Survey of the Universe Question Bank
Course Introduction
Survey of the Universe is an introductory course designed to explore the fundamental concepts and discoveries in astronomy and cosmology. Students will examine the origins, structures, and evolution of the universe, including topics such as planets, stars, galaxies, black holes, and the Big Bang. The course integrates observational techniques, the role of light and telescopes, and the scientific methods used to understand cosmic phenomena. Through lectures, multimedia resources, and discussions, students gain a broad understanding of humanitys place in the cosmos and the ongoing quest to unravel the mysteries of the universe.
Recommended Textbook
Discovering the Essential Universe 6th Edition by Neil F. Comins
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
15 Chapters
4447 Verified Questions
4447 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/2080 Page 2
Chapter 1: Discovering the Night Sky
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
370 Verified Questions
370 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41413
Sample Questions
Q1) What was the approximate value of right ascension of the Sun this year on December 21?
A) 6 hours 0 minutes
B) 0 hours 0 minutes
C) 18 hours 0 minutes
D) 12 hours 0 minutes
Answer: C
Q2) When the Moon is in its gibbous phase,the positions of the Moon,Earth,and the Sun are such that:
A) the Moon is closer to the Sun than Earth is.
B) the relative distances of Earth and the Moon from the Sun are irrelevant because this phase can occur at any time.
C) Earth and the Moon are at almost the same distance from the Sun.
D) the Moon is farther from the Sun than Earth is.
Answer: D
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 3
Chapter 2: Gravitation and the Waltz of the Planets
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
344 Verified Questions
344 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41414
Sample Questions
Q1) Tycho Brahe demonstrated that the supernova of 1572 was NOT a nearby event (close to Earth)by:
A) proving that it did not show parallax over the course of one night.
B) showing that it did not pass in front of the Sun at conjunction.
C) proving that it did not move past the background stars like a planet in our solar system.
D) showing that it did not get brighter and fainter as Earth moved toward and away from it over the course of a year.
Answer: A
Q2) When observing planetary motions from Earth,the term retrograde motion refers to the:
A) apparent westward motion of the planet (and the Sun, the Moon, and stars) across the sky due to the rotation of Earth.
B) motion of the planet away from Earth during part of its orbit.
C) slow eastward motion of the planet from night to night compared with the background stars.
D) slow westward motion of the planet from night to night compared with the background stars.
Answer: D
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 4
Chapter 3: Light and Telescopes
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
413 Verified Questions
413 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41415
Sample Questions
Q1) What is the angular resolution of the Hubble Space Telescope?
A) 0.01 arc second
B) 0.001 arc second
C) 1 arc second
D) 0.1 arc second
Answer: D
Q2) The speed of light always has the same value in a vacuum:
A) but its speed inside a transparent material depends on the temperature of the material and can be faster or slower than its speed in a vacuum.
B) as it does in transparent materials.
C) but is slower in transparent materials such as water and glass.
D) but is faster in transparent materials such as water and glass.
Answer: C
Q3) The chemical makeup of a star's surface is usually inferred by:
A) theoretical methods, considering the evolution of the star.
B) spectroscopy of the light emitted by the star.
C) measuring the chemical elements present in the solar wind.
D) taking a sample of the star's surface with a space probe.
Answer: B
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 5
Chapter 4: Formation of the Solar System and Other Planetary Systems
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
115 Verified Questions
115 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41416
Sample Questions
Q1) What is the origin of the various moons around the planets in the solar system?
A) All are captured asteroids.
B) All formed by collision and condensation like the planets they orbit.
C) All were formed from material ejected when their planets were struck by large objects.
D) All three mechanisms-capturing of asteroids, collision and condensation, and formation from ejected planetary material-are believed to have occurred.
Q2) Pluto was originally classified as a planet,but new criteria for the definition of a planet were adopted,and Pluto failed to meet one of them.Which one?
A) Pluto does not orbit the Sun directly.
B) Pluto does not have enough mass to pull itself into a roughly spherical shape.
C) Pluto does not spin fast enough to produce its own magnetic field.
D) Pluto does not have enough gravity to clear its orbit.
Q3) The MOST noticeably elliptical planetary orbit is the orbit of:
A) Mars.
B) Uranus.
C) Mercury.
D) Earth.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 6
Chapter 5: Exoplanets
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
43 Verified Questions
43 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41417
Sample Questions
Q1) In searches for planets orbiting stars other than the Sun,what is the astrometric method?
A) searching for tiny "bumps" on images of a star, due to the light from a planet located close to the star
B) searching for tiny displacements of the infrared image of a star compared with its optical image, caused by the presence of planets that are cool and thus emitting primarily in the infrared
C) searching for tiny wobbles in the position of a star, due to the gravitational pull of a planet orbiting around it
D) searching for tiny wobbles in the positions of absorption lines in a star's spectrum, caused by radial-velocity variations of the star as the result of a planet orbiting around it
Q2) Disks of gas and dust have been found around:
A) the Sun only.
B) young stars only.
C) Red giants only.
D) stars of various ages.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 6: The Terrestrial Planets and Their Moons
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
605 Verified Questions
605 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41418
Sample Questions
Q1) Mercury's average density and the fact that it has a (weak)magnetic field lead to the conclusion that its central core is probably composed of:
A) solid rocks of relatively low density.
B) solid and molten iron.
C) ices of water and methane.
D) molten rock.
Q2) How old are the lunar highlands?
A) 4.0 to 4.3 billion years old
B) 3.1 to 3.8 billion years old
C) less than 1 billion years old
D) 1.8 to 2.6 billion years old
Q3) MOST of the mountain ranges on the Moon are the:
A) result of the buildup of meteoritic dust by winds on the Moon.
B) result of water flow and erosion on the Moon's soft surface.
C) circular edges and rims of large maria that have been formed by impacts from large objects.
D) result of plate tectonic movement similar to that on Earth.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 8
Chapter 7: The Outer Planets and Their Moons
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
366 Verified Questions
366 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41419
Sample Questions
Q1) Which chemical in the atmosphere of Titan (a moon of Saturn)plays the same role that water plays on Earth by producing "rain," "snow," and "ice" at the temperature encountered on Titan?
A) nitrogen, N
B) ammonia, NH
C) ethane, C H
D) oxygen, O
Q2) Which satellite of a planet in our solar system has a significant and dense atmosphere?
A) Triton, a moon of Neptune
B) Io, a moon of Jupiter
C) Titan, a moon of Saturn
D) Earth's Moon
Q3) Io,one of the major moons of Jupiter,is undergoing extensive volcanic activity associated with interior heating that is caused by:
A) deposition of energy by particles from within Jupiter's Van Allen belts.
B) original heat caused by gravitational condensation at the moon's formation.
C) tidal distortion and internal friction because of flexing.
D) solar radiation and heat falling on the surface.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 9
Chapter 8: Vagabonds of the Solar System
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
196 Verified Questions
196 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41420
Sample Questions
Q1) A small particle of rock orbiting the Sun would be called a:
A) meteor.
B) micrometer.
C) meteorite.
D) meteoroid.
Q2) What is the likely connection between the metal iridium and the demise of the EarthEarth''s dinosaur population?
A) Iridium, which is found in abundance on Earth''s surface, is poisonous to reptiles.
B) Iridium is found beneath Earth''s crust. Meteor impacts during the dinosaur age probably exposed and uncovered enough of it to poison the dinosaurs.
C) Iridium is found in meteorites but is rare on the EarthEarth. The existence of a worldwide layer of it suggests a large meteor impact during the dinosaur age. The impact probably raised enough dust to block out sunlight and kill the dinosaurs.
D) Iridium is highly radioactive. Its presence in a geologic layer dating to the dinosaur age suggests that natural radioactivity reached dangerous levels at that time, and the dinosaurs died from overexposure.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 10
Chapter 9: The Sun: Our Extraordinary Ordinary Star
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
274 Verified Questions
274 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41421
Sample Questions
Q1) When two protons and two neutrons combine to form He,the helium nucleus is less massive than the sum of the four original particles used to construct it.What is the significance of this result?
A) The lost mass is transferred into energy.
B) The mass is lost through friction.
C) The "lost" mass can be accounted for by the masses of the particles emitted as radioactive decay during the interaction.
D) The mass disappears without a trace.
Q2) What is the source of the X rays emitted by the solar corona?
A) high-energy charged particles spiraling along the coronal magnetic fields
B) X rays from the solar photosphere, scattered by ions in the corona
C) decay of radioactive nuclei in the coronal gases
D) high-temperature gas of the corona
Q3) The solar wind originates primarily:
A) near the solar equator, where solar spin reduces the gravitational field.
B) in flare explosions.
C) in sunspots.
D) in coronal holes, cooler, lower-density regions in the corona.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 11
Chapter 10: Characterizing Stars
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
261 Verified Questions
261 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41422
Sample Questions
Q1) A list of four stars and their apparent magnitudes is given.Which star looks brightest when viewed from Earth?
A) Tau Ceti m = +3.49
B) Alpha Centauri B m = 1.34
C) Barnard's star m = +9.53
D) 61 Cygni A m = +5.21
Q2) If the surface temperatures of white dwarf stars are 4 times that of the Sun,and energy output per unit area of a star depends on the fourth power of the temperature by the Stefan-Boltzmann relation,why are white dwarfs intrinsically so faint?
A) White dwarfs are very small.
B) White dwarfs have very thin atmospheres that do not emit continuum radiation but only line emissions, like a low-density gas.
C) White dwarfs are shrouded in very thick atmospheres.
D) White dwarfs are moving rapidly away from the Sun and their spectra are extremely redshifted, hence they appear faint at visible wavelengths.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 12
Chapter 11: The Lives of the Stars From Birth Through Middle
Age
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
322 Verified Questions
322 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41423
Sample Questions
Q1) At what stage of evolution are the stars with similar luminosities between 50 and 100 times that of the Sun but spread over a range of temperatures?
A) the main-sequence stage because the horizontal-branch region is part of the main sequence
B) the pre-main-sequence stage, evolving toward the main sequence
C) the white dwarf stage
D) the post-main-sequence stage
Q2) When a variable star periodically changes its luminosity,each of the following also changes periodically EXCEPT ONE.Which is the exception?
A) temperature
B) radial surface speed
C) size
D) rotation rate
Q3) Infrared stars in the Orion Nebula are examples of which stage of stellar evolution?
A) red giant
B) protostar and young star
C) supernova remnants
D) planetary nebula
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 13
Chapter 12: The Deaths and Remnants of Stars
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
395 Verified Questions
395 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41424
Sample Questions
Q1) The light from the MOST recent supernova that was visible to the unaided eye arrived at Earth in a.d.:
A) 1604.
B) 1054.
C) 1987.
D) 1572.
Q2) Einstein's theory of special relativity contains some very strange ideas such as time dilation (moving clocks run slow),length contraction (moving lengths are shorter),and lack of absolute simultaneity.What is the basis of these ideas?
A) New technologies allow more precise measurements of length and time than had been possible in Newton's era, and the theory had to be reworked to fit this new evidence.
B) The speed of light is the same for all observers in all reference frames.
C) The ether (the medium that supports the passage of light) proved to be denser than originally thought.
D) The fabric of spacetime is dominated by black holes.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 13: The Galaxies
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
465 Verified Questions
465 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41425
Sample Questions
Q1) According to the Hubble classification scheme,an E3 galaxy:
A) is rounder looking than an E5 galaxy.
B) has more tightly wound spiral arms than an E5 galaxy.
C) is more elongated than an E5 galaxy.
D) has a shorter central bar in its disk than an E5 galaxy.
Q2) What is the designation given to a galaxy with a small nuclear bulge and loosely wound arms starting from a bar through the nuclear bulge?
A) SBc
B) SBa
C) Sb
D) Sc
Q3) The ratio of thickness to diameter of the Milky Way Galaxy is:
A) 1/500.
B) 1/5.
C) 1/50.
D) 1/1000.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 15
Chapter 14: Cosmology
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
205 Verified Questions
205 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41426
Sample Questions
Q1) In a primordial,pre-galactic gas cloud,what is believed to have been the MOST important condition that caused the cloud to become an elliptical galaxy (as opposed to some other type of galaxy)?
A) The initial rate of star formation was high.
B) The cloud started off with a lot of dust and heavy elements.
C) The cloud started off flattened and disk-shaped before it collapsed.
D) The initial rate of star formation was low.
Q2) What is an advantage of quintessence over the cosmological constant as a description of dark energy?
A) Einstein's reasoning in rejecting the cosmological constant still seems to be true today.
B) The cosmological constant would have to have, from the beginning of the universe, the right value to give a flat universe now: an amazing coincidence. The quintessence model does not have this requirement.
C) Quintessence is a well-established concept in physics, going back to ancient times, whereas the cosmological constant is a relatively new and untested concept.
D) The quintessence model predicts the correct age for the universe; the cosmological constant does not.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 16
Chapter 15: Astrobiology
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
73 Verified Questions
73 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/41427
Sample Questions
Q1) In a few decades,a new generation of powerful telescopes especially designed to find extrasolar planets may be operational and sending us data.What might these results mean for our use of the Drake equation?
A) With these results in hand, the Drake equation will become irrelevant.
B) The structure of the Drake equation itself will undoubtedly have to be drastically revised.
C) We will have much better values for the factors fp (the fraction of stars that have planets) and n (the number of planets per solar system that are Earthlike).
D) We will have much better values for the factors fl (the fraction of Earthlike planets on which life actually arises), f (the fraction of life-forms that evolve into intelligent species), and fc (the fraction of intelligent species that develop adequate technology and then choose to send messages out into space).
Q2) What do the letters SETI stand for?
A) search for evidence of terrestrial-planet inhabitants
B) search for extraterrestrial intelligence
C) search for extraterrestrial invaders
D) sourcebook of extrasensory transient incidents
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Page 17