Introductory Astronomy Test Bank
Course Introduction
Introductory Astronomy offers a comprehensive overview of the fundamental concepts and discoveries in astronomy, exploring topics such as the structure and scale of the universe, the solar system, stars, galaxies, and cosmology. The course introduces students to the methods astronomers use to observe and interpret celestial phenomena while emphasizing the scientific principles underlying the origin and evolution of astronomical objects. Through lectures, discussions, and hands-on activities, students gain an appreciation for the dynamic and ever-changing nature of the universe and develop critical skills in scientific observation and reasoning.
Recommended Textbook
HorizonsExploring the Universe 14th Edition by Michael A. Seeds
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20 Chapters
2483 Verified Questions
2483 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Here and Now
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97 Verified Questions
97 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Draw a schematic (not to scale) diagram showing the Sun, the Earth circling around it, and the other seven planets with labels for each orbit.
Answer: Diagram should show the Sun and the eight planets in order: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
Q2) The Sun is a star in the Milky Way Galaxy.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) Assume the size of the Sun is represented by a baseball with the Earth is about 15 meters (150 million km or 8 light minutes) away. How far away, to scale, would the nearest stars to the Sun be Choose the closest answer.
A)about the distance between New York and Boston (330 km)
B)100 meters away
C)about the distance across the United States from New York to Los Angeles (4300 km)
D)about the distance across 50 football fields (50 × 100 m)
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: A Users Guide to the Sky
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116 Verified Questions
116 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) If you were standing on the Earth's equator, which of the following in the sky would pass through your zenith during the entire day (24 hours)
A)the north celestial pole
B)the south celestial pole
C)the celestial equator
D)the nadir
Answer: C
Q2) If you are at the South Pole and are standing straight then your head points up to nadir and your feet point down to zenith.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The apparent visual magnitude difference between two stars is 10 and thus the approximate intensity ratio is 10,000.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Less formally defined groupings of stars are called __________________. Answer: asterisms
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Chapter 3: Cycles of the Sun and Moon
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154 Verified Questions
154 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) A dime is 1.8 cm in diameter. At what distance from your eye would you have to hold a dime so that it has the same angular diameter as the full Moon
A)2 m
B)2 cm
C)2 km
D)2 inches
E)2 ft
Answer: A
Q2) In which direction does the daily motion of the Moon occur in the sky, against the background stars, when viewed from the Earth
A)toward the west
B)toward the east
C)toward the north celestial pole in the summer and the south celestial pole in the winter
D)No predictable pattern can be discerned.
Answer: B
Q3) The __________ is the region of total shadow.
Answer: umbra
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5
Chapter 4: The Origin of Modern Astronomy
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144 Verified Questions
144 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why does Ptolemy include epicycles in his model
Q2) The law of gravitation is termed universal because it is a property of all material objects.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Newton's law of gravitational force is expressed as follows:
A)An object with no force on it moves in a straight line with constant velocity.
B)An object with a force on it is accelerated in the direction of the force an amount inversely proportional to its mass and directly proportional to the size of the force.
C)For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.
D)The force between two objects is directly proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the distance between them squared.
Q4) The Ptolemaic model of the universe was heliocentric.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Uranus's orbital period is 84 years. How far is Uranus from the Sun
Q6) If Copernicus overthrew the geocentric universe, what did Kepler overthrow
Q7) What are Newton's three laws of motion
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Light and Telescopes
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156 Verified Questions
156 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) X-rays easily penetrate Earth's atmosphere and reach the ground from space.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Resolving power refers to the ability of a telescope to resolve fine detail.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Long wavelength visible light
A)will have a greater energy than short wavelength visible light.
B)will have a speed that is faster than short wavelength light.
C)has a higher frequency than short wavelength visible light.
D)will appear blue in color to the average human eye.
E)will appear red in color to the average human eye.
Q4) A(n) ____________________ telescope has an objective that is a lens.
Q5) Cosmic rays are electromagnetic radiation.
A)True
B)False
Q6) A particle of light is called a ________________.
Q7) The colors of the rainbow from shortest to longest wavelength are
7
Q8) How do electronic cameras resemble photographic plates How do they differ
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Chapter 6: Atoms and Spectra
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125 Verified Questions
125 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________________ is a measure of the amount of energy due to the motion of the particles in a gas, liquid, or solid.
Q2) Blue stars are hotter than red stars.
A)True
B)False
Q3) One star has a temperature of 10,000 K and another star has a temperature of 5,000
K. Compared to the cooler star, how much more energy per second will the hotter star radiate from each square meter of its surface
A)16 times
B)2 times
C)\(1 × 10^{16}\) times
D)625 times
E)25 times
Q4) Which property does color best represent
A)velocity
B)thermal energy
C)temperature
D)heat
Q5) Electrons in an atom are attracted to the nucleus by the _______________ force.
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Chapter 7: The Sun
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146 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) When four hydrogen nuclei fuse to make helium, a small amount of matter is lost. What is the mass difference and energy generated The mass of hydrogen and helium nuclei are\(9 1.67 × 10^{-27}\) kg and \(6.646 × 10^{-27}\) kg, respectively.
A)\(0.034 × 10^{-27}\) kg, \(3 × 10^{-12}\) J
B)\(0.022 × 10^{-27}\) kg, \(2 × 10^{-12 }\)J
C)\(0.068 × 10^{-27}\) kg, \(6 × 10^{-12}\) J
D)\(0.011 × 10^{-27}\) kg, \(1 × 10^{-12} \)J
Q2) Why does a filtergram reveal details in higher layers of the solar atmosphere
Q3) The centers of granules
A)are hot material rising to the photosphere from below.
B)are cool material falling from the photosphere to the regions below.
C)are fainter and hotter than their surroundings.
D)are brighter and cooler than their surroundings.
E)show strong Zeeman effects.
Q4) The above image of the Sun was taken using a filtergram.
A)True
B)False
Q5) A filtergram is used to study layers below the photosphere.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 8: The Family of Stars
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190 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The absorption lines in the infrared portion of the spectrum of a star that are produced by hydrogen are from the
A)Lyman series.
B)Balmer series.
C)Paschen series.
D)isotopes of hydrogen.
E)ions of hydrogen.
Q2) The amount of light received at Earth from a star is called luminosity.
A)True
B)False
Q3) How can we tell that some stars are relatively close to us in the sky
A)Some stars are occasionally eclipsed by the Moon, so they must be nearby.
B)Some stars vary in brightness caused by sunspots we can see because they are so close.
C)Some stars appear to be extremely bright and must therefore be very close to us.
D)Some stars appear to move periodically back and forth against the background stars because of Earth's movement around the Sun.
Q4) In a/an ____________ binary, the orbits of both stars can be mapped.
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Page 10
Chapter 9: The Formation and Structure of Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) The densest, coldest clouds are called _____________.
A)reflection nebula
B)dark nebula
C)Bok globules
D)molecular clouds
Q2) ____________________ is the resistance of a gas to the flow of radiation.
Q3) What causes the outward pressure that balances the inward pull of gravity in a star
A)the outward flow of energy
B)the opacity of the gas
C)the temperature of the gas
D)the density of the gas
E)the temperature and the density of the gas
Q4) The youngest stars in the Orion Nebula and other star-forming regions also show
A)circumstellar disks.
B)jets.
C)circumstellar disks and jets.
Q5) The Sun has a core in which energy travels outward primarily by radiation.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 10: The Deaths of Stars
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127 Verified Questions
127 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ___________ clusters are compact, round, and red, containing mostly old stars.
Q2) The age of a star cluster can be determined from the ____________________ of the cluster.
Q3) If white dwarfs have exhausted their fuel, why are they hot
Q4) Once a star ejects a planetary nebula, it becomes a white dwarf.
A)True B)False
Q5) If the Sun and stars are supported by gas pressure, what supports a white dwarf
Q6) Why does a helium flash occur under some circumstances and not under other circumstances when helium fusion begins
Q7) The Helix and Egg nebulae which originated from (what are today) white dwarf stars are
A)supernova remnants.
B)planetary nebulae.
C)the result of uranium detonation.
D)the result of the collapse of the iron core of each star. E)nebulae associated with protostars.
Q8) The helium core flash occurs in very high mass stars. A)True B)False
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Chapter 11: Neutron Stars and Black Holes
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99 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) The ____________________ of a black hole is the radius from the black hole at which the escape velocity is equal to the speed of light.
Q2) If the accretion disk around a black hole emits X-rays outside the event horizon, the X-rays can escape.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Order the following from most to least dense:
A)black hole, neutron star, white dwarf
B)white dwarf, neutron star, black hole
C)black hole, white dwarf, neutron star
D)neutron star, white dwarf, black hole
Q4) Theory predicts that neutron stars may not exceed 3 solar masses.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Pulsars could not be ordinary stars that are pulsating because the pulses are too short.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How are neutron stars and white dwarfs similar
Page 13
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Chapter 12: The Milky Way Galaxy
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117 Verified Questions
117 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) ___________ in other galaxies should contain luminous O and B stars if they are like the Milky Way.
A)The halos
B)The bulges
C)The spiral arms
D)The globular clusters
E)The coronas
Q2) The density wave theory explains spurs and branches along the spiral arms.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which stellar population has highly elliptical orbits
A)Pop I extreme
B)Pop I intermediate
C)Pop II intermediate
D)Pop II extreme
Q4) The disk of the galaxy is older than the halo.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Henrietta Leavitt discovered the period-luminosity relationship for
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Chapter 13: Galaxies: Normal and Active
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151 Verified Questions
151 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Starburst galaxies
A)contain a large number of very young stars, but very little evidence of gas clouds.
B)contain a large number of very old stars and almost no gas or dust.
C)are often associated with a galaxy that is colliding with another galaxy.
D)are common in rich clusters.
E)are composed of filaments and voids.
Q2) ___________ have elongated nuclei with spiral structure extending from the ends of the elongations. The Milky Way is a member of this class of galaxy.
A)Spiral galaxies
B)Barred spiral galaxies
C)Elliptical galaxies
D)Irregular galaxies
E)S0 galaxies
Q3) Active galaxies are thought to have _______ in their centers.
A)accretion disks
B)massive black holes
C)accretion disks and massive black holes
D)the Local Group
E)a cluster of galaxies
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Chapter 14: Modern Cosmology
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112 Verified Questions
112 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following types of Universe has no center and no edge
A)closed
B)flat
C)open
D)All of the other choices are correct.
Q2) A center or an edge of the Universe would be a special place, contradicting the cosmological principle.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Whether the Universe is open, closed or flat depends, on the ___________ of the Universe.
A)luminosity
B)density
C)temperature
D)radius
E)rotation rate
Q4) Even if the Universe has no edge, it has a center.
A)True
B)False
Q5) How do we know there was a big bang
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Chapter 15: The Origin of the Solar System
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108 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) Accretion is
A)the adding of material to an object an atom or molecule at a time.
B)the adding of material to an object by collection of solid particles.
C)the release of gas from rocks as they are heated.
D)the largest of the Galilean satellites.
E)caused by the bombardment of the solar wind.
Q2) Protoplanets
A)grew in size primarily by accretion.
B)grew in size primarily by condensation.
C)are still visible today as the terrestrial planets.
D)grew in size by collecting the particles in the solar wind.
E)grew in size by the collision and coalescing of planetesimals.
Q3) All planets rotate in the counterclockwise direction as seen from the north.
A)True
B)False
Q4) A meteoroid, meteor, and meteorite could come from the same celestial body.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe four effects that helped to clear the solar nebula.
Q6) List and describe four differences between Jovians and Terrestrials.
Page 17
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Chapter 16: Earth and Moon: Bases for Comparative Planetology
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Sample Questions
Q1) Why is volcanism associated with regions where one plate descends below another plate
Q2) Life is present on Earth because of oxygen.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the condensation theory of the Moon's origin,
A)the Moon broke from a rapidly spinning Earth.
B)Earth and its Moon formed from the same cloud of matter.
C)the Moon formed elsewhere in the solar nebula and was later captured by Earth.
D)the Moon formed when a very massive planetesimal smashed into the young Earth.
Q4) Why is the ozone layer in Earth's atmosphere important to life on its surface
Q5) On the Moon, the maria have fewer craters than the highlands.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Earth's magnetic field has reversed itself.
A)True
B)False
Page 18
Q7) The oldest parts of Earth's crust are located along the mid-ocean rifts.
A)True
B)False
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Page 19
Chapter 17: Mercury, Venus, and Mars
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Sample Questions
Q1) Lobate scarps are only found on Mercury
A)True
B)False
Q2) Which of the following supports the idea that the Martian crust is not divided into moving plates like those on Earth
I.the size of Olympus Mons
II.the lack of folded mountain chains
III.the lack of rift valleys outlining entire plates
IV.the presence of dry river beds and sea floors
A)I & II
B)II & III
C)II, III & IV
D)I, II, & III
E)I, II, III, & IV
Q3) Besides Earth, which of the terrestrial planets and/or their satellites show(s) evidence for the possible existence of liquid water flowing on its surface in the past
Q4) What is the difference between volcanism on Venus and that around the ring of fire on Earth
Q5) Discuss the evidence we have that the surface of Venus is marked by volcanism.
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Chapter 18: The Outer Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) Jupiter's ring is composed of particles of frozen ice.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Discuss the ring particles orbiting Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune.
Q3) The fresh, newly created surfaces of icy satellites of Jovian planets
A)appear dark in color with few impact craters.
B)appear dark in color with many impact craters.
C)appear very bright because fresh ice is very reflective.
D)generally show long bright grooves and a modest number of impact craters.
E)generally have small volcanoes that are active.
Q4) Jupiter's ______________ and ______________ are the ingredients needed to generate its very large magnetic field.
Q5) Which planet is shown in the image above that combines both visual and infrared data
A)Jupiter
B)Saturn
C)Uranus
D)Neptune
Q6) What evidence do we have that volcanism occurs on Io
Q7) Why are the belts and zones on Saturn less distinct than those on Jupiter
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Chapter 19: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets
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Sample Questions
Q1) What physical processes have led to the creation of stone and iron meteorites from carbonaceous chondrite asteroids
A)collision only
B)differentiation only
C)fragmentation only
D)melting only
E)melting, differentiation, collision, fragmentation
Q2) ____________ asteroids are located in the orbit of Jupiter.
Q3) ____ are round bits of glass found in some stony meteorites.
A)Chondrites
B)Anthrasites
C)Achondrites
D)Widmanstätten patterns
E)Chondrules
Q4) Achondrites are rich in volatiles.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What evidence do we have that the orbits of the asteroids are modified by the gravitational influences of the planets
Page 22
Q6) Explain how chondrules form and how we know they exist.
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Chapter 20: Astrobiology: Life on Other Worlds
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are the three properties of living things that the chapter identifies
Q2) The most likely region of the radio spectrum for communication with other civilizations is the water hole, the part of the spectrum
A)near the radio emission of water.
B)near the radio emission of oxygen molecules.
C)between the radio emissions of hydrogen and oxygen.
D)between the radio emissions of hydrogen and OH.
E)near the radio band where water in the Earth's atmosphere strongly absorbs energy.
Q3) A cell's DNA molecules contain its genetic material. These molecules are constructed of
A)amino acids.
B)proteins.
C)sugars, phosphates, and bases.
D)amino acids, proteins, sugars, phosphates, and bases.
E)None of the other choices are correct.
Q4) The best places for life to have formed on Earth are believed to have been A)near the south pole in places where water is frozen solid as ice.
B)on the continent of Africa in the areas with no water.
C)in liquid water, probably in the oceans or pools of water.
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