Astronomy 101 Test: Earth's Orbit, Seasons, Constellations, and Solar Eclipses - Q&A, Exams of Astronomy

Download Astronomy 101 Test: Earth's Orbit, Seasons, Constellations, and Solar Eclipses - Q&A and more Exams Astronomy in PDF only on Docsity! Astronomy 101 Test #1 (Chapters 1-4) Questions and Answers. How long does it take the Earth to orbit the Sun? one year What is the name given to the path of the Sun as seen from Earth? Ecliptic The ecliptic is best described as a(n): plane How many months apart are Winter Solstice and the Vernal Equinox? 3 months Over what place on Earth is the Sun directly overhead on the Autumnal equinox? the equator When you are facing Polaris you are... ...facing directly north Astronomers use the word constellation to describe... ...an entire region of the sky and all objects in that region. What type of motion leads to the Sun rising and setting? Earth's rotation True or False: Every star in the night sky, regardless of your location, will rise and set. False How long is an average solar day? 24 hours How long is a sidereal day? 23 hours and 56 minutes How many constellations are there? 88 Where is the ecliptic as seen from the Earth? tilted at a 23½ o angle compared to the celestial equator The declination of the Sun on the Autumnal equinox is: 0 degree If the Earth's axis were not tilted... there would be no seasons Constellations that never set are called circumpolar The spinning of the Earth is called rotation At the vernal equinox, the sun rises in which direction? East At the vernal equinox, the sun sets in which direction? West At the summer solstice, the sun rises in which direction? Northeast At the summer solstice, the sun sets in which direction? Northwest At the autumnal equinox, the sun rises in which direction? East At the autumnal equinox, the sun sets in which direction? West At the winter solstice, the sun rises in which direction? Southeast At the winter solstice, the sun sets in which direction? Southwest Vernal equinox Equal day/night Sun declamation is 0 degrees Summer solstice Sun declamation is 23.5 degrees; longest day northern hemisphere Winter solstice Sun declamation is -23.5 degrees; shortest day northern hemisphere The reason the earth experiences different seasons is the plane of the earth's rotation is tipped 23 degrees to the ecliptic How long does it the Earth to orbit the Sun as seen from Earth? one year About how long does it take the Earth to rotate once with respect to the stars? one day What is the term that describes the changes in the direction in which the Earth's axis of rotation points? precession True or False: Polaris will not always be the pole star. True, because of precession During what phase does a solar eclipse occur? New Which term describes the time it takes the Moon to complete one full orbit of 360 around the Earth? Sidereal month True or False: Eclipses occur at every new and full moon False What is the name for the part of a shadow that only blocks some of the light from the Sun Penumbra? In which one of the following phases do we see half of the Moon's dark side? First Quarter During a total solar eclipse, which occurs? The moon's umbra touches the Earth During what phase does a solar eclipse occur? New If the distance between the Earth and the Sun is suddenly doubled, how does the gravitational attraction between the two bodies change? It decreases by a factor of 4. The symbol λ represents the wavelength of light The frequency of light is the number of wave crests passing a point per second True or False: Different colors of light are waves with different amplitudes. False True or False: Different colors of light are waves with different wavelengths. True During a thunderstorm, the fact that you can see the lightning before you hear the thunderclap tells you what? That light travels faster than sound What is light It displays properties of both a particle and a wave. Which of the following forms of electromagnetic radiation cannot reach Earth's surface due to the atmosphere? X-rays Which form of electromagnetic radiation is the most damaging to living tissue? Gamma rays True or False: There is a limit to the magnification for a given telescope True because the resolution is limited by the diameter of the objective. Why did CCDs replace film for use in astronomical photographs? CCDs respond to more of the light falling on them than film does, CCDs have a better resolution than film does, and CCDs respond more uniformly to light of different colors. True or False: Refracting telescopes tend to have more limitations than reflecting telescopes. True What causes stars to appear to "twinkle"? Rapidly changing air density in the atmosphere Which type of telescope suffers from chromatic aberration? Refractor The Hubble space telescope has which of the following advantages over land-based telescopes? the light entering it is not distorted by the Earth's atmosphere A telescope with which of the following diameters has the highest resolution? 12 cm How long does it take light to travel 3 x 10^8m 1 second? When light is incident on a surface (see diagram), refraction occurs when It enters the second medium and changes direction The primary purpose of building larger optical telescopes on the Earth's surface is to increase the light-gathering power. Chromatic aberration occurs when light Passes through glass The amount of light that a telescope gathers is proportional to the square of its objective diameter. The two kinds of electromagnetic radiation that can easily be observed through the Earth's atmosphere are visible (optical) and radio. Emission spectrum is best described by which of the following? Only a few, separate colors A star's surface temperature is most accurately determined from: its color We can determine the chemical composition of an object most accurately from which of the following? Its spectrum Isotopes of an atom have different numbers of neutrons A star with which color has the hottest surface? blue Which of the following objects emits an emission spectrum in which light is present only at certain wavelengths? Light from a low-density nebula heated by a nearby star A black body absorbs all the light incident on it Which set of lines in the diagram correspond to electron transitions that emit light in the visible range? Ballmer series A source of light moves toward you. According to the Doppler effect the frequency of the light will increase. Light has a particle nature, and these particles are called photons. Which region of the electromagnetic spectrum has the highest energy photons? gamma ray