Astronomy 1: Midterm 2 Practice Exam
True/False (+2pts each)
Indicate whether the sentence or statement is true or false. On your scantron, mark A for true and B for false.
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1. Neptune was the first planet to be discovered with the telescope.
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2. Saturn is less dense than water.
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3. The atmospheric pressure on Mars is 90 times stronger than it is on Earth.
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4. The Moon does not have a significant atmosphere.
Multiple Choice (+2pts each)
Identify the letter of the choice that best completes the statement or answers the question.
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5. The magnetic field of the Earth is important to humans because it
a. blocks out most of the harmful ultra-violet radiation from the Sun.
b. prevents global warming from occurring.
c. prevents solar flares from occurring.
d. blocks most of the dangerous charged particles released by the solar wind.
6. How many of the planets in our Solar System have rings?
a. 3
b. 5
c. 2
d. 1
e. 4
7. What is the name of the most volcanically active object in our Solar System?
a. Io
b. Enceladus
c. Venus
d. Mars
e. Jupiter
8. What two elements currently dominate the Earth’s atmosphere?
a. nitrogen and oxygen
b. hydrogen and helium
c. hydrogen and oxygen
d. carbon dioxide and oxygen
9. Identify the only moon that is NOT considered as one of the Galilean satellites of Jupiter.
a. Europa
b. Titan
c. Io
d. Callisto
e. Ganymede
10. Which of the following is the least important function of a telescope.
a. seeing fine detail in the image.
b. magnifying the image.
c. brightening the image.
____ 11. Valles Marineris is a huge canyon system on which planet?
a. Earth
b. Venus
c. Mercury
d. Mars
____ 12. What causes plate tectonics to occur on the Earth?
a. Strong volcanic eruptions in one part of the world can trigger the plates to move in another
part of the world later on.
b. Convection in the Earth’s mantle causes the liquid move in a slow circular motion which
causes the plates to move over time.
c. The gravitational pull of the Moon results in tides that can also trigger motion of the plates
when the oceans rub against the land during strong tides.
d. The Earth’s outer molten iron core generates a current that causes the plates to shift over
time.
____ 13. Which of the following people invented the first telescope?
a. Isaac Newton
b. Galileo Galilei
c. Hans Lippershey
d. Johannes Kepler
____ 14. In order to have a significant magnetic field what two properties does a planet have to possess?
a. slow rotation and liquid interior
b. slow rotation and solid interior
c. fast rotation and liquid interior
d. fast rotation and solid interior
____ 15. How many of the planets in our Solar System have a significant magnetic field?
a. 5
b. 6
c. 3
d. 1
e. 4
____ 16. Which planet has the Great Red Spot on it?
a. Uranus
b. Neptune
c. Venus
d. Saturn
e. Jupiter
____ 17. What is the best reason why Mars is red in color?
a. Because it has a lot of volcanic activity which produces lava all over its surface.
b. Because it has iron oxide all over its surface.
c. Because the ice on Mars reflects mostly red light.
d. Because it has a thin atmosphere of carbon dioxide that reflects mostly red light.
____ 18. Interferometry is
a. using a deformable mirror to counteract the scattering of light from the atmosphere.
b. the correction for spherical aberration of a mirror.
c. the correction for chromatic aberration in lens.
d. using several telescopes together as one in order to increase resolution.
____ 19. When the different colors of light passing through a lens comes to a focus at the different distances, it is called
a. spherical aberration
b. refractive aberration
c. focal aberration
d. chromatic aberration
____ 20. The same side of the Moon faces the Earth because
a. the Moon does not rotate on its axis.
b. the Earth’s spin axis is tilted and the Moon’s orbit is inclined with respect to the ecliptic.
c. it takes the same amount of time for the Moon to spin on its axis as it does for the Earth to
spin on its axis.
d. it takes the same amount of time for the Moon to spin on its axis as it does for it to orbit
around the Earth.
e. the tilt of the Moon on its axis is the same value as the inclination of its orbit.
____ 21. Which of the following functions depend upon the diameter of the telescope?
a. light gathering power and magnification.
b. light gathering power, resolution, and magnification.
c. resolution and magnification.
d. light gathering power and resolution.
____ 22. On which planet are the rings orientated perpendicular (verticle) to the plane of its orbit?
a. Saturn
b. Jupiter
c. Neptune
d. Uranus
Completion (+1pt)
Complete each sentence or statement.
23. What was the name of one of the twin rovers that found conclusive evidence for liquid water on Mars?
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24. The _____________ (two words) Space Telescope will eventually replace the Hubble Space Telescope.
Short Answer (+2pts each)
25. Besides having water, describe two ways (as discussed in class) that Mars is very similar to the Earth.
26. a) What is aurora? b) What causes it to form?
27. Describe two specific ways that the ozone layer was important in the evolution of life.
Short Answer (+4pts each)
28. a) List the names of the inner planets in their correct distance from the Sun (starting with the closest one first).
(+1pt all or nothing) b) List the names of the outer planets in their correct distance from the Sun (starting with
the closest one first) (+1pt all or nothing) c) Describe two major differences (not includig their distance or
temperature) between the inner planets and outer planets. (+2pts, to earn full credit be as specific as possible).
Short Answer (+3pts)
29. Describe in detail the most accepted theory for how our Solar System, and in particular how the planets were
formed.