Mid-term exam Flashcards
(101 cards)
1
Q
What phase is the moon when it is on the opposite side of the earth from the sun?
A
full
2
Q
The twelve constellations that lie on an imaginary band on the celestial sphere that is eighteen degrees wide and centered on the ecliptic.
A
zodiac
3
Q
One minute of arc is of a degree.
A
1/60
4
Q
The ecliptic is:
A
The imaginary path that the Sun follows on the celestial sphere.
5
Q
The shortest number of day light hours is:
A
winter solstice
6
Q
The person who introduced the leap year into our calendar was
A
Julius Caesar
7
Q
If the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth and almost in line with the Sun, we call its phase
A
new moon
8
Q
A well-known grouping of stars that is not officially recognized as a constellation is called a _______________________.
A
asterism
9
Q
The celestial equivalent of latitude
A
declination
10
Q
A(n) _____________________ eclipse occurs when the moon casts its shadow on the Earth.
A
solar
11
Q
The time of year when the length of the day is equal to the length of the night are called the:
A
equinoxes
12
Q
The moon completes one orbit around the earth with respect to the stars in a ________________ month.
A
sidereal
13
Q
Which of the following is the correct sequence of appearances of Moon phases in the sky?
A
Waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon
14
Q
The Big Dipper is an __________________ contained in the constellation Ursa Major.
A
asterism
15
Q
When Saturn is at its farthest distance from the Earth, it is at
A
conjunction.
16
Q
In a penumbral lunar eclipse,
A
all parts of the Moon are partly (not totally) shaded from the Sun.
17
Q
Which phase of the moon’s cycle does a lunar eclipse take place?
A
full
18
Q
An inferior planet will be furthest from Earth when it is at
A
superior conjunction
19
Q
Full moon always occurs
A
when the Moon is further from the Sun than is the Earth.
20
Q
A planet at inferior conjunction is always
A
closer to us than the Sun is.
21
Q
In modern astronomy, the constellations are
A
88 sky regions covering the whole sky
22
Q
Leap years, containing an extra day, are necessary because
A
the length of a year is not an exact number of days.
23
Q
A slow shift in the orientation of the Earth’s axis with respect to the rest of the universe is called.
A
precession
24
Q
The moon completes one cycle of phases on a __________________ month.
A
synodic
25
At the time of lunar eclipse, the phase of the Moon
is full
26
How many moons of Jupiter did Galileo see?
four
27
A person orbiting Earth in the space shuttle feels weightless because:
only one force (gravity) acts on her, but gravity also accelerates the Shuttle, so the Shuttle does not push up on her to create the feeling of weight.
28
Which one of the following is NOT part of the scientific method?
Determine consistency with recognized authorities.
29
Who was the first astronomer to use a telescope for viewing the sky?
Galileo
30
How was the planet Neptune discovered?
Neptune was discovered by mathematical prediction using Newton's laws
31
The strength of gravity on Mars is about 40% of that on Earth. If your mass on Earth is 60 kg, what would your MASS be on Mars?
60 kg
32
Kepler's second law states that a planet moves fastest when it:
is closest to the Sun.
33
A major contribution of Johannes Kepler to the development of modern astronomy was:
proof that planetary orbits are ellipses.
34
What did Galileo see when he observed Venus through his telescope?
phases like the Moon's
35
According to Newton's first law:
if no net force is acting on an object, then both the object's speed and direction of travel will be constant.
36
Tycho Brahe:
made accurate measurements of planetary positions, which Kepler later used to find the shapes of planetary orbits.
37
The person who developed the first comprehensive model for a heliocentric cosmology was:
Copernicus.
38
Newton's second law states that:
force equals mass times acceleration.
39
1 AU, or 1 astronomical unit, is defined as the:
mean distance between the Sun and Earth.
40
What did Galileo NOT observe with his new telescope?
Neptune
41
Ptolemy's model for the solar system was:
Earth-centered, with planetary orbits composed of deferents and epicycles.
42
What is the distance between Earth and the nearest star?
1 AU
43
Kepler's third law tells us that the:
square of a planet's period in years is the same number as the cube of its semimajor axis in AU.
44
Retrograde motion causes the planets to:
move westward with respect to the stars.
45
Parallax:
can be measured by an observer moving relative to a background.
46
Kepler's first law states that a planet moves around the Sun in a(n):
elliptical orbit, with the Sun at one focus.
47
The synodic period of a planet is defined as the time between two successive:
identical configurations (e.g., opposition to opposition)
48
How was the planet Uranus discovered?
Uranus was discovered accidentally during a telescopic survey of the sky.
49
A light-year is a measure of:
distance
50
When a planet is seen at opposition, it is always at its:
closest point to Earth
51
In a telescope, to what does the term aberration refer?
a defect in design that blurs or distorts the image
52
The speed of light in space is:
3 × 10^8 meters per second, independent of the speed of the source
53
Twinkling is an observational problem when making observations from:
a telescope equipped with active optics
54
Refraction is the:
bending of light as it enters a dense but transparent material at an angle perpendicular to the surface of the material.
55
A spectrograph is a scientific instrument that:
spreads out light from a source into its component colors, or spectrum.
56
A radio telescope:
is very similar to a reflecting optical telescope
57
The Kelvin scale measures:
temperature in Celsius-sized degrees above absolute zero
58
Compared with the mass of an electron, the mass of a proton is:
almost 2000 times greater
59
Proper motion is the motion:
of a star or other object across (at right angles to) the line of sight.
60
What causes chromatic aberration in the objective lens of a telescope?
Different colors are refracted through different angles at each surface of the lens.
61
Electrons in atoms:
occupy levels whose energies are fixed.
62
Which of the following lists of different types of electromagnetic radiation is CORRECTLY ordered by wavelength, from shortest to longest?
gamma rays, ultraviolet radiation, infrared radiation, radio waves
63
Our present understanding of the nature of light is that it
displays behavior of both waves and particles
64
Pieces of metal are heated by varying amounts in a flame. The hottest of the pieces will be the one that shows MOST prominently which color?
blue
65
An atom consists of:
negatively charged electrons moving around a very small but massive, positively charged nucleus.
66
Spectral lines are of particular importance in astronomy because:
each different element has a characteristic line spectrum.
67
Ionization of an atom occurs when:
an electron is removed from the atom.
68
A typical refracting telescope is made up of:
a long-focal-length lens at the front and a short-focal-length lens at the rear (next to your eye as you look through the telescope).
69
The position of an element in the periodic table is directly related to the:
number of protons in the atomic nucleus and hence to its positive charge.
70
Who was the first person to suggest that light is an electromagnetic wave?
James Clerk Maxwell
71
The chemical makeup of a star's surface is usually inferred by:
spectroscopy of the light emitted by the star.
72
What is a CCD (charge-coupled device)?
an array of small, light-sensitive elements that can be used in place of photographic film to obtain and store a picture
73
To a physicist, a blackbody is defined as an object that:
absorbs all radiation that falls on it.
74
How many electrons surround the nucleus of a neutral atom of iron, the 26th element in the periodic table?
26
75
The Doppler effect is the:
increase in the observed wavelength of light if the source of light is moving away from you.
76
The LARGEST of the terrestrial planets is:
Earth
77
Fusion is the process by which:
elements are transformed into heavier elements by nuclear reactions.
78
The MOST abundant material in the universe is:
hydrogen.
79
At what point in time do we say that the protosun became the Sun?
when thermonuclear fusion reactions began at its center
80
The composition of a typical asteroid is:
rock and metal
81
The correct sequence of planets in our solar system from the Sun outward is:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
82
What is a planetary nebula?
the result of a relatively gentle stellar outburst in which matter is ejected into space
83
Which statement describes the distribution of light and heavy elements in the solar system?
Both the light and heavy elements are generally within a few astronomical units of the center.
84
What is the origin of the various moons around the planets in the solar system?
All three mechanisms—capturing of asteroids, collision and condensation, and formation from ejected planetary material—are believed to have occurred.
85
Which object is NOT a dwarf planet?
Amalthea
86
The overall shape of the orbits of MOST of the planets in the solar system is:
slightly elliptical, but nearly circular
87
Most of the planets orbit the Sun on or close to the:
ecliptic plane
88
Which characteristic is NOT typical of our planetary system?
The physical size of most of the planets is about the same.
89
The manner in which the terrestrial planets formed was the:
accretion of solid planetesimals containing mostly rocky material
90
Accretion is the process by which:
dust grains and ice crystals coalesce to form planetesimals
91
What is a protoplanetary disk?
a disk of gas and dust, such as those observed around some stars in the Orion nebula
92
Most meteoroids are:
fragments of asteroids.
93
Why did the temperature start to rise at the center of the solar nebula?
The nebula was contracting, which increased the speed of the atoms moving in it.
94
Which was the MOST probable time sequence for the formation of the solar system?
The Sun contracted first as a gas ball, and the planets and moons formed shortly afterward by accretion and condensation.
95
The SMALLEST terrestrial planet is:
Mercury.
96
In our solar system, which planet is NOT a member of the terrestrial group?
Jupiter
97
Which planet is the largest in our solar system?
Jupiter
98
The asteroid belt exists between the orbits of which planets?
Mars and Jupiter
99
The MOST likely mechanism for the solar system is that the:
Sun and planets slowly condensed to their present form from a gas and dust cloud.
100
Comets are typically:
chunks of ice that begin to vaporize if they pass close to the Sun
101
