Astronomy 101, Final A

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No notes, No books; You can use calculators. Pick the best answer for each question.

Constants that you may need to know:

c = 3 x 108 m/s 1 AU = 1.49 ×1011 meters 1 light year = 9.46 × 1015 meters

h = 6.626 x 10-34 J●s mass of Earth = 5.97 × 1024 kg mass of Sun = 1.99 x 1030 kgG = 6.67 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2 mass of Moon = 7.35 x 1022 kg mass of Jupiter = 1.90 x 1027 kgg = 9.8 m/s2 radius of Earth = 6.38 × 106 m radius of Jupiter = 7.15 × 107 mσ = 5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4 1 nm = 1 x 10-9 meters radius of Moon = 1.74 × 106 m

1) Which of these objects is considered a dwarf planet?

A) Hydra B) MakemakeC) Mercury D) Phobos E) Nix

2) Pluto’s three moons are …

A) Chiron, Phobos, and DeimosB) Charon, Nix, and HydraC) Haumea, Makemake, and Ceres D) Hades, Persephone, and Loki E) Hercules, Hela, and Tycho

3) Tidal forces arise because …

A) when a body accelerates it loses energyB) the gravitational force exerted on one body by a second body is constant across its diameter.C) one kilogram of water is more massive than one kilogram of rock on the EarthD) the gravitational force exerted on one body by a second body is not constant across its diameter.E) the gravitational force of the Moon on the Earth is twice as strong in the Summer in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Winter

Astronomy 101, Final A

4) Which of these statements is one of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion?

A) The orbit of every planet is a circle with the sun at the center.B) The orbit of every planet is an ellipse with the Earth at the center.C) The cube of the orbital period of a planet is directly proportional to the square root of the semi-major axis of its orbit.D) A line joining a planet and the sun sweeps out equal areas during equal intervals of time.E) All planets have cleared the neighborhood of their orbit.

5) A solar eclipse occurs during a …

A) New MoonB) Full Moon C) First Quarter MoonD) Third Quarter Moon E) Waning Crescent

6) A light-year is a unit of …

A) time.B) distance.C) energy.D) force.E) power.

7) Seasons on the Earth are a consequence of …

A) the varying distance between the Earth and the Sun during the year. B) the varying speed of the Earth in its orbit about the Sun. C) the precession of the Earth's rotation axis. D) the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis relative to the ecliptic. E) the tilt of the Moon's orbital plane relative to the ecliptic.

8) A body is 8 Astronomical Units from the Sun. What is the body’s orbital period around the Sun?

A) 18.7 yearsB) 22.6 yearsC) 20.4 yearsD) 24.8 yearsE) 28.3 years

Astronomy 101, Final A

9) Which of these parts of the electromagnetic spectrum has the longest wavelength?

A) Gamma-rayB) infraredC) X-rayD) visibleE) ultraviolet

10)The hottest part of the Sun is its …

A) photosphereB) CoreC) Radiative zoneD) Convective zoneE) Corona

11)A photon has a frequency of 1 x 10-13 Hz. What is the wavelength of this photon?

A) 3 x 10-5 metersB) 6.626 x 10-21 meters

C) 3 x 108 meters D) 6.626 x 10-6 meters E) 3 x 1021 meters

12)As the frequencies of photons of light increase, their …

A) Wavelengths increase and their energies increaseB) Wavelengths decrease and their energies increaseC) Wavelengths decrease and their energies decreaseD) Wavelengths increase and their energies stay the sameE) Wavelengths stay the same and their energies stay the same

13)Which spectral type of star has the hottest surface temperature?

A) G2B) B7C) A4D) F9E) K6

Astronomy 101, Final A

14)What color is an M2 star?

A) blueB) redC) yellowD) whiteE) green

15) Put these parts of the electromagnetic spectrum in order from lowest frequency to highest frequency:

Lowest Highest frequency

A) Radio, infrared, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-rayB) Gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, radioC) Radio, visible, ultraviolet, X-ray, gamma-ray, infraredD) Gamma-ray, X-ray, ultraviolet, visible, radio, infraredE) Radio, X-ray, infrared, ultraviolet, visible, gamma-ray

16)A prism can be used to break light up into its constituent spectral colors since different wavelengths of light are refracted differently by glass and leave the prism at different angles. What is the order of the colors of light from smallest to largest energy of the photons?

Smallest Largest energy

A) Violet, Indigo, Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, OrangeB) Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, VioletC) Red, Yellow, Orange, Blue, Green, Indigo, VioletD) Violet, Indigo, Green, Blue, Orange, Yellow, RedE) Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red

17)Assume that 40K has a half-life of 1.25 x 109 years and decays into either 40Ar or 40Ca. You initially start with 500 grams of pure 40K. How many grams of 40K will you have in 3.75 x 109 years?

A) 62.5 gramsB) 100 gramsC) 125 gramsD) 250 gramsE) 500 grams

Astronomy 101, Final A

18)Why is part of the core of the Earth thought to be liquid?

A) S-waves cannot pass through the coreB) The density of the Earth is larger than the MoonC) P-waves cannot pass through the coreD) The Earth must have incorporated a large abundance of liquid helium when it

formedE) Volcanoes in the Earth allow water to sink to the core

19)The solar nebula was primarily …

A) hydrogenB) nitrogenC) heliumD) oxygenE) iron

20) Shoemaker-Levy 9 …

A) was a spacecraft that studied Jupiter.B) was a spacecraft that studied impact craters on Mars.C) is a Dwarf Planet.D) was a comet.E) is a satellite of Saturn.

21)Which gas is considered a greenhouse gas?

A) N2 B) H2

C) He D) CO2 E) Kr

22)Why was the South Pole-Aitken Basin though to be the best place to look for water ice on the Moon?

A) The solar wind only strikes the South Pole-Aitken BasinB) The South Pole-Aitken Basin is predominately Lunar MariaC) The South Pole-Aitken Basin is predominately Lunar HighlandsD) Comets only impact the Moon at the South Pole-Aitken BasinE) Some craters are extremely cold at the South Pole-Aitken Basin since they

are permanently shaded from the Sun

Astronomy 101, Final A

23) Put these bodies in order from lowest to highest density.Lowest density highest density

A) Moon, Earth, Jupiter, SaturnB) Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, EarthC) Saturn, Jupiter, Moon, EarthD) Jupiter, Saturn, Earth, MoonE) Earth, Moon, Saturn, Jupiter

24)Which of these planets is not considered a Jovian planet?

A) NeptuneB) MarsC) UranusD) SaturnE) Jupiter

25)Mars atmosphere is predominately …

A) O3

B) N2

C) CO2

D) H2

E) He

26)Channels on Mars are usually assumed to be due to either due to flowing water in the past or …

A) organismsB) lavaC) glaciersD) tidal forces due to Martian moonsE) lightning

27)Many astronomers believe that Mars was once covered with oceans much like the Earth, even though it possesses little or no liquid water on its surface now. What does this imply about Martian history?

A) The atmosphere of Mars is thicker today than in its distant pastB) The atmosphere of Mars was thicker in the past than today C) The thickness of the Martian atmosphere hasn’t changed over its historyD) The size of the Martian core must have been much smallerE) Mars must have had more moons

Astronomy 101, Final A

28) In the above figure, A is on what feature?

A) Caloris BasinB) Gusev CraterC) Bonneville CraterD) Hellas BasinE) Olympus Mons

29) In the above figure, the white arrow next to B points to what feature?

A) Maxwell MontesB) Olympus MonsC) Hellas BasinD) Phoenix HeightsE) Mount St. Helens

30) In the above figure, the black arrow next to C points to what feature?

A) Maxwell MontesB) Valles MarinerisC) Hellas Basin

B C

A

elevation (km)

Astronomy 101, Final A

D) Grand CanyonE) Mount St. Helens

Astronomy 101, Final A

31)The geology of Venus appears to be dominated by ……

A) volcanismB) plate tectonicsC) erosion by flowing waterD) impact crateringE) erosion by glaciers

32)Why is the Mercury covered with impact craters and the Earth isn’t?

A) Mercury has a lower gravitation acceleration than the EarthB) Wind, water, volcanism, and ice on Earth have destroyed most of its impact

cratersC) Mercury is smaller than the EarthD) Huge impacts on the Earth have covered up most of the impact cratersE) The Earth’s magnetic field stops most objects from hitting the Earth’s surface

33)The Great Red Spot is located on …

A) EarthB) JupiterC) NeptuneD) UranusE) Pluto

34)The Drake equation estimates the potential number of extraterrestrial civilizations in …

A) Our universeB) Our galaxyC) Our solar systemD) The Andromeda galaxyE) The local cluster of galaxies

35)The atmosphere of Titan is most similar to ..

A) EarthB) MarsC) JupiterD) MercuryE) Io

Astronomy 101, Final A

36)Which of these bodies has the most active volcanoes?

A) MercuryB) IoC) GanymedeD) PhobosE) Deimos

37)The rings of Saturn are predominately composed of …

A) HematiteB) SulfatesC) Water iceD) OlivineE) Pyroxene

38)Which is not a Galilean moon?

A) TritonB) IoC) GanymedeD) CallistoE) Europa

39)Besides asteroids, what bodies in our solar system do most scientists think that we have samples of in our meteorite collections?

A) Just the MoonB) Just MarsC) Just VenusD) Just the Moon and MarsE) Just Mars and Venus

40)The Kuiper Belt extends from …

A) The orbit of Mars to the orbit of JupiterB) The orbit of Neptune to approximately 55 AU from the SunC) Approximately 0.6 AU from the Sun to the orbit of EarthD) The orbit of Earth to the orbit of MarsE) Approximately 50,000 AU from the Sun to approximately 80,000 AU

from the Sun