Astronomy 101 Exam Practice Tests
Course Introduction
Astronomy 101 offers a comprehensive introduction to the fundamental concepts of astronomy, exploring the structure and scale of the universe, the life cycles of stars, and the principles of celestial motion. The course examines the history and methods of astronomical observation, including the use of telescopes and the interpretation of light from distant objects. Students will study the solar system, galaxies, black holes, and the origins of the universe, gaining an appreciation for the scientific processes that help us understand our place in the cosmos. No prior experience with physics or mathematics is required, making this an accessible entry point for all students interested in the wonders of space.
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Astronomy Preliminary Edition by Adam Frank
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Chapter 1: Getting Started: Science, astronomy, and Being Human
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Q1) Arrange the following objects in order of increasing size:
A) atom, dust, single-celled organism, subatomic particle.
B) subatomic particle, dust, atom, single-celled organism.
C) atom, subatomic particle, single-celled organism, dust.
D) subatomic particle, atom, dust, single-celled organism.
Answer: D
Q2) On scales of about one-billionth of a meter,what is the fundamental building block of matter?
Answer: The atom.
Q3) Suppose a galaxy contains 10 billion stars.During a collision with another galaxy,400 million of those stars are stripped away.How many stars remain inside the first galaxy? Express your answer in standard scientific notation.
Answer: 9.6 × 10 stars.
Q4) Which of the following was a way in which prehistoric cultures used astronomy?
A) as a mathematical calculating machine
B) for navigation
C) for measuring distances
D) as hunting guides
Answer: B
Page 3
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Chapter 2: A Universe Made, a Universe Discovered
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Q1) An observer on the dwarf planet Pluto sees the Sun pass through a different set of constellations than an observer on Earth over the course of one orbit.Which of the following best explains this?
A) Pluto is farther from the Sun.
B) Pluto has a longer orbital period than Earth.
C) Pluto's orbit is tilted with respect to Earth's orbit.
D) Pluto has a longer rotation period than Earth.
Answer: C
Q2) At what time of day might the Moon rise when it is in the waning crescent phase?
A) midnight
B) 3 A.M.
C) noon
D) 3 P.M.
Answer: B
Q3) You observe a bright object one night near the North Star at midnight.It does not twinkle.Can this object be a planet? Why or why not?
Answer: No.The North Star is near the north celestial pole,far from the ecliptic.All the planets appear on or near the ecliptic.
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Chapter 3: A Universe of Universal Laws
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Q1) Consider an object on a circular orbit around the Sun.Which of the following quantities remains unchanged throughout the orbit?
A) acceleration
B) speed
C) velocity
D) position
Answer: B
Q2) Planets in the solar system follow:
A) circular orbits with the Sun displaced from the center.
B) circular orbits with the Sun at the center.
C) elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus.
D) elliptical orbits with the Sun at the center.
Answer: C
Q3) The orbital periods of planets ________ with their average distance from the Sun.
A) decrease
B) remain constant
C) increase
D) vary irregularly
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: A Universe of Universal Laws
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Q1) A particular water wave has an amplitude of 2 m and a wavelength of 3 m.With this wave,the time between successive crests hit shore is 2 seconds.What is the speed of the wave?
Q2) Place the following varieties of light in order,from lowest to highest frequency: infrared,ultraviolet,microwave,visible,gamma rays.
A) infrared, gamma ray, ultraviolet, visible, microwave
B) microwave, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, gamma ray
C) gamma ray, ultraviolet, infrared, visible, microwave
D) infrared, visible, microwave, ultraviolet, gamma ray
Q3) An astronomer using a refracting telescope sees an image of two gas clouds with identical shapes but displaced slightly from each other.One is composed of blue light and the other red light.The most likely explanation is:
A) the Doppler effect.
B) chromatic aberration.
C) dust absorption.
D) interstellar scattering.
Q4) What are the constituents of an atom,and how are they arranged according to the Bohr model?
Q5) What does thermal energy represent?
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Chapter 5: The Architecture and Birth of Planetary Systems
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Q1) The density of a terrestrial planet is an imperfect indicator of its location in the Solar System because:
A) it is affected by the planet's rotation.
B) the trend in mass with orbital radius is stronger.
C) it is affected by the planet's self-gravity.
D) it depends on composition.
Q2) The asteroid belt:
A) is the debris field of a destroyed planet.
B) consists of roughly spherical bodies made of silicon and iron.
C) was kept from forming a planet by the gravitational disturbance of Jupiter.
D) contains as much mass as Saturn.
Q3) Venus is unusual within the Solar System because it:
A) rotates in the opposite sense from its orbit around the Sun.
B) is so massive.
C) has no evidence for active plate tectonics.
D) has a highly inclined orbit.
Q4) Two comets approach the Sun with the same perihelion distance.Comet A's orbit has a higher eccentricity and is more inclined relative to the ecliptic than comet B's orbit.Which comet is more likely to come from the Oort Cloud?
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Chapter 6: Home Base: Earth and Moon
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Q1) A planet is most likely to lose its atmosphere if it:
A) accretes more mass.
B) becomes geologically active.
C) heats up.
D) forms heavy molecules within its atmosphere.
Q2) Aurorae are caused by:
A) the breakdown of the ozone layer.
B) scattered sunlight.
C) charged particles trapped by Earth's magnetic field.
D) atmospheric turbulence.
Q3) Maria are:
A) captured moons of the gas giant planets.
B) massive volcanoes on Mars.
C) asteroids that trail in Jupiter's orbit.
D) dark areas on the lunar surface with relatively few craters.
Q4) The Hawaiian Islands provide evidence for:
A) mantle plumes.
B) sea-floor spreading.
C) mantle convection.
D) all of the above.
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Chapter 7: Sibling Worlds: Mercury, Venus, and Mars
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Q1) An exoplanet is in a highly eccentric orbit with a semimajor axis of 0.4 AU.We expect it to have undergone:
A) tidal locking.
B) tidal synchronization.
C) neap tides.
D) spring tides.
Q2) A planet's equilibrium surface temperature does NOT depend upon which of the following factors?
A) the planet's radius
B) the Sun's temperature
C) the planet's albedo
D) the planet's distance from the Sun
Q3) Name two ways in which Phobos and Deimos differ from Earth's Moon.
Q4) How does the massive Olympus Mons volcano on Mars show that Mars does not undergo plate tectonics?
Q5) Why did Mars become significantly less habitable about 500 million years after its formation?
Q6) What are the internal layers of Venus,from innermost to the surface? What is the primary composition of each one?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Gas, ice, and Stone: the Outer Planets
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Q1) The key physical process determining the structures of the giant planets is:
A) fusion.
B) magnetism.
C) pressure.
D) sunlight.
Q2) Saturn's atmosphere contains cloud layers composed of all of the following molecules EXCEPT:
A) ammonia.
B) methane.
C) ozone.
D) water.
Q3) A moon in the outer Solar System with low albedo is likely:
A) irregular.
B) geologically dead.
C) to have been resurfaced recently.
D) tidally locked.
Q4) What is the internal structure of the giant planets?
Q5) How was the mass of Neptune predicted before it was observed?
Q6) What is the strongest evidence for liquid water on Callisto?
Q7) Why do Uranus's moons have low densities?
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Chapter 9: Life and the Search for Habitable Worlds
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Q1) Why is liquid water considered essential for life to form?
A) Water is a highly effective solvent in biochemical reactions.
B) Most of Earth's surface is covered in water.
C) Liquid water defines the habitability zone.
D) Water is the key component of organic molecules.
Q2) Which of the following provides a potential solution to Fermi's paradox?
A) It is safer for advanced civilizations to hide evidence of their existence.
B) There is insufficient time for advanced civilizations to travel across the Milky Way.
C) The radiation environment of the Milky Way prevents interstellar travel.
D) Dust blocks much of the Milky Way from view.
Q3) Which of the following is part of the science of astrobiology?
A) telescopic studies of exoplanets
B) biochemical experiments on molecular self-replication
C) searches for extraterrestrial civilizations
D) all of the above
Q4) What defines the habitability zone around a star?
Q5) According to our present astronomical understanding,what astronomical environment is essential for life to begin and develop under evolution?
Q6) What is the most common method by which microorganisms acquire their genes?
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Chapter 10: The Sun As a Star
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Q1) Suppose a pair of identical atomic nuclei are manipulated so that the first is given an extra neutron and the second is given an extra proton.Contrast the original and resulting nuclei in terms of mass,chemical properties,and electric charge.
Q2) If scientists observe a coronal mass ejection,the Sun likely has:
A) fewer sunspots than usual.
B) just experienced a polarity reversal.
C) no magnetic field lines.
D) experienced recent reconnection events.
Q3) In which of the following ways are oxygen-16 and oxygen-17 the same?
A) number of protons
B) mass
C) number of neutrons
D) binding energy
Q4) Through fusion,a star converts four hydrogen nuclei (each with a mass of 1.6726 × 10 ² kg)to one heluim-4 nucleus (with a mass of 6.6465 × 10 ² kg). How much energy,in joules,is released in each such reaction?
Q5) What is the heliosphere?
Q6) What are the two properties that define a star?
Q7) What provides the energy for solar flares?
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Chapter 11: Measuring the Stars: the Main Sequence and Its Meaning
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Q1) What was Henrietta Leavitt's most important contribution to astronomy?
A) the spectral typing of stars
B) the relationship of stellar spectral type to temperature
C) the period-luminosity relation of Cepheid variables
D) the discovery of interstellar reddening
Q2) Which of the following is necessary to construct a modern model of a star?
A) equations of hydrostatic equilibrium
B) computers
C) equations of energy transport
D) all of the above
Q3) What information do you need to calculate the apparent magnitude of a star? What about the absolute magnitude?
Q4) What property of a star can best be used to determine its temperature?
A) luminosity
B) color
C) brightness
D) velocity
Q5) What property of Cepheid variable stars makes them useful for distance measures?
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Q6) Draw an HR diagram and sketch the location of the main sequence,red giant branch,and white dwarfs.
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Chapter 12: Nursery of the Stars: the Interstellar Medium and Star Formation
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Q1) Name two sources for the energy radiated by brown dwarfs.
Q2) What is a proplyd?
A) the smallest form of molecular cloud
B) a bright knot in a protostellar jet
C) the visible result of colliding winds
D) none of the above
Q3) Why is there some variation in the birth times of stars in open clusters?
Q4) Massive stars on the main sequence generate energy through the:
A) proton-proton chain.
B) CNO cycle.
C) triple alpha reaction.
D) onion model.
Q5) How do the density and central temperature change as it approaches the main sequence?
Q6) How do dust particles affect the formation of interstellar molecules?
A) Dust particles collide and break into smaller molecules.
B) Dust particles are the building blocks of molecules.
C) Dust particles trap other atoms, which can form molecules.
D) Radiation from dust particles catalyzes dust formation.
Q7) Why is carbon important to the energy-generation process in a massive star? Page 15
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Chapter 13: To the Graveyard of Stars: the End Points of
Stellar Evolution
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Q1) The Sun will undergo fusion in its core during which of the following evolutionary phases?
A) main sequence and horizontal branch
B) main sequence and red giant
C) main sequence only
D) main sequence, red giant, horizontal branch, and asymptotic giant branch
Q2) An astronomer detects a Type Ia supernova in a distant galaxy.In order to measure the distance to the galaxy using the supernova,what must the astronomer measure?
Q3) Which of the following fusion reactions does NOT occur during a massive star's lifetime?
A) oxygen fusing into iron
B) oxygen fusing into silicon
C) carbon fusing into neon
D) the triple alpha reaction
Q4) Why does a red giant grow in radius?
A) The star's core expands, pushing out its envelope as well.
B) The star's envelope heats up.
C) The opacity in the outer layer increases.
D) The star's gravity decreases because of mass loss during fusion.
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Chapter 14: Down the Rabbit Hole: Relativity and Black Holes
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Q1) Light waves emitted from a laser at rest will travel at a speed c relative to:
A) the Sun.
B) a laboratory in Paris.
C) the cosmic microwave background.
D) all of the above.
Q2) Which of the following is essential for galactic jets?
A) a starburst
B) strong magnetic fields
C) a molecular cloud
D) an elliptical galaxy
Q3) What produces the X-rays in an X-ray binary?
Q4) Why is quantum mechanics necessary for resolving the puzzle of a black hole's singularity?
A) It implies that space is granular on the smallest scales.
B) It is necessary for very massive systems.
C) It is necessary to explain the gravitational redshift.
D) It is a necessary component of stellar collapse.
Q5) Does gravitational lensing occur in Newton's formulation of gravity? Why or why not?
Q6) What kind of objects exhibit the strongest frame-dragging effects?
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Chapter
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Q1) Which component contains most of the mass in the Milky Way?
A) stars in the disk
B) stars in the bulge and halo
C) dark matter
D) gas and dust
Q2) Within the Milky Way,which of the following astronomical objects are preferentially found inside spiral arms?
A) molecular clouds
B) massive stars
C) atomic gas
D) all of the above
Q3) How do stars in the disk of the Milky Way move?
A) on generally circular orbits in the same direction
B) on generally circular orbits, in either direction
C) on random orbits
D) on oscillatory orbits, in either direction
Q4) In 1906,Jacobus Kapteyn measured the size of the Milky Way.Why were his estimates inaccurate?
Q5) What are the three major components of the Milky Way galaxy?
Q6) Why are O and B stars preferentially found within spiral arms?
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Chapter 16: A Universe of Galaxies
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Q1) Which of the following is necessary to measure the distance to a galaxy with Hubble's law?
A) the Doppler effect formula
B) resolving a Cepheid variable in the galaxy
C) the size of the solar system
D) the rotation velocity of the galaxy
Q2) As a result of collisions,galaxies are most likely to evolve from:
A) ellipticals to spirals.
B) spirals to ellipticals.
C) ellipticals to irregulars.
D) irregulars to ellipticals.
Q3) What was the subject of the "Great Debate" in astronomy?
A) the truth of the geocentric and heliocentric theories
B) the age of the Universe
C) the nature of spiral nebulae
D) the truth of the Big Bang model
Q4) A galaxy is flanked by a pair of regions of bright radio emission,each 300 kpc across.What is the most likely power source of this emission?
Q5) How can the velocity dispersion and radius of an elliptical galaxy determine its mass?
Page 20
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Chapter 17: The Cosmic Web: the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe
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Q1) Why did the first generation of stars to form in the Universe differ from those in the Milky Way?
Q2) Why are quasars rare today?
A) The Universe's expansion has spread out the quasars.
B) The black holes are too massive to be classified as quasars.
C) There is so much dust today that it obscures quasar emission.
D) Little gas is left to accrete onto supermassive black holes.
Q3) How would the history of structure formation in our Universe have been different if dark matter were not cold,but moved at a moderately fast velocity?
Q4) What is the minimum scale on which the Universe becomes homogeneous?
A) 1 Mpc
B) 10 Mpc
C) 100 Mpc
D) The Universe is not homogeneous on any scale.
Q5) Why are neutrinos NOT a good candidate for cold dark matter?
A) They move too fast.
B) They interact with matter too strongly.
C) They are formed in normal nuclear reactions.
D) They oscillate between different types.
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Chapter 18: Cosmology
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Q1) The standard model of particle physics:
A) explains the masses of each subatomic particle.
B) classifies all subatomic particles into quarks and leptons.
C) predicts the forces that affect each subatomic particle.
D) all of the above.
Q2) According to our present understanding,in the distant future the Universe will:
A) expand at an accelerating rate.
B) expand at a decelerating rate.
C) expand and then recollapse.
D) recollapse.
Q3) Why is baryogenesis NOT a key observational pillar of the classic Big Bang model?
A) Baryogenesis occurred too early to be directly observable.
B) Baryogenesis would have occurred in the same way in a steady-state universe.
C) Baryogenesis occurs too rapidly to depend upon the expansion of the Universe.
D) Cosmologists do not fully understand baryogenesis.
Q4) A particular region in space has a galaxy cluster today.How would the density and temperature of that same region have compared to an average region of the Universe at the time of cosmological recombination?
Q5) What is goal of cosmology?
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