Astronomy Quiz 1

Question 1

What is astronomy defined as?

Answer 1

The study of the objects that lie beyond our planet Earth and the processes by which these objects interact.

Question 2

What does astronomy attempt to organize?

Answer 2

What we learn into a clear history of the universe

Question 3

How is science described in the context of astronomy?

Answer 3

A progress report that changes constantly as new techniques allow us to probe the universe.

Question 4

What is astronomy?

Answer 4

A field of science

Question 5

How is science defined in the context of knowledge acquisition?

Answer 5

A method by which we acquire new knowledge about how things work

Question 6

What distinguishes astronomy from other sciences like chemistry, biology, or physics?

Answer 6

Requires observations of distant objects

Question 7

What do we build as we gather observations in astronomy?

Answer 7

Ideas or models to help us understand them

Question 8

What is a hypothesis in scientific terms?

Answer 8

A new model that describes observations and is testable

Question 9

Fill in the blank: Astronomy requires _______ of distant objects more than lab experiments.

Answer 9

[observations]

Question 10

True or False: Science is a fixed set of knowledge to memorize.

Answer 10

False

Question 11

What do we call a model that can be tested?

Answer 11

Hypothesis

Question 12

List the sciences mentioned that are different from astronomy.

Answer 12

• Chemistry
• Biology
• Physics

Question 13

What is a scientific theory?

Answer 13

A hypothesis supported by a large amount of observations, considered true ‘beyond a reasonable doubt’.

This definition emphasizes that scientific theories are not absolute truths but are based on substantial evidence.

Question 14

Can anything in science be proven 100% true?

Answer 14

No.

Scientific knowledge is always open to revision based on new evidence.

Question 15

What must scientists provide to support their ideas?

Answer 15

Evidence.

This evidence is crucial for the validation of scientific hypotheses.

Question 16

What happens to ideas in science over time?

Answer 16

They are constantly subjected to new tests to prove weak hypotheses wrong and to provide evidence for stronger hypotheses.

This process ensures the robustness of scientific knowledge.

Question 17

Fill in the blank: A hypothesis is called a scientific theory only when it is supported by a large amount of observations and experiments and considered true ‘beyond a _______’.

Answer 17

reasonable doubt.

This phrase highlights the level of confidence in scientific conclusions.

Question 18

What is one of the fundamental principles in astronomy?

Answer 18

The universe behaves by the same scientific laws everywhere.

Question 19

How can most universal laws in astronomy be described?

Answer 19

By very simple equations.

Question 20

What will be shown throughout the semester?

Answer 20

Equations and descriptions of their meanings.

Question 21

What unit in astronomy is equivalent to the distance that light travels within a year?

Answer 21

Light-years (ly)

1 light-year is approximately 9.46 trillion kilometers.

Question 22

What is the abbreviation for Astronomical Units?

Answer 22

AU

1 AU is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, about 149.6 million kilometers.

Question 23

What are the common units of measurement for distances in astronomy?

Answer 23

• Kilometers (km)
• Astronomical Units (AU)
• Light-years (ly)
• Parsecs (pc)

Each unit serves different scales of measurement in the universe.

Question 24

Fill in the blank: Distances in astronomy may be measured in kilometers (km), ________, light-years (ly), and parsecs (pc).

Answer 24

Astronomical Units (AU)

Question 25

True or False: Parsecs (pc) is a unit of distance used in astronomy.

Answer 25

True

1 parsec is approximately 3.26 light-years.

Question 26

What is the scientific notation known as and based on?

Answer 26

Orders of Magnitude and Powers of Tens