Observational Astronomy Test Bank
Course Introduction
Observational Astronomy is an introductory course designed to provide students with the foundational skills necessary to study celestial objects and phenomena using telescopes and other astronomical instruments. The course covers essential topics such as night sky navigation, telescope operation, photometry, spectroscopy, CCD imaging, and data analysis techniques. Students will gain practical experience through hands-on observing sessions, learning how to record and interpret astronomical data, analyze light from stars and galaxies, and assess the effects of atmospheric conditions on observations. By the end of the course, students will understand the processes through which astronomers gather and analyze information about the universe from ground-based observations.
Recommended Textbook
HorizonsExploring the Universe 14th Edition by Michael A. Seeds
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2483 Verified Questions
2483 Flashcards
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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) of filaments, walls, and voids, labeling each. Answer: The drawing should look like soap bubbles.
Q2) How many centimeters are there in one kilometer
A)100
B)1,000
C)10,000
D)100,000
E)\(1×10^6\)
Answer: D
Q3) A(n) ____________________ is the distance that light would travel in one year. Answer: light-year
Q4) A(n) ____________________ is the largest known structure in the universe. Answer: filament wall
Q5) Which is the shorter time unit - a light-second, a light-minute, or a light-year
A)light-second
B)light-minute
C)light-year
D)None of the other choices are correct.
Answer: D
3
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Chapter 2: A Users Guide to the Sky
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which can be seen by the naked eye
A)mv = +10
B)mv = +18
C)mv = +6
D)mv = +8
Answer: C
Q2) How is a constellation different from an asterism
Answer: A constellation is a group of stars in the sky with defined boundaries, recognized by the International Astronomical Union (IAU), and an asterism is a named group of stars that is not recognized by the IAU. Stars that form asterism can be a part of one or several constellations.
Q3) Precession of the rotation axis of Earth is caused by
A)the force of gravity from the Sun and Moon on Earth's equatorial bulge.
B)the force of gravity from the Sun and Jupiter on the Earth-Moon system.
C)the magnetic field of Earth.
D)the formation and subsequent melting of glaciers during the ice-ages.
E)the impact of asteroids.
Answer: A
Q4) North, south, east, and west are points on the _____________ of your local sky.
Answer: horizon
Page 4
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Chapter 3: Cycles of the Sun and Moon
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Sample Questions
Q1) A portion or all of the same zodiac constellations can be seen by those in either hemisphere year round.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) The __________ is the region of total shadow.
Answer: umbra
Q3) Assume you lived on the Moon and noticed the Earth high in the sky. From that location, how often would the Earth set below your horizon
A)every 24 hours
B)once a sidereal period (27.3 days)
C)once a synodic period (29.5 days)
D)every year
E)never
Answer: E
Q4) Why can neither Venus nor Mercury remain visible throughout the night as the full Moon does
Answer: Venus and Mercury orbit the Sun closer than does the Earth, so they never appear very far from the Sun.
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Chapter 4: The Origin of Modern Astronomy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The first modern astronomer to propose a heliocentric model for the solar system was ____________________.
Q2) Kepler's first law of planetary motion implies that
A)the planets move at a constant speed at all points in their orbits.
B)the planets all move around Earth in elliptical orbits.
C)uniform circular motion is adequate to describe the motion of all planets.
D)planets move in elliptical orbits around the Sun.
Q3) If a satellite is in orbit around Earth and the satellite's altitude is decreased, then the circular velocity __________________.
A)decreases
B)increases
C)stays the same
D)is zero
Q4) If the force on a body is halved then the acceleration of the body
A)increases by half
B)increases by double
C)decreases by half
D)decreases by double
Q5) Explain why the spring and neap tides occur periodically.
Q6) If Copernicus overthrew the geocentric universe, what did Kepler overthrow
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) Both optical and radio telescopes can suffer from light pollution.
A)True
B)False
Q2) A nanometer is
A)a unit of frequency.
B)a unit of energy.
C)a unit of mass.
D)a unit of length.
E)a unit of resolving power.
Q3) Photons of blue light
A)have a greater energy than photons of red light.
B)have a greater energy than photons of ultraviolet light.
C)have a lower frequency than photons of red light.
D)have a longer wavelength than photons of red light.
E)travel at a greater speed than photons of red light.
Q4) Light is referred to as _______________________ radiation.
Q5) How does the nature of radio waves allow a radio telescope to use a wire mesh surface
Q6) The ____________________ is a measure of the finest detail that can be seen in an image.
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Chapter 6: Atoms and Spectra
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Sample Questions
Q1) The nucleus of the hydrogen atom consists of a single neutron.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Describe two ways in which an atom can be excited.
Q3) If you move an electron in an atom from a low energy level to a higher energy level within the atom, we say that the atom is
A)in the ground state.
B)ionized.
C)dissociated.
D)in an excited state.
E)neutralized.
Q4) If continuous spectrum light from a star passes through a cool, low-density gas on its way to your telescope and spectroscope, ____ spectrum on the continuous spectrum results.
A)a dark (absorption) line
B)a bright (emission) line
C)continuous
Q5) The Doppler effect is sensitive only to motion along the line of sight.
A)True
B)False
8
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Chapter 7: The Sun
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Sample Questions
Q1) ________ is (are) produced by atomic transitions in the presence of a strong magnetic field.
A)Differential rotation
B)Granules
C)The Zeeman effect
D)Spicules
E)The coronal hole
Q2) The ____________ force is involved in the radioactive decay of certain kinds of nuclear particles.
Q3) The squiggly dark line in the upper left quadrant of the Sun in the image above is called a ___________.
A)solar flare
B)prominence
C)sunspot
D)filament
Q4) What does the granulation tell us about the layers below the photosphere
Q5) There is only one form of neutrino.
A)True
B)False
Q6) List and explain the four fundamental forces in nature.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Family of Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) How do astronomers know that the newly found L and T spectral types represent objects cooler than M spectral class
Q2) We can find the masses and diameters of stars that are in eclipsing binary systems.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of the following kind of stars is most dense
A)a supergiant star
B)a main sequence star
C)a giant star
D)a white dwarf
E)the Sun
Q4) Why are the Balmer lines weak in the spectra of hot and cool stars, but strong in the spectra of intermediate-temperature stars
Q5) Most stars on the H-R diagram are on the ____________________.
Q6) White dwarfs have such a low luminosity that even the nearest white dwarfs are not visible to the naked eye.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: The Formation and Structure of Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) ____________________ appear reddish in color due to the light emitted by the Balmer series of the hydrogen atom.
Q2) Stars are born in ______________________.
A)molecular clouds
B)atomic hydrogen clouds
C)emission nebula
D)reflection nebula
Q3) The thermal motions of the atoms in a gas cloud can make it collapse to form a protostar.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Why is a brown dwarf not considered a star
Q5) What causes the outward gas pressure that balances the inward pull of gravity in a main-sequence star
A)the rapid outward flow of gas
B)the rapid inward flow of the gas
C)the high temperature of the gas
D)the high density of the gas
E)the high temperature and the high density of the gas
Q6) Why are distant stars redder than nearby stars of the same spectral type
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Chapter 10: The Deaths of Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) A(n) _________ is a collection of \(10^5\) to \(10^6\) stars in a region 10 to 30 pc in diameter. The stars in the collection tend to be more than \(10^9\) years old and mostly yellow and red stars.
A)Herbig-Haro object
B)globular cluster
C)open cluster
D)giant cluster
E)supernova
Q2) As material leaves an expanding star and begins to fall into a white dwarf close companion
A)an accretion disk will form around the white dwarf.
B)the material will cool off because it begins to move at high velocities.
C)the material will fall directly straight onto the surface of the white dwarf.
D)the white dwarf will produce a protostar.
E)the white dwarf's iron core will collapse.
Q3) What do astronomers think is the eventual fate of a white dwarf
Q4) Electrons moving in a strong magnetic field emit ____________________ radiation.
Q5) What is the difference between a planetary nebula and a supernova remnant
Q6) What is the difference between a supernova and a nova
Q7) A white dwarf cools slowly into a _________________ dwarf.
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Chapter 11: Neutron Stars and Black Holes
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Sample Questions
Q1) None of the pulsars emit pulses of visible light because
A)pulsars are too hot to emit visible light.
B)pulsars contain black holes that won't let visible light escape.
C)the gravitational field of a pulsar is so great that the visible light emitted is redshifted.
D)pulsars are too far away for the visible light to be bright enough to be detected at Earth.
E)A few pulsars do emit visible light pulses.
Q2) The ___________ of a black hole is the radius from a black hole at which the escape velocity is approximately equal to the speed of light.
A)Roche limit
B)Lagrangian point
C)Chandraskhar limit
D)Hubble radius
E)event horizon
Q3) How are neutron stars and white dwarfs similar
Q4) A scientific theory can be proven true if the correct experiments are performed.
A)True
B)False
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Page 13
Chapter 12: The Milky Way Galaxy
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Sample Questions
Q1) The orbits of halo stars are typically circular and have a low inclination with respect to the disk.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The Sun will one day pass through the instability strip and become a variable star.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The density wave theory explains spurs and branches along the spiral arms.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What is the orientation of the galaxy shown above relative to us on Earth
A)edge-on
B)face-on
C)nearly edge-on
D)None of the other choices are correct.
Q5) Stars are eternal and unchanging in your lifetime but not over a star's lifetime
A)True
B)False
Q6) RR Lyrae stars are in the constellation ___________.
Page 14
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Chapter 13: Galaxies: Normal and Active
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151 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Gravitational lensing
A)occurs when light passes near a massive object and is deflected by the object's gravitational field.
B)can be used to determine the luminosity of a galaxy.
C)occurs when the mass of a galaxy is greater than expected from the luminosity of the galaxy.
D)occurs when the mass of a galaxy is less than expected from the luminosity of the galaxy.
E)can be used to determine the recessional velocity of a galaxy.
Q2) The unified model describes active galactic nuclei using
A)a supermassive black hole at the center of a normal spiral galaxy.
B)a supermassive black hole surrounded by an accretion disk and dense disk of gas.
C)an accretion disk around a neutron star.
D)gravitational lenses to intensify the radiation coming from them.
E)different lines of sight toward and dwarf irregular galaxy.
Q3) From nearest to furthest from Earth, list the distance indicators and which type of object is best found at that distant indicator.
Q4) How does the rotation curve method differ from the analysis of binary stars
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Page 15
Chapter 14: Modern Cosmology
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Sample Questions
Q1) The rate of expansion of the Universe is currently increasing.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The assumption of isotropy states that
A)the Universe looks the same at all epochs.
B)the Universe looks the same from all locations over sufficiently great distances.
C)the Universe looks the same in all directions over sufficiently great distances.
D)the Universe looks the same at all epochs, the Universe looks the same from all locations over sufficiently great distances, and the Universe looks the same in all directions over sufficiently great distances.
E)None of the other choices are correct.
Q3) Which of the following agrees with a no-center, no-edge Universe
A)a flat geometry
B)a positive-curved geometry
C)a negative-curved geometry
D)All of the other choices are correct.
Q4) How do we know there was a big bang
Q5) Why is the primordial background radiation visible in all directions
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Chapter 15: The Origin of the Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) The most massive and densest planets are the terrestrials.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The pressure of sunlight was one of the forces that cleared the solar nebula.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ___________ hypothesis of the formation of the solar system uses sudden events that drastically alter the form of the early solar system.
Q4) Describe some characteristics that the Jovian planets have in common. Use the solar nebula theory to explain the commonality.
Q5) How does the solar nebula theory account for the presence of comets
Q6) Half-life is the time a celestial body has left in its evolution.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Why are more massive planets circling stars easier to detect than low-mass planets
Q8) Asteroids are an example of planetesimals.
A)True
B)False
17
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Chapter 16: Earth and Moon: Bases for Comparative Planetology
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Sample Questions
Q1) That Earth ___________, evidence that Earth differentiated.
A)rotates slowly
B)has an average density that is higher than the density of the crust
C)has a no magnetic field
D)has a surface that is 75% water
E)all of these
Q2) Which of the following is NOT one of the four stages in the development of a terrestrial planet
A)flooding
B)cratering
C)slow surface evolution
D)fusion of hydrogen to helium
E)differentiation
Q3) Compare the four terrestrial world atmospheres.
Q4) What is the above graph showing
A)when the ozone hole formed
B)how the industrial revolution contributed to global warming
C)how the industrial revolution contributed to greenhouses gasses in Earth's atmosphere
D)None of the other choices are correct.
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Chapter 17: Mercury, Venus, and Mars
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Sample Questions
Q1) What physical property of Venus is vastly dissimilar compared to Earth
A)radius
B)mass
C)density
D)surface temperature
Q2) The flow patterns found on the surface of Mars and the number of craters on top of them suggest that
A)Mars is today a liquid, water-rich world.
B)the climate on Mars was different billions of years ago.
C)volcanism is occurring on Mars.
D)the polar caps are made of liquid water.
E)All of the other choices are correct.
Q3) The terrestrial planet with the most moons is ____________________.
Q4) The terrestrial celestial object _________________ is most like Mercury.
Q5) What evidence do we have that the surface of Mars has never divided into moving plates
Q6) How is the rotation of Venus different from that of other terrestrial planets
Q7) Venus is the planet closest to Earth in mass.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: The Outer Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following are found on Triton
A)craters
B)flooded basins
C)atmospheric clouds
D)a thick nitrogen atmosphere
E)craters, flooded basins, atmospheric clouds, and a thick nitrogen atmosphere
Q2) Saturn's rings are composed of icy particles.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Although Neptune has no liquid metallic hydrogen in its interior, it does have a magnetic field.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Liquid metallic hydrogen is found in the interior(s) of
A)Uranus.
B)Neptune.
C)Uranus and Neptune.
D)neither Uranus nor Neptune.
Q5) The one object in the solar system suspected of having a semi-liquid on its surface is ____________.
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Chapter 19: Meteorites, Asteroids, and Comets
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Sample Questions
Q1) Meteors seen during a meteor shower appear to come from a point in the sky called the ____________________.
Q2) The shape of a comet's ____________ tail is formed by radiation pressure.
Q3) A dirty snowball description for a comet nucleus suggests that the composition is ices.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Most meteors come from comets, but most meteorites come from asteroids. Explain this statement.
Q5) Comets falling into the inner solar system from the ____________ are called long-period comets.
A)Oort cloud
B)asteroid belt
C)Roche limit
D)Kuiper belt
E)Widmanstätten region
Q6) Iron meteorites are rare to observe as meteoroids near Earth.
A)True
B)False
Q7) 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) The wavelengths that are most likely for communication with other civilizations are those in the water hole.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the significance of the Miller-Urey experiment
Q3) Explain each symbol's color, shape, and meaning in the Arecibo message shown in Figure 20-10.
Q4) Some M dwarf stars may host planets with life.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Life is defined in this text to be a process that extracts energy from the surroundings, maintains itself, and modifies the surroundings to promote its own survival.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How can we select stars whose planets are likely homes for life
Q7) Chemical evolution concentrated the various smaller molecules into the more stable forms.
A)True
B)False
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