Test 3 Flashcards
A perfect blackbody soaks up/absorbs all light you shill on it. Why, then does a hot blackbody not look black?
This is because as a blackbody gets hot it emits its own light.
When a solid object is heated, it shines a different color as it gets hotter. Of the following four colors which would indicate the hottest object? A. Orange B. Black C. Red D. Yellow
D. Yellow
You are part of a NASA mission building a space probe which will investigate an asteroid by making a close fly-by. We know the asteroid is highly reflective, so it is probably covered with ice. If you want to check whether there is an ocean of liquid water underneath the icy crust, which one of the following instruments should you recommend be installed to the probe? A. A radiation detector B. A spectrometer C. A dust analyzer D. A magnetometer
D. A magnetometer
What is the snow line? Why do we think it causes Jovian planets to occur on one side but not the other?
The snow line is a line is our solar system that divides where the Jovian planets start and the terrestrial plants end. We believe the Jovian planets were formed after the snow line because the materials they are formed from can be frozen there.
You have a telescope which normally produces sharp images when you attach your camera to the end. But this weeks weather is especially windy, and every windy night you notice your telescope is producing fuzzy images. Which of the following options can you use to get sharper photographs in spite of wind?
A. Increase the zoom
B. Go out and buy an adaptive optics unit to attach
C. Wrap the telescope in an electric blanket to heat it up
D. All of the above
B
What is the minimum number of lenses required to make one telescope?
1
How does the shape of the opening of the telescope effect the the shape of the image produced?
It does not effect it at all.
Which element is is used up as fuel by fusion in the core of the Sun? Which element is produced?
Hydrogen to make helium
During fusion positively charged particles are squeezed together. Which kind of force takes over to keep them together?
The strong force
Why do the number of sunspots peak every 11 years?
They peak every 11 years because the magnetic field reverses its poles after 11 years. The magnetic field is what is responsible for the creation of sunspots.
What does interstellar reddening do to far away stars?
This causes stars to appear less blue to us, because the color blue has a higher frequency and reflects back towards the star it came from. This causes stars to look red once the light finally reaches us.
What is interstellar extinction?
The light from stars is reduced at it passes through space.
Dark nebulae and reflection nebulae contain something that emission nebulae don’t, which causes them to look different in photos.
They both contain dust particles which the emission nebulae does not have.
What defines a star as having arrived on the main sequence?
All main sequence stars are preforming thermonuclear reactions.
What is the one thing you need to know about a main sequence star to figure out whether it will end its life as a white dwarf, a red dwarf, a neutron star, or a black hole?
You must know its mass.
