Cosmic Discoveries
Exam Preparation Guide
Course Introduction
Cosmic Discoveries explores the significant milestones in our understanding of the universe, tracing humanitys journey from early astronomical observations to modern breakthroughs in astrophysics and space technology. The course covers the development of telescopes, the discovery of planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, and cosmic background radiation. Students will examine both historical and recent discoveries, considering their impact on scientific thought, technology, and society. Through engaging lectures and multimedia content, the course highlights the methods astronomers use to gather data and interpret the mysteries of the cosmos, fostering appreciation for ongoing exploration and future possibilities.
Recommended Textbook
Discovering the Essential Universe 6th Edition by Neil F. Comins
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15 Chapters
4447 Verified Questions
4447 Flashcards
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Chapter 1: Discovering the Night Sky
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370 Verified Questions
370 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41413
Sample Questions
Q1) A total lunar eclipse can last more than an hour and a half,but a total solar eclipse never lasts more than 7 1/2 minutes.Why the difference?
A) A total solar eclipse always occurs when the Moon is at perigee; it is moving fastest at that time.
B) A total solar eclipse always occurs when Earth is at perihelion; it is moving fastest at that time.
C) Both Earth and the Moon move clockwise in their orbits, as seen from the north. Thus, during a solar eclipse Earth and the Moon are moving in opposite directions, and during a lunar eclipse they are moving in the same direction.
D) Earth's shadow at the Moon's distance is much larger than the Moon's shadow at Earth's distance. As Earth rotates, this narrow lunar shadow sweeps quickly over any given spot.
Answer: D
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3
Chapter 2: Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets
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344 Verified Questions
344 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) At which point,as seen from Earth,will a planet appear exactly half-lit (looking like the first quarter or last quarter Moon)? (It may help to draw a diagram and show the sunlit side of the planet on it.)
A) greatest elongation
B) opposition
C) inferior conjunction
D) superior conjunction
Answer: A
Q2) The time period between two successive passages of a planet past a particular star as seen from the Sun is its:
A) synodic period.
B) sidereal period.
C) precessional period.
D) rotational period.
Answer: B
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Chapter 3: Light and Telescopes
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413 Verified Questions
413 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) In a telescope,to what does the term aberration refer?
A) the absorption of light by the glass in the lenses
B) the magnifying power of the telescope
C) the fundamental limitation of any telescope to resolve very small details in the image
D) a defect in design that blurs or distorts the image
Answer: D
Q2) The important breakthrough in theoretical physics that was first suggested by Planck to explain the shape of the spectrum of a hot body was the:
A) discovery of the formula F = T , which can be used to calculate the total energy flux emitted by the hot body over all wavelengths.
B) idea that light traveled at a constant speed, whatever the speed of the source.
C) idea that light is a form of electromagnetic energy transmitted at a constant speed and that there is a continuous spectrum of electromagnetic waves from gamma rays to radio waves.
D) concept that electromagnetic energy was emitted in small packets, or quanta.
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Formation of the Solar System and Other
Planetary Systems
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115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The asteroid Gaspra (see Figure 4-7,Comins,Discovering the Essential Universe,6th ed.)is typical of most asteroids in that it is:
A) potato-shaped with a smooth, metallic surface.
B) spherical and densely covered with craters.
C) potato-shaped with large and small craters.
D) spherical and deformed by thermal activity.
Q2) The universe contains about ten times as many hydrogen atoms as helium atoms,but a helium atom has four times the mass of a hydrogen atom.What is the approximate ratio of the universe's hydrogen to helium by mass?
A) 2.5 to 1
B) 10 to 1
C) 4 to 1
D) 1 to 4
Q3) Most of the planets orbit the Sun on or close to the:
A) plane of the Milky Way Galaxy.
B) ecliptic plane.
C) plane containing both north and south celestial poles and the zenith at Greenwich, England.
D) equatorial plane.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Exoplanets
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43 Verified Questions
43 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) MOST extrasolar planets have been found:
A) around stars in the disk of our Galaxy.
B) in globular clusters.
C) near the center of our Galaxy.
D) outside our Galaxy.
Q2) The oldest extrasolar planets have been found in:
A) open clusters.
B) black holes.
C) globular clusters.
D) the nucleus of our Galaxy.
Q3) Many of the exoplanets discovered thus far are in orbits near their stars.This means they are probably:
A) spinning rapidly to conserve angular momentum.
B) doomed to spiral into their stars.
C) recently formed.
D) in synchronous orbits.
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Chapter 6: The Terrestrial Planets and Their Moons
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605 Verified Questions
605 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) On the average,about how long does Earth's magnetic field point in one general direction before flipping to reverse its direction?
A) a few hundred thousand years
B) a few hundred million years
C) at least a billion years
D) forever. As far as we know, Earth's field has always pointed in the same direction.
Q2) Mars has one hemisphere that is at a higher elevation than the other.In this way,it is similar to:
A) Earth.
B) the Moon.
C) Mercury.
D) Venus.
Q3) Compared with the orbital distance of Earth from the Sun,the equivalent orbital distances for the outer planets are _____ times greater.
A) between 2 and 20
B) more than 10
C) between 2 and 5
D) more than 5
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8
Chapter 7: The Outer Planets and Their Moons
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366 Verified Questions
366 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) How would Interplanetary Travel Holidays,Inc.,advertise a holiday on Jupiter's satellite Io?
A) Greatest deep-sea diving beneath thick ice layers!
B) Glaciers galore for your hiking pleasure under star-studded skies!
C) Exquisite ethane lakes, hydrocarbons beyond your wildest dreams!
D) The largest number of volcanoes for your travel dollar anywhere in the solar system!
Q2) The surprising fact about the magnetic field of Uranus compared with the magnetic field of Earth or Jupiter is that:
A) its axis is precisely aligned with the spin axis of the planet.
B) it is extremely small and localized in specific regions of the planet.
C) it is much more intense than that of any other planet.
D) its axis makes a larger angle to the planet's spin axis than that of any other planet.
Q3) Large-scale geologic activity apparently never occurred on:
A) Europa
B) Io
C) Callisto
D) Ganymede
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Chapter 8: Vagabonds of the Solar System
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196 Verified Questions
196 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The images of the Deep Impact encounter with Comet Tempel 1 in 2005 (see Figure 8-32,Comins: Discovering the Essential Universe,6th ed.)show the nucleus looking like a solid piece of rock and not like a fiery comet with a glowing tail.Why is the glowing gas we usually associate with a comet absent?
A) This is an unsolved mystery and one of the reasons this comet was chosen for investigation.
B) Comet Tempel 1 is a very old comet, and almost all of the volatile material is gone.
C) A comet evolves glowing gases only when it is near the Sun, and Comet Tempel 1 never gets close enough to the Sun to evolve a tail.
D) Comet Tempel 1 is, in fact, a solid rock and shows no evidence of ice.
Q2) Some of the definitions of the different types of objects in the solar system overlap.Which one of the following pairs does not NOT overlap? That is,if an object can be described by one of the labels,it cannot be described by the other.
A) dwarf planet and asteroid
B) dwarf planet and Kuiper belt object
C) satellite and Kuiper belt object
D) meteoroid and planet
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Page 10
Chapter 9: The Sun: Our Extraordinary Ordinary Star
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274 Verified Questions
274 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) How many Joules of energy would be released if a US penny (2.5 X 10-³ kg)were converted entirely to energy?
A) 7.5 X 105
B) 2.25 X 108
C) 2.25 X 1014
D) 2.25 X 1017
Q2) According to the theoretical model of the Sun shown graphically in Figure 9-22b of Comins,Discovering the Essential Universe,6th ed.,where is the vast majority of solar energy generated?
A) within 0.60, or 60%, of a solar radius of the Sun's center
B) throughout the whole Sun
C) within 0.25, or 25%, of a solar radius of the Sun's center
D) within 0.8, or 80%, of a solar radius of the Sun's center
Q3) The dominant energy source that powers the Sun at the present time is:
A) the release of gravitational energy as the Sun slowly contracts.
B) thermonuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in the core.
C) thermonuclear fission of helium into hydrogen in the core.
D) thermonuclear fusion of helium into heavier elements in the core.
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11
Chapter 10: Characterizing Stars
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261 Verified Questions
261 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) How bright (in absolute magnitude)are the intrinsically faintest stars in the universe?
A) +1
B) +17
C) -10
D) 0
Q2) Looking at the clock face on a distant steeple,the clock subtends an angle of 275 arcseconds.How far away is it?
A) 275 feet
B) 275 meters
C) 1/275 km
D) The distance cannot be computed from the given information.
Q3) The intensity of sunlight per square meter reaching Jupiter is approximately what fraction of that at Earth's orbital distance? (For orbital radii,see Appendix,Table C-1,Comins,Discovering the Essential Universe,6th ed.)
A) 25 times
B) about the same
C) 1/5
D) 1/25
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Chapter 11: The Lives of the Stars From Birth Through Middle Age
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322 Verified Questions
322 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) If we plotted the stars in a young star cluster on a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram,we would expect to see:
A) all the stars on the main sequence.
B) the more massive stars above the main sequence and the less massive stars on the main sequence.
C) some stars on the main sequence and others above the main sequence, in random fashion depending on when each star condensed from the interstellar cloud.
D) the more massive stars on the main sequence and the less massive stars above the main sequence.
Q2) What determines whether a particular region of an interstellar cloud can collapse and form a star?
A) temperature since higher temperatures act to prevent collapse
B) the amount of gravity pulling inward compared with gas pressure pushing outward
C) gas density, the ratio of the mass of the cloud over its volume, since density determines how gravity will act on the cloud material
D) the amount of mass in the cloud since mass determines the strength of gravity
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13
Chapter 12: The Deaths and Remnants of Stars
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395 Verified Questions
395 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) One distinctive physical characteristic of matter inside a white dwarf star is that it is:
A) composed only of protons, with electrostatic repulsion preventing stellar collapse.
B) of extremely high density compared with ordinary stellar matter.
C) composed only of neutrons.
D) composed only of electrons in a degenerate state.
Q2) A low-mass giant on the horizontal branch fuses hydrogen into helium in its core.The core temperature is insufficient to fuse helium into carbon.So what nuclear reaction does happen next?
A) shell helium fusion
B) core oxygen fusion
C) shell beryllium fusion
D) core beryllium fusion
Q3) The escape velocity of matter from the center of a black hole greater than 3 solar masses is:
A) always exactly equal to the speed of light.
B) quite small.
C) greater than the speed of light.
D) about half the speed of light.
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14
Chapter 13: The Galaxies
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465 Verified Questions
465 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The radio emission from the jets in a double-radio source is:
A) recombination radiation from electrons combining with protons to form neutral hydrogen gas as the gas cools within the jets.
B) 21-cm emission from neutral hydrogen atoms.
C) thermal emission from very hot matter ejected from the accretion disk around the central black hole.
D) synchrotron radiation from relativistic electrons spiraling in magnetic fields.
Q2) When swirling eddies of gas-rich matter in the universe collide and form a disk centered on an especially massive black hole and lots of dark matter,what type of galaxy is believed to be the MOST likely to form?
A) normal spiral
B) barred spiral
C) giant elliptical
D) irregular
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15
Chapter 14: Cosmology
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205 Verified Questions
205 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to Hubble's law,how old is the universe (H = Hubble's constant)?
A) v/H (where v = recession velocity in km/s)
B) r/H (where r = distance in Mpc)
C) H
D) 1/H
Q2) What is the electroweak force?
A) This is a fifth force, distinct from the original four, which helps to explain dark energy.
B) When charged particles of both signs (positive and negative) are closely mixed, the electromagnetic force-generally infinite in extent-is limited in its practical range. Under these circumstances, it is termed electroweak.
C) At sufficiently high temperatures, the electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force are indistinguishable. This composite force is called electroweak.
D) At sufficiently high temperatures, the strong nuclear force and gravitational force disappear. At even higher temperatures, the weak nuclear force and the electromagnetic force combine to form the electroweak force. It is the only force that exists at this temperature.
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Chapter 15: Astrobiology
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73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The habitable zone around the Sun includes:
A) only Earth.
B) Earth and Mars.
C) Earth and Venus.
D) Earth, Mars, and Venus.
Q2) What source of energy was used to trigger the manufacture of complex organic compounds in laboratory simulations of conditions in primordial planetary atmospheres?
A) thermal heating, to simulate volcanic heating
B) electric discharges, to simulate lightning
C) heat from chemical reactions in early reactive planetary atmospheres
D) UV and visible radiation, to simulate the intensity of sunlight at earlier times in planetary life
Q3) On which object in our planetary system is it NOT likely that life exists or existed at an earlier time?
A) Mars
B) Callisto, a moon of Jupiter
C) Europa, a moon of Jupiter
D) Io, a moon of Jupiter
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Page 17