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.