Fundamentals of Astronomy Mock
Exam
Course Introduction
Fundamentals of Astronomy provides a comprehensive introduction to the science of the universe beyond Earth. This course covers the basic principles of astronomical observation and measurement, the nature and life cycles of stars, the structure of galaxies, and the fundamentals of cosmology. Students will explore the solar system, planetary motion, the properties of light, and tools used by astronomers to study celestial phenomena. Emphasis is placed on understanding key concepts through mathematical reasoning, real-life observations, and the historical context of major scientific discoveries that have shaped our current understanding of the cosmos.
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Understanding Our Universe 2nd Edition by Stacy Palen
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Thinking Like an Astronomer
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Sample Questions
Q1) Our universe is approximately ________ years old.
A) 14 million
B) 14 billion
C) 14 trillion
D) 14 thousand
Answer: B
Q2) If the elements that make up Earth and our bodies were not present in the early universe,where did they come from?
Answer: They were formed by nuclear fusion inside stars.
Q3) The early universe was composed mainly of which two elements?
A) hydrogen and helium
B) carbon and oxygen
C) hydrogen and oxygen
D) carbon and iron
Answer: A
Q4) Describe how talking about time can give us a feeling for distance.
Answer: If speed is constant,a difference in time is directly related to a difference in distance.A time difference is easier to conceptualize.
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Chapter 2: Patterns in the Skymotions of Earth and the Moon
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Q1) How does "gibbous" differ from "crescent"?
Answer: The crescent is the concave curve bounded illuminated portion of the lunar surface whereas the gibbous is bounded by a convex curve.
Q2) Earth has an average radius of approximately 6.4 × 10³ km.What is the average speed of the ground due to the rotation of Earth at its equator in kilometers per second (km/s)if there are 8.64 × 10 seconds per day?
Answer: Here the students need to convert the radius of Earth to its circumference: C = 2pr = 4.02 × 10 km.Divide this distance by the number of seconds,and we get a speed of 0.465 km/s = 1,676 km/h.
Q3) On which great celestial circle(s)on the celestial sphere would you find the position of the autumnal equinox?
Answer: On both the celestial equator and the ecliptic planes.
Q4) In regard to the phase of the Moon,the term waxing means:
A) less than half-illuminated.
B) more than half-illuminated.
C) becoming smaller.
D) increasing in brightness.
Answer: D
Page 4
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Chapter 3: Laws of Motion
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Sample Questions
Q1) What do the Copernican and Ptolemaic models have in common?
A) elliptical orbits
B) Sun as center of the universe
C) circular orbits
D) Earth as center of universe
Answer: C
Q2) If a 100-kg astronaut pushes on a 5,000-kg satellite and the satellite experiences an acceleration of 0.1 m/s²,what is the acceleration experienced by the astronaut in the opposite direction?
A) 5 m/s<sup>2</sup>
B) 10 m/s<sup>2</sup>
C) 50 m/s<sup>2</sup>
D) 0.1 m/s<sup>2</sup>
Answer: A
Q3) Newton's first law states that objects in motion:
A) eventually come to rest.
B) experience an unbalanced force.
C) experience a nonzero acceleration.
D) stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force.
Answer: D
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Chapter 4: Light and Telescopes
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why do reflecting telescopes usually have a secondary mirror in addition to a primary mirror?
A) to increase the light-gathering power
B) to make the telescope shorter
C) to increase the focal length
D) to combat chromatic aberration
Q2) Where should telescopes purposed to observe the high energy light from the death of stars be located?
Q3) Give an explanation as to why electromagnetic radiation does not require a medium for propagation.
Q4) The SETI project's Allen Telescope Array will have 350 radio dishes,each with an individual diameter of 6 meters,spread out over a circle whose diameter is 1 km.What would this array's spatial resolution be when it operates at 5 cm?
A) 10 arcsec
B) 0.10 arcsec
C) 10 arcmin
D) 1.0 arcmin
Q5) Does the wavelength of a wave change when entering a refractive medium? Explain.
Q6) Explain two major advantages of CCDs over other imaging techniques.
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Chapter 5: The Formation of Stars and Planets
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Q1) According to the conservation of angular momentum,if an ice-skater starts spinning with her arms out wide,then slowly pulls them close to her body,this will cause her to:
A) spin faster.
B) spin slower.
C) maintain a constant rate of spin.
D) fall over.
Q2) Astronomers hypothesize that the "hot Jupiters" found orbiting other stars must have migrated inward over time by:
A) losing orbital angular momentum.
B) colliding with another planet.
C) slowly accreting large amounts of gas and increasing their gravitational pull.
D) losing their gas because of evaporation.
Q3) What is the difference between refractory and volatile materials?
Q4) Comets and asteroids are:
A) other names for moons of the planets.
B) primarily located within 1 AU of the Sun.
C) all more massive than Earth's Moon.
D) material left over from the formation of the planets.
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Chapter 6: Terrestrial Worlds in the Inner Solar System
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Q1) Plate tectonics is NOT responsible for the formation of:
A) mountain ranges.
B) canyons.
C) volcanoes.
D) ocean trenches.
Q2) Mars,Venus,and Earth are much less heavily cratered than Mercury and the Moon.This is explained by the fact that:
A) the rate of cratering in the early Solar System was strongly dependent on location.
B) all three have thick, protective atmospheres.
C) Earth and Venus were shielded from impacts by the Moon, and Mars was protected by the asteroid belt.
D) Mars, Venus, and Earth were geologically active longer than Mercury and the Moon.
Q3) Why are impact craters rare on the surface of Earth but plentiful on the Moon?
Q4) Tidal distortion of the Earth is due to:
A) the rotation of the Earth.
B) the size of the Earth relative to its distance from the Sun and Moon.
C) the mass of the Earth relative to the mass of the Sun and Moon.
D) the orbit of the Earth.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Atmospheres of Venus, earth, and Mars
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Q1) Oxygen was first introduced into Earth's atmosphere by:
A) cyanobacteria.
B) dinosaurs.
C) trees.
D) volcanic activity.
Q2) Humans cannot survive on the surface of Mars for long periods of time because:
A) there is not enough oxygen in the atmosphere.
B) the range in temperature between day and night is too large.
C) the flux of ultraviolet radiation reaching the surface is too high.
D) All of the above are valid reasons.
Q3) All weather and wind on Earth is a result of convection in the: A) troposphere.
B) stratosphere.
C) mesosphere.
D) ionosphere.
Q4) What weather or climate phenomenon is a consequence of the Coriolis effect?
A) snow
B) hurricanes
C) rain
D) thunderstorms
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Giant Planets
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Q1) What gives rise to the large magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune? How does this source help explain why the axes of their magnetic fields are misaligned and significantly offset from their rotational axes?
Q2) Why do we suspect that the inner planets do not have rings?
Q3) Jupiter's rings are made of material from:
A) its largest, innermost moons.
B) its upper atmosphere.
C) only Io.
D) only its retrograde moons.
Q4) Why can water exist in the hot interiors of the giant planets?
A) The pressure is high enough to prevent the water from becoming vapor.
B) Some of the metallic hydrogen in the core mixes with oxygen.
C) Regions of the interior are cooler than the surrounding regions.
D) Water released from moons via cryovolcanism is absorbed.
Q5) Why would a planet's rings reflect 50 percent of the sunlight they receive?
A) They are made of ice.
B) They are made of silicate rock.
C) They are made of iron.
D) They are very old.
Q6) Define cloud cannibalism.Where is it observed in the Solar System?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Small Bodies of the Solar System
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Q1) Ganymede is one of the largest moons in the Solar System.It shows some terrain that is ancient and heavily cratered,younger terrain with less craters,but no terrain that is free of craters.Why would Ganymede's geological activity stop?
Q2) What are the possible geological states of a moon?
A) active today and active in the past
B) possibly active today
C) never active
D) active today; possibly active today; active in the past; never active.
Q3) Why does the dust tail separate from the ion tail?
A) The dust is not ionized, so it is not affected by the solar wind.
B) Dust cannot sublimate as ice can, so it cannot form a tail as easily.
C) The dust tail forms on the leading side of the nucleus, whereas the gas tail forms on the opposite side.
D) Dust is more massive than ions, so it accelerates less.
Q4) Which of the following is NOT geologically active?
A) Callisto
B) Triton
C) Enceladus
D) Io
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Chapter 10: Measuring the Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) On a typical H-R diagram,where are the largest stars located?
A) in the upper left corner
B) in the upper right corner
C) in the lower left corner
D) in the lower right corner
Q2) Which of the following properties is never plotted on the horizontal axis of an H-R diagram?
A) color
B) luminosity
C) temperature
D) spectral class
Q3) Stars A and B appear equally bright,but star A is twice as far away from us as star B.Which of the following is true?
A) Star A is twice as luminous as star B.
B) Star A is four times as luminous as star B.
C) Star B is twice as luminous as star A.
D) Star B is four times as luminous as star B.
Q4) You observe a binary star system and find that star 1 has a velocity of 10 m/s while star 2 has a velocity of 40 m/s.What is the ratio of masses of the two stars (M /M )?
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Chapter 11: Our Star: the Sun
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Sample Questions
Q1) If the Sun converts 5 × 10¹¹ kg of H to He per second,and the mass of a single hydrogen nucleus is 1.7 × 10 ² kg,how many net proton-proton reactions go on per second in the Sun? What is the luminosity produced if the mass difference between a single helium nucleus and four hydrogen nuclei is 4 × 10 ² kg? Note that 1 watt (W)= 1 m² kg/s³.
A) 7 × 10<sup>37</sup> reactions per second; 3 × 10<sup>26</sup> W
B) 3 × 10<sup>38</sup> reactions per second; 10<sup>27</sup> W
C) 3 × 10<sup>38</sup> reactions per second; 4 × 10<sup>26</sup> W
D) 7 × 10<sup>37</sup> reactions per second; 5 × 10<sup>25</sup> W
Q2) If the Sun converts 5 × 10¹¹ kg of H to He per second,and 10 percent of the Sun's total mass is available for nuclear burning,how long might we expect the Sun to live?
A) 104 years
B) 108 years
C) 1010 years
D) 1014 years
Q3) If a sunspot is half as bright as the surrounding photosphere of the Sun,what is the approximate temperature of the gas in the sunspot if the photosphere's average temperature is 5800 K?
Q4) How do periods of strong solar activity affect near-Earth orbiting spacecraft?
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Page 13
Chapter 12: Evolution of Low-Mass Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) Suppose you observe three star clusters.Cluster 1 has a main-sequence turnoff point at spectral type G,cluster 2 has a turnoff point at spectral type A,and cluster 3 has a turnoff point at spectral type B.Which cluster is youngest and which is oldest? Explain why.What is the approximate age of the oldest cluster?
Q2) In what two ways does temperature affect the rate of nuclear reactions?
Q3) A Type Ia supernova occurs when a white dwarf exceeds a mass of:
A) 0.8 M¤.
B) 1.4 M¤.
C) 2.3 M¤.
D) 5.5 M¤.
Q4) A low-mass red giant star's energy comes from:
A) hydrogen burning to helium in its core.
B) helium burning to carbon in its core.
C) hydrogen burning to helium in a shell surrounding its core.
D) helium burning to carbon in a shell surrounding its core.
Q5) The luminosity of a star depends on:
A) its mass, its age, and its distance.
B) its mass.
C) its age.
D) its mass and its age.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Evolution of High-Mass Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) What is the radius of the event horizon of a 10 solar mass black hole?
A) 3 km
B) 10 km
C) 30 km
D) 100 km
Q2) If the Sun were to be instantly replaced by a 1-M¤ black hole,the gravitational pull of the black hole on Earth would be:
A) much greater than it is now.
B) the same as it is now.
C) much smaller than it is now.
D) irrelevant because Earth would be quickly obliterated by the strong tidal force of the black hole.
Q3) Once silicon burning begins to fuse iron in the core of a high-mass main-sequence star,it only has a few ________ left to live.
A) seconds
B) days
C) months
D) years
Q4) Why are Cepheids important to study?
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Chapter 14: Measuring Galaxies
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Q1) If the distance of a galaxy at a redshift z = 0.5 is 1,800 Mpc,what is H ?
A) 3,600 km/s/Mpc
B) 0.0003 km/s/Mpc
C) 83 km/s/Mpc
D) 900 km/s/Mpc
Q2) Galaxies move away from us in all directions because:
A) the force of gravity strengthens with distance.
B) the force of gravity weakens with distance.
C) space is expanding.
D) our galaxy has expelled all other galaxies.
Q3) Which distance indicator can be used to measure the most distant objects?
A) Cepheids
B) parallax
C) Type Ia supernovae
D) main-sequence fitting
Q4) How did Edwin Hubble definitively prove that "spiral nebulae" were individual galaxies that were separate from the Milky Way?
Q5) What was the Hubble tuning fork originally intended to explain,and what does it mean to astronomers today?
Page 16
Q6) Name three "rungs" in the distance ladder that let us estimate the value of H .
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Chapter 15: Our Galaxy: the Milky Way
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Milky Way Galaxy is a(n)________ galaxy.
A) irregular
B) elliptical
C) barred spiral
D) lenticular
Q2) Which of the following statements about the history of the Milky Way is correct?
A) The Milky Way was much larger in the past.
B) The Milky Way evolved from smaller clumps of stars.
C) The Milky Way has not evolved.
D) The Milky Way is expanding.
Q3) Globular clusters,when compared to open clusters,generally:
A) are located closer to the center of the Milky Way.
B) are younger in age.
C) have fewer amounts of heavy elements.
D) all of the above
Q4) The chemical composition of a star's atmosphere tells us:
A) how much nuclear burning has gone on in the star.
B) the star's evolutionary stage.
C) the chemical composition of the cloud from which the star formed.
D) all of the above
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Chapter 16: The Evolution of the Universe
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Q1) Why does the sum of Wm ss and WL determine the shape of our universe?
Q2) What is the difference between a grand unified theory (GUT)and a theory of everything (TOE)?
Q3) Assuming the Hubble constant is equal to 72 km/s/Mpc,estimate the age of the universe (or Hubble time).Note that 1 Mpc = 3.1 × 10¹ km,and 1 year = 3.17 × 10 seconds.
Q4) Explain why astronomers cannot accurately model the exact history of the universe in the first few fractions of a second after the Big Bang.
Q5) In some particle physics theories,the universe must have more than three spatial dimensions,but we experience only three.Why would we not see the other spatial dimensions?
A) The other six spatial dimensions are tightly wrapped around each other and have not expanded.
B) The other nine spatial dimensions are too small to be noticeable.
C) The other seven spatial dimensions undergo inflation and flatten themselves out.
D) The other nine spatial dimensions wrap around each other and form the temporal dimension.
Q6) What is the "flatness problem" in cosmology?
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Page 18
Chapter 17: Formation of Structure
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Q1) Astronomers currently think that the last stage of the universe will be the Dark Era.Explain what that implies for the future of the universe.
Q2) What is the importance of the observation that the observed amount of normal matter in the universe matches the amount predicted by Big Bang nucleosynthesis?
A) It shows that dark matter cannot be made up of primarily normal matter, such as protons and neutrons.
B) It shows that dark matter is made up primarily of normal matter, such as protons and neutrons.
C) It shows that there is no need to require dark matter in our understanding of the large-scale structure of the universe.
D) It shows that dark matter is made up primarily of neutrinos.
Q3) The very first generation of stars has never been observed.Explain what this implies about the properties of these stars.
Q4) How do astronomers explain the role of mergers in the formation of elliptical galaxies?
Q5) What is the evidence that galaxies form via hierarchical merging?
Q6) Describe how elliptical galaxies form.
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Page 19
Chapter 18: Life in the Universe
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Q1) Which one of the following is NOT one of the six chemical elements commonly found in living organisms?
A) helium
B) hydrogen
C) phosphorus
D) nitrogen
Q2) The phylogenetic tree of life was established using:
A) bacteria.
B) DNA sequencing.
C) fossils.
D) fungi.
Q3) Complex microorganisms that have complex DNA enclosed in a cell nucleus are called:
A) algae.
B) bacteria.
C) eukaryotes.
D) prokaryotes.
Q4) Describe the experiments of Harold Urey and Stanley Miller in understanding the origins of life.
Q5) Explain the roles of mutations and heredity in biological evolution.
Page 20
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