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Intro to astronomy FINAL exam

Terms in this set (60)

Who argued that the earth can not spin and the earth can not move?
Aristotle
Which of the following planets shows retrograde loops in the midnight sky as seen from the earth over time?
Saturn
Consider the force of gravity between the earth and its moon. If we decrease the distance between by 4 times, then the force of gravity:
Becomes 16 times greater
which angle roughly represents the resolution limit of ground-based telescopes due to atmospheric blurring it "seeing"?
1 arc-second
Which statement correctly explains why the terrestrial planets are mostly made of rock according to the early solar nebula theory?
Near the sun only the rocks could "freeze out" and become solid
Mercury has a slightly elliptical orbit around the sun. Therefore we can conclude that the sun is:
Slightly off-center of Mercury's orbit
Which of the following is Kepler's SECOND law of planetary motion?
A line from the planet to the sun sweeps out equal areas in equal intervals of time.
Using the download thrust of the engine to send a space shuttle up into space is a good example of:
Newton's third law of motion
The true shape of the earth can be deduced from studying:
Multiple lunar eclipses
Which telescopic discovery by Galileo was used to show that the Ptolemy model of the solar system doesn't work?
Phases of venus
On a particular day, Mars and Venus happen to have the same distance from the Earth. Viewed with telescopes on this day, the angular diameter of Venus is twice that of Mars. Which must be true?
The true size of Venus is two times bigger than mars
What phase must be in for a solar eclipse to be possible?
New moon
In the small angle equation, which two variables are inversely proportional to each other?
Apparent size and distance
A jet plane is flying at constant velocity through the earth's atmosphere. From this information we can conclude:
That the forces acting on it must cancel out so that the net force is zero
Which property of a geosynchronous orbit prevents a satellite from appearing to drift north and south each day?
Equatorial orientation
Seasons on the earth are caused by its:
Tilted spin axis
In the celestial sphere, the ecliptic is:
The orbital plane of the earth projected on to the sphere
An (empty) car and a bicycle both fall of a quaking Los Angeles bridge at the same time. Which Lands first?
They both land at the same time
Which of the following can reduce your weight?
Reduce your own mass by dieting AND move to a planet with the same size as Earth but lower mass
During a single day, a coastal resort area experiences
Two high tides
What is not true of Jovian planets when compared to the terrestrials?
Jovians have higher densities
Which can be described as dirty icebergs in space?
Comets
Which part of a star is the hottest?
The center
Hydrostatic equilibrium tells us how:
The pressure changes inside a star
Which spectral types show strong hydrogen balmer lines in their spectra?
Type A
Star Z has a temp of 10,000 K and max= 400 nm. If star W has a temperature of 5,000 K, then what is its max?
800 nm
Parsecs and light-years are ______ units. The smaller unit is ______
Distance, light-year
What will happen if I move a star 10 times farther away?
It's brightness will decrease 100 times
Star X has a larger parallax than star Y. Both stars are equally luminous. Which star would appear brighter to us?
Star X
In a binary, Star A has 2 solar masses and star B has 4 solar masses. The center of mass will be
Four times closer to star b
Which of the following statements are true for our sun?
The sun is in hydrostatic equilibrium
Which color has the longest wavelength?
Red
Two stars in a binary have the same color, but star A is more luminous than star B.
Star a
Which stars have the longest lifetimes?
Low mass stars
Which observation indicates that a star is in thermal equilibrium?
Constant luminosity
If an object has 0% opacity, then:
You can completely see though it
If two stars are the same color and the same luminosity, then they must have:
The same size
Blue stars would be found in the _____ part of the HR diagram
Left side
Which does not change if a star simply moves closer to us?
Luminosity
How does the mass of a stellar black hole compare to the mass of the main sequence star form which it evolved?
The black hole mass is smaller
Which of the following is the most luminous?
Quasars
Which type of star contributes the most new elements in the chemical evolution theory?
Heavyweights
Which of the following can help an interstellar cloud collapse?
Supernova shockwave, galaxy merger, a passing spiral arm
Which part of the Milky Way contains a galactic Black hole with a million solar masses?
Nucleus
Which galaxy has been though one merger and as a result, looks like a "train-wreck"?
Irregular
Which property is smaller for a white dwarf than it is for a neutron star?
Density AND mass
Which dead star results from the death of a middle-weight star
Neutron star
Which exerts the strongest pressure?
Degenerate neutron gas
An active galaxy has two larger "lobes" on opposite sides of the galaxy. At which wavelength did we first detect these lobes?
Radio
During the birth of a star, contraction ends when:
Hydrogen burning becomes the dominant source of energy
Which reaction involves an atomic nucleus breaking into smaller nuclei
Fission
What would have been the most likely birth environment for our sun?
An open cluster
Which is the name of a stellar death that is a slow process where the envelope escapes in a series of bubbles, rings, and jets?
Planetary nebula
Which class of stars can burn the most elements during the late stages of stellar evolution?
Heavyweight
How would stars born 10 billion years in the future compare with the stars that are born today?
They would be more metal-rich than today
Compared to main sequence stars, red giants have larger envelopes and ________ cores.
No
Which type of galaxy has little or no gas and dust left and is no longer making stars today?
Elliptical
Which type of galaxy is flattest?
Spirals
Which type of galaxy is more common when galaxies are crowded together?
Ellipticals
Which galaxies are only seen at larger distances and therefore only existed in the past?
Quasar
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