Name: ________________________
Astro 101 F15 Test 1
Multiple Choice
Identify the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
____
1. Which of following BEST describes the science of astronomy?
a. Measuring the movements of the constellations on the celestial sphere.
b. Charting the motions of the stars and planets to determine what human events will occur
on a particular day.
c. Studying the sun, moon, and eight planets.
d. Studying the universe to understand what is in it and how it works.
____
2. Which of the following is a TRUE statement about the Universe?
a. The universe is made up of matter and energy.
b. When astronomers study the universe, they just consider ordinary matter.
c. The universe contains only the sun, moon, and planets.
d. Most of the energy in the universe is in the form of gravity.
____
3. Which of the following are found in the Solar System?
a. Planets
d. Galaxies
b. Stars in the Zodiac Constellations
e. All of the above
c. The Milky Way
____
4. We have a cosmic address starting with our home on Earth and listing larger and larger structures in the
universe. Which of the following lists of structures is in order from smallest to largest, just like our cosmic
address?
a. Milky Way Galaxy, Earth, SuperCluster c. Earth, Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System
b. Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy d. SuperCluster, Solar System, Earth
____
5. One of the nearest stars is Alpha Centauri, whose distance is 4.4 light-years. The time it takes light to travel
from Alpha Centauri to us is:
a. 8.3 minutes
c. 600 years
b. 1.25 seconds
d. 4.4 years
____
6. The speed of light is about:
a. 3,000 km/s
b. 20 km/s
c.
d.
300,000 km/s
5 million km/s
____
7. A hypothesis may become a theory:
a. after it has been logically proved.
b. after many repeated attempts to falsify it fail.
c. if a majority of scientists agree on its propositions.
d. if it makes at least one verifiable prediction.
____
8. A scientific theory can be proven wrong if:
a. scientists gather new data that disprove its predictions
b. cultural beliefs evolve to contradict it
c. it cannot explain all phenomena
d. it is based only on conjecture
1
Name: ________________________
____
ID: B
9. One of the central assumptions in astronomy is that the physical laws of nature:
a. depend on the mass of the objects involved
b. are the same everywhere in the universe
c. change when objects move at high speed
d. stay the same throughout the age of the universe
____ 10. The statement “Earth is in a unique and special place in the universe.”:
a. is correct because Earth is at the center of the universe.
b. is NOT correct because it violates the Cosmological Principle.
c. is correct because the laws of physics are different in other parts of space.
d. is NOT correct because it assumes humans are the most intelligent lifeform.
____ 11. The stars on the celestial sphere rise in the east and set in the west. Which way is Earth rotating?
a. From Southeast to Northwest
c. From Northwest to Southeast
b. From West to East
d. From East to West
____ 12. All stars denoted on the celestial sphere are:
a. at varying distances from Earth.
b. not in the Milky Way galaxy.
c. the same distance from Earth.
d. actually planetary bodies of the solar system.
____ 13. How is the celestial equator defined?
a. It is the plane of the Solar System.
b. It is an extension of the earth’s equator.
c. It is the yearly path of the sun.
d. It is 23.5° from the celestial poles.
____ 14. Which of the following is a TRUE statement about the celestial sphere?
a. It rotates once a day around the earth.
b. It rotates once a day around the ecliptic.
c. It rotates once a year around the celestial poles.
d. It rotates once a year around the earth.
____ 15. Astronomers use constellations to:
a. determine the personality of a person born in a particular month.
b. find the distance to the celestial sphere from earth.
c. divide the sky into regions.
d. predict the motions of the planets.
____ 16. If the north celestial pole is located on your horizon, what is your latitude?
a. +90°
d. 0°
b. +60°
e. This can never happen.
c. +30°
____ 17. In Louisiana, which of the following is true?
a. No stars are circumpolar.
b. All stars are circumpolar.
c. Only some stars are circumpolar.
d. Location on earth doesn’t affect the motion of the stars.
2
Name: ________________________
ID: B
____ 18. What is an astronomical unit?
a. The angle between the Sun and the Earth.
b. The time it takes light to travel from the Sun to the Earth.
c. The distance between the Sun and the Earth.
d. The distance between the Earth and the Moon.
____ 19. If you go out at exactly 9 P.M. each evening over the course of 1 month, the position of a given star will move
westward by tens of degrees. What causes this motion?
a. the revolution of Earth around the Sun
b. the revolution of the Moon around Earth
c. Earth’s rotation on its axis
d. the revolution of the Sun around Earth
____ 20. After the Sun leaves the constellation Sagittarius, how long until it returns to this
constellation?
a. one year
c. six months
b. one day
d. one month
____ 21. Which of the following is a result of the precession of the Earth’s axis?
a. The first day of autumn will not always be in September.
b. The Sun will be in different Zodiac constellations for a particular month on the calendar.
c. The North Star (Polaris) will not always be the north celestial pole.
d. All of the above.
____ 22. The amount of the Earth’s surface receiving sunlight during the day is
a. less in the southern hemisphere than in the northern hemisphere during December.
b. less in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere during December.
c. more in the northern hemisphere than in the southern hemisphere during December.
d. the same in the northern and southern hemispheres during June.
____ 23. The Earth’s axial tilt is 23.5 degrees. If the Earth’s axial tilt was 15 degrees, which would be TRUE?
a. Winters would last longer.
c. Winters would be warmer.
b. The seasons would remain the same.
d. Summers would be warmer.
____ 24. Which of the following locations corresponds with summer in the Southern Hemisphere:
a.
b.
c.
A
B
C
d.
e.
3
D
E
Name: ________________________
ID: B
____ 25. What occurs on the vernal equinox?
a. The Sun is at its highest point in the sky.
b. The Sun is on the celestial equator.
c. The longest day of the year.
d. The Sun is most directly in the direction of the North Pole.
____ 26. Your test is Version B. Please fill in the circle for B for this question on your form.
a. not this one
c. not this one
b. Mark this one
d. not this one
4
ID: B
Astro 101 F15 Test 1
Answer Section
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. ANS: D
F15
PTS: 1
2. ANS: A
F15
PTS: 1
3. ANS: A
F15
PTS: 1
4. ANS: B
F15
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
PTS:
ANS:
OBJ:
ANS:
OBJ:
ANS:
OBJ:
ANS:
OBJ:
ANS:
OBJ:
ANS:
F15
1
D
PTS: 1
Applied
TOP: III.A.ii
C
PTS: 1
Factual
TOP: III.A.i
B
PTS: 1
Define scientific theory.
A
PTS: 1
Conceptual TOP: VI.A.i
B
PTS: 1
Conceptual TOP: VI.C.ii
B
DIF: Easy
REF: 1.1
DIF: Medium
REF: 1.1
DIF: Easy
REF: 1.2
MSC: Remembering
DIF: Easy
REF: 1.2
DIF: Difficult
REF: 1.2
PTS: 1
11. ANS: B
CLICKER, F15
PTS:
12. ANS:
OBJ:
MSC:
13. ANS:
F15
1
A
PTS: 1
DIF: Easy
REF: 2.1
Explain why the celestial sphere is only a model of the sky and not reality.
Remembering
B
PTS: 1
1
ID: B
14. ANS: A
HARD F14, Revised F15
PTS: 1
15. ANS: C
F15
PTS: 1
16. ANS: D
F15
PTS:
OBJ:
Earth.
17. ANS:
F15
1
DIF: Medium
REF: 2.1
Illustrate how the stars that are visible and their motion through the sky change with one’s location on
MSC:
Applying
C
PTS: 1
18. ANS: C
F15
PTS: 1
19. ANS: A
F15
PTS:
OBJ:
MSC:
20. ANS:
LT
1
DIF: Easy
REF: 2.2
Relate Earth’s position around the Sun to the zodiacal constellations we observe in the nighttime sky.
Understanding
A
PTS: 1
21. ANS: D
F15
PTS: 1
22. ANS: B
PTS: 1
DIF: Medium
OBJ: Explain why Earth’s axial tilt causes seasons.
23. ANS: C
PTS: 1
DIF: Medium
OBJ: Explain why Earth’s axial tilt causes seasons.
24. ANS: C
LT, F15
PTS: 1
25. ANS: B
F15
PTS: 1
2
REF:
MSC:
REF:
MSC:
2.2
Understanding
2.2
Applying