidly rotating neutron star that emits radio waves in pulses with a particular period. A collapsing white dwarf.
What is a pulsar
A rapidly rotating neutron star that emits radio waves in pulses witih a particular period
What is being shown in the photograph below?
Almost every object in the photo is a galaxy, and these galaxies are located different distances from us.
Other than the laser light, what is inside the LIGO interferometer arms?
Almost nothing, a vacuum
The Big Bang theory is closely linked to Hubble's discovery that the universe is expanding, which seems to imply that there was a time in the past when the expansion first began. Nevertheless, the Big Bang theory did not gain widespread acceptance among scientists until the 1960s. Why wasn't expansion alone enough to convince scientists that the Big Bang really happened?
Although expansion seems to imply a Big Bang, no other specific predictions of the Big Bang theory were tested and confirmed until the 1960s.
Star Calvin is the same distance away from Earth as Star Hobbes. If Calvin appears to be the same brightness as Hobbes, this means that
Calvin and Hobbes have the same luminosity.
Cepheid A and Cepheid B both have the same apparent brightness (flux), but you know from parallax measurements that Cepheid A is much closer. Which star should have a longer pulsational period? (As a reference, the period-luminosity relation for Cepheids is included below.)
Cepheid B
A collision between the two galaxies shown below is likely to produce which type of galaxy? (Can click on the galaxy image itself to mark.)
Collisions of spiral galaxies create elliptical galaxies.
The following diagrams show five pairs of asteroids, labeled with their relative masses (M) and distances (d) between them. For example, an asteroid with M=2 has twice the mass of one with M=1 and a distance of d=2 is twice as large as a distance of d=1. Rank each pair based on the strength of the gravitational force attracting the asteroids to each other, from strongest to weakest.
E > A > C > B > D
In and around our galaxy astronomers have identified dozen of stellar "streams". That is, stars following identical orbits around the galactic center, like a river. How did these streams come about?
Each is the result of a collision of a dwarf galaxy with our galaxy, with gravity stripping the stars from the dwarf galaxy.
What protects the Earth from the onslaught of high-energy particles continually coming from the Sun?
Earth's magnetic field
Which of the following best explains why we experience four distinct seasons on Earth?
Earth's rotational axis is tilted by 23.5 deg (with respect to its orbital plane)
Who discovered that the farther away a galaxy is from us, the faster it is receding from us?
Edwin Hubble
Where would the observer have to look to see star B when it is at position 3?
Face Northwest and look up high.
Why do stars twinkle?
Fluctuations in the density of Earth's atmosphere cause light from stars to be refracted in different directions.
Star Fred and Star Ginger each put out the same amount of energy in the form of light. If Ginger appears to be brighter as viewed from Earth, this means that
Ginger is closer to Earth than Fred.
In 1924, Edwin Hubble proved that the Andromeda Galaxy lay far beyond the bounds of the Milky Way, thus putting to rest the idea that it might have been a cloud within our own galaxy. How was he able to prove this?
He proved this by observing individual Cepheid variable stars in Andromeda and applying the period-luminosity relation
Imagine that from your current location in the United States you observe a star rising directly in the East. When this star reaches its highest position above the horizon, where will it be?
High in the Southern sky
Why do planetary scientists believe that the surface of Venus is all pretty much the same age?
Impact craters are uniformly distributed across the entire surface of the planet.
How is the energy that is released by the Sun produced?
Light elements are combined into heavier elements.
In what two states are the LIGO facilities located? Put your answers in alphabetical order.
Louisiana and WASHINGTON
Where would the observer have to look to see star A when it is at position 1?
Low near the Eastern horizon.
Rank the terrestrial planets in order of diameter.
Mercury Mars Venus Earth
Rank the terrestrial planets in order of distance from the Sun.
Mercury Venus Earth Mars
Arrange these things in order by distance from the Sun, from closest to farthest.
Mercury Venus Earth Mars the asteroid belt Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune the Kuiper Belt the Oort Clou
Which one of the following lists, in the correct order, a possible evolutionary path for our Sun?
Main Sequence Star, Red Giant, Planetary Nebula, White Dwarf
Which one of the following lists, in the correct order, a possible evolutionary path for a star that has a very high mass?
Main Sequence Star, Red Giant, Type II Supernova, Black Hole
How much liquid water is estimated to be in the oceans under the icy crusts of Europa, Ganymede and Enceladus?
Many times as much as all Earth's oceans.
Which one of the following methods can be used to measure the distance to a galaxy that is very far away?
Measure the period of a Cepheid variable star in the galaxy; estimate the Cepheid's peak luminosity; measure the Cepheid's peak brightness; use the brightness and luminosity to calculate the distance.
Rank the terrestrial planets in order of the thickness or density of their atmospheres.
Mercury Mars Earth venus
If one of the LIGO lasers were fired at your head, what would happen?
My head would vaporize
Given that the Sun is an extremely massive ball of gas, why does gravity not cause it to completely collapse in on itself?
Outward pressure from particles emitted as a by product of nuclear fusion in the core balance the inward pull of gravity.
The light we receive from the Sun comes from the layer of the Sun's atmosphere called the
Photosphere
Where did the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere come from?
Photosynthetic living organisms
TESS measures eclipsing binary stars, variable stars and planet transits. Which of these events typically has the shortest duration (time period)?
Planet transits
Which of the sequences below most accurately describes the evolution of the Sun? (Choose best answer; age increases from left to right)
Protostar --> Main Sequence --> Red Giant --> Planetary Nebula --> White Dwarf
Two nearby equal-size areas of a planet have vastly different numbers of impact craters. Region 1 has LOTS of craters and Region 2 has only a few. What is the most likely reason for this?
Region 1 is older than Region 2.
This figure shows an all-sky map of the cosmic microwave background recorded by the WMAP telescope. What do the dark and bright variations represent?
Regions of the sky with slightly different density at the time the radiation was emitted.
SETI stands for
Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
consider the information given below about the lifetime of three main-sequence stars A, B, and C -Star A will be a main sequence star for 45,000 million years. -Star B will be a main sequence star for 70 million years. -Star C will be a main sequence star for 2 million years. Which of the following is a true statement about these stars?
Star C has the greatest mass.
Star X shows a parallax angle 2 times larger than that of Star Y. If the observed flux (apparent brightness) for Star X is 8 times larger (brighter) than the observed flux for Star Y, how do their luminosities compare?
Star X's luminosity is 2 times greater than Star Y's
What do we mean when we say that the rotation curve for a spiral galaxy is "flat"?
Stars and gas clouds orbiting far from the galactic center have approximately the same orbital speed as stars and gas clouds located further inward.
Why do the arms of spiral galaxies tend to be blue in color?
Stars are forming in the spiral arms, so there are many more young, hot, blue stars present.
What is the relationship between the temperature in a sunspot and the temperature of a nearby region of the photosphere?
Sunspot is cooler
What is the most direct cause of Earth's four seasons? (Choose the most accurate explanation of those provided.)
The changing North-South position of the Sun in the sky throughout the year.
Keplers second law says a line joining a planet and the Sun sweeps out equal areas in equal amounts of time. Which of the following statements means nearly the same thing?
The closer a planet is to the Sun the faster it moves.
Which of the following most accurately describes what 'powers' the Sun? (Choose the most correct answer)
The core of the Sun is converting hydrogen to helium through nuclear fusion; some of the original mass is 'lost' along the way and converted to energy through E=mc^2. A lot of this energy is emitted in the form of light.
Why is it impossible to see a star's parallax with the naked eye?
The parallax angle is much too small to be seen.
Callisto and Io are two moons of Jupiter. Callisto orbits Jupiter at a greater distance than does Io. Compare the periods of the orbits of the two moons.
The period of Callistos orbit is longer than the period of Ios orbit.
Europa and Ganymede are two moons of Jupiter. Europa orbits Jupiter at a closer distance than does Ganymede. Compare the periods of the orbits of the two moons.
The period of Europa's orbit is shorter than the period of Ganymede's orbit
What does it mean when an astronomer says a picture is "deep"?
The photo was a very long exposure (the camera shutter open for a long time) to see the faintest and/or farthest objects possible.
What do planetary scientists mean when we say a planet is differentiated?
The planet's interior has distinct layers, with the more dense materials closer to the center of the planet.
The average size of 'hot spots' in the CMB should be approximately 1 degree. *IF* the apparent size of these spots were significantly larger than 1 degree, which of the following would be true? (Choose best answer; please note this is a hypothetical situation.)
The shape of the universe may be described as "spherical" (closed)
Which of the following best describes what keeps a white dwarf from gravitationally collapsing? (Choose the best answer).
The star is degenerate--the electrons are so tightly packed that they occupy all possible quantum states. To compress them further would violate the Pauli Exclusion Principle.
According to modern ideas and observations, what can be said about the location of the center of our expanding universe?
The universe does not have a center
A planet is orbiting a star. Which is stronger, the gravitational pull of the star on the planet, or the gravitational pull of the planet on the star?
They pull equally strong on each other
If we view a planetary system edge-on from Earth, as the star wobbles, it alternately moves towards and away from Earth. How do astronomers detect this wobble?
They see the absorption lines in the star's spectrum shift to longer wavelengths as the star moves away from us and then to shorter wavelengths as the star moves towards us.
Which of the following forms of light travels at the fastest speed?
They all travel at the same speed.
Two unique objects discovered in recent years are called I1/'Oumuamua and I2/Borisov. What was special about these objects?
They are comets that passed through our solar system but which came from outside our solar system.
A molecule of water contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. According to current scientific understanding, where did the hydrogen atoms in water come from?
They formed relatively soon after the Big Bang.
What is the reason why sunspots are darker than the surrounding photosphere?
They have a lower temperature than the surroundings.
What do halo stars do differently from disk stars?
They orbit the galactic center with many different inclinations, while disk stars all orbit in nearly the same plane.
Of the following wavelengths of electromagnetic energy (colors of light), Which has the greatest energy?
Ultraviolet
How do we determine the conditions that existed in the very early universe?
We work backward from current conditions to calculate what temperatures and densities must have been when the observable universe was much smaller in size.
Where in the sky would you find a 1st quarter moon at midnight? (Assume you're observing from High Point University)
West, near the horizon (setting)
Why are white dwarf (type Ia) supernovae more useful than massive star (type II) supernovae for measuring cosmic distances?
White dwarf supernovae all have roughly the same true peak luminosity, while massive star supernovae come in a wide range of peak luminosities.
In this solar eclipse diagram, which letter represents the umbra shadow of the moon?
a
What kind of object do we think lies in the center of the Milky Way Galaxy?
a 3- to 4-million-solar-mass black hole
Moving electrical charges create
a magnetic field
The stretch of the length of the LIGO interferometer arms was described in the reading and the videos as between one thousandth to one ten-thousandth of the width of
a proton
A planetary nebula is most accurately described as
a shell of gas ejected from a star late in its life
Which of the stars below has the hottest core temperature? (Choose best answer)
a star fusing carbon to oxygen, neon, sodium and magnesium in its core
What food item do E5 galaxies most resemble?
a watermelon
If the Moon is in the waning crescent phase tonight, approximately how long will it be until the Moon is in the waning gibbous phase?
about 3 weeks
What fraction of the age of the Universe have the Earth and Solar System existed?
about 33%
An average, or typical, amount of time it takes radiation to travel from the Sun's core to its surface is
about a million years
How long does it take to complete the full cycle of Moon phases?
about a month
Two stars, let's call them Alice and Bob, are identical in every way, except that Bob is 8 times farther away from us than Alice is.Which one looks brighter?
alice
Which of the following observations implies the existence of dark matter?
all of the above
Which of the following would cause the gravitational force that the Earth exerts on the Moon to change?
all of the above
What is the basic definition of a black hole?
an object with gravity so strong that not even light can escape
The Moon is thought to have formed
as a result of the collision of a planetesimal with the very-young Earth
When you observe an object that is 2 million LY away, you are seeing the object...
as it was 2 million years in the past.
A typical white dwarf is about
as massive as the Sun but only about as large in size as Earth
The average Earth-Sun distance is called the
astronomical unit
The image below shows the location of the Sun and several constellations at noon on a particular day. (On this day, the Sun is in Gemini.) Which constellation will the Sun mostly likely be in one month later? ("East" is to the left in this image, "West" is to the right.)
cancer
What food item do E0 galaxies most resemble?
cantaloupe
The region around a star where planets can have liquid water throughout a large fraction of the star's lifespan is called the
continuously habitable zon
The granulation seen on the Sun's surface is caused by
convection
Which of these choices lists the layers of Earth's interior in order, from the surface downwards.
crust, mantle, outer core, inner core
Imagine that a spaceship travels between the Earth and the Moon. At which location (A-E) would the net gravitational force on the spaceship, due to both the Earth and the Moon, most likely be zero? Note that point C is exactly halfway between the Earth and the Moon.
d
The orbital speed of stars and gas in the outer parts of a spiral galaxy is about the same as the orbital speed of material closer to its center. This continues even beyond the visible edge of the galaxy. This indicates that the galaxy contains much
dark matter
Astronomers can use the dark absorption lines in the Suns spectrum to
determine the chemical composition of the Suns atmosphere.
Arrange these parts of the atmosphere in order, from the surface outwards.
highest ionosphere mesoosphere stratosphere troposphere lowest
The Sun and other normal stars are mostly made out of what element? (Spell out the whole name, not the chemical symbol.)
hydrogen
The Jovian planets are mostly made out of what TWO elements?
hydrogen and hellium
When a star like the Sun evolves into a red giant, what happens to its core? (Choose best answerd)
it contracts and heats up
If you're observing from High Point, NC, which month during the year will the Sun be the highest in the sky at NOON?
june
Who discovered that the planets orbit the Sun in ellipses rather than circles?
kepler
micro- Tera- kilo- milli- Giga- nano- centi- deci- pico- Mega-
kilo-thousand milli-thousandths deci-tenths Giga-billion nano-billionths centi-hundredths Tera-trillion Mega-million micro-millionths pico-trillionth
The deeper the vertical dip in a light curve, the
larger the planet orbiting the star.
In the heliocentric model (shown below), if you were observing the stars and planets FROM Venus, which of the following planets could NEVER be found opposite (that is, 180 degrees away from) the Sun from your viewpoint? (Check all that apply, if any.)
mercury
Which of the terrestrial planets have essentially no atmosphere?
mercury
In the heliocentric model (shown below), if you were observing the stars and planets FROM THE SURFACE OF MARS, which of the following planets could NEVER be found opposite the Sun in the Martian sky? (Check all that apply)
mercury and earth
The _________ is the line in the sky that runs north-south, through your zenith.
meridian
In the Miller-Urey experiments of the 1950's, they used gases that at the time were thought to be prevalent in the atmosphere early in Earth's history, around the time life was first forming. These gases were... [check all that apply]
methane, CH4 ammonia, NH4 hydrogen, H2 water vapor, H2O
micro- Tera- kilo- milli- Giga- nano- centi- deci- pico- Mega-
micro-0.000 001 Tera-1,000,000,000,000 kilo-1,000 milli-0.001 Giga-1,000,000,000 nano-0.000 000 001 centi-0.01 deci-0.1 pico-0.000 000 000 001 Mega-1,000,000
What time does the 3rd quarter moon RISE? (Assume you're observing from HPU)
midnight (12 am)
TESS measures brightness of stars every 2
minutes
Star Penn has a mass of 4 solar masses and Star Teller has a mass of 2 solar masses. The lifetime of Star Teller will be
more than twice the lifetime of Star Penn.
Energy is released from atoms in the form of light when electrons
move from high energy levels to low energy levels.
Stars located near _________ appear to move in circles when viewed from Earth.
polaris
What is the name of the star that is closest to the North Celestial pole?
polaris
Cells that do NOT have a nucleus or other organelles are called
prokaryotic
Amino acids are the building blocks of what other, larger kind of molecule?
protein
Who proposed the heliocentric model of the Universe?
ptolemy
What are protons made of?
quarks
The pie chart below represents the three major constituents of the universe and their relative importance. Match each slice of the pie with the corresponding constituent.
slice c = dark energy slice b= dark matter slice a = normal
The speed of light inside glass is ______ its speed in space.
slower than
What type of galaxy is the Milky Way?
spiral
Star A and Star B each emit the same amount of energy in the form of light. The parallax angle for Star A is 2.0 arcseconds and the parallax angle for Star B is 4.0 arcseconds. Which star, if either, would appear dimmer when viewed from Earth?
star a
The figure below illustrates parallax for a nearby star, as measured from Earth. If the Earth's orbit were larger than it is now (increase in size), what would happen to the parallax measured for nearby stars? (assume the stars have not changed their physical positions in the Galaxy.)
stars would show larger parallax angles
Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, were a very important form of life for much of Earth's history, and they still exist today. Fossilized mats of these algae are called
stromatolites
The LIGO facilities are giant measuring devices called interferometers. Small interferometers can sit on a table. What is it that interferometers actually measure?
the difference in the length of the interferometer arms
The smaller the parallax angle of a star,...
the farther away the star is from Earth.
According to Newton's gravitational force law, if you increase the separation between two orbiting bodies (say the Earth-Moon system), what happens to the gravitational force of attraction between those objects?
the force decreases
Soon after the Earth formed, when the solar system was still a very chaotic place, a Mars-sized planetesimal is thought to have collided with the young Earth. This resulted in
the formation of the Moon
What force holds protons and neutrons together to make a nucleus?
the strong nuclear force
In terms of overall composition, Jupiter is most like which one of these other solar system objects?
the sun
Harlow Shapley used the distribution of globular clusters in the Milky Way to determine which of the following?
the location of our Solar system within the Milky Way galaxy
In a gas containing a mixture of different particles (atoms and molecules), which particles move the fastest?
the ones with the lowest mass
What two observable properties of a Cepheid variable star are directly related to one another?
the period between its peaks of brightness and its luminosity
As a planet orbits a star, the gravitational pull between the two causes the star to wobble, which means that the star moves in an orbit around the system's center of mass. Which object moves in the larger orbit?
the planets
In order to measure the distance to an object (let's say it's an asteroid) using RADAR, you use a radio dish antenna to send a pulse of radio waves toward the object, then measure the time for the reflection to come back. What other piece of information do you need in order to calculate the distance?
the speed of light
