Principles of Astronomy Exam Bank
Course Introduction
Principles of Astronomy introduces students to the fundamental concepts and principles governing the universe beyond Earth. The course explores the origins and structure of celestial objects such as stars, planets, and galaxies, alongside the physical laws that dictate their behavior and evolution. Emphasis is placed on the scientific methods astronomers use to observe and interpret cosmic phenomena, as well as the historical context and groundbreaking discoveries that have shaped our understanding of the universe. By the end of the course, students will be equipped with a foundational grasp of key astronomical concepts, from the workings of our own solar system to the vast scale and dynamics of the cosmos.
Recommended Textbook
Astronomy Preliminary Edition by Adam Frank
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Chapter 1: Getting Started: Science, astronomy, and Being Human
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Q1) How many orders of magnitude are there between the diameter of a planet like Earth and the typical size of a star like the sun?
A) one
B) two
C) three
D) seven
Answer: B
Q2) A scientific theory is a(n):
A) well-established and well-tested physical explanation.
B) mathematical equation explaining natural phenomena.
C) unproven hypothesis.
D) hypothesis suggested by a single experiment.
Answer: A
Q3) [ (2.0 × 10 )× (7.0 × 10³)] + (5.0 × 10 )= :
A) 1.9 × 10<sup>8</sup>
B) 6.4 × 10<sup>7</sup>
C) 1.35 × 10<sup>10</sup>
D) 7.0 × 10<sup>15</sup>
Answer: A
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Chapter
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Q1) You see two balls in the distance.The blue ball is half a degree across and rests half of a football field away.The red ball is one-quarter of a degree across and rests two football fields away.The red ball is ________ as large as the blue ball.
A) one-quarter
B) one-half
C) two times
D) four times
Answer: C
Q2) According to Ptolemy's model,a planet undergoing retrograde motion on the sky would be moving on its epicycle:
A) in the opposite direction to the orbit of the epicycle's center.
B) in the same direction to the orbit of the epicycle's center.
C) away from Earth.
D) toward Earth.
Answer: A
Q3) Why was the development of cities important to the development of astronomy?
Answer: Cities allowed specialized groups devoted to astronomical measurements to appear,and their longevity allowed detailed records of observations over long time scales.
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Chapter 3: A Universe of Universal Laws
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Q1) Suppose Galileo had observed the phases of Mars instead of the phases of Venus.Could he have used them to disprove the heliocentric model? Why or why not?
Answer: No.Because Mars is outside of Earth's orbit,it does not necessarily appear near the Sun on the sky.Even in the geocentric model,it could therefore have been seen in a full phase.
Q2) Why did Tycho Brahe's observations challenge the prevailing astronomical paradigm?
Answer: The supernova Tycho discovered proved that the heavens were not unchanging,as the source lacked a parallax and so was situated within the stellar realm.
Q3) How could Isaac Newton have measured the mass of Jupiter?
Answer: Under the assumption that Jupiter is much more massive than its moons,Newton's modification to Kepler's third law can be rearranged to be M<sub>Jupiter</sub> = 4p² R³/ (GP²).Thus by measuring the orbital radius and period of the orbit of one of Jupiter's moons,Newton could have measured the mass of the planet.
Q4) As a planet moves away from aphelion,how is its orbital velocity changing with time?
Answer: Its velocity is increasing.
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Chapter 4: A Universe of Universal Laws
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Q1) An astronomer observes two stars,A and B.Star A has a temperature of 3,000 K,a radius 10 times that of our Sun,and is 10 parsecs away.Star B has a temperature of 6,000 K,a radius equal to that of our Sun,and is 40 parsecs away.Which star is brighter,and by how much?
Q2) If your pupil is 1 cm across,how large does a telescope aperture have to be to collect one million times more light than your eye?
A) 10 cm
B) 1 m
C) 10 m
D) 100 m
Q3) The next generation of large near-infrared telescopes will be built at high,dry sites.List two reasons why.
Q4) The practice of combining signals from two or more reflectors to achieve better angular resolution is:
A) adaptive optics.
B) interferometry.
C) refraction.
D) signal processing.
Q5) What does thermal energy represent?
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Chapter 5: The Architecture and Birth of Planetary Systems
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Q1) An icy,rocky body on a highly elliptical orbit through our Solar System is most likely a:
A) Kuiper Belt object.
B) asteroid.
C) comet.
D) dwarf planet.
Q2) Arrange the following objects in order of increasing distance from the Sun:
A) Earth, asteroid belt, Jupiter, Kuiper Belt, scattered disk, Oort Cloud.
B) Earth, Jupiter, asteroid belt, scattered disk, Kuiper Belt, Oort Cloud.
C) asteroid belt, Earth, Oort Cloud, Jupiter, Kuiper Belt, scattered disk.
D) scattered disk, Earth, asteroid belt, Oort Cloud, Jupiter, Kuiper Belt.
Q3) Venus is unusual within the Solar System because it:
A) rotates in the opposite sense from its orbit around the Sun.
B) is so massive.
C) has no evidence for active plate tectonics.
D) has a highly inclined orbit.
Q4) Suppose Jupiter's orbit suddenly became highly eccentric.How would this affect the Solar System?
Q5) Why do the compositions of planets in our Solar System depend on distance from the Sun?
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Chapter 6: Home Base: Earth and Moon
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Q1) Compared to primitive meteorites,the Moon's mantle is:
A) deficient in iron and enriched in silicates.
B) deficient in iron and silicates.
C) enriched in iron and silicates.
D) enriched in iron and deficient in silicates.
Q2) Which of the following sequences correctly characterizes the composition of Earth's layers,from its center to its surface?
A) solid iron, molten iron, solid nickel, granite
B) silicate rocks, molten iron, silicate rocks
C) molten iron, silicate rocks, granite
D) solid iron, molten iron, silicate rocks
Q3) Why is the Moon's rotation period equal to its orbital period?
Q4) If Earth's Moon were less massive,which of the following would be most likely to occur?
A) Earth's climate would become less stable.
B) Earth would move to a wider orbit around the Sun.
C) Solar eclipses would be more common.
D) The Moon would spin faster.
Q5) According to plate tectonics,where do most earthquakes occur?
Q6) Why has the surface temperature of Earth varied throughout geologic history?
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Sibling Worlds: Mercury, Venus, and Mars
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Q1) The terrestrial world most similar to Mercury is:
A) Venus.
B) Earth.
C) Earth's Moon.
D) Mars.
Q2) In its composition,Mars's atmosphere most closely resembles that of:
A) Mercury.
B) Venus.
C) Earth.
D) none; Mars does not have an atmosphere.
Q3) Name two ways in which Phobos and Deimos differ from Earth's Moon.
Q4) How has Venus's high temperature affected its geology?
Q5) What is the correct ordering of the periods in Mars's history,from earliest to latest?
A) Noachian, Amazonian, Hesperian
B) Hesperian, Amazonian, Noachian
C) Hesperian, Noachian, Amazonian
D) Noachian, Hesperian, Amazonian
Q6) How do astronomers use guiding principles to supplement the scientific method?
Q7) What is responsible for heating Venus's atmosphere to 730 K?
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Gas, ice, and Stone: the Outer Planets
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Q1) Why is Saturn's magnetic field 20 times weaker than Jupiter's?
A) The decreased pressure on Saturn implies a smaller liquid hydrogen layer.
B) Saturn's atmosphere responds easily to magnetic fields, partially canceling them.
C) Saturn's rapid rotation causes its electric currents to short-circuit.
D) All of the above.
Q2) Why do clouds on Neptune form deeper in the atmosphere than those on Jupiter?
A) Neptune receives less sunlight than Jupiter.
B) Neptune's chemical constituents only condense at higher pressures.
C) Jupiter has more dust than Neptune.
D) Jupiter has stronger storms.
Q3) Clumpy features in a planetary ring most likely indicate:
A) the presence of magnetic fields.
B) collisions within the ring.
C) recent capture of the ring material.
D) the presence of a shepherd moon.
Q4) What is the strongest evidence for liquid water on Callisto?
Q5) How do the magnetic fields of Uranus and Neptune differ from those around the other planets?
Q6) Why does Saturn bulge outward at the equator rather than its poles?
Page 10
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Chapter 9: Life and the Search for Habitable Worlds
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Q1) Scientists who study life on Earth in extreme conditions are most likely part of the field of:
A) exobiology.
B) astrobiology.
C) biophysics.
D) astrocology.
Q2) A colleague explains to you that the origin of life seems implausible given that producing the 192-nucleotide self-replicating RNA in our bodies would require longer than the age of the universe if created from scratch in random chemical reactions.How could you answer this objection?
Q3) Why is carbon so well suited to forming the building blocks of life?
Q4) In which part of the cell do mutations occur?
A) DNA
B) enzymes
C) RNA
D) proteins
Q5) What is sensitivity in the context of the definition of life?
Q6) Using techniques similar to those employed by the Drake equation,estimate the number of "A" grades given out at your institution this semester.
Page 11
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Chapter 10: The Sun As a Star
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Q1) Which of the following aspects of sunspots varies regularly with the solar magnetic cycle?
A) latitude
B) size
C) temperature
D) all of the above
Q2) Which of the following mechanisms is a result of each and every star in the Universe?
A) nuclear fission
B) the formation of brown dwarfs
C) supernova explosions
D) chemical enrichment by heavy elements
Q3) Why are sunspots dark?
A) They are moving downward toward the center of the Sun.
B) They have more dust than their surroundings.
C) They are less dense than their surroundings.
D) They are cooler than their surroundings.
Q4) What can astronomers learn by measuring the regular oscillations of material on the Sun's surface?
Q5) How does the Sun's rotation differ from Earth's?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Measuring the Stars: the Main Sequence and Its Meaning
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Q1) How are globular clusters used to test stellar models?
Q2) What aspects of a star change significantly during its time on the main sequence?
Q3) If star A has an apparent magnitude of 8 while star B has an apparent magnitude of 13,then star A is ________ than star B.
A) 100 times fainter
B) 5 times fainter
C) 5 times brighter
D) 100 times brighter
Q4) What causes a star to leave the main sequence?
A) the decreasing temperature of the star
B) the decreasing temperature of the star's core
C) the consumption of all the star's hydrogen
D) the consumption of the stellar core's hydrogen
Q5) What property of a star can best be used to determine its temperature?
A) luminosity
B) color
C) brightness
D) velocity
Q6) Why does luminosity increase with stellar mass on the main sequence?
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Chapter 12: Nursery of the Stars: the Interstellar Medium and
Star Formation
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Q1) Name two sources for the energy radiated by brown dwarfs.
Q2) What physical principle is responsible for accretion disks forming around protostars?
A) hydrostatic equilibrium
B) conservation of angular momentum
C) blackbody radiation
D) Wien's law
Q3) A Herbig-Haro object is moving at 100 km/s and lies 10 parsecs from a protostar.What is a lower limit for the lifetime of the protostar? Express your answer in years.
Q4) Which of the following provides the best example of turbulence?
A) a molecular cloud with large whorls containing many smaller whorls
B) a jet launched at near the speed of light by a supermassive black hole
C) a large network of convection cells inside a star
D) an accretion disk rotating around a black hole
Q5) What kind of equilibrium characterizes the relation between gas clouds in the interstellar medium?
Q6) Why is carbon important to the energy-generation process in a massive star?
Page 14
Q7) What are two reasons that molecules are so abundant within giant molecular clouds?
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Chapter 13: To the Graveyard of Stars: the End Points of Stellar Evolution
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Q1) How can a binary companion affect a star's evolution?
Q2) Which of the following would increase the electron degeneracy pressure inside an object?
A) adding metallic elements
B) smaller electron velocities
C) compressing the object
D) faster fusion reactions
Q3) Suppose that dust could not form in the outer parts of asymptotic giant branch stars.How would that affect the composition of the interstellar medium?
Q4) Suppose that a white dwarf accretes mass.How does its radius change?
Q5) In order from least to most massive,what are the possible remnants of stars that run out of fuel for fusion?
Q6) According to recent models,supernova explosions are driven by:
A) shock waves from rebounding gas.
B) absorption of light from the collapsing core.
C) neutrino flows.
D) magnetic fields.
Q7) What explodes in Type Ia and Type II supernovas?
Q8) How does a red giant's structure change as it becomes more luminous? Page 15
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Chapter 14: Down the Rabbit Hole: Relativity and Black Holes
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Q1) A laser falls into a black hole,but it continues to emit light directly away from the black hole as it does so.How does the light appear to a distant observer as the laser gets closer to the black hole?
A) The light appears to slow down.
B) The light becomes redder.
C) The light begins to orbit the black hole.
D) The light becomes brighter.
Q2) From the perspective of an observer near a black hole,which of the following appears to happen as he or she observes large distances from the black hole?
A) Distant objects appear to move toward the black hole.
B) Distant objects appear redder than they should.
C) Distant clocks tick more rapidly than the observer's clock.
D) Distant objects appear to "freeze" in time.
Q3) What kind of stars are most likely to form black holes?
A) stars that can only initiate hydrogen and helium fusion
B) stars with low-mass cores
C) stars with masses greater than 30 MSun
D) stars with an overabundance of heavy elements
Q4) Where do supermassive black holes typically live?
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Q1) How thick is the Milky Way's disk as a percentage of its radius?
A) 0.02 percent
B) 2 percent
C) 20 percent
D) It varies from 0.02 percent to 20 percent, depending on radius.
Q2) Where is the Sun located within the Milky Way?
A) at the center of the bulge
B) in the halo, about 1 kpc from the center
C) in the disk, about 1 kpc from the center
D) in the disk, about 8 kpc from the center
Q3) Which of the following provides evidence for past collisions between the Milky Way and its satellite galaxies?
A) the large number of satellite galaxies
B) the lack of young stars in the satellite galaxies
C) streams of stars in the halo
D) all of the above
Q4) What force provided the initial impetus for a primordial gas cloud to form the Milky Way?
Q5) Why might it be surprising that the black hole at the center of the Milky Way is not luminous?
Page 18
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Chapter 16: A Universe of Galaxies
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Q1) Contrast spiral and elliptical galaxies in terms of their color,gas content,and orbital properties.
Q2) An astronomer measures a galaxy to have an apparent recession velocity of 2,100 km/s.How far away is the galaxy?
A) 300 Mpc
B) 30 Mpc
C) 300 kpc
D) 1.4 x 10<sup>5</sup> Mpc
Q3) An astronomer discovers a galaxy with unusually broad emission lines.What is the most likely source of these lines?
Q4) Why was the large size of Edwin Hubble's telescope essential for resolving the nature of spiral nebulae?
Q5) Edwin Hubble classified elliptical galaxies according to their: A) size.
B) color.
C) apparent shape. D) velocities.
Q6) What are the four major classes of galaxies in the Universe?
Q7) Why are the bars in barred spiral galaxies typically bright?
Page 19
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Chapter 17: The Cosmic Web: the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe
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Q1) Hubble originally measured the value of Hubble's constant to be about 500 km/s/Mpc.The currently accepted value is about 70 km/s/Mpc,while the currently accepted age of the Universe is about 14 Gyr.What would Hubble have estimated the Universe's age to be?
Q2) An astronomer observes a galaxy that is currently 1 billion light years away from us.Does he or she see the galaxy as it was 1 billion years ago,or is the look-back time greater than or less than that number? Explain your reasoning.
Q3) An astronomer would like to study a region of the Universe 100 Mpc across and 1 Gpc away from Earth,situated behind an obscuring cloud of dust,so he or she cannot directly measure light from the region.How could he or she measure the mass contained in this region?
Q4) The Sloan Digital Sky Survey is most famous for:
A) mapping the stars in the Milky Way galaxy.
B) mapping galaxies over a wide area of the sky.
C) measuring the properties of the first galaxies.
D) measuring the abundance of dark matter in galaxy clusters.
Q5) Why are most galaxies inside clusters ellipticals or lenticular galaxies?
Q6) Why are distant galaxies' spectra redshifted?
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Q7) How has the rate at which galaxies interact with each other changed with time?
Chapter 18: Cosmology
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Q1) What process produced the initial density perturbations that would later grow into galaxies and galaxy clusters?
A) inflation
B) recombination
C) fragmentation
D) phase transitions
Q2) The Universe's geometry is determined by its: A) size.
B) age.
C) density of matter-energy.
D) homogeneity.
Q3) How does the Universe's expansion during the inflationary era differ from that in the classic Big Bang model?
A) During inflation, the curvature of the Universe changes.
B) During inflation, regions initially outside of causal contact are allowed to interact with each other.
C) During inflation, Hubble's law is violated.
D) During inflation, expansion makes the density closer to the critical value.
Q4) How do scientists characterize the Universe before the Big Bang?
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