VCU PHYS 103 Practice Exam 1 (elementary astronomy) – Flashcards

Kepler was an early advocate of the Copernican Theory. When he applied it to Tychoís observations, it a. failed but led to a better theory. b. was as accurate as the observations. c. worked perfectly. d. failed and was completely discarded.

When Copernicus published his final version of the Copernican System in 1543, it was a. regarded by most astronomers as plausible but not proved. b. immediately accepted by most astronomers as a big improvement over the Ptolemaic System. c. rejected by most astronomers as not really any better than the Ptolemaic System.

You read in an Astronomy book that the temperature at the center of the Sun is 30,000,000 degrees Kelvin. How do you suppose this number was determined? a. By sending a well-shielded space probe into the center of the Sun. b. By using a special telescope that can see inside the Sun. c. By using a model of the Sun that correctly accounts for everything that has been measured so far. d. By picking a number more or less at random since nobody could ever check it. e. By using a model of the Sun that is elegant but not tested against actual measurements

Planets move mostly eastward relative to the distant stars but, once during each trip around the Celestial Sphere, they loop back westward for a while. This motion is called a. paradoxical motion. b. epicyclic motion. c. retrograde motion. d. planetary reversal. e. overtaking behavior

Einstein's Theory of Relativity has passed every observational test for over 100 years. Among other things, it predicts that no material object can go faster than the speed of light. Fred Zveistein (twice as smart as Einstein) has a new theory that predicts that some material objects can go faster than light. Fred presents his new theory at a scientiÖc meeting (in 2009). Which of the following would be the most likely reaction of the scientists at the meeting to this new development? a. There is great hostility because the new theory challenges the established theory, so lots of scientists come to Fredís talk to debate the issue. b. There is great interest because the new theory proves that Relativity is wrong, so lots of scientists come to Fredís talk to congratulate him. c. There is great disinterest because there is no need to replace a theory that has passed every observational test. Nobody at all comes to Fredís talk.

According to Keplerís Laws of Planetary Motion, as planets orbit the sun, they a. speed up when in retrograde motion. b. speed up when farthest from the Sun. c. move at constant speed. d. speed up when closest to the Sun.

The Ptolemaic System was replaced when a. it came into conflict with reproducible observations. b. Copernicus produced a system with the Sun at the center. c. Astronomers realized that Aristarchus had been right when he said it was unreasonable for the giant Sun to orbit the tiny Earth.

Aristarchus measured the angle between the Sun and the Moon when exactly half of the Moon was illuminated. If he had measured the angle when 3/4 of the Moon was illuminated, he would have found that angle to be a. greater than 90 degrees. b. less than 90 degrees by an amount too small for him to measure. c. less than 90 degrees by an amount that was easy for him to measure. d. exactly 90 degrees.

Which of the following time periods is closest to the time from a New Moon to the next Waning Quarter Moon? a. 18 hours. b. 7.5 days. c. 273.9 days d. 22.5 days. e. 91.3 days.

10 Which of the following statements is an observation of the natural world? a. There are no prime numbers that have zero for a last digit. b. Galileo was the greatest scientist. c. I saw the Moon rise at 6:52pm yesterday. d. The U.S. Naval Observatory says that the Moon rose at 6:52pm yesterday.

Which of the following objects is the most likely to be considered a scientific model? a. A test-tube. b. An oil painting of a person. c. A computer program. d. A blackboard. e. An accurate map of Richmond.

Sarah reports that she saw a green star close to the star Betelgeuse. Actually she did not even look there. The most likely outcome of her fraud is that: a. Nobody bothers to check her observation and she becomes famous as the discoverer of the Örst green star. b. Other people look near Betelgeuse. They do not see the green star, and attack her report as a mistake or a fraud. c. Nobody bothers to check her observation and nobody believes her either. d. Other people look near Betelgeuse. They see the star and conÖrm her report. She becomes famous as the discoverer of the Örst green star.

Which of the following statements is falsifiable? a. The Minoans were the best civilization on Crete. b. The Minoans were not the best civilization on Crete. c. The Minoans were a civilization on Crete. d. The Minoans were the first civilization on Crete. e. The Minoans were not the first civilization on Crete.

Stars that appear close together in the sky are a. never close to each other in space. b. sometimes close to each other in space. c. always close to each other in space.

In addition to measuring the positions of all the planets all the time, Tycho Brahe measured them to an accuracy of a. 1/60 degree of arc. b. Öve degrees of arc. c. one degree of arc. d. 1/10 degree of arc. e. 1/3600 degree of arc.

You would expect to see a waning crescent Moon a. Setting in the East right after the Sun. b. In the North at around midnight. c. Rising in the West just before the Sun. d. Rising in the East just before the Sun. e. Setting in the West right after the Sun.

As seen from North America, the constellation Orion a. never sets. b. sets in the northwest. c. sets in the west and southwest. d. sets in the northeast. e. sets in the east and southeast.

A sidereal day is a. just the same as a solar day. b. a few minutes shorter than a solar day. c. several hours shorter than a solar day. d. a few minutes longer than a solar day. e. several hours longer than a solar day.

At which of these times of day would you expect to find the Sun in the East? a. Noon. b. Midnight. c. 6:00pm. d. 6:00am

A star that is named Epsilon Eridani is most likely a. a fairly dim star in the constellation Cepheus. b. the brightest star in the constellation Eridanus. c. the brightest star in the constellation Cepheus. d. a fairly dim star in the constellation Eridanus.

We can use the pointer stars in the Big Dipper to locate a point in the sky near the a. East Celestial Pole. b. Celestial Equator. c. Star Sirius. d. South Celestial Pole. e. North Celestial Pole

One reason that temperatures are lower in the winter than in the summer is that a. the sun is higher in the sky in the winter. b. the sun is lower in the sky in the winter. c. the sun is farther from our hemisphere in the winter. d. the sun is closer to our hemisphere in the winter.

Copernicus said that the retrograde motion of the planets was caused by the a. planets speeding up and slowing down. b. planets moving on epicycles. c. earth and the planets orbiting the Sun. d. planets turning on their axes. e. earth turning on its axis.

Aristarchus measured the angle between the Sun and the Moon when exactly half of the Moon was illuminated. He found this angle to be slightly less than 90 degrees. Suppose that he had, instead, found the angle to be more than 90 degrees. In that case, which of the following conclusions would he have been forced to accept? a. the Moon is closer to the Earth than the Sun. b. Moonlight is not actually reáected sunlight. c. the Moon is farther from the Earth than the Sun. d. Moonlight is actually reáected sunlight.

You see a waning quarter Moon high in the night sky. What time is it? a. 10:00am. b. Midnight. c. 6:00pm d. 8:00pm. e. 5:00am

The ancient Greeks were able to estimate the distance from the Earth to the Sun by using a. the quarter phases of the Moon. b. the observed sizes of the Sun and Moon in the sky. c. solar eclipses. d. lunar eclipses.

You see a waxing Gibbous Moon directly south. What time might it be? a. sunset. b. midnight. c. about 3am. d. about 10pm. e. sunrise.

The ancient Greeks argued that the Earth cannot be moving because such a motion would cause apparent shifts in the positions of stars. This argument was wrong because a. the stars are so far away that the shifts due to the Earth's motion are extremely small. b. no such shifts are actually possible. c. each star is moving in a circle exactly in step with the Earthís motion around the Sun. d. all of the stars are at the same distance from the Earth.

One observation that Aristotle used to justify a spherical model of the Earth was that a. the Earth casts a curved shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse. b. total eclipses of the Moon can be seen everywhere on Earth. c. total eclipses of the Sun can be seen everywhere on Earth. d. total eclipses of the Sun can be seen only along narrowly deÖned paths on the Earthís surface. e. the Earth casts a jagged shadow on the Moon during a lunar eclipse

The idea that science only deals with statements that are falsiable, subject to possible disproof by observation, suggests that a. science is always wrong. b. science produces revisable facts. c. science only deals with guesses.

Most of the ancient Greek astronomers believed that the Earth was fixed at the center of the universe. There was one, however, who thought that the Sun was fixed and a rotating Earth moved around the Sun. That was a. Eristarchus of Syene. b. Aristarchus of Samos. c. Aristotle d. Plato. e. Ptolemy.

Einsteinís Theory of Relativity has passed every observational test for over 100 years. Cliff has analyzed a large family of alternative theories and figured out what each one predicts for the results of observational tests. Cliff's presents his analysis at a scientific meeting. Which of the following would be the most likely reaction of the scientists at the meeting to this new development? a. There is great hostility because the alternative theories challenge the established theory, so lots of scientists come to Fredís talk to debate the issue. b. There is great interest because the analysis suggests new tests that could prove that Relativity is wrong, so lots of scientists come to Cliff's talk to congratulate him. c. There is great disinterest because there is no need to replace a theory that has passed every observational test. Nobody at all comes to Cliff's talk.

As the two foci of an ellipse are moved apart, the shape of the ellipse becomes a. more like a circle around the foci. b. more like a sphere around the foci. c. more like a triangle drawn around the foci. d. more like a line between the foci.

Gary the ghostbuster takes his crew, with a truckload of cameras and electronic instruments, to a house that is supposed to be haunted. Sure enough, the ghost shows up and does an on-camera interview while the instruments record all sorts of odd readings. After Garyís press conference and TV show, a skeptical scientist takes the same sort of equipment to the same house on a similar evening and records nothing but cricket noises and dogs barking. Garyís evidence is ignored by the scientific community because a. Scientists would not believe in ghosts no matter what the evidence. b. Gary does not belong to the scientist club. c. Garyís observations were not reproduced. d. Garyís observations were not convincing.

The time from one Full Moon to the next is 29.5 days. The length of a sidereal month is a. 29.7 days. b. 27 days. c. 32 days. d. 29.3 days. e. 29.5 days.

Which of the following phases of the Moon would be seen high in the south at dawn? a. waxing quarter. b. waning crescent. c. waxing crescent. d. full. e. waning quarter.

The time when the noon sun is highest in the sky is called a. the Winter Solstice. b. the Summer Solstice. c. the Spring Equinox.

The stars, as seen from the Earth, appear to be attached to a. the Celestial Net, a mesh of wires surrounding the Earth. b. the North Celestial Pole. c. the top of the Earthís atmosphere. d. the Celestial Sphere, a sphere that surrounds the Earth. e. the Heliopause, an o§-center surface surrounding the Sun.

At 8pm, you see that the pointer stars of the Big dipper and the star Polaris are arranged in a vertical line. How long, give or take a few minutes, would you need to wait to see them arranged in a horizontal line? a. 24 hours. b. 6 hours. c. 12 hours. d. It will never happen. e. 3 hours

The ancient Greeks insisted that a worthwhile model of a situation had to a. be consistent with their religious traditions. b. predict what really happens. c. make a good story.

Aristotle said that the spherical shape of the Earth was a. the natural result of gravity pulling everything toward a center. b. something that could not be explained or understood. c. unstable since small deviations from it would grow larger. d. due to air pressure pushing everything inward.

The time it takes for the Celestial sphere to rotate once relative to the Earth is called a. a sidereal day. b. a Celestial day. c. an astronomical day. d. a solar day. e. a polar day.

In the Ptolemaic model of the Solar System, a. the Earth was fixed and the planets and the Sun moved on epicycles which, in turn, went around the Earth. b. the Earth was fixed, the Sun moved around the Earth, and the planets moved on epicycles which, in turn, went around the Sun. c. the Sun was fixed and the Earth and all of the planets moved on elliptical orbits around the Sun. d. the Sun was fixed and the Earth and all of the planets moved on epicycles which, in turn, went around the Sun

Which of Keplerís Laws governs how a particular planet speeds up and slows down? a. Orbits are Ellipses. b. The Equal Area Law. c. The Law of Averages. d. The Period-Radius Relation. e. The Law of Inertia.

At midsummer in Murmansk (which is the largest city north of the Arctic Circle), you would expect the Sun to a. stay above the horizon all day, every day. b. stay below the horizon, all day, every day. c. rise and set every day. d. rise and set twice a day

In the picture that we used in class, with the Sun above the top of the picture and the Earth shown with its North Pole facing you, the part of the Earth that is experiencing sunset would be a. above the North Pole in the picture. b. to the left of the North Pole in the picture. c. below the North Pole in the picture. d. to the right of the North Pole in the picture.

The patent for inventing the telescope was obtained by a. someone in the Netherlands. b. nobody because it was too simple an idea to patent. c. Galileo. d. Newton.

An early measurement of noon Sun angles at the summer solstice at Alexandria and Syene needed one additional piece of information in order to determine the size of the Earth. a. The difference in height above sea-level between Alexandria and Syene. b. The distance between Alexandria and Syene. c. The solar time difference between Alexandria and Syene. d. The longitudes of Alexandria and Syene.

As seen from North America, the constellation Ursa Major a. never sets. b. sets in the north. c. sets in the west. d. sets in the south. e. sets in the east

You are looking down on the Earth from a spacecraft hovering far above. After watching for a while, you notice that, from your perspective, it is rotating counterclockwise. The part of the Earth that is directly below you must be the Earth's a. North Pole. b. Equator. c. South Pole.