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ASTR 1P01 > Exam > Flashcards

Exam Flashcards

1
Q

The speed of light is….

A

300,000 km/s

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2
Q

The Big Bang created….

A

The universe

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3
Q

About how long does it take for light to travel from the Sun to Pluto?

A

5 hours

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4
Q

About how long does it take for light to travel from the Sun to Earth?

A

8 minutes

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5
Q

Most asteroids orbit the Sun between the orbits of….

A

Mars and Jupiter

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6
Q

Stars are born in regions of space containing….

A

Enormous clouds of gas and dust

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7
Q

A waning crescent moon rises….

A

Between midnight and sunrise

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8
Q

A waxing gibbous moon rises….

A

Between noon and sunset

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9
Q

The third quarter moon sets at about….

A

Noon

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10
Q

One of Copernicus’s great advances was to….

A

Determine the relative distances of each planet from the Sun

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11
Q

Which astronomer determined that gravity is responsible for keeping the Moon in its orbit around the Earth?

A

Newton

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12
Q

Eclipses can possibly occur about once every….

A

Six months

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13
Q

What causes the four seasons: Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer?

A

The 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth’s rotation axis

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14
Q

The Sun appears to travel south, then north, then south again during the year. The extreme north and south points of this apparent journey are called…..

A

Solstice points

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15
Q

The Moon’s orbit is tipped relative to the Earth’s orbit at an angle of about…..

A

5 degrees

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16
Q

The dates of solar eclipses get shifted from one year to the next because of….

A

Precession of the Moon’s orbit

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17
Q

What does it mean to say that the universe is expanding?

A

The average distances between galaxies is increasing

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18
Q

Epicycles were introduced into the ancient geocentric model of the solar system in an attempt to….

A

Better describe planetary motions

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19
Q

Overall, the universe appears to be…

A

Expanding, but at a rate that appears to be increasing

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20
Q

The evidence for the existence of “dark matter” within galaxies is that….

A

Visible matter within galaxies appears to be influenced by more force than can be accounted for by visible matter closer to the centre of the galaxy

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21
Q

If a star rises tonight at 10:00pm, tomorrow it will rise at about….

A

9:56pm

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22
Q

An equinox is a position on the Earth’s orbit for which….

A

The day and night are equally long

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23
Q

As seen from the Earth’s equator, the north celestial pole is….

A

On the horizon

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24
Q

On the first day of Spring, the Sun sets….

A

Directly west

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25
Q

As described by Kepler’s third law of planetary motion….

A

Planets closer to the Sun have shorter periods

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26
Q

Which of the following was a valid argument against the heliocentric model proposed by some ancient Greek astronomers?

A

Stellar parallax was not observed

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27
Q

The first use of telescopes in astronomy was by….

A

Galileo

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28
Q

At the time of Galileo and Kepler, which of the following observations was the strongest evidence for the heliocentric model of the solar system?

A

The gibbous and the quarter phases of Venus

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29
Q

An advantage of the Renaissance heliocentric model of the solar system (over the geocentric model) is that….

A

Apparent retrograde motions of planets is easier to explain

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30
Q

Kepler’s first law of planetary motion is a statement about

A

The shape of planetary orbits

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31
Q

What is inertia?

A

The tendency of a body to remain at rest or moving in a straight line at constant speed

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32
Q

According to Newton’s laws of motion, the acceleration of a body….

A

Is proportional to the net force acting on it and inversely proportional to its mass

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33
Q

According to Newton’s laws of motion, an object moving in a circle at a constant speed is subject to a force pointing….

A

Toward the centre of the circle

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34
Q

TRUE OR FALSE: It is possible to determine the mass of a planet from the orbital data (the period and the orbital radius) of one of its satellites.

A

True

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35
Q

We can tell that the net force acting on the Earth is not zero because….

A

The Earth’s path around the Sun is not a straight line.

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36
Q

The first scientist to propose that there must exist some force that holds the planets in their orbits….

A

Kepler

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37
Q

Your weight is….

A

Greater on Earth than it is on the Moon

38
Q

The first scientist to propose a theory of gravity that was mathematical and to prove that an inverse-square force of gravity is consistent with celestial observations was….

A

Newton

39
Q

The magnitude of the gravitational force that the Earth exerts on the Moon is equal to the magnitude of the gravitational force that the Moon exerts on the Earth. Therefore….

A

The resulting acceleration of the Earth is much less than the resulting acceleration of the Moon, because the Earth is much more massive than the Moon

40
Q

Which type of radiation has the longest wavelength?

A

Radio wave

41
Q

Red and green light differ because….

A

They have different wavelengths

42
Q

Infrared radiation differs from red light in….

A

Its wavelength

43
Q

Which type of radiation has the shortest wavelength?

A

Blue light

44
Q

Which type of photon has the lowest energy?

A

Microwave radiation

45
Q

Which type of photon has the highest energy?

A

Red

46
Q

Continuous spectra are produced by….

A

Solids or high-density gases

47
Q

When a star’s light passes through its cooler atmosphere….

A

Photons of certain wavelengths are absorbed

48
Q

Which is the most important power of a telescope?

A

Light-gathering

49
Q

Some stars “twinkle” because of….

A

Atmospheric blurring

50
Q

Which of the following types of radiation from outer space cannot be detected in a ground-based observatory?

A

X-ray

51
Q

Wien’s law is typically used in astronomy to….

A

Determine the temperature of a star

52
Q

When white light passes through a cool gas, we see….

A

An absorption line spectrum

53
Q

The largest optical telescopes at present are….

A

Reflectors

54
Q

An electron bound to an atom….

A

Can have only a certain energies, which depend on the atom

55
Q

You observe two stars, one blue and the other red. What can you conclude?

A

The blue star is hotter than the red star

56
Q

Protons and neurtrons in an atomic nucleus are held together by….

A

Strong nuclear forces

57
Q

When an electron in an atom makes a transition from a higher energy level to a lower energy level, the atom….

A

Emits a photon of a specific frequency

58
Q

If you heat a gas so that collisions are continually elevating electrons to higher energy levels, when the electrons fall back to lower energy levels, the gas produces….

A

An emission line spectrum

59
Q

With a telescope that has a Newtonian focal arrangement, the viewing is done from….

A

The side of the telescope

60
Q

Using spectroscopic parallax enables one to determine a star’s….

A

Distance (using the H-R diagram)

61
Q

Which term describes a pair of stars that we can determine are orbiting each other only by measuring their periodic Doppler shifts?

A

Spectroscopic binary

62
Q

Ockham’s razor….

A

Suggests that for scientific theories with equal predictive power, the simpler theory is better

63
Q

The nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium inside a star begins at a temperature of….

A

At least 10 million degrees

64
Q

We know that the Sun’s energy does not result from a chemical burning process because….

A

The Sun would have burned up already

65
Q

About _____ elapse between times of maximum solar activity.

A

11 years

66
Q

Sunspots appear dark because….

A

They are fairly bright but appear dark against the even brighter background of the surrounding surface

67
Q

Energy is transported from the Sun’s core to its surface mainly by….

A

Radiation and convection

68
Q

When four hydrogen nuclei fuse to form a helium nucleus, the total mass at the end is _____ the total mass at the beginning.

A

Less than

69
Q

Sunspots are areas on the Sun….

A

That are cooler

70
Q

The Sun is supported against the crushing force of its own gravity by….

A

Gas pressure

71
Q

Granulation of the Sun’s surface is a direct consequence of….

A

Convection

72
Q

The Sun’s mass is about _____ times the Earth’s mass.

A

300,000

73
Q

The diameter of the Sun is about _____ times the Earth’s diameter.

A

100

74
Q

The thinnest layer of the Sun is the….

A

Photosphere

75
Q

Which of the following parts of the Sun is hottest?

A

Corona

76
Q

The layer of the Sun that we normally see is the….

A

Photosphere

77
Q

A solar prominence is….

A

A huge plume of glowing gas that juts from the lower chromosphere into the corona

78
Q

What causes aurorae on Earth and some other planets?

A

Solar wind

79
Q

On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, stars that are cool and luminous are found towards the….

A

Upper right

80
Q

On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, stars that are cool and dim are found towards the….

A

Lower right

81
Q

On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, stars that have the largest radii are found towards the….

A

Upper right

82
Q

On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, main-sequence stars that have the largest mass are found towards the….

A

Upper left

83
Q

On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, white dwarf stars are found towards the….

A

Lower left

84
Q

On a Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, red giant stars are found towards the….

A

Upper right

85
Q

Main sequence stars that have low mass are….

A

Dim and cool

86
Q

TRUE OR FALSE: The farther away a star is, the larger is its parallax angle.

A

False

87
Q

Binary star systems are important because they are used to determine….

A

Masses of stars

88
Q

Since most stars are born with approximately the same composition, what characteristic most determines how they will differ?

A

Their initial mass

89
Q

Most stars are born with approximately the following composition.

A

About 75% hydrogen, about 25% helium, and less than 2% heavier elements

90
Q

The most abundant chemical element in a main-sequence star is….

A

Hydrogen (H)

91
Q

The star nearest to the Sun is at a distance of about….

A

4 light-years

ASTR 1P01 (2 decks)

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