Astronomy Spring Final Review
.
What moon phase is shown in each picture?
A B C D
A.
______________________
C.
______________________
B.
______________________
D.
______________________
1.
What are the features of the Moon and how were they formed?
E
E.
2.
What are the characteristics of eclipses?
3.
Describe the orbits of asteroids and comets. Do they ever cross Earth’s orbit?
_______________________
4.
Which planets have magnetospheres, and how are they formed? Which planets do not have magnetospheres?
5.
Describe the climates, atmospheres, and geologies of the planets.
6.
Which planets have tectonic activity?
7.
When does the far side of the moon face the Earth?
8.
What are the theories of how the Moon was formed?
9.
How does the Moon affect Earth’s climate?
10.
When does the full moon rise and set? When does the new moon rise and set? Is the moon the same size on the horizon as it is high in the sky?
11.
Why is Mercury the most battered planet in the solar system?
12.
Describe the atmosphere and geology of Venus. How are the features of Venus named?
13.
How does the greenhouse effect on Venus compare to the greenhouse effect on Mars?
14.
What is unusual about the movement of Mars as seen from Earth?
15.
What is the primary component of the atmosphere of Mars? Venus?
16.
How effective would it be to use nuclear weapons against an asteroid?
17.
What is not found above the K-T boundary?
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Astronomy Spring Final Review
18.
Why did ancient peoples (and some modern ones) consider comets to be omens?
19.
Why did the Kuiper Belt not condense into a planet?
20.
How many tails do comets have?
21.
What are the moons of Jupiter? What are their characteristics?
22.
Which planet was discovered using a telescope and which was discovered using mathematics?
23.
Which of Jupiter’s moons has the greatest likelihood of having life? Saturn’s?
24.
What two elements are most plentiful in the Sun?
25.
How does nuclear fusion produce energy?
26.
Describe the stellar magnitude system invented by Hipparchus.
27.
What is a measure of the total power radiated by a star?
28.
What can we learn about a star from its color?
29.
What is the relationship between the size of a star and its lifespan?
30.
What element is the key component in stars?
31.
How do stars end their lives? What determines the ending?
32.
What is the nearest large galaxy to ours? What is our galactic neighborhood called?
33.
How old do we think the universe is?
34.
Describe the following missions:
A.
Voyager
B.
Mars rovers
C.
Viking
35.
Terms to know:
A.
Quasar
B.
Spacetime
C.
Roche limit
D.
Galilean Moons
E.
K-T boundary
F.
Trojan asteroids
G.
Axial tilt
D.
E.
F.
Dawn
NEAR
New Horizons
H.
Coronal Mass Ejections
I.
Flares
J.
Prominences
K.
Sunspots
L.
absolute brightness
M.
apparent brightness
N.
luminosity
O.
P.
Q.
R.
G.
Stardust emission nebula planetary nebula
Event Horizon
Singularity
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Astronomy Spring Final Review
The Moon
36.
When does the far side of the moon face the Earth?
Never
37.
Which theory of lunar formation states that a Mars sized object that formed in Earth’s accretion region slams into early Earth?
Giant impact
38.
How does the Moon affect Earth’s climate?
Regulates the earths axial tilt
39.
Is the moon the same size on the horizon as it is high in the sky?
Yes
40.
When does the full moon rise?
Sunset
41.
When does the full moon set?
Sunrise
42.
When does the new moon rise?
Sunrise
43.
When does the new moon set?
Sunset
44.
What is the name given to the dark areas on the Moon?
Maria
Mercury,Venus, and Mars
45.
Why is Mercury the most battered planet in the solar system?
Lack of an atmosphere
46.
What is the primary component of the atmosphere of Venus, and what is its source?
CO2 from volcanoes
47.
What have geologists concluded about the surface of Venus?
It is fairly new
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Astronomy Spring Final Review
48.
What lead them to reach that conclusion?
The lack of crating
49.
Most features of Venus have what kind of names?
Females
50.
What is unusual about the movement of Mars as seen from Earth?
It displays retrograde motion
51.
What is the primary component of the atmosphere of Mars?
CO
2
52.
Mars is said to have experienced a “reverse greenhouse” effect. What does this mean?
The decrease in temperature caused a loss of greenhouse gases that caused Mars to become even colder, which caused the loss of even more greenhouse gases.
53.
What is notable about the magnetosphere of Mars?
It does not exist
Solar System Debris
54.
How effective would it be to use nuclear weapons against an asteroid?
Depends of the make up of the asteroid
55.
What holds the Trojan asteroids in the position 60º ahead of and behind Jupiter?
The mass of the objects balances the gravity of the Sun
56.
What is not found above the K-T boundary?
Dinosaus fossils
57.
Why did ancient peoples (and some modern ones) consider comets to be omens?
They appear unexpectedly
58.
Why did the Kuiper Belt not condense into a planet?
The material is too far apart
59.
How many tails do comets have?
2
Gas Giants
60.
Which planet has the largest magnetosphere?
Jupiter
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Astronomy Spring Final Review
61.
How is Jupiter’s magnetic field generated?
The rapid rotation of the metallic hydrogen interior
62.
Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto are referred to as what type of moons?
Galilean
63.
Which moon is the most geologically active body in the solar system?
Io
64.
Which of Jupiter’s moons most likely has a liquid ocean beneath its crust that may contain life?
Europa
65.
Which planet was the first to be discovered using a telescope?
Uranus
66.
Which planet was the first to be discovered using mathematics?
Neptune
67.
Which of Saturn’s moons has the greatest likelihood of having life?
Titan
68.
Which of Jupiter’s moons has the greatest likelihood of having life?
Europa
69.
What is the name of the limit at which satellite moons are torn apart to form rings?
The Roche Limit
The Sun
70.
What two elements are most plentiful in the Sun?
Hydrogen and Helium
71.
How does nuclear fusion produce energy?
Lost mass is converted to energy
72.
What are the relatively dark blemishes on the solar surface?
Sunspots
73.
What is a large explosion on the Sun’s surface?
Solar flares
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Astronomy Spring Final Review
74.
What is an ejection of material from the solar corona?
Coronal mass ejections
75.
What is a stream of charged particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun?
Solar winds
Stars and Black Holes
76.
In the stellar magnitude system invented by Hipparchus, what does a smaller magnitude indicates a about a star?
It is brighter
77.
In that same stellar magnitude system, what does a larger magnitude indicates a about a star?
It is dimmer
78.
What can be determined about a blue star relative to other stars?
It is hotter
79.
How does the lifespan of a large star compare to other stars?
It is shorter
80.
What is a way to describe how bright a star appears when viewed from Earth?
Apparent brightness
81.
What is a measure of the total power radiated by a star?
Luminosity
82.
What element is the key component in stars?
Hydrogen
83.
What is formed when a star ejects its outer layers to become a white dwarf?
Planetary nebula
84.
What element is the last that can be made in a star before it goes supernova?
Iron
85.
What is the name for the bottom of the black hole?
Singularity
86.
What is the name for the absolute dark sphere of the black hole?
Event Horizon
87.
What is the name for the four-dimensional fabric of the universe?
Spacetime
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Astronomy Spring Final Review
The Milky Way and Galaxies
88.
What is the nearest large galaxy to ours?
Andromeda
89.
What is the name given to “quasi-stellar objects;” galaxies that send out tremendous amounts of light?
Quasar
90.
What is our galactic neighborhood called?
Local Group
91.
How old do we think the universe is?
13.6 billion years
Space Exploration
92.
What are the two rovers currently on Mars?
Spirit and Opportunity
93.
What was significant about the Viking missions?
They were the first to successfully land on Mars
94.
What is the name of the unmanned missions that explored all of the gas giants?
Galileo
95.
What is the name of the NASA mission to Pluto?
New Horizons
96.
What is the name of the NASA mission to asteroid Ceres?
Dawn
97.
What is the name of the NASA mission that collected particles of comet dust and returned them to Earth?
Stardust
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