Astronomy for Non-Science Majors Exam
Questions
Course Introduction
Astronomy for Non-Science Majors is designed to introduce students to the fundamental concepts of astronomy without requiring a strong background in mathematics or physics. The course explores the structure and evolution of the universe, including stars, planets, galaxies, and cosmology, while emphasizing observational techniques and the historical development of astronomical ideas. Students will examine how scientific discoveries have shaped our understanding of the cosmos and will engage with current topics such as exoplanets, black holes, and the search for extraterrestrial life. By fostering scientific literacy and curiosity, this course aims to provide a broad appreciation for the methods and wonders of modern astronomy.
Recommended Textbook
Astronomy Today 8th Edition by Eric Chaisson
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Chapter 1: Charting the Heavens: The Foundations of Astronomy
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Sample Questions
Q1) A light-year is a measurement of time.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) On April 8,2005,observers off New Zealand observe an annular eclipse at sunrise,and those in Columbia see an annular eclipse at sunset.Yet in the middle of the path,off the Galapagos Islands,cruise ships are advertising that they will show their guests a total solar eclipse.How can this be possible?
Answer: The Earth's radius is about 6,000 km (4,000 miles),so this means that at noon,when the Sun is highest overhead,the cruise ship passengers will be just close enough to the Moon to see it big enough to cover the Sun,if only for a few seconds.
Q3) What are some observable consequences of the Earth's revolution around the Sun in relation to the zodiacal constellations?
Answer: Month by month,our revolution causes the Sun to appear to move eastward by about a degree per day,or through a new sign of the zodiac every month.
Q4) The four extra minutes in the solar day are due to our ________ around the Sun. Answer: revolution
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Chapter 2: The Copernican Revolution: The Birth of Modern Science
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most famous prehistoric astronomical observatory is:
A) the Sphinx.
B) Stonehenge.
C) Big Horn stone circle.
D) Carcacol.
E) Mount Rushmore.
Answer: B
Q2) Combining Newton's and Kepler's laws,we can weigh the Sun,provided we know:
A) its density as found by spectroscopy.
B) its temperature as found by Wien's Law.
C) the size of the A.U. and exact length of the year.
D) the Earth's mass and circumference.
E) the exact timings of the transits of Venus and its diameter.
Answer: C
Q3) According to Newton's second law,when the same force acts on two bodies,the body with the larger mass will have the ________ acceleration.
Answer: smaller
Q4) According to Newton,the gravity of the ________ is needed to explain planetary orbits.
Answer: Sun
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Chapter 3: Radiation: Information from the Cosmos
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Sample Questions
Q1) Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength of 700 nm would be:
A) X-rays.
B) red light.
C) violet light.
D) ultraviolet light.
E) microwaves.
Answer: B
Q2) Which type of radiation can be observed well from Earth's surface?
A) gamma ray
B) X-ray
C) ultraviolet
D) visible
E) infrared
Answer: D
Q3) What is white light? Why do we perceive different colors with a prism?
Answer: White light is composed of all the colors blended together uniformly.The colors are all present,as is shown when a prism spreads them back apart; each color corresponds to a different wavelength of EM radiation.
Q4) Describe the relationship between frequency and wavelength.
Answer: The higher the frequency,the shorter the wavelength.
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Spectroscopy: The Inner Workings of Atoms
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Sample Questions
Q1) Kirchhoff was the first to describe qualitatively the types of spectra we observe from luminous objects.Describe the three types and their sources.
Q2) Spectroscopy of a star can reveal its temperature,composition,and line-of-sight motion.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Describe how Einstein used the photoelectric effect to support the particle theory of light and photons.
Q4) The energy required to ionize a hydrogen atom whose electron is in the ground state (energy level 1)is:
A) 10.2 eV.
B) 12.1 eV.
C) 12.75 eV.
D) 13.1 eV.
E) 13.6 eV.
Q5) Explain how the Zeeman effect allows us to study stellar magnetic fields.
Q6) Explain what types of information can be obtained from a spectral line.
Q7) Why are molecular lines usually found in infrared and radio regions,not as visible lines?
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Telescopes: The Tools of Astronomy
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is "seeing"?
A) a measure of the quality of the telescope's optics
B) a measure of the transparency of the scope's objective lens
C) a measurement of the sharpness of vision of the astronomer's eyes
D) a measurement of the image quality due to air stability
E) a measurement of clarity and absence of clouds
Q2) Why doesn't the Hubble Space Telescope need adaptive optics?
Q3) The convex secondary mirror in this design focuses light down through a hole cut in the concave primary mirror.
A) refractor
B) prime focus reflector
C) Newtonian reflector
D) Cassegrain reflector
E) interferometer
Q4) What type of telescope is the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) refractor
B) prime focus
C) Newtonian
D) Cassegrain
E) Nasmyth/Coude
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Chapter 6: The Solar System: Comparative Planetology and Formation Models
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Sample Questions
Q1) At what point does the accretion process turn a clump of debris into a planetesimal?
Q2) Explain the stage in which the solar system formed pretty much in a plane.
Q3) All jovian planets have rings around their equators and at least eight moons.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In the currently accepted theory for the formation of the solar system,the planets and other minor bodies and the ________ formed at about the same time.
Q5) The jovian planets:
A) all lie less than 5 AU from the Sun.
B) all have rings around their equators.
C) all spin slower than the Earth.
D) have satellite systems with less than 4 moons.
E) are all much more dense than any of the terrestrials planets.
Q6) The moons of the jovian planets formed by which two processes?
A) accretion and collisions
B) capture and collisions
C) collisions and differentiation
D) accretion and capture
E) differentiation and capture
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Chapter 7: Earth: Our Home in Space
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe several features on the Earth's crust explained by plate tectonics.
Q2) What is the process that physically transfers heat from a lower (hotter)to a higher (cooler)level?
A) radiation
B) translation
C) convection
D) reflection
E) conduction
Q3) Like other solid bodies in the solar system,Earth's surface was kept molten by:
A) radioactivity.
B) differentiation.
C) convection.
D) bombardment by small bodies.
E) the solar nebula.
Q4) Almost all the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere is unique among the planets in our solar system.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Note at least three surface features that are driven by plate tectonics.
Q6) A hot,molten body of different materials will become ________.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Moon and Mercury: Scorched and Battered Worlds
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Sample Questions
Q1) Mercury's surface most resembles that of which other body?
A) Earth
B) Moon
C) Venus
D) Mars
E) Io
Q2) The cores of the Moon and Mercury are similar in that
A) both cores are more iron rich than the rest of the body and the core is solid throughout.
B) both cores are large in proportion to the object with a solid inner core and fluid outer core.
C) both cores are more iron rich than the rest of the body, with a solid inner core and fluid outer core.
D) both cores are small in proportion to the object, with a fluid inner core and solid outer core.
Q3) The dominant features of the highlands of the Moon,________ are chiefly the result of impacts of comets and asteroids early in the Moon's history.
Q4) The Moon's Orientale and Mercury's ________ Basin are both huge,multiringed impact scars.
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Venus: Earth's Sister Planet
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Sample Questions
Q1) As on Earth,continent-like land masses cover over a quarter of the surface of Venus.
A)True
B)False
Q2) No evidence of impact craters has been found on Venus.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The actual slow rotation of Venus was first found by radar observations from Earth.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why is the atmospheric pressure at the surface of Venus so much higher than Earth's?
Q5) The lack of water on Venus is the result of ________ of the water molecules into its component atoms by solar ultraviolet radiation.
Q6) Venus' rotation period is longer than its year.
A)True
B)False
Q7) While it has some high volcanoes,most of Venus is relatively ________ in elevation.
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Chapter 10: Mars: A Near Miss for Life?
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Sample Questions
Q1) One piece of evidence against the possibility of water on Mars is:
A) the current lack of water on Mars.
B) the fact that the polar ice caps are made of carbon dioxide ice.
C) the volcanic activity on Mars.
D) the few carbonate rock layers that would have formed on the bottoms of oceans.
E) the "hydrated" chemical compounds found on surface rocks all over the planet.
Q2) The residual polar cap that does not vanish during the Martian summer is ________.
Q3) How long is a day on Mars?
A) 243 Earth days
B) about 4.2 Earth days
C) 24 hours, 36 minutes
D) 23 hours, 56 minutes
E) 9 hours, 55 minutes
Q4) The largest volcano in the solar system,________,is found on Mars.
Q5) Phobos and Deimos are probably captured comet nuclei.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Why are telescopic observers so obsessed with observing Mars?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Jupiter: Giant of the Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) The surface of which jovian moon most resembles the pack ice of the Arctic Ocean?
A) Amalthea
B) Io
C) Europa
D) Ganymede
E) Callisto
Q2) Of the Galilean moons,the one with striking grooved terrain and icy tectonic features as well as older craters is:
A) Amalthea.
B) Io.
C) Europa.
D) Ganymede.
E) Callisto.
Q3) Which two satellites of Jupiter are considered "fraternal twins"?
A) Io and Europa
B) Io and Callisto
C) Europa and Ganymede
D) Ganymede and Callisto
E) Europa and Callisto
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Chapter 12: Saturn: Spectacular Rings and Mysterious
Moons
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Sample Questions
Q1) Saturn is almost as big as Jupiter,but only a third its mass.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The wind speeds found in the bands and zones of Saturn,compared to those on Jupiter,are about:
A) 3 times faster.
B) 2 times faster.
C) the same.
D) 2 times slower.
E) 3 times slower.
Q3) How many medium-sized moons does Saturn have?
A) too many to count
B) 18
C) 9
D) 6
E) 1
Q4) Saturn's rotation is fast and differential,much like Jupiter's.
A)True
B)False
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Q5) How did scientists use Titan to guide Cassini on a tour of Saturn's moon system?
Chapter 13: Uranus and Neptune: The Outer Worlds of the Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) A day at the north pole of Uranus lasts:
A) about 7 hours.
B) about 8 hours.
C) about 21 years.
D) about 42 years.
E) about 84 years.
Q2) The visual appearance of Neptune is much bluer than Uranus.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of these is true about the seasons of Uranus?
A) With a tilt of 29 degrees, they are not that different from our solstices and equinoxes.
B) Its strange tilt produces extreme seasonal variations, especially at the poles.
C) At the Uranian equator, the Sun would pass overhead every sixteen hours.
D) At the Uranian pole the Sun sets every 16 hours during the summer and winter.
E) There are no seasons at the poles.
Q4) How were the rings of Uranus discovered? How have they since been imaged from Earth better?
Q5) The Great ________ Spot of Neptune was striking in 1989,but gone by 1995.
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Chapter 14: Solar System Debris: Keys to Our Origin
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the defining property of the Trojan asteroids?
A) Their orbital periods are exactly one year, like ours.
B) They have orbits that cross the orbit of the Earth, but not that of Venus.
C) They have orbits at the distance of Jupiter and 60 degrees ahead of or behind it.
D) They have orbits between Saturn and Uranus.
E) Like Pluto, they are in a 3:2 resonance with Neptune.
Q2) Several objects were called planets when they were originally discovered,but are no longer called planets.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What are Dactyl,Gaspra,Mathilde,Eros,and Ida?
A) the four largest main belt asteroids, and the first to be discovered
B) the first four bodies found in the Kuiper Belt after Pluto
C) newly discovered small moons of Saturn
D) four asteroids that have been explored by spacecraft
E) newly discovered retrograde moons of Jupiter
Q4) Pluto is probably one of the largest of the Kuiper Belt bodies beyond Neptune.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 15: Exoplanets: Planetary Systems Beyond Our Own
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Sample Questions
Q1) Most extrasolar planets are hot Jupiters,discovered in the infrared by the Spitzer Space telescope.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Beyond our own solar system,the planets found to date have tended to be:
A) Kuiper Belt objects, far from the glare of their suns.
B) large jovians far from stars like our Sun.
C) large jovians with orbits more like terrestrial planets.
D) terrestrials very close to their star, and transiting its disk.
E) imaginary, with no present proof that they really exist.
Q3) Which molecule has not yet been detected in the atmospheres of exoplanets?
A) methane
B) carbon dioxide
C) oxygen
D) water
Q4) The Kepler and CoRoT missions use which technique to detect planet candidates?
A) radial velocity measurements
B) direct imaging
C) measurements of transverse motion
D) planetary transits
Page 17
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Chapter 16: The Sun: Our Parent Star
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Q1) Using the observations of the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO)and Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO),it may be possible to predict mass ejections from the Sun days in advance.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What happens to most of the solar neutrinos between the Sun's core and Earth?
Q3) The Sun's mass and volume are over a million times that of our Earth.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Sunspots are dark splotches on the Sun.Which statement is true?
A) They are hotter than the surrounding areas of the Sun.
B) They are extremely cold objects, as cold as Pluto.
C) They are extremely hot, but cooler than the surrounding areas of the Sun.
D) They are solid bodies floating on the surface of the Sun.
E) They are associated with areas of very low magnetic fields.
Q5) What do sunspots tell us about the Sun's rotation rate?
Q6) The solar corona is much cooler than the Sun's surface; hence we must wait for a total solar eclipse to glimpse it with the naked eye.
A)True
B)False
Page 18
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Chapter 17: The Stars: Giants,Dwarfs,and the Main
Sequence
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Sample Questions
Q1) Star A and star B have the same apparent magnitude.Star A is twice as distant as star B.Therefore,star A has twice the luminosity as star B.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In the H-R diagram,the bright blue-white stars that dominate the naked eye sky lie to the:
A) top left.
B) top right.
C) middle of the main sequence.
D) top center.
E) bottom left.
Q3) At the distance of Jupiter (6 times further away from the Sun than Earth)the amount of sunlight received per square centimeter different by what factor?
A) 6 times less
B) 12 times less
C) 36 times less
D) 6 times more
E) 12 times more
Q4) How can the color index give the star's temperature?
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Chapter 18: The Interstellar Medium: Gas and Dust among the Stars
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Q1) The overall dimming of starlight passing through dust clouds is called ________.
Q2) We often find dark nebulae associated with bright H II regions.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which statement about the dark nebulae is true?
A) Hydrogen and helium are the chief absorbing and scattering agents.
B) They block the vast majority of radio waves from our Galaxy.
C) They can be penetrated only with longer wavelengths such as radio and infrared.
D) They comprise the majority of the mass of the Galaxy.
E) They can be penetrated only with shorter waves, such as UV and X-ray.
Q4) Ionization of hydrogen in H II regions is most visible at:
A) 12,367 nm, the Paschen alpha line.
B) 656.3 nm, Balmer alpha line for 3-2 electron transition.
C) 21 cm in the radio region for the spin-flip of its electron.
D) 121.3 nm, the Lyman alpha ultraviolet line for 2-1 electron transition.
E) 473.2 nm, the blue-green emission line for 4-2 electron transition.
Q5) How is 21 cm radiation produced?
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Q6) What are the properties of the neutral hydrogen gas that exists in the interstellar medium?
Chapter 19: Star Formation: A Traumatic Birth
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Sample Questions
Q1) Our Sun,along with most of the stars in our neighborhood,probably formed:
A) a few million years ago.
B) about 10 million years ago.
C) hundreds of millions of years ago.
D) billions of years ago.
E) at the beginning of the universe.
Q2) What happens when an interstellar cloud fragment shrinks?
A) It first becomes opaque.
B) Density rises.
C) Temperature rises.
D) Pressure rises.
E) All of the above.
Q3) If a star is spinning rapidly,this may limit its final mass.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Shock waves from supernovae disrupt an interstellar cloud and prevent it from forming stars.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Why does gravitational contraction halt in collapsing protostars?
Page 21
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Chapter 20: Stellar Evolution: The Life and Death of a Star
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Q1) Every red dwarf star that ever joined the main sequence is still there today.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Low mass stars should produce white dwarfs,while high mass stars will produce more compact end products.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of these will the Sun probably become in the very distant future?
A) hypernova
B) supernova
C) pulsar
D) planetary nebula
E) nova
Q4) How has the chemical composition of the core of the Sun changed in the past 4.5 billion years? Are earthlings (if any)likely to freeze in another 4-5 billion years? Explain.
Q5) The age of a star cluster can be determined by the luminosity of the main sequence turnoff into the giant stage.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter
Formation of the Elements
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Q1) Two isotopes of the same element differ only in the number of protons.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The alpha process tends to produce chiefly:
A) only carbon.
B) stable elements.
C) even numbered elements.
D) odd numbered elements.
E) only radioactive elements.
Q3) Except for hydrogen and most of the helium,all the elements have been formed through stellar nucleosynthesis.
A)True
B)False
Q4) An iron core cannot support a star because:
A) iron is the heaviest element, and sinks upon differentiation.
B) iron has poor nuclear binding energy.
C) iron cannot fuse with other nuclei to produce energy.
D) iron supplies too much pressure.
E) iron is in the form of a gas, not a solid, in the center of a star.
Page 23
Q5) Can our Sun ever become a nova? Why?
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Chapter 22: Neutron Stars and Black Holes: Strange States of Matter
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Q1) Relate escape velocity to the event horizon.
Q2) If the Sun were replaced by a one solar mass black hole:
A) all terrestrial planets would fall in immediately.
B) we would still orbit it in a period of one year.
C) we would immediately escape into deep space, driven out by its radiation.
D) our clocks would all stop.
E) life here would be unchanged.
Q3) In binary neutron star systems,the orbits are expected to slowly decay,eventually resulting in a merger of the neutron stars.Where does the orbital energy go?
A) It is lost to friction.
B) It is emitted as gamma-rays.
C) It is emitted as neutrinos.
D) It is emitted as gravity waves.
E) It is converted to mass.
Q4) X-ray bursts and gamma ray bursts have the same distribution pattern in the sky.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe in detail the observational properties of a pulsar.From these properties,how is it possible to interpret it as a neutron star?
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Chapter 23: The Milky Way Galaxy: A Spiral in Space
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Q1) Shapley found that globular clusters are only found in the Galactic bulge.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Henrietta Leavitt first showed the relationship between the mass and luminosity of Cepheids and their period of pulsation; the brighter,the longer this period.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The location of the Galactic Center was first found by Harlow Shapley with:
A) radio emissions from Sagittarius A.
B) Cepheids of Population I in the spiral arms.
C) RR Lyrae variables in the globular clusters.
D) planetary nebulae in the open clusters.
E) infrared observations of the heat from its accretion disk around the black hole.
Q4) The rotation curve for our Galaxy shows stars beyond the Sun moving slower than expected.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe our location in the Milky Way.
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Chapter 24: Galaxies: Building Blocks of the Universe
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Q1) Within the boundaries of the constellations Coma and Virgo are found:
A) all the galaxies in the Local Group.
B) the most distant known quasars.
C) the largest nearby superclusters of galaxies.
D) the closest red dwarfs to the Sun.
E) the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds.
Q2) The latest evidence from 2MASS suggests our own Milky Way is type SBb.
A)True
B)False
Q3) An intermediately wound barred spiral galaxy would,in Hubble's system,be:
A) BS2.
B) BSE.5.
C) SBb.
D) S2B.
E) SIrr.
Q4) The first hint that the universe might be expanding came from Vesto Slipher's work with the spectra of spiral nebulae in 1912.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Quasar is short for what? Is this true of all of them?
Page 26
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Chapter 25: Galaxies and Dark Matter: The Large-Scale
Structure of the Cosmos
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Q1) Contrast the results of a collision between two spiral galaxies on their stars and their gas and dust clouds.
Q2) What is true of spiral galaxies?
A) They are much less common at larger redshifts.
B) They are relatively rare in regions of high galaxy density.
C) They are only found in the center of rich galaxy clusters.
D) They have never been seen to have large redshifts.
E) They evolve from giant ellipticals.
Q3) Which of these is NOT considered a fine example of galactic collisions?
A) the Cartwheel Galaxy
B) the Antennae Galaxies
C) the Whirlpool Galaxy
D) M-31 in Andromeda
E) M-87 in Virgo
Q4) A galaxy that was once a quasar is likely to:
A) have burned all its fuel by now and be dark.
B) now be a dwarf irregular.
C) have a black hole at its nucleus.
D) still be a quasar.
E) be less than 5 billion years old.
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Chapter 26: Cosmology: The Big Bang and the Fate of the Universe
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Q1) In Robert Frost's classic poem,when he ends with "ice will suffice," the universe is:
A) closed.
B) critical density.
C) open.
D) Euclidean.
E) Relativistic.
Q2) The two different kinds of surveys that have given astronomers great insight into the structure and expanse of the universe are:
A) pie slice and pencil beam.
B) pie slice and redshift survey.
C) pencil beam and deep imaging.
D) pie slice and local surveys.
E) deep space survey and pencil beam.
Q3) According to the microwave background radiation Earth is:
A) at the center of the universe.
B) near the location of the Big Bang.
C) in no special location in the universe.
D) in a part of the universe that is just like any other part.
E) moving at about 380 km/s toward Leo.
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Chapter 27: The Early Universe: Toward the Beginning of Time
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the antimatter problem in pair production?
Q2) Physicists have detected hot dark matter particles in terrestrial laboratories,but it is much harder to observe than cold dark matter.
A)True
B)False
Q3) When new particle pairs are being created as fast as they annihilate,it is:
A) hydrostatic equilibrium.
B) thermal equilibrium.
C) the threshold equilibrium.
D) the cosmological constant.
E) the critical density.
Q4) In pair production,the heaviest particles are formed in reactions that have the highest temperatures.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Why was the separation of the superforce into three forces so important?
Q6) Relate the temperature of the Big Bang to pair production in the quark and lepton epochs.
Q7) All of the ________ now observed must be primordial.
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Chapter
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why does detection of abundant free oxygen in an atmosphere suggest life is present? Does its absence prove life could not be present?
Q2) What is meant by the "habitable zone"?
A) the zone where water can be a liquid around the center of the Galaxy
B) the region around each star where terrestrial planets could have liquid water on their surfaces
C) the zone in which terrestrial-sized planets could form around each star
D) the region in dense atmospheres like Jupiter's that water droplets could form E) the regions near the poles of Mercury where liquid water might exist
Q3) Life is thought to be unlikely in subsurface oceans,such as those in Europa,because sunlight does not reach these oceans.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Describe the reasoning leading to the idea that the number of technological civilizations in the galaxy is equal to the average lifetime of a technological civilization.
Q5) We have found Titan's surface to be perfect living condition for earthlike life.
A)True
B)False
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