Astronomy
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Final Exam Review
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Astronomy Final Exam Review
1. How old is the Universe?
2. How old is our Solar System?
3. How many significant digits does the number 001,010.044023000 have?
Solve the following. Make sure to write the answer with the correct scientific notation and the correct number of significant digits.
4. (7.7 x 109) + (7.2 x 109) =
5. (7.0 x 108) - (3.7 x 106) =
6. (7.7 x 107) * (2.7 x 10-3) =
7. (7.2 x 108) / (4.7 x 107) =
8. If a certain right triangle has one angle measuring 60.0 degrees, and the length of the side adjacent to that
angle is 20.0 km, identify the length of the hypotenuse of the triangle.
9. List the wandering objects in the night sky that ancient astronomers observed.
10. How did the Egyptians use the stars?
11. What did the Greeks call the planets?
12. The Greeks noticed retrograde motion of the planets. What is retrograde motion?
13. The Greeks also noted and used parallax. What is parallax?
14. Who said that the Earth was the center of the universe and that the universe was made of 55 celestial spheres
that fit around each other?
15. Who came up with the idea for a Sun centered solar system before Copernicus did?
16. How did Eratosthenes calculate the circumference of the Earth?
17. List and describe the published work and accomplishments of Ptolemy, Brahe, and Copernicus.
18. What does Kepler's First Law state?
19. What does Kepler's Third Law state and what is the formula associated with it? If a planet is 4 A.U.'s from
the Sun, what is its period?
20. Compare and contrast aphelion and perihelion.
21. What is orbital eccentricity? Of Mercury, Earth, Saturn, and Pluto, with eccentricities of 0.208, 0.016, 0.0564,
and 0.253 respectively, which planet has the most circular orbit?
22. What is Kepler's Second Law?
23. What is inertia, and who described it?
24. What is gravity and list those who were major contributors in deepening our understanding of it?
25. What is the most currently accepted theory of gravitation?
26. Describe under what conditions the Newton's Law of Universal Gravitation breaks down according to the
Theories of Special and General of Relativity.
27. The acceleration due to gravity on the Earth's surface can be found using the equation: g = GMEarth/REarth2 .
If G = 6.67 x 10-11 m3/kg*s2, MEarth = 5.98 x 1024 kg , and REarth = 6.378 x 106 m , then what is 'g'?
28. What was the main use of the stars for the Polynesians?
Planet
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Perihelion
2.85 x 107
6.65 x 107
9.15 x 107
1.29 x 108
4.60 x 108
8.36 x 108
1.70 x 109
2.77 x 109
2.75 x 109
Aphelion
4.35 x 107
6.75 x 107
9.45 x 107
1.54 x 108
5.07 x 108
9.36 x 108
1.87 x 109
2.81 x 109
4.61 x 109
Mean Distance
3.60 x 107
6.70 x 107
9.30 x 107
1.42 x 107
4.84 x 107
8.86 x 107
1.79 x 107
2.79 x 107
3.68 x 107
Eccentricity
0.208
0.00746
0.0161
0.0915
0.0496
0.0564
0.0503
0.00722
0.253
29. Which planet has the most circular orbit? The most eccentric?
30. When Pluto is at its perihelion and Neptune is at it's aphelion, which planet reaches the farthest away from
the Sun?
Object
Moon
Mercury
Venus
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Sun
Mass
(kg)
7.35 x 1022
3.30 x 1023
4.86 x 1024
6.41 x 1023
1.90 x 1027
5.68 x1026
8.73 x 1025
1.02 x 1026
1.99 x 1030
Radius (m)
1.74 x 106
2.44 x 106
6.05 x 106
3.40 x 106
7.14 x 107
6.00 x 107
2.54 x 107
2.52 x 107
6.96 x 108
Surface Gravity
(m/s2)
1.623
3.700
8.856
3.699
24.86
10.52
9.026
10.71
274.0
% of Earth's
Gravity
16.5
37.8
90.4
37.7
254
107
92.1
109
2.80 x 103
31. Which object has a surface gravity closest to that of the Earth? Which object has the greatest surface gravity?
32. Why did the early civilizations divided the stars into groups?
33. Why was Polaris so special to all races of ancient astronomers? What is the altitude of Polaris in our sky?
34. How many official constellations are there?
35. What is the most obvious difference between the images of planets and stars, as seen from the ground?
36. What is the equatorial system?
37. What is the declination of the celestial equator? Of the celestial poles?
38. What is the ecliptic? The moment the Sun reaches its farthest point north in its annual motion through the
sky is the summer solstice. What is the right ascension and declination of the Sun that point? What is the
R.A. and Dec. of the Sun at the winter solstice?
39. How long does it take the Sun to travel all the way around the ecliptic?
40. During what month is the Earth closest to the Sun?
41. Explain why the Earth has seasons.
42. For any location on the Earth there is an imaginary line in the sky from the point directly overhead to the
southern horizon called the celestial meridian. What does the celestial meridian tell us?
43. There are _____ hours of right ascension. Every hour of right ascension is equal to _____ degree(s).
44. How long is a solar day? A sidereal day?
45. The Earth's wobble is responsible for a slight variation in the length of the year. It is also responsible for a
slight movement in the stars over time in our sky. What is this wobble called? What will our North Star will
be in about 13,000 years?
46. If a star visible just above the southern horizon on a starry night has a right ascension of 6h 45m, what is the
sidereal time at your position on the Earth?
47. Explain the aspects of the Gregorian calendar.
48. Compare and contrast a solar year with a sidereal year.
49. There are 24 time zones - one for every _____ degrees of longitude.
50. The Earth orbits around the Sun on the ecliptic, and the Moon orbits the Earth _____ the ecliptic.
51. Explain why the Earth has tides.
7.
8.
Use the diagram to the right to answer the questions 52 - 53.
52. What phase is the Moon in at position 1? Position 3? Position 5?
Sun’s Rays
53. At which position does the Moon have to be in for Spring tide to
occur? Neap tide?
6.
Earth
1.
5.
North
Pole
2.
4.
3.
Use the diagram to the right to answer the questions 68 - 72.
54. What type of eclipse is shown in the figure to the right?
A
55. What is labeled 'A' in the figure to the right?
56. Is the Moon's penumbra casting a shadow on the Earth?
Sun
M
E
57. Is the Earth's penumbra in contact with the Moon?
58. What phase does the Moon have to be in for a total lunar eclipse to occur? For a solar eclipse?
For questions 59 - 62, go to the position in the room labeled 'Position 1', located in the back of the room. Orient a foam model of
the Earth with an appropriate 23.5 degree tilt, with the north and south poles lined up with the north and south celestial poles
indicated in the room. Spin your model so that a small tack, representing Geneva, is directly facing the Sun and answer the
following questions.
59. What is the right ascension and declination of the sun at this point and time in Earth's orbit around the Sun?
60. What is the approximate solar time and sidereal time in Geneva?
62. What season is it in the Northern Hemisphere of the Earth?
63. If the Moon was full, what time would the Moon rise?
64. Give the planetary configuration of Mars when it lines up on the same side of the Sun as the Earth with an
elongation angle of 1800.
65. What configuration has Venus at its farthest point away from the Sun on the east (left side) as seen from
Earth?
66. What configuration has Uranus at a right angle to the west (right) of the Sun.
67. What configuration has Mercury lined up between the Earth and the Sun?
68. What configuration has Saturn lined up on the opposite side of the Sun as viewed from Earth?
69. What is a nebula?
70. Compare and contrast rotation and revolution.
71. What is a planetismal?
72. What are the inner planets mainly composed of?
72. What are the outer planets mainly composed of?
73. Why do the inner planets have relatively less Hydrogen and Helium than the outer planets?
74. How are landslides caused?
75. On which planets do we see landslides occur?
76. What are shield volcanoes? What is the name of the largest volcano in the Solar System and what planet is it
on?
77. Features like the Grand Canyon and the Scablands of Washington can be seen on the surface of _____.
78. Do planets that have no atmospheres have extensive wind erosion? Do we see wind erosion on Mars?
79. What causes an earthquake?
80. Atmospheres play a role in determining a planet’s _____. In an atmosphere, _____ air rises and _____ air
sinks causing a circulation pattern known as wind. Clouds form from this type of circulation.
81. Where did /does the majority of the Oxygen in our atmosphere come from? Where is the majority of Earth’s
Carbon Dioxide tied up?
82. What are the atmospheres of Venus and Mars mainly composed of?
83. Mercury, _____, asteroids, and almost all of the moons of the outer planets have very thin or no atmospheres
because of their small size and low gravity, which allows almost all of the gases above the surface to escape.
84. How do astronomers get their information about the Universe?
85. What is wavelength?
86. What are the types of radiation that are just lower and just higher in wavelength than visible light?
87. The colors of the visible spectrum are represented by the acronym ROY G BV. What does this stand for?
88. Using what we know about the Doppler Effect, a train coming toward you and blowing its whistle would be
giving off a sound wave that has a _____ pitch than normal because the sound waves are being _____ by the
constant forward motion of the train emitting the sound.
89. Most galaxies are speeding away from us. Because of this, we see their spectral signatures shifted towards the
_____ wavelength.
90. You have been stranded on an island for days with your only source of protein being hissing roaches and
fish. To avoid eating roaches, you have fashioned a spear to catch fish along the shore. What principle of
light properties will help you spear a fish for dinner?
91. The principle of _____ states that the angle of incidence (measured from the perpendicular to the reflecting
surface) is equal to the angle of reflection.
92. Compare and contrast seeing and light pollution.
93. What wavelengths of light do stars give off?
94. A star that is _____ in color is hotter than a yellow star. This means that stars with a _____ wavelength have
a hotter temperature.
95. In Wein's law, λmax T = constant, as the peak wavelength (or color) of a star increases, it's temperature
_____.
96. The Stephan-Boltzmann law is given by Energy = σ T4. If a star's temperature doubles, how much more
energy will it be giving off?
97. Compare and contrast emission lines and absorption lines. Give an example of an object that produces each.
98. Give an acronym that successfully describes the star spectral classes from hottest to coolest.
99. What specific spectral type is our Sun?
100. What is apparent magnitude? The apparent magnitude of objects that are relatively bright are most likely on
the _____ side of the apparent magnitude scale.
101. What is the difference between absolute magnitude and luminosity?
102. What does the H-R Diagram compare? What is the main sequence of the H-R Diagram?
103. Distance in parsecs is defined as d = 1/p , where d = distance in parsecs, and p = parallax angle in arc
seconds. If a star has a parallax angle of ½ (or 0.5) arc seconds, how many parsecs is it away from the Sun?
104. Which is greater in distance, a parsec or a light year?
105. What is proper motion?
106. The actual motion of a star, or it's space velocity, involves motion in three dimensions; two of the
dimensions being related to the tangential velocity or proper motion. What is the third dimension of space
velocity and how do we measure it?
107. What are binary, or double stars and what percent of all stars are members of double star system?
108. What are variable stars and what do we use them for?
109. Compare and contrast globular and galactic clusters.
110. Where do stars get their enormous energy supply?
111. In a star's life time, energy from fusion pours out from the core, setting up an _____ pressure in the gas
around it that balances the _____ pull of gravity.
112. Describe how a red giant star is formed.
113. Compare and contrast white and black dwarf stars.
114. As the core of a star that is 3 or more times as massive as the Sun begins to yield to gravity and starts to
shrink, it grows hotter and denser, and a new series of nuclear reactions begins, temporarily halting it's
collapse. When the core becomes essentially just iron, fusion ceases, and, in less than a second, the star
begins gravitational collapse, the core temperature rises to over 100 billion degrees, and the iron atoms are
crushed together. The repulsive force between the nuclei overcomes the force of gravity, and the core
recoils out from the heart of the star in an explosive shock wave called a _____.
115. What is a neutron star? How does a neutron star form? What is a black hole? How does a black hole
form?