The Stars Review Sheet

Question 1

Astronomers measure the distance between stars in what units?

Answer 1

Light years

Question 2

The closest star to the Sun is:

Answer 2

Proxima Centauri

Question 3

From the surface of Pluto, our familiar constellations would:

Answer 3

Look exactly the same as from Earth

Question 4

Radio messages travel at the speed of light, so how long would it take to radio a message to a star that is 100 light years distant?

Answer 4

100 years

Question 5

From the surface of a planet orbiting a star 1000 light years away, our familiar constellations would:

Answer 5

Be completely unrecognizable

Question 6

Most of the characteristics of an individual star depend on the star’s:

Answer 6

Mass

Question 7

The hottest stars are primarily what color?

Answer 7

Blue

Question 8

Stars look like tiny points of light in the sky because:

Answer 8

They are extremely far away

Question 9

All of the brightest stars in Earth’s sky are the stars that are closest to the Sun

Answer 9

False

Question 10

Explain in a sentence or two what the term “light year” means.

Answer 10

A light year is a unit of distance. It is the distance that light, moving at 300,000 km/s can travel in one year

Question 11

The constellations look the same from Mars as they do from Earth. This means:

Answer 11

The stars are very far away

Question 12

In a typical spacecraft travelling at about 17 km/s. It would take about 70,000 years to travel to:

Answer 12

The nearest star

Question 13

The coolest stars appear:

Answer 13

orange

Question 14

The best example of a red giant star is the star:

Answer 14

Betelgeuse

Question 15

Where are stars usually born?

Answer 15

In a nebula

Question 16

Stars like our Sun live about:

Answer 16

10 billion years

Question 17

What is the Crab Nebula?

Answer 17

The remnant of a supernova explosion

Question 18

Radio waves travel at the speed of light. If we sent a message to Alpha Centauri, how long would we have to wait before receiving a reply?

Answer 18

8 years

Question 19

What is the color of stars that have surface temperature of 3000 degrees Celsius?

Answer 19

Red

Question 20

Astronomers call the type of chart shown here a:

Answer 20

H-R diagram

Question 21

The line on a H-R diagram where most stars fall is called the:

Answer 21

Main Sequence

Question 22

Fill in the three circles of the two Venn Diagrams with the words from the list: Red Star, Blue Star

Answer 22

Blue Star - high mass, hot and short life
Red Star - low mass, cool, and long life

Question 23

Black holes are like cosmic vacuum cleaners that suck everything up.

Answer 23

False

Question 24

When the Sun runs out of fuel at the end of its lifetime, it will eventually form a :

Answer 24

White Dwarf

Question 25

Place the words and phrases in the list with their matching words and phrases in the table: Only very massive stars, The Sun, Gravity, Light

Answer 25

only very massive stars - can produce neutron stars and black holes
The Sun - will never become a black hole
Gravity - governs star birth and death
Light - does not move fast enough to escape from a black hole

Question 26

Which one of the following properties govern the ultimate fate of any star?

Answer 26

Mass