Introduction to Astronomy Final
Exam Questions
Course
Introduction
Introduction to Astronomy offers a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts and discoveries in the field of astronomy. The course explores the origin and structure of the universe, the solar system, stars, galaxies, and celestial phenomena. Students will learn about the scientific method as applied to astronomical observations, tools and techniques used by astronomers, and the historical context of major astronomical advances. Throughout the course, emphasis is placed on understanding our place in the cosmos and the ongoing exploration of outer space, providing a solid foundation for further study in the physical sciences.
Recommended Textbook
Life in the Universe 4th Edition by Jeffrey O. Bennett
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13 Chapters
1172 Verified Questions
1172 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: A Universe of Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) Astronomy has shown us that the fundamental laws of physics are
A) the same everywhere in the universe
B) the same in our solar system but different beyond the solar system
C) completely random and unpredictable
D) different on other planets in our solar system
Answer: A
Q2) The fact that the life on Earth seems to have appeared quite rapidly suggests that life
A) can arise on most habitable worlds
B) can only appear soon after a planet forms
C) on any kind of planet is inevitable
D) is only possible on Earth-like planets
Answer: A
Q3) At its most fundamental level, the goal of astrobiology is to
A) discover the connection between life and the places it is found
B) find how life on Earth originated
C) find life beyond the Earth
D) understand the biological makeup of other life forms
Answer: A
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Page 3
Chapter 2: The Science of Life in the Universe
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73 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Copernicus
A) provided strong observational evidence that the Earth moved about the Sun
B) proved that the orbital shapes of the planets were ellipses and not circles
C) was the first person to suggest the Earth moved around the Sun
D) revived Aristarchus's suggestion of a Sun-centered solar system and described it mathematically
Answer: D
Q2) In the scientific method a hypothesis is another name for
A) an observation
B) an educated guess
C) a test
D) a theory
Answer: B
Q3) The astronomical object in our sky which plays the most fundamental role in our lives is the
A) Sun
B) Moon
C) nearest star
D) most massive planet in our solar system, Jupiter
Answer: A
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Chapter 3: The Universal Context of Life
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Sample Questions
Q1) According to current theories, the universe appears to be made
A) of dark matter
B) of dark energy
C) mostly of ordinary matter in the form of stars and galaxies
D) of an equal mixture of dark matter and dark energy
Answer: B
Q2) Out immediately beyond the orbit of the planet Neptune we find
A) Orion's belt
B) the asteroid belt
C) the Kuiper belt
D) the Oort cloud
Answer: C
Q3) Which of the following places the structures in our own part of the universe in order of increasing (smallest to largest) scale?
A) Solar System, Local Group, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Supercluster
B) Local Supercluster, Local Group, Milky Way Galaxy, Solar System
C) Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Supercluster, Local Group
D) Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Local Supercluster
Answer: D
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Page 5
Chapter 4: The Habitability of Earth
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149 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A radioactive isotope is
A) an unstable nucleus that gives off radio waves
B) a nucleus that formed from the fusion of two other nuclei
C) a stable nucleus that is formed from the fission of a large unstable nucleus
D) an unstable nucleus that spontaneously breaks apart
Q2) What do we mean by the half-life of a radioactive isotope?
A) it is the amount of time a person can be exposed to radiation without getting sick
B) it is the time for half the number of radioactive nuclei to become stable nuclei
C) it is the amount of time for half of the nuclei to become radioactive
D) it is the time for half the number of radioactive nuclei to decay
Q3) A sterilizing impact is one during which
A) all life on a planet is completely destroyed
B) most life on the surface of a planet is destroyed but life in the oceans or beneath the surface might survive
C) a planet is fragmented into pieces
D) life on a planet is rendered incapable of reproduction
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Chapter 5: The Nature of Life on Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) A chemoheterotroph gets is energy from
A) chemical reactions and its carbon from its environment
B) the Sun and its carbon from its environment
C) chemical reactions and its carbon from other organisms
D) the Sun and its carbon from other organisms
Q2) The "words" that make up the genetic code contain how many letters?
A) 4
B) 20
C) 5
D) 3
Q3) Most of the oxygen in living cells is found in
A) carbohydrates
B) water
C) lipids
D) proteins
Q4) Instead of thymine, RNA uses the nucleotide base
A) guanine
B) uracil
C) adenine
D) cytosine
Page 7
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Chapter 6: The Origin and Evolution of Life on Earth
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Sample Questions
Q1) Approximately how long ago did the dinosaurs suddenly become extinct?
A) 6 million years ago
B) 65 million years ago
C) 245 million years ago
D) 10,000 years ago
Q2) Stromatolites date back to approximately
A) 4.6 billion years ago
B) 3.5 billion years ago
C) 3.85 billion years ago
D) 4.0 billion years ago
Q3) The first living organisms interacted with the atmosphere
A) sexually
B) symbiotically
C) aerobically
D) anaerobically
Q4) The most well-known impact crater in North America is
A) Crater Lake in Oregon
B) Meteor Crater in Arizona
C) Great Crater in Iowa
D) Odessa Crater in Texas
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Searching for Life in Our Solar System
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60 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) If life exists on Mars today, it will most likely be found
A) on the surface
B) at the center of the planet
C) beneath the surface where liquid water may still exist
D) floating high in the atmosphere
Q2) Based on its distance from the Sun, we would expect the surface of Venus to be
A) much hotter than the Earth
B) much colder than the Earth
C) a little hotter than the Earth
D) the same temperature as the Earth
Q3) The Huygens probe is an example of which kind of robotic spacecraft?
A) orbiter
B) sample return
C) lander
D) flyby
Q4) Voyagers 1 and 2 were examples of which kind of space mission?
A) flyby
B) orbiter
C) sample return
D) lander/probe
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Mars
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are the relative ages of the heavily cratered Southern highlands and the smooth Northern plains of Mars?
A) the highlands and the plains are the same age
B) it is impossible to tell unless we know the specific geological processes that occurred in each hemisphere
C) the plains are older than the highlands
D) the highlands are older than the plains
Q2) Why was the Martian meteorite ALH84001 singled out for intense study?
A) it is the only Martian meteorite that has even been discovered
B) the meteorite appeared to be giving off methane gas
C) it is a very young rock originating from the Tharsis region
D) it is a very old rock, dating back from the time when Mars probably had liquid water on its surface
Q3) What field of science are the experiments on the two Mars Rovers Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity most closely related to?
A) physics
B) biology
C) geology
D) astronomy
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Page 10
Chapter 9: Life on Jovian Moons
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Sample Questions
Q1) The first Jovian moons were discovered by
A) Galileo
B) Tycho
C) Huygens
D) Cassini
Q2) In addition to being the second-largest moon in the solar system, Saturn's moon Titan, is
A) the only moon to have its own internal magnetic field
B) the only moon to have its own atmosphere
C) more geologically active than the Earth
D) the only moon to show evidence for a subsurface ocean of water
Q3) How do the surface temperatures and pressures on Titan compare to those on the Earth?
A) higher temperatures and higher pressures
B) lower temperatures and lower pressures
C) higher temperatures and lower pressures
D) lower temperatures and higher pressures
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11
Chapter 10: The Nature and Evolution of Habitability
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Sample Questions
Q1) Venus is located
A) near the outer boundary of the Sun's habitable zone
B) in the middle of the Sun's habitable zone
C) near the inner boundary of the Sun's habitable zone
D) outside the Sun's habitable zone
Q2) If Venus had the same atmosphere as the Earth, it would
A) only be slightly warmer
B) be at exactly the same temperature
C) be very much warmer
D) be slightly colder
Q3) The Moon is in the habitable zone of the Sun at the same distance as the Earth but is not habitable. How can this be?
A) the Moon did have water on its surface in the past, but it was destroyed by high-energy particles from the Sun
B) the Moon has never had water on its surface at any time
C) the Moon is too small to retain an atmosphere necessary for liquid water to be stable
D) the Moon did have water on its surface in the past, but it was blasted off the surface by impacts
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Chapter 11: Extrasolar Planets: Their Nature and Potential
Habitability
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100 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) All stars on the main sequence
A) are in the process of forming
B) are mature stars that are fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores
C) are dead stars
D) have exhausted their nuclear fuel and are in the process of dying
Q2) Solar-type stars in our galaxy are
A) very common, making up about 50% of the total
B) very rare (less than 1%)
C) fairly common (several percent)
D) the most common type of stars in our galaxy (75% or more)
Q3) When high-mass stars dies, they explode as supernovae, leaving behind a
A) white dwarf
B) neutron star or black hole
C) brown dwarf
D) red dwarf
Q4) Red giants
A) are mature stars that are fusing hydrogen into helium in their cores
B) are dead stars
C) have exhausted their nuclear fuel and are in the process of dying
D) are in the process of forming
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Chapter 12: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence
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75 Verified Questions
75 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which type of electromagnetic radiation is able to carry the most information?
A) gamma rays
B) microwaves
C) all types have equal ability
D) radio waves
Q2) Encephalization Quotient (EQ) values can be estimated for extinct species because A) there is a linear relationship between the EQ and time, thus allowing extrapolation
B) extinct species always have the same EQ value
C) we can estimate their body masses from their fossilized remains and their brain masses from the sizes of their fossilized cranial cavities
D) we can always find similar species in existence today to make measurements of
Q3) The fact that Encephalization Quotients (EQs) of organisms have generally increased with time provides evidence for
A) cross-breeding between organisms
B) artificial selection
C) genetic mutations
D) convergent evolution toward intelligence
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14
Chapter 13: Interstellar Travel and the Fermi Paradox
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Sample Questions
Q1) If we accelerate a radioactive isotope of an element in a particle accelerator to a speed close to that of light, what would its observed rate of decay be compared to its rate of decay at rest?
A) faster
B) slower
C) infinite
D) zero
Q2) Which of the following is a difficulty associated with interstellar travel?
A) all three are difficulties
B) the speed of light being the fastest possible speed we can travel
C) the enormous amount of energy required to accelerate any ship to high speed
D) the huge distances between the stars
Q3) Which type of spacecraft does not need to carry any fuel?
A) nuclear rockets
B) ion engines
C) solar sails
D) chemical rockets
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