Astronomy

Newtonian physics tells us that Kepler’s second law is a result of the conservation of ___.

Angular momentum

Which statement expresses Newton’s first law of motion?

An object with no force on acting on it continues at rest or moves in uniform motion in a straight line with constant velocity.

In contradiction to the teachings of Artistotle, Galileo found that an object with no forces (and no friction) acting on it will ___.

Move at a constant speed forever

Galileo determined that ___.

all objects fall at a constant speed acceleration.

According to Galileo, the acceleration of a freely falling object due to gravity is ___.

The same regardless of the mass and the height from which it is dropped.

Newton concluded that some force must act on the Moon because ___.

A force is needed to pull the Moon away from straight-line motion

Kinetic energy refers to the energy of a(n) ___.

moving body

Accprding to the theory of general relativity, gravity is caused by the ___.

curvature of space-time

When two objects of unequal mass orbit each other, the center of mass is ___.

Always closer to the more massive of the two objects

The circular velocity of a satellite orbiting Earth is given by V(4) = √GM/7. In this equation, M represents the ___.

Mass of Earth, and r is the distance from Earth to the satellite.

The ___ of an object is a measure of the amount of matter it contains. The ___ is a measure of the gravitational force on an object

Mass; weight

A(n) ___ orbit is one where the orbiting object is always above the same location on Earth’s surface.

Geosynchronous

The force due to the gravity between two objects depends on the ___,

Mass of each object and the distance between them

The energy involved in the gravitational attraction between a planet and the Sun is called __ energy.

potential

What is an example of the conservation of agular momentum?

A diver brings his arms and legs closer to his body

Consider the accompanying figure (Figure 5-1). Due to the curvature of space-time by the Sun, light from stars that pass near the edge of the sun will __.

Be bent so that the stars appear further from the edge of the Sun

Diffraction, optical quality, and atmospheric conditions all contribute to the limitations of what power of a telescope?

Resolving power

Which type of electromagnetic wave is the shortest?

gamma

Which is the longest surviving, and most successful, space telescope?

Hubble Space Telescope

Why are X-rays and gamma rays considered dangerous forms of light?

Photons of these wavelengths have high energy

Which part of a telescope is responsible for magnifying an image?

Eyepiece

Which from of radiation has the lowest frequency?

Microwave

What must be used to maintain the optics and operation of an infrared telescope?

coolant

What is the shape of the segmented mirrors of twin Keck Observatory telescopes, Gran telescopic Canarias, and the James Webb Space Telescope (Scheduled to be launched in late 2018)?

Hexagonal

The energy a photon carries is inversely proportional to ____.

its wavelength

Which power of a telescope reveals fine details within an image?

Resolving power

What type of electromagnetic radiation does Chandra collect?

X-ray

What modern-day instrument do astronomers use to record images from telescopes?

charge-coupled device

Light-gathering power and resolving power both depend on what characteristic of a telescope?

diameter

What does chromatic aberration separate withing refracting telescopes?

color

A spectrograph spreads out light according to __ to form a spectrum

Wavelength

What does a refracting telescope use to gather and focus light?

lens

CCD images captured from telescopes are often ___ to be stored in a computer’s memory for later analysis.

Converted to numerical data

Which from of electromagnetic radiation is able to easily reach Earth’s surface through an atmospheric window?

radio

Jenny, who lives on a farm in a rural part of New York, calls her cousin, Karen, in Brooklyn, to tell her that she can see the Milky Way in tonight’s night sky. However, Karen says she can’t see it at all. What is preventing Karen from seeing the Milky Way in the night sky?

Karen lives in an area with light pollution

The particle in an atom that carries a negative charge is the ___.

electron

Electromagnetic waves are generated whenever the ___.

Motion of any charged particle changes

An atom must emit a photon when a(n) ___.

electrons moves from a higher to a lower energy level

If the photons from blackbody radiation pass through a cool gas, a(n) ___ spectrum is produced.

absorption

The binding energy is the amount of energy ___.

needed to pull an electron completely away from the nucleus

As a blackbody becomes hotter it will radiate ___.

More energy, at a shorter wavelength of maximum intensity

The photons coming from blackbody radiation create a (n) ___ spectrum.

continuous

Atoms that have the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons are called ___.

isotopes

The Stefan- Boltzmann law relates the ___.

Energy emitted from a surface every second to the temperature of the surface

The type of element is determined by the number of ___.

protons in the atom

The Doppler effect is useful is measuring the ___.

motion of an object toward or away from the observer

Most of the mass of an atom is ___.

concentrated in the nucleus

The star Betelgeuse appears red; the star Rigel appears blue. What accounts for this difference?

The surface of Betelgeuse is cooler than the surface of Rigel

The amount of energy needed to move an electron from a lower energy level to a higher energy level is the ___.

difference in energy between the two levels

An object that acts as a blackbody emits photons because __.

atoms in the object collide, changing the motion for charged particles

Using Wien’s law, you can measure the ___ of a distant object without having to travel to it.

temperature

Blackbody radiartion is caused by an object’s ___.

Thermal agitation

The position of an absorption or emission line is useful in determining the ___.

Chemical composition of an object

The wavelength of maximum intensity is useful in measuring the __.

Surface temperatures of an object from their colors

According to Wien’s Law, a(n)

Hotter object will emit more short-wavelength (bluer) radiation

What is released from the proton-proton chain and is immediately absorbed by the surrounding gas, thereby heating it?

gamma rays

Of the following parts of the Sun, which is the hottest?

corona

Galileo proposed that the Sun is a rotating sphere after he ___.

observed sunspots move across the surface of the Sun

In order for nuclear fusion to occur, atomic nuclei must overcome the __ by colliding violently .

Coulomb barrier

Which two elements are the most abundant within the Sun?

hydrogen and helium

What are the dark regions that give the Sun’s photosphere a mottled appearance?

granules

What methodology do astronomers use to map the inside of the Sun?

Helioseismology

The babcok model of the solar magnetic cycle explains the sunspot cycle as primarily a consequences of the Sun’s ___.

differential rotation

Which is the natural forces bind atomic nuclei?

strong force

Whic layer of the Sun’s atmosphere is represented in the accompanying visual-wavelength image (figure 8-2)?

corona

What causes granulation on the photosphere

convection

Which is the correct order of the Sun’s atmospheric layers, from the innermost to outermost?

photosphere - chromosphere - corona

Which equation represents the overall nuclear fusion process of the Sun?

4(1)H - (4)He + energy

Consider the complete magnetic cycle of sunspot activity on the Sun. Approximately how many years is this cycle?

22 years

Granulation is evidence that energy in the photosphere ___.

is flowing upward

What process on the Sun’s photosphere does this figure (Figure 8-1) represent?

convection currents

during nuclear fusion, four hydrogen nuclei fuse into how many helium?

one

Astronomers refer to the dark center of a sunspot as a(n)

umbra

The corona can reach temperature of the Sun’s surface?

5800 K

What is the approximate average temperature of the Sun’s surface

5800 K

How many nuclear reactions occur in a proton-proton chain?

three

What is the average distance between the Sun and Earth?

a 1 AU

The temperature of the Sun is determined by measuring the ___ of sunlight.

spectrum

What occurs on the surface of the Sun during a solar cycle minimum?

little to no sunspot activity

Astronomers often record solar images in the ___ part of the electromagnetic spectrum because the gaseous layers high in the Sun’s atmosphere are very hot and emit most of their light at short wavelengths

Ultraviolet

As a radioactive substance gradually decays, the abundance of daughter ___ gradually increases

atoms

Which element represented most of the atoms in the early Universe?

hydrogen

Which method does the Kepler space telescope use to detect extrasolar planets?

Transit method

Who was the first to propose solar system formation with gravity as a key component of the hypothesis?

George-Louis de Buffon

What was the key physical property in determining the two categories of planets during solar system formation?

temperature

Which theory best describes today’s current thinking about he birth of a solar system?

Solar nebular theory

Once a protoplanet reached a large mass, what is the next step for it to formally grow into a planet?

gravitational collapse

The outer planets are composed of __.

low density gas

From meteorite and lunar rock samples, astronomers have determined the age of the Solar System to be ___.

4.6 billion years

Which space observatory uses the transit method to detects extrasolar planets?

Kepler

What is the process in planetary formation in which heavy metals settle to the core of the planet while lower density materials floated to the surface to form a crust?

differentiation

What combination of forces releases the gas and dust of a comet when it approaches the Sun?

Solar wind and radiation pressure

Which statement best describes an extrasolar planet?

A planet discovered orbiting another star outside of our Solar system

The inner planets are composed of ___.

rock and metal

According to solar nebula theory, what is the first step in planetesimal formation?

Condensation

Which best describes the transit method?

observing changes is brightness of the star when the orbiting planet crosses in front of the star

Which best describes the appearance of an asteroid?

irrefular in shape and covered with craters

Which is the correct order of planetary object class during their formation?

planetesimals, protoplanet, and planets

What astronomical object is the most important source for determining the age of our Solar System?

meteorites

What are the small bits of rock and metal that collide with Earth’s atmosphere?

meteors