(A) Paper 2 exam style question wrongs Flashcards
(47 cards)
What is the name of the first spacecraft that obtained images of the Moon’s far side?
Luna 3
The Andromeda Galaxy is listed in the Messier Catalogue as M31.
Why did Charles Messier include the Andromeda Galaxy in his catalogue?
It appears as a fuzzy patch / is not starlike.
or: Because it is a galaxy.
Explain how aurora are created
- Solar wind particles
- Deflected by Earth’s magnetic field/magnetosphere
- Excite atoms over the Earth’s poles (to produce light)
Explain why the radio waves from a neutron star appear as pulses when received on Earth.
- Neutron star is spinning
- Radio waves are emitted from poles
- only Creating ‘lighthouse’ style
rotating beam.
State two reasons why liquid water is able to exist on the surface of the Earth.
- Sufficient gravity
- Temperature between 0oC and 100oC (Goldilocks’ Zone)
- Sufficient atmospheric pressure
What type of star lies at the centre of a planetary nebula?
White dwarf
What effect does an H-alpha filter have on most solar radiation?
The filter absorbs all but a narrow wavelength band of light from the Sun
Explain why a H-alpha filter makes it possible to observe the Sun safely.
The intensity (1) of solar radiation passing through the telescope is reduced
Explain whether the Sun would rotate through a greater or smaller angle than 120° in the same interval of time at a solar latitude of 60°N as compared to that of a solar latitude of 30N.
60°N is closer to the Sun’s equator therefore the Sun will rotate faster at this latitude. So in the same interval of time, the Sun will rotate through a greater angle than 120°.
Which quantities are plotted on a Butterfly Diagram?
Sunspot latitude and time
In order for thermonuclear fusion reactions to occur, the temperature must be high
enough.
Explain the reason for this.
- The particles taking part in thermonuclear fusion have similar/positive electric charges that mutually repel each other
- these particles/protons must be moving fast enough to overcome this (mutual force of) repulsion
- the temperature is a measure of the mean kinetic energy of the particles i.e. related to their typical speeds
Which region of the sun has the smallest thickness?
Chromosphere
What is the name of the Sun’s outer atmosphere?
Corona
What is the main constituent of the inner Van Allen belt?
Electrons
What is the main constituent of the outer Van Allen belt?
Protons
The Earth’s magnetic field is caused by the motion of charged particles (electric currents) in one of its major divisions. In which major region do these charged particles flow?
Outer Core
What makes the dust tail of a comet visible?
Reflection of sunlight
Where do iron meteorites originate in?
The cores of asteroids
A student suggests that ‘the distance from the Sun to the Kuiper Belt is an order of magnitude greater than from the Sun than the Asteroid Belt’. Do you agree with this student? Justify your answer:
Yes.
An ‘order of magnitude is a power of 10: multiplying the approximate distance of the Asteroid Belt from the Sun by 10 gives a result close to the distance between the
Kuiper Belt and the Sun
Which photoreceptors in the human eye respond to bright lights?
Cones
The main difference between a Galilean refractor and a Keplerian refractor is that the
Keplerian refractor…
consists of two convex lenses and not one
Write a short account of how Saturn’s moon Enceladus is responsible for the planet’s
E-ring.
Water/ice is ejected from Enceladus’ geysers (1); some water/ice falls back onto
Enceladus and some is captured by the gravitational field of Saturn (1) forming its Ering.
Most astronomers agree that the origin of the Moon was an impact between the Earth
and a Mars-sized body that occurred early in the Solar System.
State two further examples of large-scale collisions in the Solar System.
- orientations of Uranus (‘sideways’ spin)
- Venus (‘backwards’ spin);
- impact craters on the Moon, Mars, asteroids, - many planetary moons
- large iron core of Mercury.
Explain why the likelihood that moons that come closer than planet’s Roche Limit are
likely to be broken apart only applies to moons that have a significantly large diameter.
- Tidal forces are gravitational in origin (1);
- gravitation follows an inverse square law (1);
- the moon must have a large enough diameter for the difference in gravitational pull on the ‘near’ and ‘far’ side of the moon to be significant/greater than elastic forces