I do not have a file with the correct answers indicated for this test – and yes, it starts with question 11!
The format for our final will be like for the other tests, 30 multiple-choice and 10 short-answer questions.

University of Mississippi
ASTR 103, August 2006 Minisession

Test 2 (Final Exam)

(11) What is the asteroid belt?
a. A cloud of small asteroid fragments surrounding the Earth.
b. A region containing many thousands of asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.
c. A device installed on the outside of spacecraft to protect them from asteroids.
d. A strip of the Earth's surface that has a large number of asteroid impact craters.

(12) Why are craters on the Moon not as eroded as those on Earth?
a. The crust of the Moon is made of harder material than the Earth's.
b. The Moon lacks winds and running water that cause erosion.
c. The Moon is younger than the Earth.
d. There force of gravity is weaker on the Moon.

(13) Which of the following is ultimately responsible for the meteor showers (shooting stars) we see on Earth?
a. Trails of debris left behind by comets.
b. Leftover dust from the Solar System formation
c. Small stars entering the Solar System and exploding.
d. Small chunks of lava from volcanoes on other planets.

(14) Can asteroids have their own moons/satellites?
a. Yes, we have already seen some which do.
b. It's possible, but we haven't yet seen any that do.
c. No, they are way too small to have satellites.
d. No, because they themselves orbit other objects.

(15) What is meant by the precession of the Earth?
a. The wobbling of the Earth's rotation axis over many thousands of years.
b. The seasonal change of the constellations in the Earth's night sky.
c. A method by which its distance from the Sun is calculated using parallax.
d. The passage of the Earth along the line joining the Sun and the Moon.

(16) Does the Sun always have the same number of sunspots?
a. Yes, up to small variations there are always about a dozen.
b. No, there are more sunspots in summer than in winter.
c. No, the number goes up and down every 11 years or so.
d. No, records show that the number is steadily increasing.

(17) If the Moon is high in the sky at sunset, what can you conclude?
a. It must be a new Moon.
b. It must be a first quarter Moon (waxing).
c. It must be a full Moon.
d. It must be a third quarter Moon (waning).

(18) Why can a comet have more than one tail?
a. One is made of gas (ions), the other of dust particles.
b. Each time the comet comes near the Sun, it may get a new tail.
c. If the comet swings by a planet and is deflected, it gets a new tail.
d. Because it can break up, and each piece will have its own tail.

(19) Which of the following is due to the Earth's axis being tilted?
a. The changing of the seasons.
b. The fact that the poles are colder than the equator.
c. The difference between solar and sidereal days.
d. The fact that solar eclipses are very rare.

(20) What happens to comets over long periods of time?
a. They keep growing by collecting matter with each passage near the Sun.
b. They shrink with each passage near the Sun, become darker, and may fall apart.
c. Sooner or later they all end up hitting a planet and exploding.
d. After a few passes by the Sun they are all ejected outside the solar system.

(21) How were the dark, flat "maria" formed on the Moon?
a. From the impact of meteorites that pulverized the crust.
b. They are remnants of ancient seas that later evaporated.
c. From molten lava that flooded whole areas and solidified.
d. They are areas that have never been hit by asteroids yet.

(22) What does an orbiting spacecraft have to do to take pictures of the surface of Venus?
a. Use a very high resolution camera.
b. Bounce radio waves off the surface.
c. Use high energy X-rays.
d. Wait for the clouds to clear.

(23) Do all stars and planets rise in the East and set in the West every day like the Sun?
a. No, only the Sun and the Moon rise and set in the sky.
b. No, planets moving in retrograde motion rise in the West.
c. Objects that belong to the solar system do, the other ones don't.
d. Yes, all celestial objects do, because of Earth's rotation.

(24) What is a special feature of Neptune's moon Triton?
a. It is very hot, and covered with active volcanoes.
b. It probably has liquid water under its icy surface.
c. Despite being very cold, it has ice volcanoes and geysers.
d. Its surface features indicate a collision that nearly shattered it.

(25) What do we mean by the greenhouse effect on Venus?
a. That the conditions are appropriate for the growth of plants.
b. That the atmosphere is transparent to sunlight, like a glass cover.
c. That the atmosphere traps the heat released by the planet.
d. That the filtering of the sunlight makes the planet look green.

(26) Which of the following were ancient astronomers looking for, but failed to see?
a. Sunspots on the Sun's surface.
b. Moons around Jupiter.
c. Parallax for stars.
d. Comets with tails.

(27) What is the Oort cloud?
a. A large cloud of hydrogen gas surrounding the solar system.
b. A vast, comet-filled region surrounding the solar system.
c. A cloud of gas and dust surrounding the asteroid belt.
d. A faint, thin atmosphere surrounding the largest asteroids.

(28) Approximately how many stars can we see with the naked eye, in good viewing conditions?
a. A few hundred.
b. A few thousand.
c. About 1 million.
d. About 100 billion.

(29) Are asteroids round like planets?
a. No, only planets are round.
b. Some of them, the ones that have not been carved by many collisions.
c. Some of them, the ones that are large enough for gravity to make them round.
d. Yes, all asteroids are round.

(30) How fast does the Moon rotate?
a. At the same rate as it revolves around the Earth, once a month.
b. At the same rate as the Earth's rotation, once every 24 hours.
c. The Moon does not rotate, it only revolves around the Earth.
d. At the same rate as the Earth revolves around the Sun, once a year.

(31) Was the Sun ever a protostar, is it one now, or will it become one?
a. It was a protostar but turned into a star when its core was hot enough to produce nuclear reactions.
b. It is a protostar because it is at the center of a planetary system, the Solar System.
c. It will become a protostar at the end of its life.
d. No, it is not the right type of star to ever be a protostar.

(32) Did astronomers predict the existence of the planet Neptune before it was seen?
a. Yes, because Ptolemy had written about it in his book "The Almagest".
b. Yes, because there is one planet for every 10 AU of distance from the Sun.
c. Yes, from the motion of Uranus, which showed an extra force acting on it.
d. No, nobody suspected its existence before it was discovered.

(33) Which types of electromagnetic waves from space can penetrate the Earth's atmosphere?
a. All of them.
b. Only visible light.
c. Visible light, radio waves, and some infrared.
d. Visible light, radio waves, sound waves and X-rays.

(34) Which of the inner Solar System planets has spacecraft from Earth currently orbiting around it?
a. Mercury, Venus, and Mars.
b. Venus and Mars.
c. Mars only.
d. None.

(35) What is most unusual about Uranus' rotation?
a. Uranus is the only planet that doesn't rotate at all.
b. It is the fastest rotation of all planets in the solar system.
c. It has changed direction several times since we started observing it.
d. The axis is tilted about 90 degrees, almost in the plane of the orbit.

(36) If you see a star rising on the horizon at 9:00 pm today, at what time will you see it rise tomorrow?
a. 8:00 pm.
b. 8:56 pm.
c. 9:00 pm.
d. 9:23 pm.

(37) How do we explain the fact that Venus' rotation is retrograde?
a. Venus probably suffered a collision at some time in its past.
b. Venus did not form together with the other planets in the Solar System.
c. The gravitational pull from Jupiter has disrupted Venus' motion.
d. Planets that don't have moons don't have to rotate in the same direction.

(38) What caused the long cliffs or scarps seen on Mercury's surface?
a. An impact from a large asteroid.
b. The gravitational pull from the Sun.
c. The cooling and shrinking of the planet's interior.
d. Erosion by Mercury's thick atmosphere.

(39) According to the leading theory, how was the Moon formed?
a. The Earth and the Moon formed side by side at about the same time.
b. The Earth broke into two pieces due to its rapid spin, and one became the Moon.
c. Something the size of a small planet collided violently with the Earth.
d. The Moon used to be another planet, and it was captured by the Earth's gravity.

(40) How big is the Great Red Spot on Jupiter?
a. About the size of a large city.
b. About 600 miles across.
c. Bigger than the whole Earth.
d. Bigger than the whole planet Saturn.

(41) How do we think that the Earth came to have so much water? (Oceans, lakes, ...)
a. It was in the original matter and planetesimals that formed the Earth.
b. It came later, gradually deposited on the Earth by the solar wind.
c. It was attracted by the Earth's gravity from the surrounding space.
d. It came gradually to Earth, by a bombardment with objects like comets.

(42) Does the Sun feel a force of gravity toward the planets?
a. Yes, the Sun actually moves just as much as the Earth does.
b. Yes, but the Sun hardly moves because it is much more massive.
c. No, the Sun only produces gravity and does not move; the planets do.
d. You could view it either way, it depends on the point of view.

(43) What is remarkable about Jupiter's moon Io?
a. It is the only moon on which we have seen active volcanoes.
b. The probable existence of water below its icy surface.
c. A very large chunk of its surface is missing, possibly from a collision.
d. It is the fastest spinning moon in the solar system.

(44) Why do planets that are far from the Sun take longer to orbit around it?
a. Because they have less energy.
b. Because their orbits are longer.
c. Because they move more slowly.
d. Because their orbits are longer and they also move more slowly.

(45) What is the Cassini division?
a. A large crack in Saturn's moon Titan.
b. A wide, dark cloud belt on the surface of Saturn.
c. The gap between the A and B rings of Saturn.
d. A famous 1920's debate on the nature of Saturn's rings.

(46) Does the ecliptic run across the sky along the same line as the Celestial Equator?
a. Yes.
b. No, it it tilted by 90 degrees.
c. No, it is tilted by about 23 degrees.
d. The ecliptic varies with time, and sometimes it runs along the Celestial Equator.

(47) How can the volcanoes on Mars be taller than the Earth's?
a. The mountains are less eroded by the atmosphere.
b. There is no plate tectonics to move mountains around and make them crumble.
c. Since Mars is smaller, its gravity is weaker and taller mountains can grow.
d. Since Mars is larger, its surface can support the weight of taller mountains.

(48) How many known moons does Pluto have?
b. None, it is too small to have a moon.
a. One.
c. Three.
d. 12.

(49) What is the main purpose of adaptive optics in a telescope?
a. Modifying the mirror shape to compensate for atmospheric blurring.
b. Changing the eyepiece to obtain the desired magnification.
c. Varying the light collecting area to adapt to an object's brightness.
d. Changing the light's wavelength to obtain the desired spectrum.

(50) In the Sun's convection zone, what does convection do?
a. It moves sunspots across the surface of the Sun.
b. It carries solar wind particles outwards into space.
c. It takes hot gas from the interior toward the Sun's surface.
d. It makes hydrogen atoms turn into helium atoms in the core.

(51) Why do stars twinkle?
a. Because they are burning spheres of hot gas.
b. Because of their slow motion across the sky.
c. Because of fluctuations in starlight caused by Earth's atmosphere.
d. Because their great distance weakens the light we get from them.

(52) When we look at a picture of the Sun (taken on a regular day with visible light), what part are we seeing?
a. The core.
b. The corona.
c. The photosphere.
d. The radiation zone.

(53) The point directly overhead in the sky is called
a. Vernal equinox.
b. Right ascension.
c. Meridian.
d. Zenith.

(54) The path that the Sun seems to follow among the stars is called
a. Celestial equator.
b. Equinox.
c. Parallax.
d. Ecliptic.

(55) What is special about Saturn's moon Titan?
a. It has an unusually thick atmosphere.
b. There are active volcanoes on its surface.
c. It is the only moon entirely made of gas.
d. There is liquid water under its icy surface.

(56) What is the temperature at the Sun's core?
a. 6000 K.
b. One million K.
c. 15 million K.
d. One billion K.

(57) When was Jupiter discovered?
a. Jupiter is easily seen with the naked eye, so it was known since prehistory.
b. Around AD 200.
c. Around 1600.
d. In 1930.

(58) How does Jupiter compare in radius with the terrestrial planets?
a. It is smaller than any of the terrestrial planets.
b. It is larger than Mars, but smaller than Venus.
c. It is more than ten times the size of any of them.
d. It is more than 1000 times the size of any of them.

(59) How large is Uranus compared to the Earth?
a. About half the radius.
b. About twice the radius.
c. Almost four times the radius.
d. Almost ten times the radius.

(60) What kind of telescope did Tycho Brahe use?
a. He did not have a telescope.
b. A refracting telescope.
c. A reflecting telescope.
d. A diffracting telescope.

(61) What is diffraction?
a. The bending of light when it passes near a very massive object.
b. The spreading of light around corners, for example when it goes through a small aperture.
c. The blurring of an image when light traverses the atmosphere.
d. The bending of light crossing the boundary between different transparent materials.

(62) In what does Saturn's appearance differ from Jupiter's?
a. Saturn shows more weather and cloud patterns of different colors.
b. Saturn shows fewer surface features, but its rings are much brighter.
c. Saturn's color is blue-green, rather than reddish-orange.
d. Saturn is a rocky and icy planet, while Jupiter is a gas giant.

(63) Do we believe in Ptolemy's model for the solar system today?
a. Yes, we have only improved it in a few details.
b. No, because it is too old.
c. No, because Ptolemy has been proven to be a fraud.
d. No, because the model is geocentric.

(64) Around what year were telescopes first used in astronomy?
a. 3000 BC.
b. 300 BC.
c. The early 1600's.
d. Around 1920.

(65) What particles are inside an atom's nucleus?
a. Protons and electrons.
b. Electrons and neutrons.
c. Neutrons and protons.
d. Neutrinos and proteins.

(66) How is energy produced in the Sun?
a. Nuclear reactions in the core.
b. Chemical reactions in the radiation zone.
c. Magnetic fields in the convection zone.
d. Gravity from the black hole at the center.

(67) Rather than a regular planet, Pluto can be considered as one of the larger objects in the
a. Oort Cloud.
b. Asteroid Belt.
c, Kuiper Belt.
d. Roche Lobe.

(68) Why is Newton important in the history of astronomy?
a. He made excellent observations of the planets' positions.
b. He developed the heliocentric model of the solar system we still use.
c. He explained the orbits of planets in terms of gravity.
d. He was the first person to use a telescope to make astronomical observations.

(69) Is Pluto visible from Earth with the naked eye?
a. Yes, it looks like a medium-brightness star.
b. Yes, it is dimmer than other planets, but still brighter than any star.
c. Only on clear nights, and one has to know where to look.
d. Not with the naked eye, you need a telescope.

(70) According to the age of the oldest rocks, how long ago did the Earth form?
a. About 5,000 years.
b. About 70 million years.
c. About 4.5 billion years.
d. About 20 billion years.

(71) According to Kepler's laws, the orbit of a planet is:
a. A circle, with the Sun at the center.
b. An ellipse, with the Sun at one of the foci.
c. An ellipse, except during periods of retrograde motion.
d. A circle, with epicycles added in to account for detailed observations.

(72) What is the main difference between comets and asteroids?
a. Asteroids are made of rocky material, comets are icy.
b. Comets sometimes come near the Earth, asteroids don't.
c. An asteroid is called a comet if it develops a tail.
d. Comets are larger and more dangerous than asteroids.

(73) Where is the Hubble Space Telescope located?
a. On Mauna Kea, a mountaintop in Hawaii.
b. In orbit a few hundred miles above the Earth.
c. In orbit around Jupiter and its moons.
d. It is mounted on the Moon's surface.

(74) What are Saturn's rings made of?
a. A thin, shiny sheet of liquid water surrounding the planet.
b. A smooth, spinning solid disk of metal covered with dust.
c. A dense plasma of hot gas kept in place by a magnetic field.
d. A large amount of loose ice particles and small dirty ice balls.

(75) In which of these types of discoveries can amateur astronomers compete with professionals?
a. Comets.
b. Distant galaxies.
c. Star clusters.
d. None, their telescopes are not as good.

(76) How large is Mars compared to Earth, in terms of its radius?
a. About half the size.
b. About 95% the size.
c. About twice the size.
d. About 5 times the size.

(77) If two light waves have different wavelengths, must they have also different frequencies?
a. No, all forms of light have the same frequency.
b. Not necessarily, the frequency depends also on other factors.
c. Yes, the one with the longer wavelength has a higher frequency.
d. Yes, the one with the longer wavelength has a lower frequency.

(78) How far is Venus from the Sun?
a. About 0.7 AU.
b. About 7 AU.
c. About 70 AU.
d. About 700 AU.

(79) How many moons does Mars have?
a. None.
b. One.
c. Two.
d. Four.

(80) Can one see Mercury high in the sky around midnight?
a. No, because it is too dim to be seen at night.
b. No, because it is always seen close to the Sun.
c. Yes, that's when it is full and easiest to see.
d. Yes, but only when it is in retrograde motion.