Final Review Flashcards
The Milky Way galaxy has a ___ shape.
spiral
What is unusual about the tilt of Uranus?
Uranus is tilted almost 90 degrees, as if it were a barrel rolling around the sun.
The time from new moon to new moon is ___.
29.5 days
List the five planets that can be seen with unaided eyes:
Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn
The Hubble Space Telescope has a mirror ___ in diameter.
8 feet
Identify the constellation Ursa Major.
The diameter of the moon is about __ the diameter of the earth.
¼
A large hurricane has been raging on Jupiter for over 400 years. It can be seen through an Earth-based telescope and is known as ___.
The Great Red Spot
Which is larger, Earth or Mars?
Earth
Identify the constellation Leo
Identify the star Arcturus
Albert Michelson devised a way to measure the size of stars using interference of ___ ___.
light waves
Extrasolar planets are planets that are ___ our solar system.
outside
The average distance from the earth to the moon is ___ miles.
240,000 miles
Name the astronomer who described the shape of a planet’s orbint with his first law.
Kepler
What is the shape of a planet’s orbit?
elliptical
The density of the Jovian planets is less or more than the density of earth.
less
List the first four terrestial planets in order from the sun:
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars
The Little Dipper is part of the constellation ___ ___.
Ursa Minor
During Edmund Halley’s time, the most mysterious objects in the solar system were ___.
comets
How does the orbital period of the planets correlate to distance from the sun?
The farther the planet is from the sun, the longer it takes to orbit the sun.
Astronomy photographs are often printed upside-down to match ___.
the inverted image seen in the telescope
List the letters that make the mnemonic (memory aid) to name the planets in order from the sun. You can write the mnemonic if you prefer.
M,V,E,M,J,S,U,N (or My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos)
What scientific instrument can determine chemical composition from light patterns?
spectroscope
Identify the star Spica
Identify the star Regulus.
Other than the sun, the star closes to the earth is Proxima ___.
Centauri
Identify the constellation Ursa Minor.
Identify the constellation Virgo
The average distance from the earth to the sun is ___ miles.
93,000,000
___ gives Mars its red color
Iron oxide
A difference between a star and a planet is that stars ___ heat and light, while planets ___ light.
produce (emails); reflect
Which element was identified in the sun before being discovered on earth?
helium
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.
hot; cold; liquid
If a star is moving away from earth, its spectral lines are shifted toward the ___ end of the specturm.
red
The first moon landing was in what location on the moon?
Sea of Tranquility
The brightest object in the sky other than the sun and moon is ___.
Venus
___ discovered the moons of Jupiter.
Galileo
Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto using a device called a ___ comparator.
blink
Which is brighter, -3.0 magnitude or 4.0 magnitude?
-3.0
What type of star is our sun?
main-sequence G
In addition to magnification, another purpose of a telescope is to ___ light.
gather
Tye type of telescope that uses a glass lens to focus light is a ___.
refractor
Most of the stars in the Big Dipper are ___ magnitude.
2nd
What caused the delay in the eclipse of Io by Jupiter observed by Ole Roemer?
the time for light to travel from Jupiter to Earth
The big dipper is not a constellation, but an ___.
asterism
An eclipse of the sun can take place only when the moon is ___ the earth and the ___.
between; sun
Many meteor showers come from the remains of ___.
comets
Identify the constellation Boötes
Which stars can be used as an optical yardstick to measure distance?
cepheid variables
Identify the star Polaris.
