final for joe astronomy

Which of these gets so bright as to be seen in daylight at times?

A) Venus

B) Mars

C) Saturn

D) Mercury

E) Jupiter

A)

Which planet shows the widest range of surface temperatures between day and night?

A) Venus

B) Mars

C) Uranus

D) Mercury

E) Earth

D)

Venus' rotation on its axis

A) is highly tilted to its orbital plane, causing large seasonal changes.

B) shows it is tidally locked in its orbit around the Sun.

C) is clockwise, unlike most other solar system objects.

D) is the fastest of the terrestrial planets.

E) prevents us from seeing all of its surface features

C)

Mercury's surface most resembles which of these?

A) Mars' deserts

B) the lunar far side

C) the Earth's deserts

D) the lunar mare

E) Venus' polar regions

B)

The atmospheric pressure on Venus

A) causes variations in surface temperature.

B) is much higher than on Earth.

C) is about the same as on Mercury.

D) shows an extreme change with the seasons.

E) is much lower than on Earth.

B)

What is the main constituent of the atmosphere of Venus?

A) carbon dioxide

B) sulfuric acid

C) oxygen

D) hydrogen

E) nitrogen

A)

The main constituent of the Martian atmosphere is

A) helium.

B) hydrogen.

C) methane.

D) carbon dioxide.

E) nitrogen.

D)

Much of the water on Mars

A) lies in shallow pools near the poles.

B) is thought to be in a layer of permafrost just below the surface.

C) is in the form of clouds.

D) is found in deep pools near the equator.

E) is locked in the seasonal ice cap.

B)

The planet which shows us the widest range of surface temperatures between day and night is

A) Mercury.

B) Earth.

C) Venus.

D) our Moon.

E) Mars

A)

The planet ________ has the least variation in temperatures on the surface between day and night

A) Mercury

B) Mars

C) Earth

D) Venus

D)

Of all the planets, the axial tilt and rotation period of ________ is most like our own

A) Venus

B) Earth

C) Mars

D) Mercury

E) our Moon

C)

The spacecraft Cassini went into orbit around

A) Uranus.

B) Jupiter.

C) Neptune.

D) Saturn.

E) Pluto.

D)

In terms of axial tilt, which of the jovian planets shows us the largest inclination?

A) Pluto

B) Neptune

C) Saturn

D) Jupiter

E) Uranus

E)

The reason the jovian planets lost very little of their original atmosphere is due to their

A) ring systems.

B) rapid rotation.

C) many moons.

D) strong magnetic fields.

E) large mass.

E)

Essentially, the Great Red Spot is
A) always located within 10 degrees of Jupiter's north pole.

B) Neptune's largest atmospheric feature.

C) traveling north and south across Jupiter's face.

D) a large cyclonic storm (hurricane).

E) composed primarily of iron oxide.

D)

Alternating zones of rising and sinking gas in Jupiter's atmosphere

A) generate magnetic fields.

B) produced the ring system discovered by Voyager.

C) create light and dark bands.

D) circle the planet from pole to pole.

E) cause Jupiter's magnetic field to ripple

C)

Which planet had the Great Dark Spot in 1989, but had lost it by 1995?

A) Jupiter

B) Neptune

C) Saturn

D) Mars

E) Uranus

B)

In brightness, Jupiter is second only to the planet ________ most of the time

A) Venus

B) Uranus

C) Mars

D) Jupiter

E) Saturn

A)

What is thought to be the cause of Io's volcanoes?

A) energy emitted by Jupiter

B) solar radiation focused by Jupiter's gravity

C) Jupiter's magnetosphere and its charged particles

D) radioactive decay in Io's interior

E) gravitational tidal stresses from both Jupiter and Europa

E)

Which of the Galilean moons is densest and most geologically active?

A) Titan

B) Io

C) Callisto

D) Ganymede

E) Europa

B)

Which are the four Galilean moons of Jupiter?

A) Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto

B) Europa, Titan, Ganymede, and Callisto

C) Io, Ganymede, Callisto, and Titan

D) Io, Titan, Triton, and Charon

E) Europa, Ganymede, Io, and Triton

A)

The surface of Europa is most like the Earth's

A) tundra.

B) South Pole.

C) Arctic Ocean.

D) Himalayan peaks.

E) deserts.

C)

Which of these moons has the densest atmosphere?

A) Callisto

B) Triton

C) Europa

D) Titan

E) Io

D)

Which of these moons are most interesting to exobiologists?

A) Europa and Miranda

B) Triton and Charon

C) Io and Titan

D) Titan and Triton

E) Europa and Enceladus

E)

The Galilean moon of most interest to exobiologists is

A) Io.

B) Ganymede.

C) Europa.

D) Amalthea.

E) Callisto.

C)

At Titan, the lakes are made mostly of liquid

A) carbon dioxide.

B) methane.

C) metallic hydrogen.

D) nitrogen.

E) water.

B)

The Huygens probe of the ESA made a successful landing on

A) Europa.

B) Titan.

C) Mars.

D) Triton.

E) Saturn.

B)

What statistic below has changed the most in the last decade?

A) the compositions of moons of Uranus

B) the number of known Jovian moons

C) the rotational period of the Jovian moons

D) the masses of the Galilean moons

E) the densities of the larger moons

B)

Pluto was discovered in

A) ancient times.

B) 1789.

C) 1859.

D) 1930.

E) 1992.

D)

What is so unusual about Pluto's orbit?

A) It lies exactly on the ecliptic.

B) Its orbital period is exactly twice that of Neptune's.

C) It has the lowest eccentricity of any planet's orbit.

D) It is more inclined to the ecliptic than any of the eight planets.

E) It has an unexpectedly short orbital period.

D)

The temperature of the photosphere is about

A) 3,200 K.

B) 5,800 K.

C) 11,000 K.

D) one million K.

E) ten million K.

B)

What two energy transport mechanisms, in order from outside the core to the surface, are found in the Sun?

A) radiation; conduction

B) radiation; convection

C) conduction; convection

D) conduction; radiation

E) convection; conduction

B)

From inside out, which is in the correct order for the structure of the Sun?

A) core, photosphere, radiative zone, corona

B) core, radiative zone, convective zone, chromosphere

C) core, convective zone, radiative zone

D) core, chromosphere, photosphere

E) core, convective zone, radiative zone, granulation

B)

The pattern of hot convective cells rising in the photosphere is called

A) prominences.

B) sunspots.

C) granulation.

D) aurora.

E) flares.

C)

How long does the sunspot cycle last, on average?

A) about 11 years

B) between 25 and 35 days

C) about 76 years

D) 365.25 days

E) about seven years

A)

Sunspots are dark splotches on the Sun. Which statement is true?

A) They are extremely cold objects, as cold as Pluto.

B) They are extremely hot, but cooler than the surrounding areas of the Sun.

C) They are associated with areas of very low magnetic fields.

D) They are hotter than the surrounding areas of the Sun.

E) They are solid bodies floating on the surface of the Sun.

B)

The critical temperature to initiate the proton-proton cycle in the cores of stars is

A) 3,000 K.

B) 5,800 K.

C) 2,300,000 K.

D) 10 million K.

E) 100 million K.

D)

In the proton-proton cycle, the helium atom and neutrino have less mass than the original hydrogen. What happens to the "lost" mass?

A) It is recycled back into hydrogen.

B) It is converted to energy.

C) It is transformed into electrons.

D) It is ejected into space.

E) Conservation of mass dictates no mass can be lost.

B)

The primary source of the Sun's energy is

A) oxidation of carbon in the core.

B) the strong force fusing hydrogen into helium.

C) the weak force creating energy from uranium decay.

D) gravitational collapse of the helium towards the core.

E) dark energy.

B)

The high temperature of the corona is directly responsible for

A) the solar wind.

B) sunspots.

C) flares.

D) aurora.

E) prominences

A)

While the photosphere produces chiefly visible light, most coronal energy is in the form of

A) infrared radiation.

B) radio waves.

C) gamma rays.

D) X-rays.

E) ultraviolet light.

D)

A loop or sheet of gas hanging above an active region of the Sun is a(n) ________, often striking along the limb during total eclipses.

A) granule

B) sunspot

C) aurora

D) flare

E) prominence

E)

The strongest magnetic fields in the photosphere lie near

A) auroras.

B) sunspots.

C) flares.

D) granules.

E) prominences

B)

A solar ________ is a sudden, violent disruption around sunspots, releasing a tremendous amount of energy in almost all wavelengths.

A) granule

B) sunspot

C) aurora

D) prominence

E) flare

E)

T or F

Mars has larger volcanoes than Earth's Hawaii.

T

T or F

There is new evidence that water has flowed as mud on Mars in recent times

T

T or F

Running water played a major role in shaping Mars in ancient times

T

T or F

All nine planets in the solar system have been visited by spacecraft.

F

T or F

Differential rotation is when a planet's equatorial and polar regions rotate at different rates.

T

T or F

All four jovian planets spin faster than any of the terrestrials.

T

The synodic month lasts

29.5 days

T or F

The Moon’s surface gravity is only half the Earth’s

False

T or F

At the solstices, the Sun’s declination will be 23.5 degrees from the equator.

True

A solar eclipse can only happen during a

new moon

The time for a the Moon to orbit the Earth, relative to the star is

23 Hours and 56 minutes

When the Moon is directly opposite the Sun in the sky, its phase is

full Moon

T or F

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

True

If the Moon rises at sunset, then its phase must be

full Moon

T or F

There is no evidence for plate tectonics on the Moon today.

True

T or F

In the past, most of the landmass on Earth was concentrated in a single, large continent.

True

T or F

In the Doppler effect, a redshift of spectral lines shows us the source is receding from us.

True

T or F

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

True

T or F

A blue star has a higher surface temperature than a red star

True

Which of these is the same for all forms of electromagnetic (E-M) radiation in a vacuum?

Wavelength, amplitude, photon energy, frequency, or speed

speed

What are constellations?

groups of stars making an apparent pattern in the celestial sphere

What is the name of the temperature scale that places zero at the point where all atomic and molecular motion ceases?

Kelvin

T or F

According to Kepler’s third law, if you know the planet’s orbital period, you can find its average distance from the Sun.

True

T or F

Due to their great masses, all four Jovian worlds are much denser than the Earth.

False

T or F

All the terrestrial planets lie inside the asteroid belt

True

The most energetic photons are…

gamma rays

What was NOT seen telescopically by Galileo?

stellar parallax

Kepler’s first law worked, where Copernicus’ original heliocentric model failed because Kepler described the orbits as…

elliptical, not circular

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

perihelion

The most abundant gas in the Earth’s atmosphere is…

nitrogen

The mean distance between the Earth and Sun is called

the astronomical unit

The force of gravity varies with the

the product of the two masses and the inverse square of the distance separating the two bodies

If the distance between two asteroids is doubled, the gravitational force they exert on each other will…

be one-fourth as great

T or F

The Moon and the crustal rocks of Earth are similar in density.

True

T or F

The lunar mare are younger than any of the craters that sit in them.

False

T or F

The three most abundant gases in our atmosphere are nitrogen, oxygen, and argon.

True

What is true of the Moon’s orbital and rotational periods?

They are equal

The critical part of the atmosphere for protecting life on the ground from excessive ultraviolet radiation is the

ozone layer

The average rate of erosion on the Moon is far less than on Earth because

the Moon lacks wind, water, and an atmosphere

The lunar mare are found

mainly on the near side.

The presence of a magnetic field is a good indication that

the Earth has a liquid metal outer core, spinning rapidly as it rotates.

Earth’s magnetic field…

prevents charged particles in the solar wind from reaching the surface

Which of these theories seems to best explain the Moon’s origin?

Fission theory, capture theory, fusion theory, coformation theory, or impact theory

Impact theory

____ has the largest gravitational pull on Earth

The Sun

The oldest rocks found on the Earth’s surface date back about ___ billion years.

four

T or F

The lunar highlands appear brighter than the mare, because these highlands are due to meteor impact that completely avoided the mare.

False

T or F

One source of the energy for volcanism and plate tectonics is radioactivity in the Earth’s interior.

True

T or F

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

False

What is true of the lunar highlands?

They are the oldest part of the lunar surface.

The fact that the Earth has moved along its orbit in the time it took to rotate once is the reason for

the difference between solar and sidereal time

Which of the following layers of the Earth is unique among the terrestrial planets?

hydrosphere

The atmosphere gases primarily responsible for our greenhouse effect are

water vapor and carbon dioxide

At what phase would you expect to find extremely high and low tides?

both new and full moons

Almost all of our atmospheric gases lie in the…

troposphere

Which of these gases is least abundant in our atmosphere?

hydrogen

The major presence of water detected on the Moon is in

the floors of deep craters in the polar regions, as ice deposits that never thaw