Most Missed Questions and Missed Exam Questions
the synodic period of the moon is the period of time for the moon is the period of time for the moon to complete a cycle of the lunar phases and is approximately
29.5 days long
At what time of day might the Moon rise when it is in the waning crescent phase?
3 A.M.
what is the shortest wavelength visable light that can be seen by humans
400nm
how many circumpolar constellations are there from the south pole
44
how many circumpolar constellations are there if you are observing the sky from the south pole of the earth?
44
The lunar orbit is tilted by how much to the ecliptic plane? This means that the Moon only passes through the ecliptic two times per month at the nodes.
5 degrees.
When the iron core of a high-mass star collapses, which of the following occurs?
Protons and electrons combine to form neutrons.
Gallileos observations of a complete set of venus proved
venus orbited the sun
The iron cores of terrestrial planets were formed:
when the molten planets differentiated.
the point in earths orbit where earth is farthest from the sun is known as:
aphelion
what phase is the moon during a lunar solar eclipse
full moon
The general theory of relativity includes an explanation of:
gravity and space-time.
Neptune's moon Triton is unique among the large moons in our solar system because it:
has a retrograde orbit.
One possible explanation for the weird, beautiful and fantastic shapes of planetary nebulae is that they
have a companion and there is a powerful magnetic field being created by the mass exchange process.
Sunspots are areas of:
intense magnetic fields.
Which of the following phenomena is primarily due to the elliptical shape of Earth's orbit?
none of the above
What force stops the gravitational collapse of the most massive stars (cores greater than 3 solar masses) at the end of their lives?
nothing
at what time does the moon rise during the third quarter
midnight
Which of the following types of light has the highest atmospheric transmission (in other words it passes through the atmosphere and can be detected at the surface of the Earth)?
radio
a star much hotter than our sun would appear to be blue what "color" of the electromagnetic spectrum is emitted most by these stars?
ultraviolet
force, velocity, and acceleration are all?
vectors
If you lived at the South Pole, when would it be daytime, and how long would the day last?
6-month day, from September to March
The following figure shows Earth's orbit around the Sun. Which position corresponds to autumn in the Northern Hemisphere?
B
A meteor shower occurs when:
Earth passes through the debris left in a comet's orbital path.
Which of Jupiter's Galilean moons contains a liquid water water oceans under the crust?
Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
Which kind of interstellar medium is primarily photoionized and emits Ha radiation?
H II regions
Why does stellar fusion of massive stars end with an iron core?
Iron does not release energy when it undergoes fusion.
We believe that all of the terrestrial planets had primary atmospheres of carbon dioxide. Only the Earth shows a secondary atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen. What happened to most of the carbon dioxide that was once in the Earth's atmosphere?
Life captured it and it was eventually transformed into Earth's rocky material.
Which of the following planets can be seen as a crescent phase from Earth?
Only Mercury and Venus.
A planet cools by losing its heat energy. Which method of heat transfer allows planets (and other bodies) to cool in space?
Radiation
How do earthquakes reveal that the outer core of the Earth is molten, rather than a solid.
S-waves cannot pass through the the molten outer core, so there is a shadow region behind the core where no direct S-waves appear.
Which of the following statements is true about the Earth's crust?
The oceanic crust is much younger than the continental crust.
What is the origin of Mars's moons, Phobos and Deimos:
Their origin is currently an area of active research.
The astronomer who made the most sophisticated and accurate naked-eye measurements of astronomical objects by using an enormous astrolabe was:
Tycho Brahe
which type of light has the shortest wavelength?
UV
What type of light is most likely to be detected from material falling into stellar-mass black holes?
X-ray
Typical meteors are the size of
a grain of sand.
About how old is the Earth compared to the age of the universe?`
about 1/3 as old
starts twinkle because of
atmospheric turbulence refracting the light
the principle component of venus's atmosphere is
carbon dioxide
An observer in the Northern Hemisphere watches the sky for several hours. Due to the motion of Earth, this observer notices that the stars near the north celestial pole appear to move
counter clockwise around the celestial pole
Which of the following can be measured using the Doppler shift?
radial velocity.
On any given day, the primary factor determining the Sun's max altitude in the sky at local noon as it crosses the local meridian is the observers:
earth latitude
According to Kepler's first law, the planets travel on
elliptical paths with the sun at one foci and nothing at the other.
A resident of the Southern Hemisphere measures the length of daylight everyday, the shortest day occurs closest to
june 21st
a comet with an orbit near the ecliptic plane and an orbital period of 120 years most likely comes from the
kuiper belt
Which of the following quantities changes significantly during a star's main sequence lifetime?
the composition of the core.
what was the primary role of the ingenuity mission?
to test powered flight in the martian atmosphere