PES 105 – General Astronomy I – Exam #1
Fund. & History of Astronomy: Gravity & Motion; Light & Atoms; Telescopes
Fundamentals and History of Astronomy
1.
What is the ecliptic?
A. The general location of the constellations in the Zodiac
B. The path the sun follows across the sky
C. The plane defined by the Earth’s orbit around the Sun
D. All of the above
2.
What is retrograde motion?
A. East to west motion of the Sun
B. East to west motion of the Moon relative to the stars
C. Apparent reversal of the planets from their normal direction of motion relative to the stars
3.
What is the Astronomical Unit?
A. The only official unit of distance in Astronomy
B. The average distance from the Earth to the Sun
C. The distance of the Earth to the nearest star
D. The distance of the Earth to the winter solstice.
4.
In the _________ models, the Sun is assumed as the center of the solar system.
A. Heliocentric
B. Geocentric
5.
In Copernicus’ model of the solar system, the planets orbited the _____ in ______ orbits.
A. Earth, circular
B. Sun, elliptical
C. Sun, circular
6.
The shortest and longest days of the year happen on _________, while the length of day and night are
equal on ______.
A. Winter and Spring Equinoxes; Summer and Autumnal Solstices
B. Spring and Summer Equinoxes; Autumnal and Winter Solstices
C. Spring and Autumnal Solstices; Winter and Summer Equinoxes
D. Winter and Summer Solstices; Spring and Autumnal Equinoxes
7.
Its name means little zoo, and because it contains constellations visible only at certain times of year,
we associate these constellations with our birthdays.
A. Celestial North
B. Zodiac
C. Declination
D. Zenith
8.
What conditions determine the location of the sunrise on the horizon?
A. Your north or south latitude
B. Time of year
C. Your east or west longitude
D. A and B
E. B and C
9.
_______ used the extensive records of planetary positions measured by ______ to discover that the
orbits of the planets are not ________, but are actually ________.
A. Kepler, Tycho, elliptical, circular
B. Tycho, Kepler, circular, elliptical
C. Kepler, Galileo, elliptical, circular
D. Kepler, Galileo, circular, elliptical
10. An arc-second is
A. A very small unit of time measurement
B. A very small unit of angular measurement
C. A backup boat designed to carry pairs of animals
R. Gist
1
PES 105 – General Astronomy I – Exam #1
Fund. & History of Astronomy: Gravity & Motion; Light & Atoms; Telescopes
11. Parallax is a shift in a star’s apparent position as seen by Earth on opposite sides of an orbit about Sol.
A. True
B. False.
12. Eratosthanes, librarian of the Library in Alexandria, measured which property of the Earth using length
of the shadow of a stick and the distance to a well in Syrene?
A. The distance to the Sun
B. The distance to the Moon
C. The radius of the Earth
D. The radius of the Moon
13. This term measures how flat, or “squashed” an elliptical orbit is. If it is zero, the orbit a circle.
A. Ecliptic
B. Equinox
C. Eccentricity
D. Elevation
Gravity and Motion
14. Scientific notation is a _____.
A. concise format for writing scientific reports.
B. compact way of writing large numbers.
C. simple way of describing complex ideas.
15. A repeatable technique used by scientists to test a hypothesis and form a theory is called:
A. The scientific method
B. Scientific notation
C. Exponential expression
16. A light year is:
A. The distance from the Earth to the Moon
B. The distance a photon travels in 365.25 days
C. The distance the Earth travels in a non-leap year
D. The distance to the nearest star
17. Which is not a general property of matter?
A. Matter has mass
B. Matter occupies volume
C. Matter exerts magnetism on other matter
D. Matter exerts gravitational force on all other matter
18. The speed of light is ________
A. 300,000,000 meters per second
B. 300,000 kilometers per day
C. 3,000 kilometers per hour
19. Which of the following does not illustrate one of Newton’s Laws of Motion?
A. A large braking force is needed to decelerate a massive truck.
B. Two skaters push off from each other and travel with equal speed in opposite directions.
C. A boy climbs a tree and moves further from the ground.
D. The inertia of the book on your desk causes it to stay motionless until you apply a moving force.
20. The Law of Gravity says that gravitational force is stronger for large ___ and weaker for large ___.
A. volume; mass
B. density; inertia
C. mass; distance
21. A Moon rock has a mass of 2 kg. What is the mass of the same rock when brought to Earth?
A. 2 kg
B. 12 kg
C. 6 kg
R. Gist
2
PES 105 – General Astronomy I – Exam #1
Fund. & History of Astronomy: Gravity & Motion; Light & Atoms; Telescopes
22. According to Kepler’s Laws, a planet or comet moves slower when it is:
A. Near the Sun
B. Far from the Sun
C. At any point in its orbit
Light and Atoms
23. Light behaves as ______
A. A wave
B. A particle
C. Both a wave and a particle
24. Which is not one of the four fundamental forces of nature:
A. Strong nuclear force
B. Centrifugal force
C. Gravitational force
D. Electro-magnetic force
25. Wien’s Law relates the ________ of light emitted from a star to the star’s ________.
A. color; weight
B. temperature; energy
C. wavelength; temperature
26. The wavelength of light can be related to which of the following:
A. frequency
B. energy
C. temperature
D. All of the above
E. None of the above
27. Astronomers use light from stars to determine their:
A. position and relative motion
B. temperature and composition
C. name and astrological influence
D. A and C
E. A and B
28. Which of the following lists some electromagnetic waves in decreasing order of energy?
A. Radio Waves, Infrared, Visible light, Ultraviolet, X-rays
B. Infrared, Radio Waves, Visible light, Ultraviolet, X-rays
C. X-rays, Ultraviolet, Visible light, Radio Waves, Infrared
D. X-rays, Ultraviolet, Visible light, Infrared, Radio Waves
E. Ultraviolet, X-rays, Visible light, Infrared, Radio Waves
29. Atoms are typically made of a nucleus of positive ____ and neutral ____ (in equal number),
surrounded by a cloud of negatively charged ____ (also in equal number).
A. neutrinos; positrons; protons
B. neutrons; electrons; quarks
C. protons; neutrons; electrons
30. Spectroscopy is the study of emission spectra (which is ____) and absorption spectra (which is ____)
to determine quality and quantity of a body’s composition.
A. dark with bright colored lines; rainbow with dark lines
B. rainbow with dark lines; dark with bright colored lines
31. When electrons _drop_ from one energy level to another, they give of energy in the form of:
A. Friction
B. Light
C. Sound
D. Heat
R. Gist
3
PES 105 – General Astronomy I – Exam #1
Fund. & History of Astronomy: Gravity & Motion; Light & Atoms; Telescopes
32. In spectroscopy, each element has a unique set of wavelengths, like fingerprints.
A. True
B. False
33. Doppler shift causes spectral bands of stars moving toward us to be ______.
A. Red-shifted (shifted toward longer wavelengths)
B. Blue-shifted (shifted toward shorter wavelengths)
Telescopes
34. Which telescope is only useful if placed in space (because of atmospheric absorbtion)?
A. Visible
B. Radio
C. X-Ray
35. The amount of light a telescope brings in is called its ____. Its ability to distinguish detail is its ____.
A. collecting power; resolving power
B. resolving power; identification power
C. identification power ; collecting power
36. This telescope has costly, heavy lenses and experiences chromatic aberration. It is a:
A. Reflecting telescope
B. Refracting telescope
37. This technique allows telescopes separated by great distance to combine images and increase their
effective resolving power
A. Interferometry
B. Spectroscopy
C. Photogrametry
38. Which way of collecting light from a telescope allows long-exposures to view faint objects?
A. Hu man eye viewing
B. Photographic film, as in conventional cameras
C. Charge Couple Device (CCD), as in digital cameras
D. B and C
39. This phenomenon causes stars to twinkle. It is not a problem for space-based telescopes.
A. Atmospheric scintillation
B. Chromatic aberration
C. Spherical aberration
40. This telescope has mirrors (for collecting light) or a screen (for collecting radio waves). It is a:
A. Refractor
B. Reflector
41. What is the approximate diameter of the largest practical refractive telescope?
A. 0.1 meter
B. 1 meter
C. 10 meters
D. 100 meters
42. Which challenges in image collection are typically experienced by a ground-based telescope?
A. Vibration
B. Light pollution
C. Atmospheric absorbtion
D. Star tracking
E. All of the above
R. Gist
4
PES 105 – General Astronomy I – Exam #1
Fund. & History of Astronomy: Gravity & Motion; Light & Atoms; Telescopes
Astronomical Terms
43. Syzygy
A. Collision of astronomical bodies
B. Synthetic energy from astronomical bodies
C. Alignment of three astronomical bodies
44. Celestial Equator
A. Aligned with Earth’s equator
B. Aligned with Earth’s Prime Meridian
C. Aligned with Earth’s Arctic Circle
45. Elevation
A. Absolute measurement specifying angle above the Celestial Equator
B. Relative measurement specifying angle above the horizon
C. Absolute measurement specifying angle around the Celestial Equator
D. Relative measurement specifying angle from true north
46. Declination
A. Absolute measurement specifying angle above the Celestial Equator
B. Relative measurement specifying angle above the horizon
C. Absolute measurement specifying angle around the Celestial Equator
D. Relative measurement specifying angle from true north
47. Azimuth
A. Absolute measurement specifying angle above the Celestial Equator
B. Relative measurement specifying angle above the horizon
C. Absolute measurement specifying angle around the Celestial Equator
D. Relative measurement specifying angle from true north
48. Right Ascension
A. Absolute measurement specifying angle above the Celestial Equator
B. Relative measurement specifying angle above the horizon
C. Absolute measurement specifying angle around the Celestial Equator
D. Relative measurement specifying angle from true north
49. Mars is closest to the Earth during this event.
A. Superior Conjunction (Planet, Sun, Earth in a line)
B. Inferior Conjunction (Sun, Planet, Earth in a line)
C. Opposition (Sun, Earth, Planet in a line)
50. Synodic Period
A. Time between conjunctions or oppositions between Earth and a planet
B. Time between Earth’s closest approaches to the Sun
C. Time to travel from Earth to a planet
R. Gist
5