Chapters 9-12 Test Review

Question 1

Name the Danish astronomer who made the most careful record of star locations after Ptolemy.

Answer 1

Tycho Brahe

Question 2

Isaac Newton combined the work of Kepler (on planetary motion) and the work of Galileo (motion of objects on earth) and developed what important law?

Answer 2

The Law of Universal Gravitation

Question 3

Name the astronomer who described the shape of a planet’s orbint with his first law.

Answer 3

Kepler

Question 4

What is the shape of a planet’s orbit?

Answer 4

elliptical

Question 5

Other than the sun, the star closes to the earth is Proxima ___.

Answer 5

Centauri

Question 6

During Edmund Halley’s time, the most mysterious objects in the solar system were ___.

Answer 6

comets

Question 7

What are astronomers able to determine when they measure stellar parallax?

Answer 7

The distance to the star

Question 8

Name the astronomer who traveled to St. Helena to plot the position of stars in the southern sky.

Answer 8

Edmund Halley

Question 9

Most of the stars in the Big Dipper are ___ magnitude.

Answer 9

2nd

Question 10

The Little Dipper is part of the constellation ___ ___.

Answer 10

Ursa Minor

Question 11

The big dipper is not a constellation, but an ___.

Answer 11

asterism

Question 12

Which is brighter, -3.0 magnitude or 4.0 magnitude?

Answer 12

-3.0

Question 13

The Milky Way galaxy has a ___ shape.

Answer 13

spiral

Question 14

Which element was identified in the sun before being discovered on earth?

Answer 14

helium

Question 15

Why are Red Giants so luminous?

Answer 15

Because they are very large

Question 16

What scientific instrument can determine chemical composition from light patterns?

Answer 16

spectroscope

Question 17

Which stars can be used as an optical yardstick to measure distance?

Answer 17

cepheid variables

Question 18

Albert Michelson devised a way to measure the size of stars using interference of ___ ___.

Answer 18

light waves

Question 19

If a star is moving away from earth, its spectral lines are shifted toward the ___ end of the specturm.

Answer 19

red

Question 20

What type of star is our sun?

Answer 20

main-sequence G

Question 21

One difference between a star and a planet is that the star ___ heat and light, while the planet ___ light.

Answer 21

produces (emails); reflects

Question 22

What methods are used to find an extra solar planet?

Answer 22

infrared, radial velocity, wobble

Question 23

The “zone of life” is the region around a star known as the “Goldilocks zone” because it is neither too ___ nor too ___. On planets in this region, water can be found in ___ state.

Answer 23

hot; cold; liquid