Astronomy Set 2 questions

TOSS-UP 4)ASTRONOMY Short Answer As of the summer of 2001, what planet was shown to have the most known moons orbiting it in our solar system?

ANSWER: SATURN See website for fun info.http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/how-many-moons/en/

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is another name for minor planets, starlike bodies, or planetoids, the vast majority of which have orbits roughly midway between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars?

ANSWER: ASTEROIDS

http://www.space.com/51-asteroids-formation-discovery-and-exploration.html

http://www.space.com/16105-asteroid-belt.html

http://www.passmyexams.co.uk/GCSE/physics/images/asteroids.jpg

TOSS UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What planet is the most distant gas giant from the sun?

ANSWER: NEPTUNE

https://theplanets.org/gas-giants/

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Refracting telescopes always contain which of the following: W) mirrors X) lenses Y) television systems Z) film

ANSWER: X) LENSES YES!!! Crash course video talked about this.

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Which of the Galilean moons orbiting Jupiter is the most geologically active object in the entire solar system, commonly referred to as the “pizza moon,” and has the longest diameter of 3,630 kilometers?

ANSWER: IO BONUS

http://lasp.colorado.edu/education/outerplanets/moons_galilean.php

20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer The Tharsis bulge is the major geological feature of what planet?

ANSWER: MARS http://www.faculty.virginia.edu/rwoclass/astr1210/marsImages.html

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Olympus Mons, one of the largest volcanoes in our solar system, is located on which planet: W) Mars X) Venus Y) Titan Z) Callisto

ANSWER: W) MARS

Yay! I knew this because I scanned the above website when looking at Tharsis.

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Name the Greek astronomer who ranked the naked-eye stars into six groups of relative brightness in the second century B.C.?

ANSWER: HIPPARCHUS http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072482621/student_view0/astronomy_timeline.html

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer How many Viking spacecraft have landed on Mars?

ANSWER: 2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_missions_to_Mars

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple choice Which star is the next nearest neighbor to the Sun beyond the Alpha Centauri system having the largest known proper motion of any star: W) Wolf 359 X) Sirius Y) Barnard’s Star Z) 61 Cygni ANSWER: Y) BARNARD’S STAR http://www.astronomy.ohio-state.edu/~pogge/Ast162/Unit1/motions.html

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice The geology of the surface of Venus appears to be dominated by: W) volcanoes X) plate tectonics Y) erosion by flowing water Z) old impact craters

ANSWER: W) VOLCANOES Yay! Knew this from reading about Venus!

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer At the Sun’s distance of 8 kiloparsecs from the Galactic center, how many years would it take for material here to complete one rotational circuit?

ANSWER: 225 MILLION Need a formula.

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Containing roughly ten times more gas than Earth’s, why does Titan’s atmosphere extend some ten times farther into space than does our own?

ANSWER: WEAKER GRAVITATIONAL PULL (ACCEPT: SMALLER MASS)

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the most common term for the imaginary band on either side of the ecliptic where the path of the Sun, Moon, and planets are generally found?

ANSWER: THE ZODIAC

http://astro.wsu.edu/worthey/astro/html/im-sky/heliocentric-solar-motion.jpg

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What gas makes up most of the atmosphere of Mars?

ANSWER: CARBON DIOXIDE (ACCEPT: CO2)

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Longitude is to right ascension as latitude is to:

ANSWER: DECLINATION

https://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/Graphics-Geol/Astronomy/RA-Dec.gif

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the common astronomical term that derives its name from the Latin word meaning ocean or ‘seas’ that is used to label the darker and smoother parts of the moon’s surface:

ANSWER: MARIA

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What celestial phenomenon most directly causes a comet's tail to point away from the Sun:

ANSWER: THE SOLAR WIND

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following planets is NOT known to have any orbiting satellites: W) Venus X) Mars Y) Uranus Z) Saturn

ANSWER: W) VENUS

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Cassini’s division is associated with what planet?

ANSWER: SATURN

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer How many degrees above the horizon will the north celestial pole be for someone standing at latitude 53° North?

ANSWER: 53 I think this has to do with same size angle?

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What kind of celestial bodies have cores that consist primarily of neutral particles in a superfluid state and are thought to have evolved from stars with masses more than about 1.4 times the Chandrasekhar limit?

ANSWER: NEUTRON STARS (DO NOT ACCEPT: PULSAR) http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/space/solar-system/neutron-stars/

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Adastea, Amalthea and Callisto are moons of what planet?

ANSWER: JUPITER Yay! I knew because I knew Galilean moons.

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the standard distance a star would need to be placed for it to appear as bright as its absolute magnitude?

ANSWER: 10 PARSECS (ACCEPT: 26 LIGHT YEARS)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer At less than 8% solar mass, what is the common term for a potential star that does not gather enough mass to initiate core nuclear fusion and become a main sequence star?

ANSWER: BROWN DWARF

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Why did ancient Greek astronomers ascribe the term “planet” to certain celestial objects? W) they shined very brightly X) they wandered in their paths through the heavens

Y) they were believed to be the home of the gods Z) they did not twinkle

ANSWER: X) THEY WANDERED IN THEIR PATHS THROUGH THE HEAVENS Planet means Wanderer! Easy.

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the main part of the Small Bear constellation also commonly called? ANSWER: LITTLE DIPPER BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Which law states that galaxies are receding from one another at velocities directly proportional to the distances separating them? ANSWER: HUBBLE’S LAW (ACCEPT: HUBBLE OR HUBBLE’S)

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice The lunar maria are: W) composed of granite X) less than one billion years old Y) between three and four billion years old Z) older than the lunar highlands

ANSWER: Y) BETWEEN THREE AND FOUR BILLION YEARS OLD

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Based on what three physical properties do astronomers divide the planets into terrestrial and Jovian:

ANSWER: MASS, SIZE, AND DENSITY

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice What is the most common name for the pattern found etched on samples of iron meteorites? W) Widmanstätten pattern X) Rhombic pattern Y) Halley’s pattern Z) Chondritic Rhombite pattern

ANSWER: W) WIDMANSTÄTTEN PATTERN http://www.arizonaskiesmeteorites.com/Widmanstatten/https://www.nasa.gov/connect/chat/meteorite1.html

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer If the sidereal period “P” of a planet is measured in years, and the semi-major axis of the planet’s elliptical orbit, “a”, is measured in astronomical units, then the equation governing the planet’s motion given by the formula, P2 = a3 , is best known as what law?

ANSWER: KEPLER’S THIRD LAW

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the common astronomical name for areas where gravitational attraction of two or more celestial bodies prevents objects in that area from maintaining an orbit, such as the spacings of semi-major axes of orbits of asteroids in the asteroid belt?

ANSWER: KIRKWOOD GAPS

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the name for a lunar ditch where molten lava once flowed? ANSWER: VOLCANIC RILLE

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Cepheid variables are a large and important group of: W) yellow giants and super giants X) red giants Y) blue giants Z) pulsating quasars ANSWER: W) YELLOW GIANTS AND SUPER GIANTS

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the name of the simple astronomical instrument consisting of a vertical stick placed in a sunny spot to cast a shadow? ANSWER: GNOMON

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Who is the author of the book titled “On the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres” which rejected the Earth-centric universe?

ANSWER: COPERNICUS

TOSS-UP 20)

ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the Greek name meaning sparkling or scorching for the star, alpha Canis Majoris? ANSWER: SIRIUS

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice One important difference between spiral and elliptical galaxies is that: W) spiral galaxies contain Population II stars X) spiral galaxies contain clouds of gas and are still forming stars Y) spiral galaxies contain a massive black hole Z) spiral galaxies are formed by a more rapid accumulation of mass

ANSWER: X) SPIRAL GALAXIES CONTAIN CLOUDS OF GAS AND ARE STILL FORMING STARS

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice A first quarter Moon will cross the meridian at what time of the day or night: W) midnight X) sunrise Y) sunset Z) noon

ANSWER: W) MIDNIGHT

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the most common astronomical term for the angle analogous to geographical longitude?

ANSWER: RIGHT ASCENSION (ACCEPT: ASCENSION)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Because of precession, the celestial pole traces out a complete circle on the sky about every: W) 26,000 years X) 12,000 years Y) 6,000 years Z) 600 years

ANSWER: W) 26,000 YEARS

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice The ecliptic is: W) the line that divides the sky into the northern half and the southern half X) the Sun's apparent path across the celestial sphere Y) the point directly overhead Z) the line on the celestial sphere directly above the celestial equator

ANSWER: X) THE SUN'S APPARENT PATH ACROSS THE CELESTIAL SPHERE

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer According to Kepler's second Law of planetary motion, in which season in North America does the Earth currently move the fastest in its orbit about the Sun?

ANSWER: WINTER

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the brightest star in the Northern sky? ANSWER: ARCTURUS (ACCEPT: ALPHA BOÔTES)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Which planet is 14.5 times the Earth’s mass, has a rotational rate of 17.2 hours, and a year length of 84 Earth years?

ANSWER: URANUS

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What are generally considered the most common and most primitive type of meteorites? ANSWER: CHONDRITES

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following was NOT known to be a planet until 1781 AD: W) Saturn X) Venus Y) Mercury Z) Uranus ANSWER: Z) URANUS

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What law states that the total amount of energy radiated per unit time from the surface of a body is related to the fourth power of its temperature? ANSWER: STEFAN-BOLTZMANN LAW (ACCEPT: STEFAN'S LAW)

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer A circle with a dot in the center is most commonly the astronomer’s symbol for what? ANSWER: SUN

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the name for the constellation with the brightest star? ANSWER: CANIS MAJOR (ACCEPT: THE BIG DOG)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following is believed to be the most likely composition of cosmic dust: W) carbonaceous, silicate or iron-bearing materials with some frozen gases X) hydrogen, helium and lithium crystals Y) thorium, uranium and lead particles from dead stars Z) pure ice crystals with small amounts of ionized hydrogen

ANSWER: W) CARBONACEOUS, SILICATE OR IRON-BEARING MATERIALS WITH SOME FROZEN GASES

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer The precise measurements of Wilson and Penzias of cosmic background radiation was in what region of the electromagnetic spectrum? ANSWER: MICROWAVE (ACCEPT: 7.35 CM)

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice The angular distance of a star east of the Prime Meridian is most commonly referred to as the star’s: W) deviation X) gnomon angle Y) zenith point Z) right ascension ANSWER: Z) RIGHT ASCENSION

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer The nominal galactic center lies on the galactic plane in the direction of what constellation? ANSWER: SAGITTARIUS (ACCEPT: THE ARCHER)

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer The total amount of energy of a star’s surface radiated into space each second is most commonly referred to as what? ANSWER: ABSOLUTE LUMINOSITY (ACCEPT: LUMINOSITY, INTRINSIC BRIGHTNESS, OR ABSOLUTE BRIGHTNESS)

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice If you could shrink the Earth to a quarter its present diameter while maintaining its mass, by what factor would the escape velocity change? W) the escape velocity would be doubled X) the escape velocity would be four times larger Y) the escape velocity would remain unchanged Z) the escape velocity would be reduced by half ANSWER: W) THE ESCAPE VELOCITY WOULD BE DOUBLED (Solution: escape velocity ~ (M/R)1/2; Ve = √2GM/r)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer When a one solar mass star becomes a red giant for the first time, its energy comes mainly from the fusion of helium forming into what final element? ANSWER: CARBON

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following distance-measuring techniques measures the farthest: W) radar ranging X) stellar parallax Y) variable stars Z) standard candle/Tully-Fisher relation

ANSWER: Z) STANDARD CANDLE/TULLY-FISHER RELATION

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer In North America, what is typically the most spectacular meteor shower in the month of August?

ANSWER: PERSEIDS

BONUS 20)

ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice A bolometer (pronounced: bowl-O-meter) is used to: W) measure the energy output of the Sun X) measure the length of a bowling alley Y) measure the size of celestial bodies Z) standardize the azimuth of a sextant ANSWER: W) MEASURE THE ENERGY OUTPUT OF THE SUN

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following constellations can be seen highest in the November sky of the northern hemisphere? W) Orion X) Cassiopeia Y) Mensa Z) Cancer ANSWER: X) CASSIOPEIA

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer The Stefan-Boltzman Law states that the energy emitted from a black body varies with what power of the temperature? ANSWER: FOURTH

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer How many degrees of arc are in 6 hours of right ascension? ANSWER: 90 DEGREES

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Which 2 of the following 5 minor planets have the largest diameters: Eros, Juno, Ceres, Amor, Apollo ANSWER: CERES AND JUNO

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Tripling the distance to a star will typically reduce its apparent brightness by about how many times? ANSWER: 9

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Assuming that the Hubble constant = 40 km/sec/megaparsec, how far away, in megaparsecs, is a galaxy whose red shift is 20,000 km/sec? ANSWER: 500 MEGAPARSECS (Solution: d = v/H0; = 20,000/40 = 500)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Most astrophysicists believe that the universe is: W) isotropic and homogeneous X) isotropic and non-homogeneous Y) anistotropic and homogeneous Z) anisotropic and non-homogeneous ANSWER: W) ISOTROPIC AND HOMOGENEOUS

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Of the following 5 planets, name all that can be in opposition to the Sun: Venus, Saturn, Mercury, Mars, Jupiter ANSWER: SATURN, MARS, AND JUPITER (accept in any order) (Solution: Only superior planets can be in opposition)

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple choice What planet is usually obscured by the sun and never seen against a dark sky: W) Mars X) Venus Y) Mercury Z) Jupiter ANSWER: Y) MERCURY

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple choice In which of the following illustrative techniques would sunspots occur nearer the solar equator as the cycle of sunspot activity progresses: W) Kirkwood’s chart X) Maunder’s diagram Y) Hubble’s chart Z) HR diagram ANSWER: X) MAUNDER’S DIAGRAM

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice To a stargazer in Ohio, a star far enough south of the celestial equator to be circumpolar such as Miaplacidus is: W) only seen for about 6 hours X) only seen briefly for about half an hour on the horizon Y) only seen on the winter solstice Z) never seen ANSWER: Z) NEVER SEEN BONUS 4)

ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Non-circumpolar stars that lie north of the celestial equator when viewed from Michigan will: W) spend less than 6 hours above the horizon X) spend more than 6 hours but less than 12 hours above the horizon Y) spend more than 12 hours but less than 24 hours above the horizon Z) spend 24 hours above the horizon ANSWER: Y) SPEND MORE THAN 12 HOURS BUT LESS THAN 24 HOURS ABOVE THE HORIZON

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice What shape do interstellar dust particles have since the light emitted by stars is dimmed and partially polarized: W) sphere X) cube Y) disk Z) rodlike ANSWER: Z) RODLIKE

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What astronomical instrument, used to determine the position of celestial bodies, uses light in parallel rays falling on a mercury surface, which then pass through a prism and into a telescope? ANSWER: PRISMATIC ASTROLABE (ACCEPT: ASTROLABE OR IMPERSONAL ASTROLABE)

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following is not a characteristic of the terrestrial planets: W) low average density X) closely spaced orbits Y) craters in old surfaces Z) very few moons ANSWER: W) LOW AVERAGE DENSITY

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following is NOT true of Kepler’s works in astronomy: W) Kepler gathered most of his data from his monitoring of the planets with a quadrant X) Kepler very seldom observed the planets and looked through a telescope only a few times in his life Y) many of Kepler’s computations were based on data gathered by Tycho Brahe Z) Kepler assumed planetary motion was not circular ANSWER: W) KEPLER GATHERED MOST OF HIS DATA FROM HIS MONITORING OF THE PLANETS WITH A QUADRANT

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer If it were to be renamed today based on what constellation the sun is in on December 22nd, what would the new name be for the Tropic of Capricorn? ANSWER: TROPIC OF SAGITTARIUS (ACCEPT: SAGITTARIUS)

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer How many arc-seconds wide, rounded to the nearest whole number, would Galileo have been able to resolve with his telescope, if one assumes that its 1.7 inch diameter lens was free of optical aberrations? ANSWER: 3 (Solution: For radiation to which our eyes are most sensitive, then = 0.25 (0.55 µm)/0.04318 m; = 3.2)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Members of the “Key Project”, while working with the Hubble space telescope, are using observation primarily of what specific type of celestial object to calculate the Hubble constant? ANSWER: CEPHEIDS (ACCEPT: CEPHEID VARIABLES)

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Rounded to the first decimal place, how many synodic months are in an accurate calendar year if a tropical year is 365.2 days? ANSWER: 12.4 (Solution: 365.2/29.5 = 12.4)

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer The two points where the ecliptic intersects the celestial equator are known as what: ANSWER: EQUINOXES

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer If a star were to be 9 times farther away than it originally was, how many times fainter would it appear to be if all other things remain constant? ANSWER: 81 TIMES (Solution: inverse square law…92 = 81)

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following is the most likely reason that the Pleiades stars were all formed together: W) they are all the same size, luminosity, and spectral class X) they all orbit a common larger neutron star Y) they are in the region of a black hole Z) they are all concentrated in a small region ANSWER: Z) THEY ARE ALL CONCENTRATED IN A SMALL REGION

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Compute the estimated temperature, in Kelvin, of a stellar body’s surface that emits light with a spectrum that peaks at 145 nanometers: ANSWER: 20,000 (Solution: Wein’s Law T = 2.9 × 10-3 m.k/λ Æ 2.9 × 10-3 m.k / 145 × 10-9m = .02×106 =20,000K)

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What are probably the only particles emitted by stellar cores without being influenced appreciably by the outermost layers of the stars, and are detected by an instrument in the Homestake gold mine? ANSWER: NEUTRINOS

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer In the solar neutrino detector in Lead, South Dakota, when a neutrino emitted in positron decay in the sun is captured by a Chlorine-37 nucleus, what isotope is most likely formed? ANSWER: ARGON-37

TOSS-UP 20) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following planets cannot come into quadrature with Earth: W) Mars X) Saturn Y) Uranus Z) Venus ANSWER: Z) VENUS

BONUS 20) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Order the following planets from the one with the least number of known moons to the one with the most: Saturn, Neptune, Mars, Uranus ANSWER: MARS, NEPTUNE, URANUS, SATURN

TOSS-UP 4) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Which of the following eyepieces is a modified Ramsden eyepiece with an achromatic lens: W) Huygens X) orthoscopic Y) Kellner Z) Erfle ANSWER: Y) KELLNER

BONUS 4) ASTRONOMY Short Answer Which two of the following five celestial bodies are not moons of Jupiter: Io, Charon, Titan, Ganymede, Callisto

ANSWER: CHARON AND TITAN

TOSS-UP 12) ASTRONOMY Multiple Choice Crux, Ara, Reticulum, and Tucana are all best known as: W) craters on the moon X) canals on mars Y) constellations Z) maria on the moon ANSWER: Y) CONSTELLATIONS

BONUS 12) ASTRONOMY Short Answer What is the total magnifying power of a refracting telescope that has an objective lens focal length of 12 meters and an eyepiece focal length of 0.3 meters?

ANSWER: 40X (ACCEPT: 40 TIMES OR 40) (Solution: m = 12m / 0.3m = 40X)