Descriptive Astronomy Final
Test Solutions
Course Introduction
Descriptive Astronomy is an introductory course designed to provide a broad overview of the universe and our place within it. Topics include the history and methods of astronomical observation, the solar system, stars, galaxies, cosmology, and the exploration of planets. The course emphasizes the development of scientific reasoning, an understanding of the physical principles governing celestial bodies, and the use of technology in modern astronomy. Students will gain insights into recent astronomical discoveries and learn to interpret astronomical phenomena visible in the night sky.
Recommended Textbook
HorizonsExploring the Universe 14th Edition by Michael A. Seeds
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20 Chapters
2483 Verified Questions
2483 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Here and Now
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Milky Way Galaxy is alone, that is, not a part of a group or cluster.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) A(n) ____________________ is the largest known structure in the universe.
Answer: filament wall
Q3) If distance is speed × time and light takes 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to Earth and over 4 hours to travel from the Sun to the planet Neptune, what is the distance from the Sun to Neptune
A)5 AU
B)30 AU
C)30 ly
D)5 ly
E)0.6 ly
Answer: B
Q4) Is the scientific method a hypothesis How do you know
Answer: No, the scientific method is a process of which a hypothesis is one piece.
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Chapter 2: A Users Guide to the Sky
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Sample Questions
Q1) You live at a latitude of 73° N. What is the angle between the northern horizon and the north celestial pole
A)73°
B)27°
C)17°
D)23.4°
E)5°
Answer: A
Q2) The apparent visual magnitude of a star is a measure of the star's
A)size.
B)intensity.
C)distance.
D)color.
E)temperature.
Answer: B
Q3) Hipparchus devised the magnitude system in the late 1700's.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 4
Chapter 3: Cycles of the Sun and Moon
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154 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A dime is 1.8 cm in diameter. At what distance from your eye would you have to hold a dime so that it has the same angular diameter as the full Moon
A)2 m
B)2 cm
C)2 km
D)2 inches
E)2 ft
Answer: A
Q2) Give two reasons why summer days are warmer than winter days.
Answer: The Earth's hemisphere that is tilted towards the Sun experiences summer, which means the solar radiation hits this part of the Earth more directly than in winter. Also, the days are longer, so the hemisphere experiencing summer receives sunlight for more hours in a day than in the winter.
Q3) Why does the Moon glow coppery red during a total lunar eclipse
Answer: The sunlight refracted through Earth's atmosphere causes the Moon to look red.
Q4) If tonight is a full Moon then in about two weeks it will be a _______ Moon.
Answer: new
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Chapter 4: The Origin of Modern Astronomy
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Sample Questions
Q1) Jupiter orbits the Sun and follows which laws Choose the best answer.I. Kepler's first II. Kepler's second III. Kepler's third IV. Newton's first V. Newton's second VI. Newton's third
VII. Newton's law of gravitation
A)I, II, III, V, VI
B)II, IV, VI, VII
C)I, II, III, IV, V, VII
D)I, II, IV, V, VI, VII
Q2) Explain why the spring and neap tides occur periodically.
Q3) The 4 new 'planets' Galileo discovered are called the ___________________________.
Q4) If Body A's mass is suddenly doubled, then its gravitational force to Body B decreases.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If Copernicus overthrew the geocentric universe, what did Kepler overthrow
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Chapter 5: Light and Telescopes
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____ has (have) wavelengths that are shorter than visible light.
I.Gamma rays
II.Ultraviolet light
III.Infrared radiation
IV.X-rays
A)I & II
B)I & IV
C)II & III
D)II, III, & IV
E)I, II, & IV
Q2) What causes chromatic aberration Why does it not occur in reflecting telescopes
Q3) What are some new techniques and technologies that enable construction of optical telescopes with very large mirrors
Q4) Which of the following types of electromagnetic radiation has the highest frequency
A)X-rays
B)visible light
C)radio
D)gamma rays
E)infrared radiation
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Chapter 6: Atoms and Spectra
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Sample Questions
Q1) If the change in wavelength is less than zero, then the radial velocity tells you that the star is moving _______________ you.
A)parallel to B)away from C)towards
D)in circles around
Q2) In Diagram 6-1, which of the transitions would absorb a photon with the greatest energy
A)Transition 1
B)Transition 2
C)Transition 3
D)Transition 4
E)Transition 5
Q3) An atom gained an electron. Therefore it is now called an ion.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the appearance of each of the three types of spectra described by Kirchhoff's laws. Describe how each of the three types of spectra is formed.
Q5) __________________ is the agitation among the molecules and/or atoms of a body.
8
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Chapter 7: The Sun
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Sample Questions
Q1) If one kilogram of hydrogen is converted to helium, how much energy will be generated
A)\(9 × 10^{16}\) J
B)\(3 × 10^8 \)J
C)\(6.3 × 10^{14}\) J
D)\(2.2 × 10^6\) J
E)\(3.2 × 10^7\) J
Q2) If a sunspot has a temperature of 4,500 K and the surrounding solar surface has a temperature of 5,800 K, how many times brighter is the surface compared to the sunspot
A)0.28
B)0.36
C)2.8
D)3.6
E)36
Q3) Energy is transported through the Sun by ______________ and
Q4) A(n) ____________________ is a subatomic particle produced in nuclear fusion that can travel through the Sun and escape to space without interacting with any particles in the Sun.
Q5) List and explain the four fundamental forces in nature.
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Chapter 8: The Family of Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) If you hold out your thumb at arm's length and rapidly blink each eye closed in an alternating pattern, your thumb appears to move left and right. This exercise is an example of _____________.
Q2) The combined mass of a binary system is three solar masses. Star A is 1 AU and Star B is 2 AU from the center of mass. What are the masses of Star A and Star B, respectively
A)2.5, 0.5
B)1, 2
C)2, 1
D)0.5, 2.5
Q3) Compared with the spectral lines in the solar spectrum, lines in a supergiant spectrum are
A)sharper.
B)broader.
C)weaker.
D)stronger.
E)broader and weaker.
Q4) Arcturus has an mV = -0.04 and MV = -0.3. Its distance is 10-3.4 pc.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: The Formation and Structure of Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) ZAMS is an acronym for ______________________________.
Q2) Star clusters are important to the study the stellar evolution because stars in a given cluster have the same
A)temperature.
B)mass.
C)age.
D)luminosity.
Q3) Why are interstellar absorption lines so narrow compared to the width of lines which originate in the photospheres of stars
Q4) Ionization from the ____________________ star in the Orion nebula makes it ____________________ brightly.
Q5) The Sun makes most of its energy by the proton-proton cycle.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Protostars are in hydrostatic equilibrium.
A)True
B)False
Q7) How does a gas cloud become hot
Q8) Why is a brown dwarf not considered a star
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Chapter 10: The Deaths of Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) The triple-alpha process
A)controls the pulsations in Cepheid variable stars.
B)is the nuclear fusion of hydrogen to helium in massive stars.
C)is the process that produces the neutrinos we receive from the Sun.
D)requires a temperature of about 5,000,000 K to operate.
E)occurs during helium flash.
Q2) A Type Ia supernova is believed to occur when
A)the core of a massive star collapses.
B)hydrogen detonation occurs.
C)a white dwarf exceeds the Chandrasekhar limit.
D)the cores of massive stars collapse.
E)neutrinos in a massive star become degenerate and form a shock wave that explodes the star.
Q3) Before it ejects a planetary nebula, a star is a
A)red giant.
B)black hole.
C)white dwarf.
D)supernova.
Q4) If the Sun and stars are supported by gas pressure, what supports a white dwarf
Q5) ________ clusters are blue in color and diffuse.
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Neutron Stars and Black Holes
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Sample Questions
Q1) _________ occurs when light travels out of a gravitational field, loses energy, and its wavelength grows longer.
A)A gravitational blue shift
B)The solar wind
C)A gravitational redshift
D)A X-ray burst
E)A pulsar wind
Q2) The escape velocity at the event horizon around a black hole is
A)smaller than the speed of light.
B)equal to the speed of light.
C)much larger than the speed of light.
D)irrelevant since nothing (including light) can escape from a black hole.
Q3) The density of a _________ is greater than the density of a _________.
A)white dwarf; neutron star
B)neutron star; black hole
C)pulsar; neutron star
D)pulsar; white dwarf
E)white dwarf; black hole
Q4) Gamma-ray bursts lasting longer than two seconds appear to be related to
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Chapter 12: The Milky Way Galaxy
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________________ are groups of 100,000 to 1,000,000 population II stars firmly bound by gravity.
Q2) Which of the following can't be associated with the spiral arms of a galaxy
A)dust and gas
B)metal-poor stars
C)young, massive stars
D)star formation
Q3) The spherical component is the __________.
A)halo
B)bulge
C)halo and bulge
D)dark matter
Q4) The ____________________ of the galaxy contains population I stars, open clusters, and gas clouds.
Q5) The Sun will one day pass through the instability strip and become a variable star.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Describe the central bulge of our galaxy.
Q7) Why are Cepheid variable stars important in our study of the Milky Way galaxy
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Galaxies: Normal and Active
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Sample Questions
Q1) The shells indicated in the enhanced visual wavelength image shown above are formed from _____________.
A)quasars
B)mergers of galaxies
C)tides
D)spiral arms
Q2) Why is the number of galaxies in the Local Group uncertain
Q3) The red line shown above is shifted 15.8% from the blue dashed line. If H is 486.1 nm, what is the change in the wavelength
A)562.9 nm
B)76.8 nm
C)486.1 nm
D)409.3 nm
Q4) Quasars are most common with redshifts
A)less than 0.1
B)less than 0.5
C)of about 2
D)greater than 6
E)greater than 8
Q5) Why should we expect quasars to be small How small should we expect them to be
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Modern Cosmology
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Sample Questions
Q1) You live in a Universe where matter dominates significantly over antimatter.
A)True B)False
Q2) Describe how we know that the expansion rate of the Universe is currently accelerating.
Q3) Since the big bang, but before now, a time existed where matter was not dominant.
A)True B)False
Q4) We are among the products of nuclear fusion and gravitational contraction. A)True
B)False
Q5) In the late 1990's, it was announced that the expansion of the Universe is accelerating. What does this imply from the perspective of the big bang
A)A force exists that we knew nothing about that causes the acceleration.
B)The Universe must be closed.
C)The Universe is finite.
D)The amount of dark matter must be greatly less than the amount of normal matter.
E)The Universe must be infinitely old.
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Chapter 15: The Origin of the Solar System
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108 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A planet is much brighter than the star it orbits.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What observation made of other stars seems to suggest the solar nebula theory is correct
A)Stars are found to exist more often in binaries than by themselves.
B)Protostars are seen to radiate much of their light at infrared wavelengths.
C)Nearby stars tend to be low-mass red dwarfs.
D)Young stars are found to have hot disks that surround them.
Q3) The original cloud from which the Sun and planets formed had a composition rich in hydrogen and helium.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Sweeping up of space debris by the planets.
Q5) Describe some characteristics that the Jovian planets have in common. Use the solar nebula theory to explain the commonality.
Q6) Describe some characteristics that all the planets seem to share and use the solar nebula theory to explain them.
Q7) Violent impacts of infalling particles release energy called ____________.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Earth and Moon: Bases for Comparative Planetology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Earth's magnetic field is generated in the iron-rich mantle.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The greenhouse effect occurs because carbon dioxide is opaque to infrared radiation.
A)True
B)False
Q3) That Earth ___________, evidence that Earth differentiated.
A)rotates slowly
B)has an average density that is higher than the density of the crust
C)has a no magnetic field
D)has a surface that is 75% water
E)all of these
Q4) Which of the following is NOT one of the four stages in the development of a terrestrial planet
A)flooding
B)cratering
C)slow surface evolution
D)fusion of hydrogen to helium
E)differentiation
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Chapter 17: Mercury, Venus, and Mars
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Sample Questions
Q1) The terrestrial planet with the most effective greenhouse effect is ____________________.
Q2) Evaluate the evidence that Mars had a liquid water past.
Q3) Flow channels on Venus suggest it was once rich in water.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Which Terrestrial planet has the largest moon or moons relative to the planet circled
A)Mercury
B)Venus
C)Earth
D)Mars
Q5) _____________ is a very long and deep canyon on Mars.
A)Valles Marineris
B)Ishtar Terra
C)Tharsis Bulge
D)Lobate Scarp
E)Phobos
Q6) How is the rotation of Venus different from that of other terrestrial planets
Q7) What factors determine the rate of loss of gases from a planet's atmosphere
Page 19
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Chapter 18: The Outer Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) Pluto is an example of a plutino.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Charon is tidally locked to Pluto but Pluto is not tidally locked to Charon.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which planet is shown in the image above that combines both visual and infrared data
A)Jupiter
B)Saturn
C)Uranus
D)Neptune
Q4) Some narrow rings of Saturn are seen in space probe photos to be caused by A)gravitational interactions between ring particles.
B)a spiral density wave which confines them.
C)the magnetic field which holds them in place.
D)small shepherd moons that orbit inside and outside the rings
Q5) Saturn's belts and zones are obscured by haze high in its atmosphere.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 19: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets
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Sample Questions
Q1) Meteorites seem to come from both the asteroid belt and the comets.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Kuiper Belt is predicted to be the place where most of the short-period comets formed.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The density of Comet Halley was found to be about 0.2 g/cm3. This implies that Comet Halley
A)is composed of about 50% rock and 50% frozen water and methane.
B)is loosely packed ices with a small amount of rocky material.
C)formed in the inner solar system and was ejected by Jupiter to the Kuiper belt.
D)is really an S-type asteroid.
E)was once a moon of Neptune and was ripped away by a large impact.
Q4) The asteroid belt lies between planets ____________ and ____________
Q5) The majority of meteorite finds are iron meteorites.
A)True
B)False
Q6) ___-type asteroids are most common.
Page 21
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Chapter 20: Astrobiology: Life on Other Worlds
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________ is a segment of a chromosome that controls a specific function.
A)DNA
B)RNA
C)An enzyme
D)A gene
E)An amino acid
Q2) Because of __________, ___________, and ___________, physical interstellar travel is currently impossible.
Q3) SETI searches for aliens.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why is it believed that life cannot evolve on a planet that orbits a spectral type A, B, or O star
A)These stars produce too much infrared radiation which would destroy carbon-based organisms.
B)These stars have very small life zones.
C)These stars are not capable of producing planets.
D)These stars do not remain on the main sequence long enough for life to evolve.
E)These stars take too long to form.
Q5) Describe three things that limit travel between stars.
Page 22
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