OpenStax College/Astronomy/Test 2 Study guide

1. At noon a waning gibbous moon would be}

___ a) nadir

___ b) high in western sky

___ c) overhead

___ d) western horizon

___ e) below the western horizon

2. At 9am a waxing crescent moon would be}

___ a) eastern horizon

___ b) high in eastern sky

___ c) below the western horizon

___ d) overhead

___ e) nadir

3. At 6pm a waxing crescent moon would be}

___ a) eastern horizon

___ b) overhead

___ c) western horizon

___ d) high in western sky

___ e) nadir

4. At 9pm a full moon would be}

___ a) below the western horizon

___ b) eastern horizon

___ c) overhead

___ d) high in eastern sky

___ e) nadir

5. At midnight a waning gibbous moon would be}

___ a) below the western horizon

___ b) high in western sky

___ c) eastern horizon

___ d) western horizon

___ e) high in eastern sky

6. At 9pm a third quarter moon would be}

___ a) high in eastern sky

___ b) below the western horizon

___ c) high in western sky

___ d) below the eastern horizon

___ e) nadir

7. At 9am a new moon would be}

___ a) below the western horizon

___ b) high in western sky

___ c) eastern horizon

___ d) high in eastern sky

___ e) overhead

8. At 6pm a waning crescent moon would be}

___ a) below the eastern horizon

___ b) western horizon

___ c) eastern horizon

___ d) nadir

___ e) below the western horizon

9. At 3pm a full moon would be}

___ a) high in eastern sky

___ b) below the western horizon

___ c) western horizon

___ d) nadir

___ e) below the eastern horizon

10. At 6pm a waxing gibbous moon would be}

___ a) eastern horizon

___ b) high in eastern sky

___ c) below the western horizon

___ d) nadir

___ e) western horizon

11. ____ motion is in the usual direction, and _______ is motion that has temporarily reversed itself.

___ a) elliptical; retrograde

___ b) direct; retrograde

___ c) indirect; direct

___ d) direct; elliptical

___ e) retrograde; direct

12. Under what conditions would a planet not seem to rise in the east and set in the west?

___ a) if the observer is below the equator

___ b) if the observer is near the north or south poles

___ c) if the planet is in retrograde motion

___ d) if the planet is in elliptical motion

___ e) if the planet is in direct motion

13. When the faster moving Earth overtakes a slower planet outside Earth's orbit

___ a) all of these are true

___ b) tidal forces can be observed on the planet

___ c) retrograde motion occurs

___ d) tidal forces can be observed on Earth

___ e) two of these are true

14. Which planet spends more days in a given retrograde?

___ a) Mars

___ b) Saturn

___ c) Earth

___ d) They are all equal

___ e) It depends on the season

15. Which planet has more days between two consecutive retrogrades?

___ a) Mars

___ b) It depends on the season

___ c) Earth

___ d) Saturn

___ e) They are all equal

16. A planet that is very, very far from the Sun would be in retrograde for approximately ___ months.

___ a) 24

___ b) 6

___ c) 12

___ d) 1

___ e) 3

17. If a planet that is very, very far from the Sun begins a retrograde, how many months must pass before it begins the next retrograde?

___ a) 3

___ b) 6

___ c) 1

___ d) 24

___ e) 12

18. Planet comes from the Greek word for 'wanderer'.

___ a) true

___ b) false

19. We know that Galileo saw Neptune, but is not credited with its discovery because

___ a) he never published his drawing

___ b) he thought it was a moon of Saturn

___ c) none of these are true

___ d) it was in a transition between retrograde and direct motion

___ e) it was too faint to be worth drawing

20. Kepler began his career as a teacher of

___ a) philosophy

___ b) history

___ c) astronomy

___ d) mathematics

___ e) theology

21. Kepler is also known for his improvements to

___ a) Ptolemy's star charts

___ b) the telescope

___ c) a perpetual motion machine

___ d) translations of the Bible

___ e) the abacus

22. In Kepler's era, astronomy was usually considered a part of natural philosophy

___ a) true

___ b) false

23. In Kepler's era, astronomy was usually considered a part of mathematics

___ a) true

___ b) false

24. In Kepler's era, astronomy closely linked to astrology

___ a) true

___ b) false

25. In Kepler's era, physics (how and why things moved) was usually considered a part of natural philosophy

___ a) true

___ b) false

26. Kepler incorporated religious arguments and reasoning into his work

___ a) true

___ b) false

27. Kepler avoided religious arguments and reasoning in his work

___ a) true

___ b) false

28. How would one describe the status of Kepler's family when he was a child?

___ a) neither wealthy nor of noble birth

___ b) his father and grandfather were scientists

___ c) wealth and of noble birth

___ d) of noble birth, but in poverty

___ e) wealthy but not of noble birth

29. As a child, Kepler's interest in astronomy grew as a result of

___ a) a lunar eclipse

___ b) a comet

___ c) a solar eclipse

___ d) two of these

___ e) watching his uncle make a telescope

30. When Kepler's studies at the university were over, what he really wanted to do was

___ a) work with Newton

___ b) become a minister

___ c) visit Rome

___ d) visit Athens

___ e) work with Tycho

31. Which of the following is NOT associated with Kepler's Laws

___ a) planets farther from the Sun have longer orbital periods.

___ b) planets speed up as they approach the sun

___ c) elliptical paths for the planets

___ d) circular motions with epicycles

___ e) Earth orbits the sun

32. As a planet orbits the Sun, the Sun is situated at one focal point of the ellipse

___ a) true

___ b) false

33. As a planet orbits the Sun, the Sun is situated midway between the two focal points of the ellipse

___ a) true

___ b) false

34. Newton was able to use the motion of the Moon to calculate the universal constant of gravity, G

___ a) true

___ b) false

35. The force of (gravitational) attraction between you and a friend is small because neither of you possess significant mass

___ a) true

___ b) false

36. Cavendish finally measured G by carefully weighing the force between

___ a) Sun and Moon

___ b) two lead balls

___ c) Jupiter and moons

___ d) Earth and Sun

___ e) Earth and Moon

37.

horizontal crack

The horizontal crack along the center of figure is a

___ a) meander

___ b) rille

___ c) scarp

___ d) antipodal

___ e) propodal

38. Antipodal to Caloris Basin is

___ a) a scarp

___ b) a silicon deposits

___ c) a water deposits

___ d) an iron/nickel deposit

___ e) weird terrain

39. A volatile is a substance that

___ a) reacts violently with acids

___ b) reacts violently with water

___ c) melts or evaporates at low temperature

___ d) melts or evaporates at high temperature

___ e) reacts violently with oxygen

40. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, also called the terrestrial planets, are primarily composed of ___ and ___.

___ a) carbon and oxygen

___ b) ice and gas

___ c) ice and rock

___ d) ice and water

___ e) metal and rock

41. If the universe is mostly hydrogen, why aren't terrestrial planets made of mostly hydrogen?

___ a) These planets lie inside the frost line for hydrogen

___ b) tidal forces from the Sun prevented accretion

___ c) tidal forces between the terrestrial planets prevented accretion

___ d) tidal forces from Jupiter prevented accretion

___ e) thermonuclear fusion in the protosun turned the hydrogen into helium

42. Mercury's atmosphere consists mostly of

___ a) oxygen

___ b) carbon dioxide

___ c) helium

___ d) hydrogen

___ e) nitrogen

43. In what sequence did Mercury's weird terrain and Caloris basin form?

___ a) The were formed at exactly the same time

___ b) The weird terrain was formed approximately 2 billions years before the Caloris basin

___ c) The weird terrain was formed almost immediately after the Caloris basin

___ d) The weird terrain was formed approximately 2 billions years after the Caloris basin

___ e) The weird terrain was formed a few millions years after the Caloris basin

44. Very far from the sun, the heliosphere

___ a) reverses direction

___ b) never ends

___ c) becomes the magnetosphere

___ d) becomes weaker than the interstellar wind

___ e) spins in the opposite direction

45. A volatile is a substance that

___ a) reacts violently with oxygen

___ b) melts or evaporates at low temperature

___ c) reacts violently with water

___ d) reacts violently with acids

___ e) melts or evaporates at high temperature

46. All planets lie within a nearly flat disc called the __________ plane

___ a) interstellar

___ b) retrograde

___ c) fissile

___ d) ecliptic

___ e) angular

47. The AU is

___ a) the most distant Kuiper object from the Sun

___ b) the distance from the Sun to Earth

___ c) a measure of the brightness of a planet

___ d) the distance from Earth to the Moon

___ e) the size of Oort's cloud

48. The Sun and Earth are about

___ a) 50 billion years old

___ b) 500 million years old

___ c) 5 million years old

___ d) 5 billion years old

___ e) 50 million years old

49. The universe is about

___ a) 15 million years old

___ b) 15 billion years old

___ c) 150 million years old

___ d) 1.5 billion years old

___ e) 150 billion years old

50. Roughly how much bigger is a gas planet than a terrestrial planet?

___ a) 100

___ b) 10

___ c) 3

___ d) 30

___ e) 300

51. Roughly how much bigger is a the Sun than a gas planet?

___ a) 10

___ b) 3

___ c) 100

___ d) 300

___ e) 30

52. According to Wikipedia, if all the mass of the asteroid belt were combined to one object, it's mass would _______ times less than Earth's mass.

___ a) 10,000

___ b) 1

___ c) 10

___ d) 100

___ e) 1,000

53.

planetary disk

In this hypothetical image of a sun-like star we see a bright band of dust that we on Earth call zodiacal light. It is due to sunlight reflecting off dust in the

___ a) Oort Cloude

___ b) magnetic sun's magnetic field

___ c) ecliptic plane

___ d) Kuiper belt

___ e) Van Allen belt

54. In planetary science, the frost line refers to a distance away from

___ a) the south pole of a planet

___ b) either pole of a planet

___ c) ecliptic plane

___ d) the north pole of a planet

___ e) the star in the middle

55. Oort's cloud was hypothesized to explain the source of

___ a) comets

___ b) water inside the frost line

___ c) asteroids

___ d) planets

___ e) water outside the frost line

56. According to Wikipedia _______ and ______ are referred to as volatiles.

___ a) ices and gasses

___ b) acids and bases

___ c) planets and moons

___ d) asteroids and terrestrial planets

___ e) electrons and protons

57. Which of the following list is properly ranked, starting with objects closest to the Sun?

___ a) Asteroid belt, Oort's cloud, Kuiper belt

___ b) Kuiper belt, Asteroid belt, Oort's cloud

___ c) Oort's cloud, Asteroid belt, Kuiper belt

___ d) Asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, Oort's cloud

___ e) Kuiper belt, Oort's cloud, Asteroid belt

58. When the sun turns into a red giant,

___ a) surface temperature decreases; energy output decreases

___ b) surface temperature increases; energy output increases

___ c) surface temperature increases; energy output decreases

___ d) surface temperature decreases; energy output increases

___ e) The sun will not turn into a red giant

59. In astrophysics, what is accretion?

___ a) the increase in temperature and pressure of a star as it collapses from its own gravity

___ b) the condensation of volatiles as a gas cools

___ c) the growth of a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter

___ d) the growth in size of a massive star as its outer atmosphere expands

___ e) the growth of a comet's tail as it comes close to the Sun

60. Dwarf planets are defined as objects orbiting the Sun and smaller than planets, that?

___ a) lie in the asteroid belt

___ b) possess an atmosphere

___ c) lack an atmosphere

___ d) are too far from the Sun to be planets

___ e) have been rounded by their own gravity

61. Dwarf planets have no natural satellites,

___ a) true

___ b) false

62. Pluto is classified as

___ a) a dwarf planet and a trans-Neptunian object.

___ b) an asteroid belt object

___ c) a natural satellite of Uranus

___ d) a natural satellite of Neptune

___ e) a dwarf planet with no natural satellites

63. How many of the outer planets have rings?

___ a) 4

___ b) 1

___ c) 2

___ d) 3

64. Currently there are 7 billion people on Earth, if that ever increases to 10 billion people, for every person on Earth there will be ____ stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

___ a) 2000

___ b) 200

___ c) 20

___ d) 2

65. The revolution of Haley's comet around the Sun is nearly circular.

___ a) true

___ b) false

66. The revolution of Haley's comet around the Sun is opposite that of the 8 planets.

___ a) true

___ b) false

67. The frost line is situated approximately

___ a) 10 times as far from the Sun as the Earth is from the Sun

___ b) 5 times as far from the Earth as the Earth's surface is from its center

___ c) 5 times as far from the Sun as the Earth is from the Sun

___ d) 10 times as far from the Earth as the Earth's surface is from its center

1. At noon a waning gibbous moon would be}

- a) nadir

- b) high in western sky

- c) overhead

- d) western horizon

+ e) below the western horizon

2. At 9am a waxing crescent moon would be}

+ a) eastern horizon

- b) high in eastern sky

- c) below the western horizon

- d) overhead

- e) nadir

3. At 6pm a waxing crescent moon would be}

- a) eastern horizon

- b) overhead

- c) western horizon

+ d) high in western sky

- e) nadir

4. At 9pm a full moon would be}

- a) below the western horizon

- b) eastern horizon

- c) overhead

+ d) high in eastern sky

- e) nadir

5. At midnight a waning gibbous moon would be}

- a) below the western horizon

- b) high in western sky

- c) eastern horizon

- d) western horizon

+ e) high in eastern sky

6. At 9pm a third quarter moon would be}

- a) high in eastern sky

- b) below the western horizon

- c) high in western sky

+ d) below the eastern horizon

- e) nadir

7. At 9am a new moon would be}

- a) below the western horizon

- b) high in western sky

- c) eastern horizon

+ d) high in eastern sky

- e) overhead

8. At 6pm a waning crescent moon would be}

- a) below the eastern horizon

- b) western horizon

- c) eastern horizon

- d) nadir

+ e) below the western horizon

9. At 3pm a full moon would be}

- a) high in eastern sky

- b) below the western horizon

- c) western horizon

- d) nadir

+ e) below the eastern horizon

10. At 6pm a waxing gibbous moon would be}

- a) eastern horizon

+ b) high in eastern sky

- c) below the western horizon

- d) nadir

- e) western horizon

11. ____ motion is in the usual direction, and _______ is motion that has temporarily reversed itself.

- a) elliptical; retrograde

+ b) direct; retrograde

- c) indirect; direct

- d) direct; elliptical

- e) retrograde; direct

12. Under what conditions would a planet not seem to rise in the east and set in the west?

- a) if the observer is below the equator

+ b) if the observer is near the north or south poles

- c) if the planet is in retrograde motion

- d) if the planet is in elliptical motion

- e) if the planet is in direct motion

13. When the faster moving Earth overtakes a slower planet outside Earth's orbit

- a) all of these are true

- b) tidal forces can be observed on the planet

+ c) retrograde motion occurs

- d) tidal forces can be observed on Earth

- e) two of these are true

14. Which planet spends more days in a given retrograde?

- a) Mars

+ b) Saturn

- c) Earth

- d) They are all equal

- e) It depends on the season

15. Which planet has more days between two consecutive retrogrades?

+ a) Mars

- b) It depends on the season

- c) Earth

- d) Saturn

- e) They are all equal

16. A planet that is very, very far from the Sun would be in retrograde for approximately ___ months.

- a) 24

+ b) 6

- c) 12

- d) 1

- e) 3

17. If a planet that is very, very far from the Sun begins a retrograde, how many months must pass before it begins the next retrograde?

- a) 3

- b) 6

- c) 1

- d) 24

+ e) 12

18. Planet comes from the Greek word for 'wanderer'.

+ a) true

- b) false

19. We know that Galileo saw Neptune, but is not credited with its discovery because

- a) he never published his drawing

- b) he thought it was a moon of Saturn

- c) none of these are true

+ d) it was in a transition between retrograde and direct motion

- e) it was too faint to be worth drawing

20. Kepler began his career as a teacher of

- a) philosophy

- b) history

- c) astronomy

+ d) mathematics

- e) theology

21. Kepler is also known for his improvements to

- a) Ptolemy's star charts

+ b) the telescope

- c) a perpetual motion machine

- d) translations of the Bible

- e) the abacus

22. In Kepler's era, astronomy was usually considered a part of natural philosophy

- a) true

+ b) false

23. In Kepler's era, astronomy was usually considered a part of mathematics

+ a) true

- b) false

24. In Kepler's era, astronomy closely linked to astrology

+ a) true

- b) false

25. In Kepler's era, physics (how and why things moved) was usually considered a part of natural philosophy

+ a) true

- b) false

26. Kepler incorporated religious arguments and reasoning into his work

+ a) true

- b) false

27. Kepler avoided religious arguments and reasoning in his work

- a) true

+ b) false

28. How would one describe the status of Kepler's family when he was a child?

- a) neither wealthy nor of noble birth

- b) his father and grandfather were scientists

- c) wealth and of noble birth

+ d) of noble birth, but in poverty

- e) wealthy but not of noble birth

29. As a child, Kepler's interest in astronomy grew as a result of

- a) a lunar eclipse

- b) a comet

- c) a solar eclipse

+ d) two of these

- e) watching his uncle make a telescope

30. When Kepler's studies at the university were over, what he really wanted to do was

- a) work with Newton

+ b) become a minister

- c) visit Rome

- d) visit Athens

- e) work with Tycho

31. Which of the following is NOT associated with Kepler's Laws

- a) planets farther from the Sun have longer orbital periods.

- b) planets speed up as they approach the sun

- c) elliptical paths for the planets

+ d) circular motions with epicycles

- e) Earth orbits the sun

32. As a planet orbits the Sun, the Sun is situated at one focal point of the ellipse

+ a) true

- b) false

33. As a planet orbits the Sun, the Sun is situated midway between the two focal points of the ellipse

- a) true

+ b) false

34. Newton was able to use the motion of the Moon to calculate the universal constant of gravity, G

- a) true

+ b) false

35. The force of (gravitational) attraction between you and a friend is small because neither of you possess significant mass

+ a) true

- b) false

36. Cavendish finally measured G by carefully weighing the force between

- a) Sun and Moon

+ b) two lead balls

- c) Jupiter and moons

- d) Earth and Sun

- e) Earth and Moon

37.

horizontal crack

The horizontal crack along the center of figure is a

- a) meander

- b) rille

+ c) scarp

- d) antipodal

- e) propodal

38. Antipodal to Caloris Basin is

- a) a scarp

- b) a silicon deposits

- c) a water deposits

- d) an iron/nickel deposit

+ e) weird terrain

39. A volatile is a substance that

- a) reacts violently with acids

- b) reacts violently with water

+ c) melts or evaporates at low temperature

- d) melts or evaporates at high temperature

- e) reacts violently with oxygen

40. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, also called the terrestrial planets, are primarily composed of ___ and ___.

- a) carbon and oxygen

- b) ice and gas

- c) ice and rock

- d) ice and water

+ e) metal and rock

41. If the universe is mostly hydrogen, why aren't terrestrial planets made of mostly hydrogen?

- a) These planets lie inside the frost line for hydrogen

- b) tidal forces from the Sun prevented accretion

- c) tidal forces between the terrestrial planets prevented accretion

- d) tidal forces from Jupiter prevented accretion

+ e) thermonuclear fusion in the protosun turned the hydrogen into helium

42. Mercury's atmosphere consists mostly of

- a) oxygen

- b) carbon dioxide

- c) helium

+ d) hydrogen

- e) nitrogen

43. In what sequence did Mercury's weird terrain and Caloris basin form?

- a) The were formed at exactly the same time

- b) The weird terrain was formed approximately 2 billions years before the Caloris basin

+ c) The weird terrain was formed almost immediately after the Caloris basin

- d) The weird terrain was formed approximately 2 billions years after the Caloris basin

- e) The weird terrain was formed a few millions years after the Caloris basin

44. Very far from the sun, the heliosphere

- a) reverses direction

- b) never ends

- c) becomes the magnetosphere

+ d) becomes weaker than the interstellar wind

- e) spins in the opposite direction

45. A volatile is a substance that

- a) reacts violently with oxygen

+ b) melts or evaporates at low temperature

- c) reacts violently with water

- d) reacts violently with acids

- e) melts or evaporates at high temperature

46. All planets lie within a nearly flat disc called the __________ plane

- a) interstellar

- b) retrograde

- c) fissile

+ d) ecliptic

- e) angular

47. The AU is

- a) the most distant Kuiper object from the Sun

+ b) the distance from the Sun to Earth

- c) a measure of the brightness of a planet

- d) the distance from Earth to the Moon

- e) the size of Oort's cloud

48. The Sun and Earth are about

- a) 50 billion years old

- b) 500 million years old

- c) 5 million years old

+ d) 5 billion years old

- e) 50 million years old

49. The universe is about

- a) 15 million years old

+ b) 15 billion years old

- c) 150 million years old

- d) 1.5 billion years old

- e) 150 billion years old

50. Roughly how much bigger is a gas planet than a terrestrial planet?

- a) 100

+ b) 10

- c) 3

- d) 30

- e) 300

51. Roughly how much bigger is a the Sun than a gas planet?

+ a) 10

- b) 3

- c) 100

- d) 300

- e) 30

52. According to Wikipedia, if all the mass of the asteroid belt were combined to one object, it's mass would _______ times less than Earth's mass.

- a) 10,000

- b) 1

- c) 10

- d) 100

+ e) 1,000

53.

planetary disk

In this hypothetical image of a sun-like star we see a bright band of dust that we on Earth call zodiacal light. It is due to sunlight reflecting off dust in the

- a) Oort Cloude

- b) magnetic sun's magnetic field

+ c) ecliptic plane

- d) Kuiper belt

- e) Van Allen belt

54. In planetary science, the frost line refers to a distance away from

- a) the south pole of a planet

- b) either pole of a planet

- c) ecliptic plane

- d) the north pole of a planet

+ e) the star in the middle

55. Oort's cloud was hypothesized to explain the source of

+ a) comets

- b) water inside the frost line

- c) asteroids

- d) planets

- e) water outside the frost line

56. According to Wikipedia _______ and ______ are referred to as volatiles.

+ a) ices and gasses

- b) acids and bases

- c) planets and moons

- d) asteroids and terrestrial planets

- e) electrons and protons

57. Which of the following list is properly ranked, starting with objects closest to the Sun?

- a) Asteroid belt, Oort's cloud, Kuiper belt

- b) Kuiper belt, Asteroid belt, Oort's cloud

- c) Oort's cloud, Asteroid belt, Kuiper belt

+ d) Asteroid belt, Kuiper belt, Oort's cloud

- e) Kuiper belt, Oort's cloud, Asteroid belt

58. When the sun turns into a red giant,

- a) surface temperature decreases; energy output decreases

- b) surface temperature increases; energy output increases

- c) surface temperature increases; energy output decreases

+ d) surface temperature decreases; energy output increases

- e) The sun will not turn into a red giant

59. In astrophysics, what is accretion?

- a) the increase in temperature and pressure of a star as it collapses from its own gravity

- b) the condensation of volatiles as a gas cools

+ c) the growth of a massive object by gravitationally attracting more matter

- d) the growth in size of a massive star as its outer atmosphere expands

- e) the growth of a comet's tail as it comes close to the Sun

60. Dwarf planets are defined as objects orbiting the Sun and smaller than planets, that?

- a) lie in the asteroid belt

- b) possess an atmosphere

- c) lack an atmosphere

- d) are too far from the Sun to be planets

+ e) have been rounded by their own gravity

61. Dwarf planets have no natural satellites,

- a) true

+ b) false

62. Pluto is classified as

+ a) a dwarf planet and a trans-Neptunian object.

- b) an asteroid belt object

- c) a natural satellite of Uranus

- d) a natural satellite of Neptune

- e) a dwarf planet with no natural satellites

63. How many of the outer planets have rings?

+ a) 4

- b) 1

- c) 2

- d) 3

64. Currently there are 7 billion people on Earth, if that ever increases to 10 billion people, for every person on Earth there will be ____ stars in the Milky Way galaxy.

- a) 2000

- b) 200

+ c) 20

- d) 2

65. The revolution of Haley's comet around the Sun is nearly circular.

- a) true

+ b) false

66. The revolution of Haley's comet around the Sun is opposite that of the 8 planets.

+ a) true

- b) false

67. The frost line is situated approximately

- a) 10 times as far from the Sun as the Earth is from the Sun

- b) 5 times as far from the Earth as the Earth's surface is from its center

+ c) 5 times as far from the Sun as the Earth is from the Sun

- d) 10 times as far from the Earth as the Earth's surface is from its center