AS

Question 1

an area in the sky containing a group of stars in a pattern is called

Answer 1

constellation

Question 2

a notable grouping of stars that do not contain a constellation

Answer 2

asterism

Question 3

how long does it take our sun to revolve around the celestial sphere

Answer 3

365.25 days

Question 4

when 3/4 of the moon’s lit surface faces the earth, and the lit part is shrinking, we say it’s a ___ moon

Answer 4

waning gibbous

Question 5

who said “a great central fire controlled all motion in the universe”

Answer 5

pythagoras

Question 6

claudius ptolemy proposed what idea that explained planetary retrograde motion

Answer 6

epicycles

Question 7

Johannes Kepler created 3 laws concerning interplanetary motion. which one of the laws below is NOT one of Kepler’s

a. each planet’s path around the sun is an ellipse, with the sun at one focus of the ellipse
b. a planet speeds up when it is closer to the sun, and slows down when it is farther away
c. if you know how long a planet takes to orbit the sun, you can tell its average distance from the sun, vice versa
d. E=mc^2

Answer 7

d. E=mc^2

Question 8

sir isaac newton created 3 universal laws of motion. which one of the laws below is NOT one of newton’s?

a. a body in motion tends to stay in motion, and a body at rest tends to stay at rest
b. the acceleration of an object is proportional to the force exerted on it
c. for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction
d. mass can neither be created nor destroyed

Answer 8

d. Mass can neither be created nor destroyed

Question 9

shape of earth is most accurately described as

Answer 9

oblate spheroid

Question 10

earth’s interior is made up mostly of

Answer 10

olivine

Question 11

the earth consists of 3 layers, which of the following is NOT one of the layers

a. crust
b. magma
c. mantle
d. core

Answer 11

b. Magma

Question 12

what percent of the atmosphere is nitrogen

Answer 12

78%

Question 13

what percent of the atmosphere is oxygen

Answer 13

21%

Question 14

what percent of the atmosphere are trace gases and mostly argon

Answer 14

1%

Question 15

what layer of the atmosphere do we live, work, and play in

Answer 15

troposphere

Question 16

the 2 times in a year where we have our longest and shortest days

Answer 16

summer and winter solstice

Question 17

charged particles from the sun are captured by earth’s magnetic field, also known as what?

Answer 17

van allen belt

Question 18

name for lighted moving “curtains” in our polar regions

Answer 18

aurora borealis

Question 19

which “tide” occurs during full moons and new moons

Answer 19

spring tide

Question 20

during a total lunar eclipse, what color is the moon?

Answer 20

deep red

Question 21

what caused the “maria” on the moon

Answer 21

volcanos

Question 22

what is the most widely accepted theory for the formation of our moon

Answer 22

large impact theory

Question 23

primary source of the sun’s energy comes from

Answer 23

a series of nuclear fusion reactions

Question 24

birthplace of stars

Answer 24

nebulae

Question 25

stars are made up of mostly what two gases

Answer 25

hydrogen and helium

Question 26

out of earth, mars, mercury, and uranus, which one is not a terrestrial planet

Answer 26

uranus

Question 27

jupiter and neptune are examples of what type of planet

Answer 27

jovian

Question 28

celestial bodies that orbit planets are called what

Answer 28

satellites and moons

Question 29

distance between the sun and earth

Answer 29

93,000,000 miles

Question 30

what is a light year

Answer 30

the distance it takes light to travel in one year

Question 31

6 trillion miles equals what

Answer 31

one light year

Question 32

the current most accepted theory for solar system’s origin is

Answer 32

the solar nebula theory

Question 33

mercury shows no signs of a(n)

Answer 33

atmosphere

Question 34

mercury’s temp ranges from ___ degrees in the daytime to ___ degrees at night

Answer 34

800 and -280

Question 35

venus and earth have similar what

Answer 35

diameters

Question 36

mercury and venus are only visible..

Answer 36

just before sunrise and/or just after sunset

Question 37

the planet with the daytime summer temperatures most similar to earth’s is what

Answer 37

mars

Question 38

the largest and fastest rotating planet is

Answer 38

jupiter

Question 39

jupiter’s _____ is 20,000 times greater than Earth’s

Answer 39

magnetic field

Question 40

saturn’s density is such that it

Answer 40

would float if you could place it in a very large ocean

Question 41

saturn’s moon TITAN is the only moon in our solar system known to have a(n)

Answer 41

atmosphere

Question 42

international astronomical union created 3 categories for celestial bodies orbiting the sun. which of the following is not one of those categories?

a. trans-kuiper objects
b. planets
c. dwarf planets
d. small solar system bodies

Answer 42

a. trans-kuiper objects

Question 43

largest known object in the asteroid belt

Answer 43

ceres

Question 44

between which two planets is the asteroid belt located at

Answer 44

mars and jupiter

Question 45

what is the name of the theoretical sphere where billions of comet nuclei exist

Answer 45

oort cloud

Question 46

what is this object found on the surface of a planet

Answer 46

a meteorite

Question 47

a black hole is

Answer 47

a super dense object in space where escape velocity exceeds the speed of light

Question 48

mnemonic for order of planets

Answer 48

my very excellent mother just served us some nachos