Test 1

Question 1

What is the subject matter of astronomy?

Answer 1

the scientific investigation of the Universe.

Question 2

What is the definition of the Universe?

Answer 2

all that exists.

Question 3

What is the meaning of the term “multiverse?” Do we know it exists?

Answer 3

Multiple Universes, we don’t know for sure.

Question 4

What is the definition of the subject of cosmology?

Answer 4

the study of the evolution of the Universe, past, present and future.

Question 5

Did the Universe have a beginning? If so, how long ago was that?

Answer 5

Yes, the Universe had a beginning 13.8 billion years ago.`

Question 6

Who discovered the cosmic microwave background (CMB)? When did it occur?

Answer 6

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, occurred about 380,000 years after the beginning of the universe.

Question 7

Why did the CMB happen?

Answer 7

Because the universe was dense and hot

Question 8

Who first theorized the expanding Universe?

Answer 8

a Belgian priest named
George Lemaitre.

Question 9

Who first discovered the expanding Universe?

Answer 9

Edward Hubble

Question 10

Is the Universe finite or infinite?

Answer 10

the Universe, if not infinite, is unimaginably large.

Question 11

What is the apparent geometry of the Universe?

Answer 11

has a flat geometry (like the Euclidean geometry

Question 12

What does it mean for a universe to have a flat geometry?

Answer 12

It is infinite in extent

Question 13

How/why did galaxies form?

Answer 13

slight increases in matter density were “seeded” into the then grapefruit sized observable Universe. matter naturally started to clump together around these “seed” points of slightly higher density put into the Universe during the “cosmic inflation” period. These “seed” points grew into the stars and galaxies we see today.

Question 14

Is the expansion rate of the Universe increasing, decreasing, or staying the same?

Answer 14

It is increasing.

Question 15

What three items make up the energy and mass of the Universe? What are the percentages for these three items in the Universe?

Answer 15

ordinary matter, dark matter, and dark
energy.

Ordinary matter is 4.6% of the universe, Dark matter is 24% of the universe, dark energy is 71.4% of the universe.

Question 16

Who discovered the existence of dark matter (two names please)?

Answer 16

einstein

Question 17

What are the two candidates for dark matter?

Answer 17

weakly interacting massive particle and weakly interacting massive particle

Question 18

What is the current average temperature of the CMB (of the Universe)?

Answer 18

2.73° Kelvin now

Question 19

Which elements were formed within the first 20 minutes of the Universe (primordial
nucleosynthesis)?

Answer 19

Hydrogen, helium, and lithium

Question 20

What did Aristotle say that was so important?

Answer 20

“Knowledge is the product of experience.”

Question 21

What is an experiment?

Answer 21

a logical procedure that attempts to prove or disprove an
hypothesis, directly or indirectly. It uses qualitative and quantitative observations. It must be repeatable.

Question 22

What did Mr. Feynman say concerning the scientific method?

Answer 22

It’s a guess

Question 23

What is a hypothesis?

Answer 23

a scientifically vetted, tentative explanation of a physical phenomenon

Question 24

What is a theory?

Answer 24

a proven hypothesis. It is a fact.

Question 25

What is a physical law or physical principle?

Answer 25

A scientific theory of general applicability

Question 26

What is a conserved physical quantity?

Answer 26

one that can neither be created nor destroyed. Its amount (within a closed system under observation) is fixed.

Question 27

What physical quantities are classically conserved?

Answer 27

Mass, energy, charge, linear momentum, angular momentum

Question 28

What is Galileo’s Law of Falling Bodies?

Answer 28

excluding aerodynamic factors, objects of dissimilar mass, released from the same height off the ground, will hit the ground at the same time.

Question 29

What is Occam’s Principle?

Answer 29

Whenever there are two competing hypotheses, chances are the simpler of the two is the correct one.

Question 30

What is the Principle of Falsifiability?

Answer 30

In order for an hypothesis to be considered scientific, it must be possible to show it is false, if in fact it is false.

Question 31

What is planetary retrograde motion?

Answer 31

moving from east to west

Question 32

How many constellations are there?

Answer 32

88

Question 33

How many zodiacal constellations are there?

Answer 33

13

Question 34

What did Commander Scott drop on the Moon?

Answer 34

A hammer and a feather

Question 35

If you weigh 180 lbs on Earth, what would you weigh on the Moon?

Answer 35

29 lbs

Question 36

What are the three parts of a scientific measurement?

Answer 36

Best guess/estimate, tolerance, and unit

Question 37

Why is a confidence interval called a confidence interval?

Answer 37

no measurement can be written with absolute certainty

Question 38

What is accuracy?

Answer 38

how close you are to the true value of your measurement

Question 39

What is precision?

Answer 39

how many significant figures you can legitimately write in your measurement

Question 40

Is it sufficient to be precise in order to be accurate?

Answer 40

It is necessary but not sufficient to be precise in order to be accurate.

Question 41

What is a non-trivial systematic error?

Answer 41

an inherent limitation in the equipment or the procedure of an experiment.

Question 42

What is an astronomical unit? What is a light-year?

Answer 42

the average distance between the Sun and the Earth. the distance light travels in the vacuum of space over the period of one year.

Question 43

How is stellar parallax used to determine a star’s distance?

Answer 43

Used to measure the distance.

Question 44

Who is Henrietta Swan Leavitt?

Answer 44

stars that vary in brightness (or luminosity) in a regular or periodic fashion.

Question 45

What are cepheid variable stars?

Answer 45

discovered This relationship between a cepheid star’s period and intrinsic brightness