Survey of Astronomy Practice Exam
Course Introduction
Survey of Astronomy provides an introduction to the fundamental concepts of modern astronomy, exploring the structure and evolution of the universe, stars, planets, and galaxies. It examines the history and methods of astronomical observation, including the use of telescopes and other instruments, and discusses the physical principles that underlie celestial phenomena. Students will gain an understanding of the solar system, the life cycles of stars, the nature of black holes and neutron stars, the discovery of exoplanets, and current theories about the origin and fate of the universe. Emphasis is placed on developing scientific reasoning and appreciating astronomy's role in shaping our understanding 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) The characteristic that most clearly distinguishes modern astronomy from its use in the ancient world is:
A) its accuracy.
B) its relevance.
C) the telescope.
D) the scientific approach.
Answer: D
Q2) How many seconds have elapsed since the family Hominidae (including the great apes)first appeared on Earth,20 million years ago? Express your answer in standard scientific notation.(Hint: There are 31.6 million seconds per year.)
Answer: 6.32 × 10¹ seconds.
Q3) Why is astrology a pseudoscience?
Answer: Although astrology uses precise data to make predictions,those predictions do not perform any better than random guesses.
Q4) Identify the base,coefficient,and exponent in the number 4.07 × 10 .
Answer: The base is 10,the coefficient is 4.07,and the exponent is 6.
Q5) How many orders of magnitude are there between the size of a proton and the diameter of a star?
Answer: 24.
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Chapter 2: A Universe Made, a Universe Discovered
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Q1) Suppose you traveled back in time and explained to ancient Greek astronomers the true distance to the nearest star.Why might this single fact have convinced them that the heliocentric model was correct?
Answer: For the Greeks,the principal empirical objection to the heliocentric model was the lack of a stellar parallax,which must exist if Earth moves in its orbit.However,if they knew the true distance to the stars,they would have realized that the parallax was much too small to observe with the naked eye,so this objection would have been meaningless.
Q2) Describe Eratosthenes' most important astronomical achievement.
Answer: Eratosthenes used the length of midday shadows observed at two different cities to measure the diameter of Earth.
Q3) The angular size of the Moon is about 30 arcminutes,while its true diameter is 3,500 km.How far from Earth is the Moon?
Answer: The Earth-Moon distance is about 384,400 km (or 400,000 km using the values given in the problem).
Q4) Describe the nightly motion of a circumpolar star.
Answer: A circumpolar star rotates around the celestial pole without rising or setting; it is visible throughout the night.
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Chapter 3: A Universe of Universal Laws
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Q1) The Ptolemaic and Copernican models differed in all of the following respects EXCEPT the:
A) the appearance of epicycles.
B) their explanation for retrograde motion.
C) the central object in the planetary system.
D) the rotation of Earth.
Answer: A
Q2) Pluto is about 40 times farther from the Sun than Earth is.How much smaller is Pluto's acceleration due to the Sun's gravity than Earth's?
A) 1/40<sup>2</sup>
B) 1/40
C) 1/20
D) They are the same.
Answer: A
Q3) Planets in the solar system follow:
A) circular orbits with the Sun displaced from the center.
B) circular orbits with the Sun at the center.
C) elliptical orbits with the Sun at one focus.
D) elliptical orbits with the Sun at the center.
Answer: C
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Chapter 4: A Universe of Universal Laws
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Q1) List the seven components of the electromagnetic spectrum from shortest to longest wavelength.
Q2) Which of the following sites would make the best location for an infrared telescope?
A) the South Pole
B) a deep valley
C) an arctic mountain
D) a high-altitude desert
Q3) 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.
Q4) An astronomer takes spectra of two stars,A and B.Star A's spectrum peaks at 200 nm,while star B's spectrum peaks at 800 nm.If the stars have identical sizes,how do their luminosities compare?
Q5) What does thermal energy represent?
Q6) How would you use a star's spectrum to measure its temperature?
Q7) Describe the path of light in a reflecting telescope with a Newtonian focus.
Page 6
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Chapter 5: The Architecture and Birth of Planetary Systems
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Q1) Binary accretion describes the:
A) buildup of planetesimals through collisions.
B) gravitational capture of gas by a black hole.
C) rapid growth of giant planets through gas instabilities.
D) merger of two stars in a close mutual orbit.
Q2) Which of the following would most directly favor the core accretion model over the hydrodynamic instability model for the formation of giant planets?
A) an accurate census of the "hot Jupiters"
B) observations of comet-gas giant collisions in our Solar System
C) a detection of a massive, rocky core in the outer part of a very young protoplanetary disk
D) precise calculations of the formation sites of Jupiter and Saturn
Q3) Compared to our Solar System,the majority of exoplanets have orbits with:
A) higher eccentricity.
B) higher inclinations.
C) smaller semimajor axes.
D) all of the above.
Q4) Compare the following properties between Mars and Jupiter: mass,orbital radius,rotation rate,and density.
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Chapter 6: Home Base: Earth and Moon
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Q1) The atmospheric layer in which most weather occurs is the:
A) troposphere.
B) mesosphere.
C) stratosphere.
D) ionosphere.
Q2) Which of the following is NOT a common result of the collision of two plates?
A) earthquakes
B) volcanoes
C) mid-ocean ridges
D) mountain ranges
Q3) "Snowball Earth" phases of geologic history were most likely caused by a(n):
A) decrease in the Sun's luminosity.
B) reduced concentration of atmospheric methane.
C) increased solar wind.
D) increase in volcanism.
Q4) A long line of active volcanoes often marks:
A) a plume.
B) an area of increased radioactivity.
C) a weak point in the crust.
D) the boundary of two plates.
Page 8
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Chapter 7: Sibling Worlds: Mercury, Venus, and Mars
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Q1) The origin of Mars's moons is:
A) capture of nearby asteroids.
B) ejecta from giant impacts.
C) fragmentation of a larger body.
D) currently an area of active investigation.
Q2) Why did Mars become significantly less habitable about 500 million years after its formation?
Q3) How do astronomers use guiding principles to supplement the scientific method?
Q4) Other than Earth,the Solar System world with the most evidence for surface features affected by winds is:
A) Mars.
B) Venus.
C) Mercury.
D) Io.
Q5) Which of the following phases occurred earliest in Earth's evolutionary process?
A) magma flooding
B) cratering
C) cooling
D) differentiation
Q6) Name two ways in which Phobos and Deimos differ from Earth's Moon.
Page 9
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Chapter 8: Gas, ice, and Stone: the Outer Planets
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Q1) An exoplanet orbiting a star just like our Sun has substantial amounts of methane in its spectrum,a strong magnetic field,and a mass about twenty times larger than Earth.It most likely formed at:
A) 2 AU.
B) 5 AU.
C) 10 AU.
D) 25 AU.
Q2) What is the internal structure of the giant planets?
Q3) Why does Jupiter gives off more energy than it receives from the Sun?
A) gravitational contraction
B) differentiation
C) radioactive decay
D) fusion
Q4) Jupiter's rapid rotation is responsible for:
A) strong convection.
B) differentiation.
C) large-scale electric currents in its magnetosphere.
D) volcanism on Io.
Q5) Why does Saturn bulge outward at the equator rather than its poles?
Q6) How was the mass of Neptune predicted before it was observed?
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Chapter 9: Life and the Search for Habitable Worlds
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Q1) Which of the following questions expresses Fermi's paradox?
A) If extraterrestrial life exists, why is oxygen so rare in the Universe?
B) If extraterrestrial life exists, why is it not inside our Solar System?
C) If extraterrestrial intelligence exists, where should we search for it?
D) If extraterrestrial intelligence exists, why is it not here yet?
Q2) What are the advantages of searching for extraterrestrial signals in the radio band?
Q3) What wavelength regime is most commonly used in searches for extraterrestrial intelligence?
A) visible
B) ultraviolet
C) radio
D) X-ray
Q4) In which part of the cell do mutations occur?
A) DNA
B) enzymes
C) RNA
D) proteins
Q5) What defines the habitability zone around a star?
Q6) What is responsible for the oxygen in Earth's atmosphere?
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Chapter 10: The Sun As a Star
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Q1) A pot of boiling water sits on a hot stove.How is heat transported from the bottom of the pot to the water's surface?
A) radiative transport
B) convection
C) conduction
D) phase transitions
Q2) Which of the following is a result of the solar dynamo?
A) Flux tubes above the radiative zone become buoyant and rise.
B) the differential rotation of the sun.
C) solar granulation
D) none of the above
Q3) A sunspot has a temperature 80% as large as the rest of the Sun's surface.How much LESS light does it produce per unit area than the rest of the Sun?
A) 5% as much
B) 20% as much
C) 40% as much
D) 80% as much
Q4) How can heat be transported across a vacuum?
Q5) Why does fusion occur only at the center of the Sun?
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Chapter 11: Measuring the Stars: the Main Sequence and Its Meaning
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Q1) What property of a star's spectral lines allows astronomers to measure stellar masses?
A) redshift
B) width
C) variability
D) depth
Q2) The Sun is expected to spend about 5 billion more years on the main sequence.If its luminosity increased suddenly to four times its usual value,how much time would it remain on the main sequence?
Q3) How have astronomers learned about the life cycles of stars?
A) through laboratory experiments
B) by studying the Big Bang
C) by studying the complete life cycles of individual stars
D) by measuring the properties of many stars at a single instant
Q4) What information do you need to calculate the apparent magnitude of a star? What about the absolute magnitude?
Q5) What aspects of a star change significantly during its time on the main sequence?
Page 13
Q6) How do astronomers construct stellar evolutionary tracks on the HR diagram?
Q7) How are globular clusters used to test stellar models?
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Chapter 12: Nursery of the Stars: the Interstellar Medium and
Star Formation
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Q1) An interstellar gas cloud has a temperature of 100 K and a density of 50 particles per cubic centimeter.How could an astronomer most easily observe this cloud?
A) atomic hydrogen absorption lines
B) molecular absorption lines
C) atomic hydrogen emission lines
D) molecular emission lines
Q2) Which of the following adjectives best describes the interstellar medium?
A) ordered
B) dense
C) smooth
D) turbulent
Q3) Why does the initial mass function of stars differ from the actual distribution of stars in the Milky Way at the present day?
Q4) A protostar forming without magnetic fields will most likely lack:
A) a molecular outflow.
B) an accretion disk.
C) an envelope.
D) the conditions necessary for fusion.
Q5) Why is there some variation in the birth times of stars in open clusters?
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Chapter 13: To the Graveyard of Stars: the End Points of
Stellar Evolution
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Q1) Which of the following sets of measurements CANNOT be used to determine a main sequence star's eventual fate?
A) mass
B) color and composition
C) luminosity and temperature
D) color, distance, and brightness
Q2) What are the resulting particles when protons and electrons are forced together in the core of a massive star during the early stages of a supernova?
Q3) A white dwarf is in a binary system with a red giant with five times the mass of the Sun.This system could result in a:
A) gamma-ray burst.
B) Type II supernova.
C) Type Ia supernova.
D) none of the above.
Q4) Why is an intermediate mass star's time on the horizontal branch much shorter than its time on the main sequence?
Q5) How is a neutron star supported against its own gravity?
Page 15
Q6) What explodes in Type Ia and Type II supernovas?
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Chapter 14: Down the Rabbit Hole: Relativity and Black Holes
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Q1) If the speed of light were infinite,how would black holes change?
A) They would have to be more massive.
B) They would have to be denser.
C) They would be easier to observe.
D) They would not exist.
Q2) What are black holes?
A) the densest regions in the Universe
B) regions from whose gravity nothing can escape
C) the most massive objects in the Universe
D) all of the above
Q3) Which of the following objects has the strongest tidal forces,assuming that each has the same mass?
A) black hole
B) white dwarf
C) neutron star
D) the Sun
Q4) What kind of objects exhibit the strongest frame-dragging effects?
Q5) How would Earth's orbit change if the Sun suddenly collapsed into a black hole (with the same mass as it currently has)?
Q6) What are the three observable properties of black holes? Page 16
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Q1) Which of the four fundamental forces of nature could dark matter experience?
A) gravity and the weak nuclear force
B) gravity, the strong nuclear force, and the weak nuclear force
C) gravity and the strong nuclear force
D) gravity only
Q2) What is the shape of the Milky Way's central component?
Q3) What wavelength range is used to map the motions of stars around Sagittarius A*?
A) radio
B) infrared
C) optical
D) X-ray
Q4) How do physicists search for evidence of WIMPs?
A) through their gravitational effects
B) through collisions with other matter
C) through gamma rays produced during collisions
D) all of the above
Q5) What are the three major components of the Milky Way galaxy?
Q6) Why is the metallicity of Population I stars greater than that of Population II stars?
Q7) What is a WIMP?
Page 18
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Chapter 16: A Universe of Galaxies
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Q1) Because of an obscuring atmosphere,an observer in a distant galaxy can only see the nearest 1,000 stars to his or her home planet.How could the observer most directly determine that he or she lives inside an elliptical galaxy?
A) by measuring the brightnesses of the stars
B) by mapping the locations of the stars on the sky
C) by measuring the differences in velocities between the stars
D) by measuring the masses of the stars
Q2) An astronomer discovers an extremely luminous galaxy with broad emission lines that have very large redshifts.This is most likely a:
A) Seyfert galaxy.
B) barred spiral galaxy.
C) spiral galaxy.
D) quasar.
Q3) A galaxy with a total mass of 10 M<sub>Sun</sub> is most likely to be:
A) a spiral.
B) a barred spiral.
C) a dwarf elliptical.
D) a lenticular.
Q4) What are the four major classes of galaxies in the Universe?
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Chapter 17: The Cosmic Web: the Large-Scale Structure of the Universe
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Q1) An astronomer observes 1,000 galaxies positioned within 5 Mpc of each other in a galaxy cluster.What other quantity or quantities should he or she measure to determine the mass of this cluster?
Q2) Suppose a star produces an ultraviolet photon during the Dark Ages.The photon is emitted from a continuum source with a wavelength between the absorption lines of neutral hydrogen,but it is absorbed as it travels a long distance through the neutral hydrogen.Why?
Q3) What is the minimum scale on which the Universe becomes homogeneous?
A) 1 Mpc
B) 10 Mpc
C) 100 Mpc
D) The Universe is not homogeneous on any scale.
Q4) An astronomer observes a set of galaxies that are exceptionally blue and have a large fraction of interactions.These galaxies are most likely:
A) at high redshifts.
B) inside galaxy clusters.
C) ellipticals.
D) gravitationally lensed.
Q5) Why are most galaxies inside clusters ellipticals or lenticular galaxies?
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Chapter 18: Cosmology
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Q1) By approximately what factor did the Universe expand between 10 ³ and 10 ³³ seconds after the Big Bang,according to present models?
A) 10
B) 10<sup>10</sup>
C) 10<sup>50</sup>
D) The Universe did not expand during that interval.
Q2) Which of the following isotopes is NOT a potential probe of the first three minutes of the Universe's history?
A) deuterium
B) helium-3
C) lithium-7
D) carbon-13
Q3) An astronomer measures the properties of an alternate universe.He or she discovers that the angles of a triangle in this universe add up to more than 180 degrees.What can he or she deduce about the universe's density?
Q4) What were the two most common nuclei in the Universe ten minutes after the Big Bang,and what were their relative abundances?
Q5) What are the three most important observational pillars for the Big Bang model?
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