Introduction to Astronomy Final
Exam Questions
Course Introduction
Introduction to Astronomy offers a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts of astronomy, exploring the origins, structure, and evolution of the universe. Students will examine celestial objects such as planets, stars, galaxies, and black holes, and gain insight into astronomical tools and methods used for observation and discovery. The course also covers key topics like the solar system, cosmic distances, and the life cycles of stars, fostering a deeper understanding of our place in the cosmos while cultivating scientific inquiry and critical thinking skills.
Recommended Textbook
Astronomy Today 8th Edition by Eric Chaisson
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Charting the Heavens: The Foundations of Astronomy
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Sample Questions
Q1) If intending to teach his students the constellations by season,why would an astronomy instructor be advised to always assign the stars in the current western sky at the beginning of each term?
Answer: As the Earth revolves around the Sun,the Sun appears to move one degree eastward per day.These stars are,therefore,soon lost in the Sun's glare.
Q2) If the angular diameter of an object is 15 arc seconds and it is 1.4 billion kilometers away,how big is its physical size? Show how you arrived at your answer.
Answer: Use the equation above Example 3 in More Precisely 1-2 to complete the calculation.15" = 15/60/60 degrees = 1/240 degree (about 0.0042 degrees).Then the diameter = distance × angular size / 57.3 degrees = 1.4 × 10 km × 1/240 / 57.3 100,000 km.
Q3) Constellations are close clusters of stars,all at about the same distance from the Sun.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) The Sun's lowest position in the sky occurs at the ________. Answer: winter solstice
Page 3
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Chapter 2: The Copernican Revolution: The Birth of Modern Science
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Q1) Explain how Copernicus would account for the retrograde loops of superior planets.
Answer: The Earth moves faster than these outer worlds,so at opposition we overtake them and as we sweep past them,they appear to retreat westward for a few weeks.
Q2) Transits of Venus were critical in early determinations of the A.U.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Upon which point do Copernicus and Kepler disagree?
A) The Moon orbits the Earth.
B) The Earth orbits the Sun.
C) Retrograde motion occurs when one planet overtakes another.
D) The orbits of the planets are ellipses, with one focus at the Sun.
E) Venus will appear as a crescent when she retrogrades between us and the Sun.
Answer: D
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) Give an example of the Doppler Effect being used in a baseball game.
Answer: The Doppler "gun" can focus on the motion of the baseball,and give us the speed that the pitcher is delivering it to the plate.
Q2) According to Wein's Law,if the surface temperature is increased by a factor of 2,its peak wavelength will:
A) increase by a factor of 2.
B) decrease by a factor of 2.
C) increase by a factor of 4.
D) decrease by a factor of 4.
E) not change; Wein's law has nothing to do with peak wavelength. Answer: B
Q3) In a wave,the distance from peak to peak is called the wave's ________. Answer: wavelength
Q4) The distance between two successive wave crests is the ________ of a wave. Answer: wavelength
Q5) The distance from a wave's crest to its undisturbed state is the ________. Answer: amplitude
Q6) A cool star like Antares would produce more ________ than visible light. Answer: infrared
Page 5
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Chapter 4: Spectroscopy: The Inner Workings of Atoms
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Q1) A low-density,hot gas produces a continuous spectrum.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In space,positive ions are the result of:
A) protons escaping from the nuclei of atoms at tremendous temperatures.
B) electrons being stripped off the outer electron shell for hot atoms.
C) positrons being added to the atomic nucleus at great energies.
D) positrons being added to the electron clouds, destroying the electrons.
E) electrons being added to the cloud, giving them a surplus over protons.
Q3) Explain how the Zeeman effect allows us to study stellar magnetic fields.
Q4) Molecular spectra,like elemental ones,involve only the vibration of the particles.
A)True
B)False
Q5) To have a negative ion,you must have:
A) taken away a proton from the nucleus.
B) added a positron to the nucleus.
C) added a positron to the outer electron shell.
D) added an electron to the outer electron shell.
E) None of these; only positive ions can exist in nature.
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Chapter 5: Telescopes: The Tools of Astronomy
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Q1) In astronomy,an interferometer can be used to:
A) yield better seeing conditions with optical telescopes.
B) decrease the effects of light pollution in getting darker sky backgrounds.
C) improve the angular resolution of radio telescopes.
D) increase the sensitivity of infrared telescopes to longer wavelengths.
E) speed up the processing of CCD images.
Q2) Refractor telescopes suffer from this separation of light into its component colors.
A) limited diffraction
B) spherical aberration
C) chromatic aberration
D) bad seeing
E) refraction
Q3) All radio telescopes are reflectors in design.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why is the angular resolution of radio telescopes much worse than that of smaller optical telescopes?
Q5) Why must radio dishes be built so large?
Q6) How do radio interferometers greatly enhance resolution in radio wavelengths?
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Chapter 6: The Solar System: Comparative Planetology and Formation Models
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these bodies has the lowest density?
A) Saturn
B) Jupiter
C) a comet
D) an asteroid
E) a Kuiper Belt object
Q2) Most asteroids are found:
A) beyond the orbit of Neptune.
B) between the Earth and Sun.
C) between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.
D) in the orbit of Jupiter, but 60 degrees ahead of or behind it.
E) orbiting the jovian planets in captured, retrograde orbits.
Q3) One possible way that future scientists may determine whether the core-accretion model or the gravitational instability theory better explains the formation of the jovian planet is:
A) measuring the mass of the rocky material in the jovian planets' cores.
B) measuring the metallic hydrogen layer in the jovian planets.
C) observing the changes in the rings around the jovian planets.
D) observing the changes in the magnetic fields of the jovian planets.
Q4) Comets that we can see originate in the ________ and ________.
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Chapter 7: Earth: Our Home in Space
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Sample Questions
Q1) 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.
Q2) Collisions between low density continental plates create the tallest mountain chains,such as the Himalayas.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Describe the two different kinds of seismic waves.Distinguish between them by describing how they move through Earth's interior.
Q4) The ozone layer lies at the boundary of the stratosphere and mesosphere.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Why do volcanic mountain chains,such as the Andes,accompany deep trenches like the Nazca Trench off South America?
Q6) The auroral displays occur in our ________.
Q7) Describe several features on the Earth's crust explained by plate tectonics.
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Chapter 8: The Moon and Mercury: Scorched and Battered Worlds
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Q1) The most recent features on the Moon's surface are the bright rayed craters like Copernicus,sitting atop the older mare flows.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What considerations are involved in determining whether or not a planet will have an atmosphere? What physical factors are involved in determining the temperature of a planet?
Q3) Would an observer on Mercury see the Sun rise in the east or the west?
Q4) Mercury's surface most resembles which of these?
A) the Earth's deserts
B) the lunar far side
C) the lunar mare
D) Venus' polar regions
E) Mars' deserts
Q5) Relative to the size of the planet,Mercury has the largest core of any planet.
A)True
B)False
Q6) List the two major regions of the near side of the Moon,as seen with the naked eye.
Page 10
Q7) What surface region of the Moon is oldest? How do we know this?
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Chapter 9: Venus: Earth's Sister Planet
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Sample Questions
Q1) Venus' full phase occurs when Venus is at:
A) opposition.
B) the deferent.
C) conjunction.
D) inferior conjunction.
E) superior conjunction.
Q2) The Russian ________ probes are the only ones to successfully land on Venus.
Q3) In the time between two closest approaches to Earth,Venus rotates almost exactly five times relative to the Sun.The consequence of this is that:
A) Earth always presents the same face to Venus at inferior conjunction.
B) Venus always presents the same face to Earth at inferior conjunction.
C) Venus presents the opposite hemisphere to Earth at each inferior conjunction.
D) Venus presents the opposite hemisphere to Earth at each superior conjunction.
E) Venus' rotation is completely unrelated to the distant Earth.
Q4) What is the primary effect that the carbon dioxide in Venus' atmosphere has on the planet?
Q5) Carbon dioxide is the predominant atmospheric gas on Venus.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Contrast the compositions and heights of the clouds of Earth and Venus.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: Mars: A Near Miss for Life?
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Sample Questions
Q1) Valles Marineris is the most striking example of a(n):
A) impact crater.
B) shield volcano.
C) oceanic trench.
D) rift valley.
E) scarp.
Q2) The density of Mars is very similar to that of the other terrestrial planets. A)True
B)False
Q3) Why do we know much more about the surface of Mars than that of Venus?
Q4) The Earth's orbital eccentricity does not play a major role in our seasons,for perihelion occurs in January.Is this true on Mars also?
Q5) Mars is often called a "midway world," similar in some respects to Earth,and in others to our Moon.Explain.
Q6) The surface of Mars is surprisingly smooth and featureless. A)True
B)False
Q7) Mars appears red due to ________ on its surface.
Q8) How can Mars,a planet with so little atmosphere,have so much wind?
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Chapter 11: Jupiter: Giant of the Solar System
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Q1) Jupiter is noticeably oblate because:
A) it has a strong magnetic field.
B) it has such powerful gravity.
C) it rotates rapidly.
D) it undergoes a gravitational attraction from each of its various moons.
E) it has a mantle of liquid metallic hydrogen.
Q2) Where is Jupiter's ring located? What is it made of,and why?
Q3) Contrast the compositions of Jupiter's belts and zones.
Q4) Jupiter has twice the mass of all the other planets combined.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The only spacecraft to go into orbit around Jupiter was:
A) Voyager 2.
B) Pioneer 10.
C) Cassini.
D) Galileo.
E) Viking I.
Q6) The large moons of Jupiter have low densities suggesting compositions that are a mixture of rocky materials and ________.
Q7) Contrast the sources of Jupiter's and the Earth's internal energy flows.
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Chapter 12: Saturn: Spectacular Rings and Mysterious
Moons
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Sample Questions
Q1) Saturn's rings are edge-on and vanish when it is at:
A) opposition.
B) conjunction with the Sun.
C) greatest elongation.
D) equinox.
E) solstice.
Q2) Contrast the probes dispatched by Galileo and Cassini in destinations.
Q3) Why does the atmosphere of Saturn appear to have only half the helium content of Jupiter?
A) Because Saturn is so much colder, helium does not show up as strongly in its spectrum.
B) Saturn was formed farther from the helium rich Sun.
C) A red dwarf, Jupiter has fused some of its hydrogen into helium, whereas Saturn, a colder planet, has not.
D) Much of Saturn's helium has differentiated towards its center.
E) Much of Saturn's helium has reacted with water and formed helium oxide.
Q4) How is Mimas responsible for the Cassini Division?
Q5) Contrast Saturn's moon Titan with Earth's Moon.
Q7) What is a planet's Roche limit? Page 14
Q6) Relate differentiation to Saturn's excess internal heat.
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Chapter 13: Uranus and Neptune: The Outer Worlds of the Solar System
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Q1) The rotation period of Uranus was measured through:
A) observations of the motions of its satellites.
B) observations of the features on its cloud surface.
C) observations of radio signals associated with its magnetosphere.
D) observations of its motion around the Sun.
E) observations of Neptune's motion around the Sun.
Q2) Uranus' large axial tilt is thought to be the result of:
A) the same orbital irregularities that led to the discovery of Neptune.
B) a single collision or impact event early in the solar system's history.
C) the captures of one or more of Uranus' moons.
D) giant planet migration.
E) multiple catastrophic events, such as glancing collisions.
Q3) Small deviations in a planet's orbital motion:
A) show we don't fully understand gravitational forces yet.
B) indicate the presence of an extensive atmosphere.
C) indicate the presence of a powerful magnetic field.
D) imply the nearby presence of a massive body.
E) show the planet's orbit isn't stable.
Q4) Explain why the two outermost gas giant planets,Uranus and Neptune,appear so different from the innermost gas giant planets Saturn and Jupiter.
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Chapter 14: Solar System Debris: Keys to Our Origin
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Q1) What are the Kirkwood Gaps? What role does Jupiter play?
Q2) Most asteroids are differentiated,as reflected by their spherical shapes.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The Trojan asteroids have orbits that:
A) are, on average, closer to the Sun than we are.
B) cross the orbit of Earth at perihelion.
C) cross the orbit of Mars, but not Earth, at perihelion.
D) stay sixty degrees ahead of or behind Jupiter.
E) stay out beyond Neptune.
Q4) Iron meteorites are believed to come from:
A) the core of a dense M-type asteroid, now broken up.
B) Mars, hence their reddish color.
C) the crust of a differentiated type C asteroid, now broken up.
D) a broken up cometary nucleus, hence their shiny appearance.
E) deep space, far beyond the solar system, hence their unique crystal patterns.
Q5) Based on its orbit,give two reasons to revoke Pluto's planetary status.
Q6) What arguments are cited for the existence of the Oort Cloud of comets?
Q7) What role did Percival Lowell play that led to the discovery and naming of Pluto?
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Chapter 15: Exoplanets: Planetary Systems Beyond Our Own
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Q1) Hot Jupiters have ________ period orbits.
Q2) Super-Earths are earthlike planets where life is possible.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Most extrasolar planets are hot Jupiters,discovered in the infrared by the Spitzer Space telescope.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Hot Jupiters are thought to have moved closer to their parent star than where they originated due to:
A) gravitational interactions with the gas disk.
B) magnetic attraction to the parent star.
C) interactions with another star.
D) large impacts.
E) many small impacts.
Q5) Why are Earths and super-Earths in the habitable zones of their stars of special interest?
Q6) ________ in the early solar system might explain many of the observed irregularities.
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Q7) The ________ theory is thought to explain the formation of our solar system.
Chapter 16: The Sun: Our Parent Star
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Q1) Which of these are NOT associated with the active Sun?
A) sunspots
B) prominences
C) granulation
D) flares
E) aurora
Q2) Large circulation patterns in the Sun,dubbed "Conveyor Belts," transport material from the equator to the poles,then back to the equator at a depth of 300,000 km,take how long to complete a cycle?
A) Less than a day
B) A few years
C) A few decades
D) A few centuries
E) Tens of millions of years, comparable to the convection cycle in Earth's mantle
Q3) In the proton-proton cycle,two positrons are produced.What are they similar to,and how are the different? What happens to them?
Q4) The sunspot cycle is sometimes described as lasting 11 years,but others prefer to consider it as 22 years; explain the rationale.
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Chapter 17: The Stars: Giants,Dwarfs,and the Main Sequence
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Q1) What is the typical main sequence lifetime of a G-type star?
A) 10 million years
B) 100 million years
C) 1 billion years
D) 10 billion years
E) 100 billion years
Q2) Star A is a main sequence star of spectral type F2 and star B is a white dwarf of spectral type B4.Which statement below is correct?
A) Star A appears brighter than star B.
B) Star B appears brighter than star A.
C) Star A is hotter than star B.
D) Star B is hotter than star A.
E) None of the above can be said about these two stars.
Q3) All classes of binary stars yield the basic information on stellar ________.
Q4) Explain how the shifting spectral lines of spectroscopic binaries let us find their periods.
Q5) How can the color index give the star's temperature?
Q6) For luminosity classification,fat stars have skinny spectral lines.
A)True
B)False Page 20
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Chapter 18: The Interstellar Medium: Gas and Dust among the Stars
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Q1) The H I regions are mapped by the radiation created when an electron flips its spin.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Why are dark dust clouds largely misnamed?
A) The cloud is an illusion, for the dust is evenly distributed around the Galaxy.
B) Dust clouds do radiate energy, but not as much light as the stars do.
C) It is ice, not dust, which make them look dark.
D) They contain much more gas than dust.
E) All of the above are correct.
Q3) How does emission of long wavelength radio radiation from neutral hydrogen help us overcome the shortcomings of visible light in mapping out distant parts of our galaxy?
Q4) In which wavelengths have the births of new stars been best mapped recently?
A) gamma rays
B) extreme ultraviolet
C) infrared
D) microwave
E) radio
22
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Chapter 19: Star Formation: A Traumatic Birth
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Q1) A protostar of 20 solar masses will probably turn into a type O main sequence star.
A)True
B)False
Q2) During the Kelvin-Helmholtz contraction phase,a protostar has a much ________ brightness as compared to the Sun.
Q3) 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.
Q4) Why are brown dwarfs difficult to detect? Why have we had recent successes?
Q5) A newly formed protostar will radiate primarily at which wavelength?
A) visible light
B) X-ray
C) infrared
D) ultraviolet
E) radio
Q6) What factors can complicate the collapse of an interstellar cloud into a star?
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Chapter 20: Stellar Evolution: The Life and Death of a Star
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Q1) What inevitably forces a star like the Sun to evolve away from being a main sequence star?
A) The core begins fusing iron.
B) The star uses up all its supply of hydrogen.
C) The carbon detonation explodes it as a type I supernova.
D) Helium builds up in the core, while the hydrogen burning shell expands.
E) The core loses all its neutrinos, so all fusion ceases.
Q2) Modern astronomers have observed the complete life cycle for many stars,making stellar evolution one of the best-tested astronomical theories.
A)True
B)False
Q3) While more massive than most of its neighbors,the Sun is still technically a low mass star.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Eventually,all low mass stars will become white,then black,dwarfs.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe the helium flash and why it occurs.
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Chapter 21: Stellar Explosions: Novae,Supernovae,and
Formation of the Elements
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Q1) Where was supernova 1987a located?
A) in the Orion Nebula, M-42
B) in Sagittarius, near the Galactic Nucleus
C) in our companion galaxy, the Large Magellanic Cloud
D) in M-13, one of the closest of the evolved globular clusters
E) near the core of M-31, the Andromeda Galaxy
Q2) Why should the youngest stars be made of the heaviest elements?
Q3) Novae always occur in a close binary star system.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A recurring nova could eventually explode as a Type I supernova.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Type I supernovae result from ________ stars which have accreted sufficient additional mass via mass transfer from a close binary companion.
Q6) Why does iron formation cause a high mass star to "have a heart attack"?
Q7) What would be most likely to disrupt the normal evolution of a star? Give examples of this.
Q8) How are elements heavier than iron made? Why are they rare? Page 25
Q9) What do X-ray observations tell us about conditions around a potential nova?
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Chapter 22: Neutron Stars and Black Holes: Strange States of Matter
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Q1) 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.
Q2) Almost half of all known millisecond pulsars are found in what type of object?
A) giant molecular clouds
B) open clusters
C) globular clusters
D) emission nebulae
E) supernova remnants
Q3) All neutron stars are pulsars,but not all pulsars are neutron stars.
A)True
B)False
Q4) How can detection and study of gravitational waves enhance our understanding of the universe?
Q5) Contrast a hypernova and a type II supernova.
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Chapter 23: The Milky Way Galaxy: A Spiral in Space
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Q1) How old is the Galaxy? How do we know this?
Q2) Which of the following is most like the rotation of stars in the disk of the Milky Way?
A) a DVD in a player
B) the planets in our solar system
C) cars moving at a constant speed on a circular race track
D) the hands of an analog clock
E) the tire of a car moving
Q3) The center of the Milky Way lies in the direction of the constellation Cygnus.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The Harvard College Observatory Computers from c.1880 into the early 20th century were:
A) the first digital computers.
B) not much different than cash registers.
C) functionally similar to the modern 4- function calculator.
D) a group of women who made important contributions to astronomy.
E) mechanically operated adding machines.
Q5) Of what is the galactic halo presumed to be composed? What evidence supports this conclusion?
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Chapter 24: Galaxies: Building Blocks of the Universe
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Q1) Most galaxies are members of some sort of cluster of galaxies.
A)True
B)False
Q2) That quasars were at cosmological distances yet appeared like ordinary faint stars meant:
A) they were the brightest stars ever observed.
B) they must be very large.
C) they must contain many O and B type stars.
D) they must be producing such large quantities of energy than even fusion could not explain their output.
E) they must be very small, but bright due to gravitational lensing.
Q3) Why do astronomers speak in terms of redshifts rather than distances to faraway objects?
Q4) Why is light variability a critical issue with the sizes of active nuclei?
Q5) The quasars with the largest presently known redshifts are close to:
A) 0.96.
B) 3.
C) 8.
D) 20.
E) 65.
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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) All of the following are clusters of galaxies EXCEPT:
A) Andromeda.
B) Perseus.
C) Coma.
D) Virgo.
E) Hydra.
Q3) Infall of ________ may explain the higher than expected star formation rates in galaxies.
Q4) Based on galactic rotation curves and cluster dynamics,we think dark matter:
A) is a minor component of the entire mass of the universe.
B) is best detected from the X-rays it produces in the intergalactic medium.
C) will have no effect on the fate of the universe.
D) comprises over 90% of the entire mass of the universe.
E) will doom the universe to collapse, overcoming the redshifts we now observe.
Q5) The extended sheet of galaxies that spans 70 Mpc × 200 Mpc and includes about 24,000 galaxies is called the ________.
Q7) Why do we believe galaxy clusters are rich in dark matter? Page 30
Q6) How can some mergers activate spirals,and others destroy them?
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Chapter 26: Cosmology: The Big Bang and the Fate of the Universe
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Sample Questions
Q1) At present the universe is expanding,but we are not certain if this expansion will continue forever,come to a stop,or if the universe will ultimately collapse back into itself.What observational tests are possible to test among these three possibilities?
Q2) The Hubble time is expressed as:
A) H × D.
B) D/v.
C) 1/H.
D) H × T.
E) the critical density/H.
Q3) Olber's Paradox is solved in part by the fact that the universe is neither infinitely large nor infinitely old.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Einstein's ________ is a candidate for the dark energy that would be a repulsive force that may exist throughout space,and accelerate the expansion of the universe.
Q5) What is the study of cosmology?
Q6) State the cosmological principle.
Q7) What is the cosmic microwave background,and why is it significant?
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Chapter 27: The Early Universe: Toward the Beginning of Time
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Sample Questions
Q1) Gravity becomes separate from the other forces at the:
A) decoupling Event, about a million years after the Big Bang.
B) end of the Planck Era, about 10 ³ seconds after the Big Bang.
C) end of the Inflationary Epoch, about 10 ³² seconds into creation.
D) beginning of particle production, about .0001 seconds into the universe.
E) end of electron production, about a minute after creation.
Q2) The density of the cosmos at the end of the lepton epoch was comparable to iron,about ten times denser than water.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Before the Planck time of 10 ³ seconds,the Big Bang must be treated as a singularity,with even general relativity yielding no information about it.
A)True
B)False
Q4) How could the distance measurements based on white dwarf supernovae be independently validated (or invalidated)?
Q5) Describe the separation of the superforce and the effect it had on the Universe.
Page 33
Q6) The universe was ________ old when electrons and positrons formed.
Q7) What are the important relics of the quark epoch? Why?
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Chapter
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Sample Questions
Q1) For which of these forms of life is it hardest to apply present criteria for life,based on its behavior when isolated?
A) a bacterial spore
B) a plant seed
C) a virus
D) a fungus spore
E) a slime mold
Q2) Which class of stars probably has too small a habitable zone for life to arise?
Q3) Each factor in the Drake Equation has a well-known,established value.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The famed meteorite with carbonate rocks and possible microfossils came from: A) Venus.
B) the Moon.
C) Mars.
D) Europa.
E) Comet Halley.
Q5) The radio signals from Earth are greater than from the Sun. A)True
B)False
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