Astronomy Final Study

19.3

How many kilometers in 12 miles? Note: 1.6km=1mi and 1000m=1km

1.496 × 10⁸ km.

The average distance from Earth to the Sun, 149,600,000 km, can be written in scientific notation as

1.427 × 10⁹ km.

The mean distance of Saturn from the Sun, 1,427,000,000 km, can be written in scientific notation as

2198

How many feet in 670 meters? Note: 5280ft=1mi and 3.3ft=1m 

1.1 × 10^–10 m.

The diameter of the hydrogen atom, 0.000 000 000 11 m, can be written in scientific notation as

Full

You see the Moon rising, just as the Sun is setting. What phase is it in?

in the spiral arms

Where is our solar system located in our galaxy?

True

From full moon to third quarter moon takes about a week.

tilt

Our seasons are a consequence of the Earth's 23.5 degree ________.

change their relative positions over time.

The Sun, Moon, and stars

the Moon rotates once each revolution.

We always see the same side of the Moon because

Earth’s; Moon

A lunar eclipse occurs when the ________ shadow falls on the ________.

all of these

The Sun is part of

88, designating a specific region of the sky for a constellation.

Today astronomers define the ___ constellations by:

True

At the equinoxes, the declination of the Sun must be zero degrees.

Distance

A light-year is a measure of

if two hypotheses fit the facts equally well, we should choose the simpler one.

Occam’s razor states that

23 hours 56 minutes.

You note that a particular star is directly overhead. It will be directly overhead again in

12.45 minutes

Earth is 1 astronomical unit from the Sun. Light covers that distance in 8.3 minutes. Mars is 1.5 astronomical units from the Sun. How long does it take for light to get to Mars from the Sun?

full moon

When the Earth is between the Moon and Sun, the Moon is in the __________ phase.

the Sun is directly overhead twice per year.

In the Tropics,

the science we know now is more correct than it was in the past.

The fact that scientific revolutions take place means that

True

The vernal equinox marks the beginning of spring in the northern hemisphere.

declination

Like latitude on Earth, ________ in the sky is measured in degrees north and south of the equator.

both the days are longer in summer and the rays of light strike the ground more directly in summer.

The tilt of Earth’s axis causes the seasons because

Ptolemy

The model of ________ used circular deferents and epicycles in a geocentric universe to explain planetary motions.

orbital period

The time for a planet to revolve around the Sun is its ________.

Kepler

The three laws of planetary motion by ________ allowed us to predict planetary motion.

Tycho Brahe

Kepler's theories were based on the very accurate observations made by ________.

gravity

According to Newton's laws, the planets orbit the Sun due to ________.

a center of mass

The Earth and Sun orbit around _________ that they both share.

proportional to their masses and Inversely proportional to the distance squared

According to Newton's Law of Universal Gravity the attraction between particles is:

perihelion

When a planet's orbit takes it closest to the Sun, it's called

equinox

The sun’s rays are vertical on the equator during a(n) _________.

Kepler’s second law says the planet must move fastest when it is closest, not when it is farthest away.

Your astronomer friend tells you that a new planet has been found. Its average speed in its orbit is 40 kilometers per second (km/s). When it is closest to its star, it moves at 30 km/s, and when it is farthest from its star, it moves at 50 km/s. The friend is wrong because:

Ptolemy

__________ AD 140 developed the geocentric model and used epicycles to explain planetary motion.

the Northern Hemisphere is tilted toward the Sun.

During the summer solstice,

False

Copernicus believed the Earth was the center of all celestial motion.

March

The vernal equinox occurs in:

True

A planet (or comet) will speed up as it approaches the Sun.

False

In the scientific method, it is not necessary to test your theory.

geocentric

Ptolemy's model was ________, with the Earth fixed in the center of the universe.

Newton's First Law

The Law that states objects that are at rest will stay at rest until a force is applied is called:

quarter

When 50% of the moon is illuminated we say it is in the ___________ moon phase.

it is in conflict with the results of just one reliable and repeatable observation.

According to the scientific method, a hypothesis that is proposed to explain a particular physical phenomenon is considered to be wrong if

Cassegrain Telescope

The Hubble Space Telescopes is an example of a ______________ design.

charge-coupled devices

Older telescope use photographic plates but modern telescopes use ________________.

seeing

When we see stars twinkle, it is actually an effect of Earth's atmosphere called ____________.

infrared

The Webb Space Telescope and Spitzer Telescopes are both examples of a ___________ telescope.

Lasers measure tiny changes in distances as gravitational waves pass.

How have astrophysicists detected gravitational waves?

Cassegrain focus.

The telescope design that has a small secondary mirror that bounces light through a hole in the primary mirror, and the eyepiece is at the end is called:

True

Optical telescopes are usually used only at night, but radio telescopes can be used day or night.

a tiny particle that interacts very weakly with matter, with extremely low mass and no charge.

The neutrino is

False

Waves cannot transmit energy without physically moving some type of material.

True

The shorter a wave's wavelength, the greater its energy.

False

Florida would be a good choice for a ground-based optical telescope.

avoid atmospheric effects.

Astronomers put telescopes in space to

True

A telescope design that uses a lens and no mirrors is a refractor.

False

Radio telescopes are normally placed into orbit around Earth.

adaptive optics, where the tilt and shape of mirrors in the telescope are changed many times per second to compensate for atmospheric turbulence.

One technique that astronomers are now using to increase the amount of detail that can be recorded with telescopes is

gamma rays do not penetrate the atmosphere.

Gamma-ray telescopes are placed in space because

atmospheric seeing.

The angular resolution of a ground-based telescope is usually determined by

The X-rays must be reflected at grazing incidence to the mirror surface; otherwise they will simply pass straight through the mirror.

What technique is necessary to produce a telescope for focusing X-rays from astronomical sources?

True

Radio waves, visible light, and X-rays are all types of electromagnetic radiation.

False

Chromatic aberration affects reflector telescopes.

is above Earth’s absorbing and distorting atmosphere and can measure radiation over a very wide wavelength range.

Astronomy from space vehicles is particularly useful because the telescope

both a wave and a particle.

Light behaves as

high-energy particles traveling at nearly the speed of light.

Cosmic rays are

resolution

The ability of a telescope to separate two closely spaced stars is called ________.

100

The range of temperatures in the Kelvin (absolute) scale between the freezing point and boiling point of water is

Einstein's Theory

Placing a ball in the middle of a table with a soft top and noticing that a heavier ball will cause more sagging that a lighter ball is an illustration of:

visible

The Sun's blackbody curve peaks in the ________ portion of the spectrum.

radio

Which of the regions of the electromagnetic spectrum has the lowest-energy?

each different element has a characteristic line spectrum.

Spectral lines are of particular importance in astronomy because

Absorption lines

_______________ are the reverse of the emission lines of different elements and compounds and help astronomers identify what elements are in a star.

only when the light source has a radial velocity (i.e., motion toward or away from the observer).

The observed change in the wavelength of light due to the Doppler effect occurs

The scale has a physically meaningful absolute zero of temperature.

What is the main reason that astronomers (and other scientists) almost always use the Kelvin (absolute) temperature scale rather than the Celsius or Fahrenheit scales?

curve and warp spacetime more.

The Theory of General Relativity states that all matter (anything with mass) can curve or warp the space around it but larger objects

it slows down.

When light enters a medium from space,

moving away from each other.

Most galaxies are red-shifted which means they are:

higher, faster

The motion of atoms is controlled by temperature.  The ______ the temperature, the _______ the atoms move.

273 K.

On the absolute Kelvin temperature scale, the temperature of freezing water is about

a medium.

A light wave does not require

100°C

Which one of these temperatures is hottest?

moving with respect to the observer.

The Doppler effect is the change in the wavelength of light caused by the source

The speed in the medium is always slower than the speed in a vacuum.

How does the speed of light in a medium compare to the speed of light in a vacuum?

the resolution is dramatically increased.

The advantage of an interferometer is that

Studying compositions of comets

Which is NOT an application for the Doppler Effect?

High density hot gas will absorb wavelengths of light from a light source.

Which is NOT part of Kirchoff’s laws?

gravitational waves.

The Theory of Relativity has been confirmed by studies of

at very high energies.

An extremely hot object emits most of its light

mass

Which of the following is not a property of waves?

its brightness.

The amplitude of a light wave is related to

Oort cloud

The region at the farthest limits of the solar system in which a large number of objects composed of rock and ice circle the Sun in a roughly spherical region is called the

Nebula is basically a large cloud filled with the brim of dust and gas, about a light year wide. It seems boring however, it can form solar systems in a theory called Nebular Contraction Theory where due to whatever may happpen (we don't entirely know how this process works.)  When there's more contraction, the more it will spin, and the more it will shrink, creating solar systems. Like, oh my god, the one we're in now! One big piece of evidence is this is the beta pictoris.

What is a nebula? Why is this definition not as boring as it seems?

Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.

The correct sequence of planets in our solar system from the Sun outward is

faster

When a nebula contracts, just like a figure skater, it spins

KBO with a circular orbit

What is a Cubewano?

False

The Oort Cloud lies closer to the Sun than the Kuiper Belt.

Kupier Belt Object

Pluto is no longer considered a planet but rather a ______________.