Elementary Astronomy Exam 1 – Flashcards
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The Sun travels the full length of the ecliptic once each
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Year
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Compared with a photon of visible light radiation, a photon of x-ray radiation has
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more energy and a shorter wavelength
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Galileo used a telescope to first observe the heavens in
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1609
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The ability to distinguish between details or to distinguish two adjacent objects as separate is
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resolution.
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The time required for the Moon to return to the same position relative to the stars is _____.
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27.3 days
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The lowest possible energy state of an atom is called the
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ground state
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When the entire side of the Moon facing the Earth is in sunlight, the Moon is said to be a ________ and moonset will occur at ___________.
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full Moon, sunrise
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When a blackbody is heated to high temperature, it produces a(n)
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continuous spectrum.
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The Earth's atmosphere shields us from most kinds of electromagnetic radiation. The exceptions are
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visible light and radio radiation.
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When the Moon is in the part of its elliptical orbit that is relatively far from Earth and the Moon passes exactly between the Earth and the Sun, the result is __________.
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an annular eclipse.
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Galileo
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Heliocentric
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A reflecting telescope that uses a secondary mirror to reflect light to the side of the telescope is called a ________ telescope.
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Newtonian
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In a spectrum, bright lines that appear at wavelengths where there is more radiation than at neighboring wavelengths are called
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emission lines.
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We have a third quarter Moon when
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the Moon is at a right angle to the Earth-Sun line.
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A star that appears brighter to an observer on Earth has a numerically ___________ apparent magnitude than/as a dimmer star.
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lower
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The Hubble Space Telescope is a(n)
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orbiting reflecting telescope.
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To explain a set of facts we start with an educated guess called a(n)
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hypothesis
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When a gas removes energy at a particular wavelength from radiation passing through it, it creates a(n)
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absorption lines
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Astronomers were able to observe the Universe only in visible light until about
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1930
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A light-year is defined as the
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distance light travels in one year.
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The process of breaking light into its component colors creates a(n)
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spectrum
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If electrons are added to or removed from a neutral atom, the atom is said to be
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ionized
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How far away is the nearest star?
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8 light minutes
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A curved lens or mirror can form an image by bringing light to a(n)
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focus.
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The night sky is divided into these, and in ancient times legends were told about them.
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Constellations
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Different colors of light are bent by different amounts as light passes through a lens. This causes the image to be slightly out of focus and tinged with color, a problem known as _________ aberration.
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Chromatic
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The spectral lines from an object that is approaching Earth will be ______________.
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blueshifted
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What are the requirements for the creation of spectral absorption lines? The radiation from a _______ source producing a continuous spectrum must pass through a _______ gas.
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hot, cool
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When more than half of the side of the Moon facing the Earth is in sunlight, we see a ________.
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gibbous Moon
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Atmosphere causes stars to
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twinkle
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Altitude at which the North Celestial Pole is seen equals
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Horizon
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Imaginary Sphere to which stars appear fixed
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Celestial Sphere
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Directly overhead
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Zenith
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Declination is measured from this line
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Celestial Equator
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The Sun rises and sets farthest to the South on this date
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Winter Solstice
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Emission lines of hydrogen that occur in the visible range
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Balmer Series
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When this happens, the shadow of the Moon covers a small portion of the Earth
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Solar Eclipse
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The Sun rises and sets farthest to the North on this date
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Summer Solstice
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Lined up as follows: Sun -- Earth -- Moon
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Lunar Eclipse
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Lens is objective
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Refracting Telescope
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Hole in the middle of the Primary mirror
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Cassegrain Telescope
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Wide field of view
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Schmidt telescope
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A particle within an atom that has a negative charge
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Electron
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A particle within the nucleus of an atom that has a positive charge
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Proton
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Occurs at New Moon
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Solar Eclipse
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For the Northern Hemisphere, the vernal equinox occurs on about
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March 20-21
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The Sun is directly overhead at 23.5 degrees N latitude
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Summer Solstice
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Moon lies entirely in the shadow of the Earth
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Lunar Eclipse
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Arrange electromagnetic in order by decreasing wavelength
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Radio, Infrared, Visible, Ultraviolet, X-ray, Gamma Ray
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Astronomers call it a(n) _______ Moon when exactly one-half of the side of the Moon facing the Earth is lighted by the Sun
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Quarter
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The star _______ is called the North Star because it is a bright star close to the north celestial pole.
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Polaris
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_______ time is time measured relative to the stars.
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Sidereal
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The distance between any point on a wave and the next similar point is the _______
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Wavelength
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It is often useful to think of light as a particle of energy called a _______ instead of as a wave.
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Photon
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reflecting telescope uses a(an) ___________ as the primary objective.
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mirror
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By observing the _______ of a star or planet, we can determine what kinds of atoms or molecules are present and their relative abundance.
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spectrum
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The principle describing the relationship between the total radiant energy emitted by a blackbody to its temperature
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Stefan-Boltzmann Law.
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An _____ in an atom can not absorb only part of the energy of a photon
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electron
