Dec 2008

Question 1

Which of the following is the first era in the history of the Earth?

A. Hadean B. Archean C. Silurian D. Proterozoic

Answer 1

A

Question 2

How old, roughly, are the oldest rocks found on Earth?

A. 3.8 billion years B. 3.8 million years C. 380 000 years D. 38 000 years

Answer 2

A

Question 3

What is the name of the equation that estimates the number of intelligent civilisations in our galaxy today?

A. The Miller-Urey equation B. The Seti equation C. The Drake equation D. The Voyager equation

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What frequency range does SETI search within?

A. 1.4 – 1.7 Hz B. 1.4 – 1.7 kHz C. 1.4 – 1.7 MHz D. 1.4 – 1.7 GHz

Answer 4

D

Question 5

How long ago, roughly, did the Cambrian explosion occur?

A. 540 000 years B. 540 million years C. 540 billion years D. 540 trillion years

Answer 5

B

Question 6

The first extra-solar planet was detected orbiting which star?

A. 51 Peg B. Alpha Proxima C. Betelgeuse D. Wolf 359

Answer 6

A

Question 7

Approximately what percentage of ocean life was destroyed as a result of the PermianTriassic mass extinction event?

A. 20 % B. 45 % C. 60 % D. 90 %

Answer 7

D

Question 8

Which component dominates the atmosphere of the Earth today?

A. Oxygen B. Nitrogen C. Carbon dioxide D. Helium

Answer 8

B

Question 9

Which component dominates the atmosphere of Mars today?

A. Oxygen B. Nitrogen C. Carbon dioxide D. Helium

Answer 9

C

Question 10

In 1990, the Galileo probe scanned the Earth looking for signs of life. Which of the following did it NOT detect?

A. Non-natural radio emissions. B. The Great Wall of China. C. Large concentrations of methane gas. D. Large bodies of liquid water.

Answer 10

B

Question 11

Which of these planets will never be seen to transit at midnight?

A. Jupiter B. Mars C. Saturn D. Venus

Answer 11

D

Question 12

Which constellation contains the Pole Star?

A. Cassiopeia B. Taurus C. Ursa Major D. Ursa Minor

Answer 12

D

Question 13

A star that is circumpolar at the latitude of Glasgow will have

A. high declination. B. low declination. C. high right ascension. D. low right ascension

Answer 13

A

Question 14

Venus is 40 times brighter than the star Vega. What is the difference in their apparent magnitudes?

A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 5

Answer 14

C

Question 15

Which of these constellations is not a sign of the zodiac?

A. Aries
B. Cancer C. Libra
D. Orion

Answer 15

D

Question 16

The (northern vernal) equinox is currently in the constellation of

A. Aries. B. Capricorn. C. Pisces. D. Scorpius

Answer 16

C

Question 17

The intervals between successive new moons is one

A. sidereal day. B. sidereal month. C. synodic month. D. eclipse year

Answer 17

C

Question 18

Which body has the strongest influence on the Earth’s tides?

A. The Sun B. The Moon C. Venus D. Mars

Answer 18

B

Question 19

At what point of its synodic period is a superior planet’s sidereal motion retrograde?

A. Inferior conjunction B. Superior conjunction C. Opposition D. Quadrature

Answer 19

C

Question 20

Who first observed the planet Uranus but failed to recognise its planetary nature?

A. Flamsteed B. Halley C. Herschel D. Le Verrier

Answer 20

A

Question 21

A new definition of a planet was established in 2006. Which of these conditions do NOT form part of that definition? A planet has to

A. clear its own orbit. B. have its own moon. C. be large enough to take on a nearly spherical shape. D. orbit around the sun

Answer 21

B

Question 22

The eccentricity of the orbit of a planet is the

A. angle that the axis of rotation of the planet makes with the normal to the plane of the orbit. B. ratio of the distance from the focal point to the centre of the orbit divided by the minor semiaxis. C. angle of the orbital plane of the planet with respect to the angle of the Earth’s orbital plane. D. ratio of the distance from the focal point to the centre of the orbit divided by the major semi-axis.

Answer 22

D

Question 23

How can the age of rocks in the solar system be estimated?

A. By measuring the ratio of different long-lived radioactive elements found in the rocks. B. By determining if the rocks are volcanic, sedimentary or metamorphic. C. By comparing to similar rocks on Earth. D. By determining the amount of water in the rocks

Answer 23

A

Question 24

Oceanic plates on Earth are mainly made up of

A. anorthosite. B. basalt. C. breccia. D. asthenosphere

Answer 24

B

Question 25

The inside of the Moon is made up of a thin A. crust of dense rock, a deep mantle of anorthosite and a liquid central core. B. anorthosite crust, a deep mantle of brittle rock and a liquid central core. C. anorthosite crust, a deep mantle of brittle rock and a solid central core of plastic rock. D. basalt crust, a deep mantle of brittle rock and a solid central core of plastic rock.

Answer 25

C

Question 26

The most plausible theory for the creation of the Earth’s Moon is that the A. Moon was spun off the Earth by fast rotation. B. Moon was formed elsewhere in the Solar System and was captured by the Earth’s gravitational field. C. Moon was formed at the same time as the Earth by co-accretion. D. Earth was struck by a body of the size of Mars stripping part of the Earth’s mantle, a part of which formed the Moon

Answer 26

D

Question 27

Mercury has a rotation period of: A. 59 days and an orbital period of 88 days. B. 88 days and an orbital period of 59 days. C. 59 days and an orbital period of 365 days. D. 88 days and an orbital period of 365 days

Answer 27

A

Question 28

The atmosphere of Venus consists of A. 96 % of N2, 3.5 % of CO2 and 0.5 % of H2O, H2S04, HCl and HF. B. 96 % of CO2, 3.5 % of N2 and 0.5 % of H2O, H2S04, HCl and HF. C. 96 % of H2O, 3.5 % of N2 and 0.5 % of CO2, H2S04, HCl and HF. D. 96 % of CO2, 3.5 % of H20 and 0.5 % of N2, H2S04, HCl and HF.

Answer 28

B

Question 29

Valles Marineris is A. an ancient impact basin on the surface of Mars. B. a large highland region on the surface of Mars C. a volcano on Mars, which is the largest volcano in the solar system. D. an enormous gash in the surface of Mars, about 5 000 km long

Answer 29

D

Question 30

The surface temperature of Mars A. is -208 °C. B. is +472 °C. C. ranges from -140 °C to +20 °C. D. ranges from -98 °C to +208 °C.

Answer 30

C

Question 31

Where are the Kuiper Belt objects found? A. Between Mars and Jupiter. B. In Jupiter’s Lagrange points. C. Beyond the orbit of Neptune. D. In the same orbit as Saturn

Answer 31

C

Question 32

Why does the ion tail of a comet always point away from the Sun? A. It is blown away by photon pressure from the Sun. B. It is blown away by the flow of the solar wind. C. It is gravitationally attracted by Jupiter. D. It is gravitationally attracted by the Oort cloud

Answer 32

B

Question 33

Which of these statements is NOT true for Titan? A. It has a dense atmosphere. B. It has liquid lakes on its surface. C. Its surface has been studied by a robotic lander. D. It is a moon of Jupiter

Answer 33

D

Question 34

Suppose a new object were to be discovered orbiting the Sun. If it was rocky in composition and shaped approximately like a potato, how would it probably be classified? A. Planet B. Dwarf planet C. Moon D. Asteroid

Answer 34

D

Question 35

What is a sungrazer? A. A comet that very closely approaches the Sun. B. A comet that crosses the heliopause. C. A comet with the same elemental composition as the Sun. D. A belt asteroid that absorbs the solar wind

Answer 35

A

Question 36

What causes the Cassini division and the Kirkwood gaps? A. Tidal forces. B. Collisions between asteroids. C. Orbital resonance. D. Solar radiation pressure

Answer 36

C

Question 37

Jupiter radiates more energy than it absorbs from the Sun. What is the primary source of this additional energy? A. Combustion of hydrogen and oxygen. B. Fusion of hydrogen nuclei. C. Gravitational potential energy released by the contraction of the planet. D. Radioactive decay of unstable elements

Answer 37

C

Question 38

Which of the following statements about the rings of Saturn is true? A. The rings are mostly made of small particles of water ice. B. The rings are continuous, solid structures. C. The rings all lie outside Saturn’s Roche limit. D. The rings of Saturn are the only rings in the solar system

Answer 38

A

Question 39

Planetary aurorae are caused by what phenomenon? A. Charged particles attracted by a planet’s gravitational field. B. Charged particles following a planet’s magnetic field. C. Neutral particles attracted by a planet’s gravitational field. D. Neutral particles following a planet’s magnetic field

Answer 39

B

Question 40

Which of these types of meteorite is most like the primordial material from which the solar system formed? A. Iron B. Stony-iron C. Achondrite D. Chondrite

Answer 40

D

Question 41

Density is defined as the ratio of A. mass to volume. B. weight to volume. C. length to voltage. D. weight to area

Answer 41

A

Question 42

The zero point of the absolute temperature scale is defined as the A. triple-point of water. B. temperature where a saline solution freezes. C. temperature where all thermal particle motion stops. D. freezing point of mercury

Answer 42

C

Question 43

The class of particles called leptons includes neutrinos. How many types of neutrino are there in the Standard Model of Particle Physics? A. One B. Two C. Three D. Four

Answer 43

C

Question 44

The three most abundant elements in the Cosmos are A. H, He, O B. C,N,O C. H, He, Fe D. Ag, Au, Pt

Answer 44

A

Question 45

The peak emission wavelength of two stars A and B is observed. The peak emission wavelength of star A is measured to be twice the peak emission wavelength of star B. Thus, the surface temperature of star A is A. 2 times higher than star B. B. 2 times lower than star B. C. 4 times higher than star B. D. 4 times lower than star B

Answer 45

B

Question 46

In which area of the Sun are emission lines created? A. Core B. Convection zone C. Radiation zone D. Corona

Answer 46

D

Question 47

The minimum energy needed to separate an electron from a hydrogen atom in its ground state is called the ionisation energy. Its value is A. 273 keV. B. 938 MeV. C. 13.6 eV. D. 511 keV.

Answer 47

C

Question 48

The spectral lines emitted by hydrogen atoms can be classified in several series. The series containing spectral lines in the visible region is called A. Lyman series. B. Balmer series. C. Paschen series. D. Bracket series

Answer 48

B

Question 49

The temperature in the centre of the Sun is A. 5 780 K B. 1 000 000 K C. 273 K D. 15 000 000 K

Answer 49

D

Question 50

The temperature in the Sun is dependent on the distance from the solar core. Consider the solar corona as the outermost layer. As a function of the solar radius, the temperature A. steadily decreases from core to corona. B. steadily increases from core to corona. C. first increases, then decreases from core to corona. D. first decreases, then increases from core to corona

Answer 50

D