Stellar and Galactic Astronomy Practice Questions
Course Introduction
Stellar and Galactic Astronomy explores the fundamental properties, life cycles, and interactions of stars, as well as the large-scale structure and dynamics of galaxies. The course covers stellar formation, evolution, and death, including phenomena such as supernovae, neutron stars, and black holes. It also examines the structure and classification of galaxies, the role of dark matter, and the processes governing galactic interactions and evolution. Through observations, theoretical models, and recent discoveries, students gain an understanding of the cosmic context of stars and galaxies within the universe.
Recommended Textbook
Astronomy Today 8th Edition by Eric Chaisson
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28 Chapters
2941 Verified Questions
2941 Flashcards
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Page 2
Chapter 1: Charting the Heavens: The Foundations of Astronomy
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94 Verified Questions
94 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/19903
Sample Questions
Q1) The places where the Sun crosses the equator are called the:
A) annalemmas.
B) prime meridians.
C) zeniths.
D) equinoxes.
E) solstices.
Answer: D
Q2) You note that a particular star is directly overhead.It will be directly overhead again in:
A) 1 hour.
B) 12 hours.
C) 23 hours 56 minutes.
D) 24 hours.
E) 24 hours 4 minutes.
Answer: C
Q3) Which is longer,the sidereal or solar day? By how much?
Answer: The solar day is approximately four minutes longer than the sidereal day.
Q4) The Milky Way galaxy contains about ________ stars.
Answer: 100 billion
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Chapter 2: The Copernican Revolution: The Birth of Modern Science
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Sample Questions
Q1) The heliocentric model was actually first proposed by:
A) Aristotle.
B) Archimedes.
C) Aristarchus.
D) Alexander the Great.
E) Hipparchus.
Answer: C
Q2) 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
Q3) According to Newton's second law,when the same force acts on two bodies,the body with the larger mass will have the ________ acceleration.
Answer: smaller
Q4) We are at ________ in January,when we are closest to the Sun in our elliptical orbit.
Answer: perihelion
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Chapter 3: Radiation: Information from the Cosmos
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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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) Which form of electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by carbon dioxide and water vapor in our atmosphere?
A) visible light
B) ultraviolet
C) infrared
D) radio
E) gamma rays
Answer: C
Q3) In a wave,the distance from peak to peak is called the wave's ________.
Answer: wavelength
Q4) Radio waves,visible light,and X-rays are all a type of electromagnetic radiation.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
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Chapter 4: Spectroscopy: The Inner Workings of Atoms
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94 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) In Bohr's model of the atom,electrons:
A) only make transitions between orbitals of specific energies.
B) are not confined to specific orbits.
C) are spread uniformly through a large, positive mass.
D) can be halfway between orbits.
E) move from orbit to orbit in many small steps.
Q2) The Doppler effect can reveal the rotation speed of a star by the splitting of the spectral lines.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The ________ spitting of the spectral lines is due to a strong magnetic field present.
Q4) The observed spectral lines of a star are all shifted towards the red end of the spectrum.Which statement is true?
A) This is an example of the photoelectric effect.
B) This is an example of the Doppler effect.
C) The second law of Kirchhoff explains this.
D) The star is not rotating.
E) The star has a radial velocity towards us.
Q5) Explain how the Zeeman effect allows us to study stellar magnetic fields.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: Telescopes: The Tools of Astronomy
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Because of ________,images in small telescopes are more blurred than with larger objectives.
Q2) How much better resolution would a 60 mm objective lens have than your eye's 6 mm exit pupil?
A) 6 times
B) 10 times
C) 16 times
D) 60 times
E) 100 times
Q3) Why is it easier to travel to a remote viewing site with an 8" Cassegrain than an 8" Newtonian reflector?
Q4) What are two advantages of large scopes over smaller ones?
A) Large scopes have a larger field of view and sharper focus.
B) Large scopes are not subject to atmospheric turbulence and opacity like smaller ones.
C) Large scopes are easier to mount and control than small ones.
D) Large telescope have more light grasp and better resolution.
E) Large telescopes give higher magnification and are easier to build.
Q5) Explain why the image seen in astronomical telescopes is inverted.
Q6) Which reflector telescope would be the easiest to construct,and why?
Page 7
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Chapter 6: The Solar System: Comparative Planetology and Formation Models
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Sample Questions
Q1) At about the position of the Earth,in the early solar nebula,the temperature was about 1,000 K,cool enough for ________ to condense out of the gas.
Q2) What factor caused different planets to form out of different types of material?
A) The angular momentum of the forming planet; faster rotating planets lost the lightest elements.
B) The quantity of dust particles in the solar nebula; more dust caused some planets to contain heavier elements.
C) The variation in temperature throughout the solar nebula; the higher the temperature, the lower the percentage of light elements in the forming planet.
D) The angular momentum of the solar nebula pushed the heavy elements towards the outer regions of the nebula.
E) The innate variation of chemical composition of the original nebula; the outer parts of the nebula contained a greater abundance of heavy elements.
Q3) At what point does the accretion process turn a clump of debris into a planetesimal?
Q4) Name the four principal types of solar system debris; pair them up in terms of composition.
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Page 8
Chapter 7: Earth: Our Home in Space
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which statement about seismic waves is FALSE?
A) Both S and P waves can be detected by seismographs.
B) Close to the epicenter, both S and P waves can be recorded.
C) P waves travel faster, so the gap between their arrival times gives the source's distance.
D) Only P waves can be detected in the shadow zone.
E) S waves are blocked by the fluid outer core and cannot be observed on the other side of the planet from the epicenter.
Q2) When strong solar winds are directed poleward,we see ________ at night.
Q3) We determine the structure of the Earth's core using:
A) deep mine shafts.
B) satellite imaging.
C) radar and sonar.
D) seismic wave data.
E) magnetic resonance imaging.
Q4) Seismic P-waves can travel through both solid and liquid materials.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Relate the formation of the Himalayas to plate tectonics.
Q6) Name the layers of the Earth's atmosphere,going up from the surface.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: The Moon and Mercury: Scorched and Battered Worlds
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112 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) In size,Mercury is intermediate between:
A) Earth and Venus.
B) Mars and Earth.
C) the Moon and Mars.
D) Pluto and the Moon.
E) Ceres and Pluto.
Q2) Mercury and the Earth have about the same average density,but Mercury's core is much larger,compared to the size of the body.
A)True
B)False
Q3) What do moonquakes reveal about the Moon?
A) It has a strong magnetic field generated by a large molten core.
B) It has a differentiated core, displaced away from us by the Moon's rotation.
C) Its small, partially molten core has been pulled toward us by tidal forces.
D) The Moon has been geologically dead throughout its entire history.
E) The Moon is quite active, almost as much so as Jupiter's moon Io.
Q4) What is believed to be the origin of the Caloris Basin? What other features on Mercury's surface are related to this origin? Explain.
Q5) How are surfaces of Mercury and the Moon similar? Different? Why?
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Chapter 9: Venus: Earth's Sister Planet
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Sample Questions
Q1) Venus is only a little bit (5%)smaller than Earth,and its density is only slightly less than Earth's.Therefore,its mass is:
A) the same as Earth's.
B) just a little bit greater than Earth's.
C) much greater than Earth's (more than 20% different).
D) just a little bit less than Earth's.
E) much less than Earth's (more than 20% different).
Q2) Why were the Russian Venera spacecraft so important to our understanding of Venus?
Q3) The reason that the atmosphere of Venus is over 95% carbon dioxide is thought to be because:
A) Venus was much hotter than Earth when its atmosphere formed.
B) the early plant life on Venus produced the excess carbon dioxide and consumed the oxygen.
C) life on Earth formed earlier than on Venus.
D) the part of the solar nebula where Venus formed contained more carbon dioxide than the part where Earth formed.
E) Venus' Greenhouse Effect got out of control and became runaway after its oceans of sulfuric acid evaporated.
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Page 11
Chapter 10: Mars: A Near Miss for Life?
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102 Verified Questions
102 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Olympus Mons is the tallest (volcanic)mountain in the entire solar system.Explain how Mars can have mountains taller than the ones on Earth.
Q2) The density of Mars is very similar to that of the other terrestrial planets.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The most prominent feature of Mars observable from Earth is:
A) its thick atmosphere.
B) its two prominent moons.
C) its bright polar caps.
D) the large volcano Olympus Mons.
E) the prominent feature, Valles Marineris.
Q4) Where do the names for the moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos)come from?
A) the founders of Rome
B) the twins depicted in the constellation Gemini
C) the names of their discoverers
D) the sons of Ares and Aphrodite
E) the names of the dogs of Orion
Q5) What is unusual about the motion of Phobos,as seen from the surface of Mars?
Q6) Why do we know much more about the surface of Mars than that of Venus?
Q7) Compare the days,seasons,and years of Mars and Earth.
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Chapter 11: Jupiter: Giant of the Solar System
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Sample Questions
Q1) The large moons of Jupiter have low densities suggesting compositions that are a mixture of rocky materials and ________.
Q2) Differential rotation is when a planet's equator and polar regions rotate at different rates.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Jupiter has a large ________ created by the interaction between the planet's magnetic field and the solar wind.
Q4) How does the magnetic tilt of Jupiter compare with our field?
A) Both are exactly perpendicular to our equator, aligned with our rotation axis.
B) Jupiter's lies perpendicular to the ecliptic, while ours is tilted 23.5 degrees.
C) Both are tilted about 10 degrees, but Jupiter is opposite in polarity.
D) Both are tilted about 27 degrees, much like Saturn's.
E) Like Uranus, Jupiter is flopped over on its side.
Q5) Contrast the compositions of Jupiter's belts and zones.
Q6) Describe the seasons of Jupiter.
Q7) What is the source of Jupiter's nonthermal radio radiation?
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Chapter 12: Saturn: Spectacular Rings and Mysterious
Moons
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Sample Questions
Q1) Saturn's 1990 white spot had some similarities to Jupiter's Great Red Spot.Discuss some of the similarities and differences.Speculate as to what might cause these.
Q2) At the surface of Saturn's atmosphere the strength of the magnetic field is:
A) about the same as Mercury's magnetic field at its surface.
B) about the same as Venus' magnetic field at its surface.
C) about the same as Earth's magnetic field at its surface.
D) about the same as Mars' magnetic field at its surface.
E) about the same as Jupiter's magnetic field at its atmospheric surface.
Q3) What mission landed on Titan in early 2005?
A) Galileo's probe
B) Huygens
C) New Horizons
D) Rover Spirit
E) Cassini orbiter
Q4) Describe the consequences of orbital resonances between the moons of Saturn and the particles that make up that planet's ring system.
Q5) When Cassini entered orbit around Saturn,it caused the planet's orbit to change.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 13: Uranus and Neptune: The Outer Worlds of the Solar System
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108 Verified Questions
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Sample Questions
Q1) It was the newly developed ________ theory which allowed Adams and Leverrier to predict the position of Neptune from the motions of Uranus.
Q2) Uranus' moon Ariel shows considerable surface activity,a surprise considering its small size.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Which of these is true about the seasons of Uranus?
A) With a tilt of 29 degrees, they are not that different from our solstices and equinoxes.
B) Its strange tilt produces extreme seasonal variations, especially at the poles.
C) At the Uranian equator, the Sun would pass overhead every sixteen hours.
D) At the Uranian pole the Sun sets every 16 hours during the summer and winter.
E) There are no seasons at the poles.
Q4) Neptune's large moon ________ is the only large satellite known in a retrograde orbit.
Q5) What will happen to Triton in the distant future,based on its present orbit?
Q6) Uranus and Neptune both rotate ________ than the Earth does.
Q7) Discuss the seasons of Uranus.
Page 15
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Chapter 14: Solar System Debris: Keys to Our Origin
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114 Verified Questions
114 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) Large meteoroids are thought to collide with Earth:
A) at least once a decade.
B) about once a century.
C) a few times in every million-year period.
D) once every billion years.
E) never; only comets are thought to collide with Earth.
Q2) The orbital resonances with Jupiter are shown in the:
A) Cassini division.
B) Zone of Avoidance.
C) Kirkwood Gaps.
D) ring arcs.
E) orbits of the aten asteroids.
Q3) Describe the properties of meteoroids.
Q4) Pluto was named after the Roman god of the dark underworld,and also for ________.
Q5) Sedna,with a perihelion three times farther out than Pluto,and a period of thousands of years,is just a typical Kuiper Belt body.
A)True
B)False
Q6) How did discovering the KBOs demote Pluto's planetary status?
Page 16
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Chapter 15: Exoplanets: Planetary Systems Beyond Our Own
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74 Verified Questions
74 Flashcards
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Sample Questions
Q1) The condensation theory is an example of:
A) a catastrophic theory.
B) a hot Jupiter theory.
C) a collision hypothesis.
D) an evolutionary theory.
E) a capture theory.
Q2) The habitable zone is the area around a star where:
A) planets with life have been found.
B) human beings could live.
C) the Greenhouse Effect is possible.
D) a planet could have an atmosphere.
E) temperatures are suitable for planets to have liquid water.
Q3) The ________ around a star is the region where liquid water could exist on a planet.
Q4) The Collision Hypothesis and Evolutionary Theories are considered to be equally plausible explanations of how planetary systems form.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Discuss the important features that allow space-based telescopes to search for transiting exoplanets.
17
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Chapter 16: The Sun: Our Parent Star
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of these are NOT associated with the active Sun?
A) sunspots
B) prominences
C) granulation
D) flares
E) aurora
Q2) How does solar luminosity vary during the sunspot cycle?
Q3) Why is it hard to observe the chromosphere?
Q4) The photosphere is about 100 times the diameter of the Earth,and large sunspots are larger than our whole planet.
A)True
B)False
Q5) What physical characteristics change in the Sun over the 11-year solar cycle? To what is this cycle apparently related?
Q6) Prominences hanging off the limb of the Sun are the same as filaments seen in front of the disk.
A)True
B)False
Q7) Relate prominences and sunspots to magnetic fields.
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Chapter 17: The Stars: Giants,Dwarfs,and the Main Sequence
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Sample Questions
Q1) Describe the distance and composition of the Alpha Centauri system.
Q2) The absolute magnitude of a star is its brightness as seen from a distance of:
A) one million kilometers.
B) one astronomical unit.
C) one light year.
D) ten parsecs.
E) 10 light years.
Q3) The nearest naked-eye star to our Sun,Alpha Centauri,is still over a parsec distant.
A)True
B)False
Q4) What are the two most important intrinsic properties used to classify stars?
A) mass and age
B) luminosity and surface temperature
C) distance and luminosity
D) distance and surface temperature
E) distance and color
Q5) Hydrogen lines are weaker in both very hot and very cool stars.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 18: The Interstellar Medium: Gas and Dust among the Stars
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Sample Questions
Q1) What effect do even thin clouds of dust have on light passing through them?
A) The light that passes through them is blue shifted due to the cloud's approach.
B) It dims and reddens the light of all more distant stars.
C) Even a little can completely block all light, such as the Horsehead Nebula.
D) Its motion causes the light of stars beyond to twinkle.
E) Its motion causes all light to be redshifted as it passes through these clouds.
Q2) Why can radio waves get through the dust clouds,but light is blocked?
Q3) Complex molecules in the interstellar medium are found:
A) uniformly throughout the disk of the Galaxy.
B) scattered evenly throughout the universe, a product of the Big Bang itself.
C) only around the supergiant stars like Betelguese that make their heavy atoms.
D) primarily in the dense dust clouds.
E) on the surfaces of the coolest class K and M stars only.
Q4) Reflection nebulae usually appear red.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Almost all molecules in space are based on what element? Why?
Q6) How is 21 cm radiation produced?
Page 20
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Chapter 19: Star Formation: A Traumatic Birth
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are some complications that interfere with star formation?
Q2) Discuss the relationship between young stars and the interstellar medium.
Q3) How long does it take an O-type star to form,compared to the time for a solar-type star to form?
A) 1/300 as long
B) 1/30 as long
C) about the same time
D) 30 times longer
E) 300 times longer
Q4) Our Sun,along with most of the stars in our neighborhood,probably formed:
A) a few million years ago.
B) about 10 million years ago.
C) hundreds of millions of years ago.
D) billions of years ago.
E) at the beginning of the universe.
Q5) Collisions between galaxies tend to destroy,not create,stars.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Outline the process of star formation,including all relevant factors that influence the outcome.
Page 21
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Chapter 20: Stellar Evolution: The Life and Death of a Star
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Sample Questions
Q1) Noting the turnoff mass in a star cluster allows you to determine its:
A) distance.
B) radial velocity.
C) age.
D) total mass.
E) number of stars.
Q2) What is a planetary nebula?
A) the bipolar jets ejected by a T Tauri variable
B) a planet surrounded by a glowing shell of gas
C) the disk of gas and dust surrounding a young star that will soon form a solar system
D) the ejected envelope, often bipolar, of a red giant surrounding a stellar core remnant
E) a type of young, medium mass star
Q3) Relate hydrostatic equilibrium to the star's mass,composition,and evolution off the main sequence.
Q4) Describe the helium flash and why it occurs.
Q5) For our Sun,the production of carbon will be the end of its nucleosynthesis.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter
Formation of the Elements
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Sample Questions
Q1) Iron nuclei are the most tightly bound nuclei,which is why their production leads to type II supernovae.
A)True
B)False
Q2) What is the importance of 1.4 solar masses in stellar evolution?
Q3) Iron is the most stably bonded atomic nucleus.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The alpha process tends to produce chiefly:
A) only carbon.
B) stable elements.
C) even numbered elements.
D) odd numbered elements.
E) only radioactive elements.
Q5) If a white dwarf gains sufficient mass,it can become a:
A) brown dwarf.
B) type II supernova.
C) type I supernova.
D) planetary nebula.
E) black dwarf.
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Chapter 22: Neutron Stars and Black Holes: Strange States of Matter
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Crab Nebula and its pulsar were produced by a ________ supernova.
Q2) What can we detect from matter that has crossed an event horizon?
A) Gamma-ray bursts
B) Radio waves if the matter was traveling fast enough
C) Visible light
D) X-rays if the matter was dense
E) Nothing
Q3) Mercury's orbital precession is adequately explained by Newton's Law of Gravity.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Besides direct formation of a black hole in a hypernova,some think that mergers between neutron stars can create even longer-lived gamma ray bursts as well.
A)True
B)False
Q5) If light from a distant star passes close to a massive body,the light beam will:
A) bend towards the star due to gravity.
B) continue moving in a straight line.
C) change color to a shorter wavelength.
D) slow down.
E) accelerate due to gravity.
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Chapter 23: The Milky Way Galaxy: A Spiral in Space
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Sample Questions
Q1) In age,Population I stars are typically much ________ than those of Population II.
Q2) Henrietta Leavitt's period-luminosity relation for ________ indicates that longer periods mean more luminosity.
Q3) For what type of object is the period-luminosity relation used for determining distances?
A) RR Lyrae variables
B) T Tauri variables
C) Cepheids
D) Cataclysmic variables
E) Planetary nebulae
Q4) Which sequence of formation by age is correct,oldest to youngest?
A) dark nebulae, planetary nebulae, emission nebulae
B) spiral arms, bulge, halo
C) halo, spiral arms, globular clusters
D) globular clusters, emission nebulae, open clusters
E) Population I stars, Population II stars, Population III stars
Q5) How old is the Galaxy? How do we know this?
Q6) How are Cepheids and RR Lyrae stars different?
Q7) Why do we believe there is dark matter?
Page 25
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Chapter 24: Galaxies: Building Blocks of the Universe
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Sample Questions
Q1) The Tully-Fisher relation exists between the galaxy's luminosity and its:
A) color.
B) age.
C) rotation.
D) mass.
E) size.
Q2) A(n)________ spiral galaxy has a very bright active nucleus with violent motions in the interstellar gas.
Q3) In active galaxies,their central engines may be temporarily fed by:
A) a sudden surge of star formation.
B) a series of supernovae around the core.
C) the sudden collapse of the core into a supermassive black hole.
D) a close encounter with a neighbor galaxy.
E) the fusion of helium into carbon in their cores.
Q4) How can the size of a quasar be measured?
Q5) ________ galaxies are essentially featureless; their light reveals evidence for the presence of only old red Main Sequence and red giant stars.
Q6) Why do some radio galaxies appear to have lobes while some do not?
Q7) What lines of evidence show that the Milky Way Galaxy is indeed a spiral galaxy?
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Chapter 25: Galaxies and Dark Matter: The Large-Scale
Structure of the Cosmos
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Sample Questions
Q1) A merger between a small elliptical galaxy and a large spiral galaxy will most likely result in:
A) a large elliptical.
B) a large spiral.
C) a small elliptical and a large elliptical.
D) a small elliptical and a large spiral.
E) a small spiral and a large elliptical.
Q2) Which of these is NOT considered a fine example of galactic collisions?
A) the Cartwheel Galaxy
B) the Antennae Galaxies
C) the Whirlpool Galaxy
D) M-31 in Andromeda
E) M-87 in Virgo
Q3) Galaxies in clusters are much more likely to become "active" than ones alone in space.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Giant irregulars are the most massive of all known galaxies.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 26: Cosmology: The Big Bang and the Fate of the Universe
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Q1) The two different kinds of surveys that have given astronomers great insight into the structure and expanse of the universe are:
A) pie slice and pencil beam.
B) pie slice and redshift survey.
C) pencil beam and deep imaging.
D) pie slice and local surveys.
E) deep space survey and pencil beam.
Q2) Galaxies in all directions are observed to be streaming away from us as if we were in the center of the universe.Contrast this impression with the Cosmological Principle and explain why a simple-minded interpretation of the Hubble expansion is incorrect.
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) Where did the Big Bang occur?
Q5) Does the universe have an edge or a center?
Q6) Contrast dark matter and dark energy with respect to their roles in the future of the universe.
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Chapter 27: The Early Universe: Toward the Beginning of Time
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Q1) At this time,the universe is:
A) radiation dominated.
B) quark dominated.
C) lepton dominated.
D) matter dominated.
E) dark energy dominated.
Q2) Describe what occurred during the period of decoupling.
Q3) Which of these seems the best present answer to the horizon and flatness problems?
A) The superforce rules creation.
B) Dark Energy speeds the universe on out to infinity.
C) symmetry in creation of particles and antiparticles
D) the inflationary epoch
E) the GUT theory
Q4) The ________ epoch has dominated the last ten billion years of universal evolution.
Q5) The universe expanded by a factor of 10 during inflation,when the strong force separated from the electromagnetic and weak nuclear forces.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter
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Q1) Our earliest atmosphere,formed by outgassing,was much poorer in ________ than now.
Q2) The simplest life forms appeared on Earth when it was how old?
A) five million years
B) one billion years
C) 2.5 billion years
D) 3.5 billion years
E) 4.5 billion years
Q3) What is an organic molecule based on? Why?
Q4) As a radio source,the period of "pulsar Earth" is:
A) 30 minutes.
B) 23 hours, 56 minutes.
C) 24 hours.
D) 29.5 days.
E) 365.25 days.
Q5) Conducted in 1953,the ________ experiments were designed to show what types of complex molecules might have formed in the Earth's primitive environment.
Q6) Of the terrestrial planets,Mars seems to most promising to exobiologists.
A)True
B)False
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