HSU ASTRONOMY FINAL 1 – Flashcards
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A regolith is
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a layer of pulverized rock on the surface of a planet or other object.
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How many times have human beings landed on the Moon?
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Six times.
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In its orbit around the Earth, the Moon
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always keeps the same side toward the Earth.
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In which layer of the Earth's atmosphere is the ozone layer located?
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The stratosphere.
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Maria on the Moon exist
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only on the Earth-facing side of the Moon.
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Of what material is the core of the Earth composed?
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Mostly iron.
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On the Earth, the majority of earthquakes occur
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along the boundaries of major tectonic plates.
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Sometimes high tides are higher than at other times. What name is given to the highest high tides?
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Spring tides.
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Sometimes high tides are lower than at other times. What name is given to the lowest high tides?
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Neap tides.
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The Moon, because of the tides on the Earth's oceans, is
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spiraling outward, away from the Earth.
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The atmosphere that we are now breathing is
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the third atmosphere that the Earth has had.
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The average speed of motion of the plates on the Earth's surface is
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a few centimeters per year.
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The major constituents of the Earth's atmosphere are
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77% nitrogen, 21% oxygen.
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The major layers of the Earth's atmosphere, from the surface upward, in correct order, are
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troposphere, stratosphere, mesosphere, thermosphere.
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The mountains on the Moon were mostly caused by
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impacts from asteroids from outer space.
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What causes the auroras?
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Charged particles from the magnetosphere striking atoms in the upper atmosphere and causing the gases to emit light.
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What is a lunar rille?
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A long crack in a mare.
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What is a mare on the Moon?
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A large area of darker material on the lunar surface.
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What is ozone?
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A molecule made of three oxygen atoms.
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When do spring tides occur?
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Whenever the Earth, Moon and Sun form a straight line, regardless of which side of the Earth the Moon is on, i.e., at the times of full and new moons.
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Where is the mantle of the Earth located?
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Between the core and the crust.
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Which is the most abundant gas in the Earth's atmosphere?
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Nitrogen
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Which was the first spacecraft to land human beings on the Moon?
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Apollo 11.
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Which was the last spacecraft to land human beings on the Moon?
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Apollo 17.
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Who first postulated that continents drift around over the Earth's surface?
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Alfred Wegener.
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At what point in time do we say that the protosun became the Sun?
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When thermonuclear fusion reactions began at its center.
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Compared to the orbital distance of Earth from the Sun, the equivalent orbital distances for the outer planets are
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greater than 5 times.
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Fusion is the process by which
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elements are transformed into heavier elements by nuclear reactions.
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In order of increasing density, the large, outer planets would be listed as
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Saturn, Uranus, Jupiter, Neptune.
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In our solar system, which of the following planets is NOT a member of the terrestrial group?
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Jupiter
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In our solar system, which of the following planets is a member of the terrestrial group?
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Mars
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Most of the planets orbit the Sun on or close to
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the ecliptic plane.
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The asteroid belt exists between the orbits of which planets?
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Mars and Jupiter
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The average density of the large, outer planets is
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close to the density of water.
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The birthplace of the Sun and planets (and of other stars and maybe their planets) is thought to have been
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in cool gas and dust clouds.
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The correct sequence of planets in our solar system, from the Sun outward, is
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Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
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The dwarf planet whose orbit has the greatest inclination to the plane of the ecliptic is
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Pluto.
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The largest of the terrestrial planets is
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Earth.
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The manner in which the terrestrial planets formed was
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accretion of solid planetesimals containing mostly rocky material.
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The most abundant material in the universe is
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hydrogen.
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The most likely mechanism for the solar system is that
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the Sun and planets slowly condensed to their present form from a gas and dust cloud.
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The most probable theory for the formation of the solar system is
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condensation of a nebula of cold gas and dust into the Sun and planets.
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The overall shape of the orbits of most of the planets in the solar system is
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slightly elliptical, but nearly circular.
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The planet with the greatest mean density is
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Earth.
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The planets whose orbits are most noticeably elliptical are
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Mercury and Pluto.
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The smallest of the planets is
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Mercury.
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The smallest terrestrial planet is
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Mercury.
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The steps in which the large, outer planets formed were
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accretion of planetesimals to form a core, followed by gravitational capture of hydrogen and helium gas.
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What name is given to the concentration of mass that formed at the center of the solar nebula, and eventually became the Sun?
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The protosun.
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Where in the universe are heavy elements, with masses greater than that of helium, being produced at this time?
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In the central cores of stars.
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A blackbody is a idealized object in physics and astronomy which
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Refracts no light and emits light in a manner determined by the temperature
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A scientist reports that his measurements of the temperature of the surface of a newly discovered planet is -20K. What conclusion can you draw from this report
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The result is erroneous since one cannot have negative absolute temperature.
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According to Kirchhoff's Laws, the continuous spectrum of light from a hot star, after passing through a cool gas cloud
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will show absorption features when light has beed absorbed by the storms of the cool gas
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An astronomer finds a source of light in space which emits light only in specific, narrow emission limit. Kirchhoff's laws lead him to what conclusion
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The source is made up of hot, low-density gas
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An example of an object which emits no radiation at all is
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Any object at a temperature of 0K
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Compared to the mass of an electron, the mass of a proton is
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almost 2000 times greater
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How many electrons will surround the nucleus of a neutral atom of the isotope 18O of Oxygen
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8
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In Bohr's model of the hydrogen atom, light is emitted whenever
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an electron jumps from an upper to a lower energy level or orbit
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Isotopes of a particular element in the periodic table have which nuclear property in common?
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The same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons in the nucleus
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On the absolute Kelvin temperature scale, the temperature of freezing water is about
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-273K
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Pieces of metal are heated by varying amounts in a flame. The hottest of these will be the one that shows which color most predominantly
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blue
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The Doppler effect is the change in the wavelength of light caused by the source
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Moving with respect to the observer
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The atom consists of
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negatively charged electrons moving around a very small but massive, positively charge nucleus
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The chemical makeup of a star's surface is usually inferred
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by spectroscopy of the light emitted by the star
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The isotope 15N has an atomic number of 7. the nucleus of the isotope contains
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7 protons and 8 neutrons
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The majority of the mass of ordinary matter resides in
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the nuclei of the atoms
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The normal temperature of the melting point of water ice is
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273K
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The person who discovered the atomic nucleus was
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Sir Earnest Rutherford
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The property of a neutral atom which defines its chemical behavior and fixes its position in the periodic table is
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the number of protons in the nucleus
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The range of temperatures in the Kelvin (absolute) scale between the freezing point and boiling point of water is
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100 degrees
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The series of spectral absorption lines in the inferred part of the spectrum, known as the Paschen series, results from atomic transitions in hydrogen atoms in which electrons are lifted from which energy level to all higher atomic energy levels.
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the n = 3 level
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The spectrum of sunlight, when spread out by a spectrograph, has what characteristic appearance
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A continous band of color, crossed by innumerable dark absorption lines.
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The temperature of boiling water at ordinary pressures on the absolute scale, Kelvin, is
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373K
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When a rod of metal is heated intensely, its predominant color will
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change from red, through brand to white, and then to blue
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Where does the Paschen series of spectral lines from hydrogen gas appear in the electromagnetic spectrum?
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In the inferred, with wavelengths longer than 700 nm
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1 nanometer (nm) is
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10-9m
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A Newtonian telescope consists of the following types of mirrors:
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one concave and one flat mirror
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a___________ is a device that separates the light from stars and other objects according to wavelength in order to produce a spectrum
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spectrograph
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A recorder is part of a radio telescope
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true
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Chromatic aberration occurs in a refracting telescope when
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the different colors of light do not all come to the same focal point
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How is a Cassegrain reflecting telescope constructed?
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A concave primary mirror and convex secondary mirror that reflects light back through a hole in the primary mirror
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In a telescope, to what does the term "aberration" refer?
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A defect in design that blurs or distorts the image
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Modern astronomy would be possible without extensive use of computers
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true
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Neutrinos are important to our understanding of the early Universe.
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True
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One major difference between radio waves and light is that
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radio waves have lower frequencies than light waves.
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Radio waves travel through space at what speed?
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At the speed of light, 3 × 108 m/s
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Schmidt telescopes are used mostly for
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photographing wide areas of the night sky.
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The Earth's atmosphere is transparent to which of the following types of electromagnetic radiation?
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Radio waves
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The IRAS satellite, placed in orbit in 1983 to survey the whole sky, detected which kind of electromagnetic radiation?
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Infrared
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The speed of light in space is
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3 × 108 meters per second, independent of the speed of the source.
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Violet light differs from red light in that
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violet light has a shorter wavelength than red light.
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What are the basic parts of a Schmidt telescope?
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A spherical, concave primary mirror and a glass corrector plate.
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What is the main reason for using several radio telescopes together as an interferometer?
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To obtain much better angular resolution (sharpness) of the images
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What is the relationship between color and wavelength for light?
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Wavelength increases from violet to red.
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Which of the following is an electromagnetic wave?
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Microwave
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Which of the following types of electromagnetic radiation has the shortest wavelength?
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Gamma rays
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Which type of telescope uses a lens as the main optical element?
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A refracting telescope
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Who first showed that light does not travel at infinite speed?
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Ole Roemer in 1675
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Who was the first person to suggest that light is an electromagnetic wave?
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James Clerk Maxwell
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Who was the first astronomer to build and use a telescope to observe the night sky?
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Galileo
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A planet at inferior conjunction is always
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Closer to us than the sun is
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One second of arc is_______ of a degree
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1/3600
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Am imaginary sphere around the earth in which the stars and planets are attached
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Celestial Sphere
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The celestial equivalent of latitude
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Declination
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12 constellations that lie on an imaginary band on the celestial sphere that is 18 degrees and is on the ecliptic.
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Zodiac
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The imaginary circle that pass through the north and south points on our horizon and through the earth
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Celestial Meridian
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The Ecliptic is
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The imaginary path that the sun follows on the celestial sphere
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A moon that is full will appear at its highest point at what time of day or night
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Midnight
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The celestial equivalent of longitude is
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Right Ascension
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If the moon is in between the sun and the earth and is almost in line with the sun we call its phase
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New Moon
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1 minute of arc is a degree of
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1/60
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An inferior planet will be furthest from earth when it is at
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Superior Conjunction
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A slow shift in the orientation of the earths axis with respect of the rest of the universe is called
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Procession
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The time of year when the length of day is equal to the length of night is called the
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Equinox's
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The Big Dipper is a __________ contained in the constellation Ursa Major
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Asterism
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One hour of right ascension is equivalent to degrees of sky rotation
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15
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_____________ is a system for naming stars by using a constellation and a greek letter.
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Bayer System
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In a penumbral lunar eclipse...
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All parts of the moon are partly (not totally) shaded from the sun
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When Saturn Is at its furthest distance from earth, its at
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Conjunction
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Leap years, containing an extra day are necessary because
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The length of a year is not an exact day
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The equinoxes are located a the intersections of
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The ecliptic and the celestial equator
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The circle can be divided wholly into _____ degrees
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360
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Which of the following is the correct sequence of appearances of moon phases in the sky
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Waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon
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What is the primary reason for seasons
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The 23.5 degree tilt of the earths axis with respect to the plane of the ecliptic
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For us in the northern hemisphere, winter days are normally cold because
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The north pole is pointing away from the sun
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A comet that takes 64 years to go around the sun would be (on average) _______ astronomical units from the...
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16
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A typical distance from the earth for those planets visible to the naked eye is
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from.04 to 10.5 astronomical units
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According to Aristotle, objects rise or fall based on
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What they are made of
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According to Galileo, a moving object eventually stops
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Because small forces (like friction or air resistance) act to slow it down and stop it.
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According to Newton's second law of motion,
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An object acted on by a constant force moves with a constant acceleration
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Aristotle:
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Put the individual planets on separate spheres orbiting the earth.
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At speeds near that of light,
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time slows
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Copernicus was the first astronomer to put the sun in the center
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True
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Galileo observed all but the following
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Moons around Mars
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In Copernicus' system, retrograde motion occurs because:
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the earth passes a planet and it appears to fall backwards
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In Copernicus' system, the stars go around during the year because
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the earth revolves around the sun
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In Kepler's system, the planets
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Speed up as they approach the sun
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In Ptolemy's system, retrograde motion itself is caused by
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the motion of the epicycles on the deferents
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In Ptolemy's system, the large spheres that directly surround the earth are called
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Deferents
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in an ellipse, the major axis is a distance measured
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along the longer diameter, passing through the tool of the ellipse
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Mercury undergoes retrograde motion more often than the other planets because it
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revolves around the sun
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planets that are father from the sun
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move more slowly
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Ptolemy's system is a
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Geocentric system
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The ancient Greeks called lights that wandered in the sky
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Planets
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The earliest civilization to do modern astronomy, i.e. to apply mathematics to models of planetary motion caused careful observation was
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The Greeks
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The fact that Galileo saw spots on the sun and phases for Venus supported
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Copernicus's System
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The moon circles about the earth but stays about the same distance away from it. This means that it is falling toward earth
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True
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The semi-major axis of an ellipse is
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the distance from the center of the ellipse to one end, along the largest diameter of the ellipse
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The triangular area swept out in a certain amount of time by a line drawn from the sun to a planet
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is the same area wherever the plane is in its orbit
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Your mass would be greatest on
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The same no matter what planet you are on
