Notice: The first test this year will have 30 multiple-choice questions and 10 short-answer questions, rather than 50 multiple-choice ones, and you will not need a scantron card; Also, that time we had not covered telescopes yet. For the version with the correct answers indicated, click here.
University of Mississippi
ASTR 103, August 2006 Minisession
Midterm Test
Mark your choice of answer for each question on your scantron card. When you are finished, make sure that your name is written on the scantron card. Once you have handed in the scantron card, you can take this test with you (you may want to check your answers later).
(1) Why is the daytime sky blue?
a. Because we are facing a part of space that is bluer than the rest.
b. Because the Earth is warmer than at night and emits blue light.
c. Because the Sun is up and illuminates the space between planets and stars.
d. Because blue sunlight is scattered all around us by the Earth's atmosphere.
(2) What is the zenith?
a. The time at which the Moon is highest in the sky.
b. The point straight above us on the celestial sphere.
c. The line along which the Sun moves on the celestial sphere.
d. A small circle on which a planet moves according to the geocentric model.
(3) Is the Sun different from the other stars in the sky?
a. Yes, it is much brighter and bigger in size.
b. Yes, it is the only yellow
star, the others are blue or red.
c. Yes, it is the only one that has planets around it.
d. No, the only difference
is that it is much closer to us.
(4) Which of the following statements about planets and stars is correct?
a. Stars appear brighter in the sky than all planets because they are much
larger.
b. Planets appear brighter in the sky than all stars because they are much
closer.
c. Planets look smaller than stars when viewed through a telescope.
d. Planets move on the celestial sphere over time, stars basically don't.
(5) Which is these statements about the planet Venus is correct?
a. It is always close to the Moon in the sky.
b. It is always close to the Sun in the sky.
c. It can only be seen late at night when the sky is very dark.
d. It is the slowest moving planet on the Celestial Sphere.
(6) What is the celestial sphere?
a. An imaginary surface around the Earth used for locating stars and planets.
b. A sphere surrounding the Sun, on which the Earth and planets move.
c. The blue globe of the Earth, as it appears when viewed from space.
d. A sphere that separates the stars in our galaxy from other ones.
(7) What is declination?
a. The latitude of the point on the Earth where a telescope is located.
b. The angle at which an object is located above or below the Celestial Equator.
c. The downward motion of a star as it sets below the horizon.
d. The tilt angle between the Moon's orbit and the Earth's orbit.
(8) What is the name of the star at the North celestial pole?
a. Polaris.
b. Betelgeuse.
c. Sirius.
d. Alpha Centauri.
(9) Why do stars move across the sky overhead through the night?
a. Because the stars revolve around the Earth.
b. Because the Earth revolves
around the stars.
c. Because the stars rotate around their axis.
d. Because the Earth rotates
around its axis.
(10) What is the ecliptic?
a. The time at which an eclipse will occur.
b. The point straight above us on the celestial sphere.
c. The line along which the Sun moves on the celestial sphere.
d. A small circle on which a planet moves according to the geocentric model.
(11) How many constellations do we officially recognize in the sky?
a. 12.
b. 88.
c. About 150,000.
d. About 100 billion.
(12) What is the Zodiac?
a. The set of constellations that are located along the celestial equator.
b. The set of constellations that are located along the ecliptic.
c. The point straight above our head in the sky at a given time.
d. The point on the celestial sphere above the Earth's north pole.
(13) If someone tells you that one night they saw Mars rise in the West and
set
in the East, you can conclude that
a. Mars is an a period of retrograde motion.
b. That person was looking at Mars from the Southern hemisphere.
c. Mars is in a period of normal, prograde motion.
d. That person was either mistaken or was lying.
(14) Why is there a difference between a solar and a sidereal day?
a. Because the Earth is rotating around its axis.
b. Because in one day the Earth moves a little along its orbit around the Sun.
c. Because the celestial sphere rotates around the Earth.
d. Because in one day the stars' positions change slightly.
(15) What kind of day is the one our clocks measure to be 24 hours long?
a. A lunar day.
b. A solar day.
c. A sidereal day.
d. A Ptolemaic day.
(16) What are seasons on Earth due to?
a. Changes in the distance between the Sun and Earth.
b. The tilt of the Earth's axis with respect to its orbit.
c. The influence of the Moon on the Earth's motion.
d. The location of the other planets in the solar system.
(17) The day of the year in which the Sun is lowest in the sky is called
a. Vernal (Spring) equinox.
b. Autumnal (Fall) equinox.
c. Summer solstice.
d. Winter solstice.
(18) Is the Summer solstice the hottest day of the year?
a. Yes, because that is when the Sun is highest in the sky.
b. No, the hottest
days are a little earlier.
c. No, the hottest days are a little later.
d. No, the Spring equinox is the
hottest day.
(19) What is parallax?
a. The apparent displacement of an object when the observation point changes.
b. A situation in which the Earth's axis and the Moon's axis are parallel.
c. A method for measuring the angular size of an object.
d. A method for aligning a telescope with the Earth's axis.
(20) When do we say that the Moon is "new"?
a. When it is at the peak of its brightness.
b. When it is at the point on its orbit that is closest to Earth.
c. When it cannot be seen because it is between us and the Sun.
d. When it has just come out from a thick layer of clouds.
(21) Why do we say that the Moon is in "first quarter" when we see
half of the disk?
a. Because at that time only one fourth of the Moon is illuminated by the Sun.
b. Because at that time it has gone through one fourth of its monthly cycle.
c. Because "quarter" is just another word for "phase" of
the Moon.
d. Because of an old historical misconception about the phases of the Moon.
(22) On a day when the Moon is full, at what time is it highest in the sky?
a. At sunset.
b. Around midnight.
c. In the early morning.
d. It may occur at different times, depending on
the seasons.
(23) What causes a lunar eclipse to occur?
a. The Moon passing through the Earth's shadow.
b. The Earth passing through the Moon's shadow.
c. The Moon passing between the Earth and the Sun.
d. The Sun passing between the Earth and the Moon.
(24) When a lunar eclipse occurs, what phase does the Moon have to be in?
a. It could be any phase, depending on the time of day when it happens.
b. First quarter.
c. New Moon.
d. Full Moon.
(25) What causes a solar eclipse to be annular rather than total?
a. The Earth's tilt bringing us closer to the Sun in Summer.
b. The Moon being slightly further away, so it doesn't cover the whole Sun.
c. The Sun being brighter than usual, so we see it glowing behind the Moon.
d. The viewer being at the wrong location on the Earth's surface.
(26) How long does a total solar eclipse usually last?
a. Less than a second.
b. A few minutes.
c. Almost an hour.
d. Two to
three days.
(27) How old are the earliest human-made astronomical structures
known?
a. From around 200 BC.
b. From between 3000 and 5000 BC.
c. From between 80,000 and 100,000 years ago.
d. From around 3
million years ago.
(28) Why did prehistoric astronomical sites have circular stone
arrangements?
a. To mark directions where astronomical objects rise and set.
b. To indicate places where stars could be seen without light
pollution.
c. To keep track of dates when eclipses were predicted to occur.
d. To represent artistically the celestial sphere and the stars'
positions.
(29) What is Stonehenge?
a. A cave where paleolitic paintings including stars were found.
b. A place in Wyoming where the Indians built a Medicine Wheel.
c. A circular structure of tall stones in Southern England.
d. A prehistoric era, during which the oldest sites were built.
(30) Where do the names for the seven days of the week come from?
a. Seven important people in the Holy Bible.
b. Seven important people in the Koran.
c. The Sun, Moon, and the planets known in antiquity.
d. The seven visible stars in the Pleiades cluster.
(31) Aristotle concluded that the Earth did not revolve around
the Sun because
a. He was following religious teachings.
b. He carefully observed the motion of planets over long
times.
c. He could not feel the Earth's motion or see star parallax.
d. He read about Copernicus' and Kepler's work.
(32) Which ancient people first emphasized the need for
developing models to explain astronomical observations?
a. The Mesopotamians. b. The Egyptians. c. The Greeks.
d. The Chinese.
(33) Why is Ptolemy important in the history of Astronomy?
a. He was the first person who observed the stars' parallax.
b. He developed a very detailed and successful geocentric
model of the solar system.
c. He was the first person who understood the force
of gravity.
d. He made the best observations in astronomy before
the telescope was invented.
(34) What is the main contribution to astronomy made
by Copernicus?
a. He made excellent observations of the planets'
positions.
b. He proposed a modern heliocentric model of the
solar system.
c. He explained the orbits of planets in terms of
gravity.
d. He was the first person to use a telescope in
astronomy.
(35) What was important about Tycho's observation
of a comet in the 1500's?
a. It was the first time ever a comet was recorded.
b. It showed that distant objects, beyond the Moon,
can change.
c. It was evidence in support of a heliocentric
model.
d. It showed how good the telescopes he used were.
(36) Who is recognized as the first person to realize
that the orbits of planets are not based on circles?
a. Ptolemy.
b. Copernicus.
c. Tycho.
d. Kepler.
(37) How are ellipses related to the orbit of
a planet?
a. The planet is at one focus, the Sun at the
other one.
b. The Sun is at one focus, the planet moves
along the ellipse.
c. The Sun is at the center, the planet moves
along the ellipse.
d. The planet and the Sun are at opposite points
of the ellipse.
(38) Why was Galileo's observation of the Sun
important?
a. Because he saw that the Sun does not move.
b. Because he was able to show that the Sun
is a star.
c. Because he calculated the Sun's size for
the first time.
d. Because he showed that the Sun is not
a perfect sphere.
(39) What does an object do if no force is
acting on it?
a. It either doesn't move, or moves along
a straight line at constant speed.
b. If either doesn't move, or slows down
and eventually comes to a stop.
c. It falls straight down.
d. It cannot
move at all.
(40) When gravity makes a ball fall toward
the Earth, does the Earth also feel attracted
toward
the ball?
a. No, the Earth only produces gravity,
it is not subject to it.
b. No, the Earth is only subject to the
gravity of larger bodies like the Sun.
c. Yes, it feels the same force and moves
towards the ball by the same distance.
d. Yes, it feels the force, but it is
hardly affected because of its huge mass.
(41) What happens to the mass and weight
of astronauts orbiting the Earth inside
a space
shuttle?
a. Their weight becomes zero.
b. They
feel weightless because they are in
free fall.
c. Their mass becomes zero.
d. Both
their mass and their weight are zero
in space.
(42) Do all objects exert a gravitational
pull on other objects?
a. No, some exert a gravitational
push, others a pull.
b. No, only more massive objects
can pull on lighter ones.
c. No, only the Sun, the Earth, and
other celestial objects do.
d. Yes.
(43) Do planets really orbit the
Sun along ellipses?
a. No, they follow small circles
on top of big circles, and the
result just appears
to be an
ellipse.
b. No, in reality only the Sun
moves along an ellipse.
c. Almost, but their orbits are
slightly perturbed by additional
forces from
objects other than
the Sun.
d. Yes, because that is what Kepler's
laws tell us.
(44) Can you apply Kepler's laws
to the orbits of moons around
a planet?
a. Yes, because the force involved
is still the force of gravity.
b. Yes, but only because the
planet is orbiting the Sun at
the same
time.
c. No, because Kepler wrote down
his laws only for planets.
d. No, because moons are too
small.
(45) What allowed Newton to add
a few details that were not
in Kepler's
laws
of planet
motion?
a. Newton had better data available
on the positions of planets.
b. Newton made predictions
based on his understanding
of general
laws.
c. Newton realized that Kepler
had made a few calculational
errors.
d. Newton knew what the planets
and the Sun were made of.
(46) Which one of the following
is larger?
a. A molecule.
b. An atom.
c. An electron.
d. A proton.
(47) How many protons does
a helium atom have?
a. 0.
b. 1.
c. 2.
d. 4.
(48) What are ions?
a. Small particles contained
inside the nuclei of atoms.
b. Atoms with missing electrons,
or extra electrons.
c. Individual packets of
radio waves, similar to
photons for
light.
d. Particles that have
not yet been identified.
(49) What makes the particles
inside an atom's nucleus
stick together?
a. Electric forces between
particles of opposite
charges.
b. Nuclear forces, which
are stronger than the
electric ones.
c. Weight pulls them
inward, because those
particles
are very massive.
d. The electrons orbiting
around the nucleus keep
them tightly
bound.
(50) Which of the following
is not a way for heat
to travel from one
place to another?
a. Radiation.
b. Refraction.
c. Conduction.
d.
Convection.