AST_101_Lesson_1_Homework_Rev051523 (1)
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Arizona State University, Tempe *
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101
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Astronomy
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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Uploaded by ProfessorSheep4002
AST 101 Lesson 1 Homework
Student Name: Isabella Brown
Question 1 (6 points): Suppose the Sun was the size of a grapefruit. About how far away would you find the nearest star, Alpha Centauri?
A)
about the distance across a football field
B)
about the distance across the city of Phoenix
C)
about the distance across the state of Arizona
D)
about the distance across the United States
E)
about the distance to the Moon
Answer: D
Question 2 (6 points): On May 1, 2023, the New Horizons spacecraft reached 55.75 AU (Astronomical Units) from the Sun. What was its distance from the Sun, measured in km then?
Show your work and include the units (km) in your answer.
Answer: 8,339,980,000 kilometers Question 3 (6 points): The planet Jupiter completes one orbit of the Sun in 11.86 years. Use scientific notation to express this time in units of seconds. (Note: You may use the character ^ for the power of 10, like 4.5x10^4 (4.5 times 10 to the 4
th
power).
Show your work and include the units in your answer.
Answer: t= 3.7409 x 10^8 seconds Work: t= 11.86 x 3.1536 x 10^7 Page 1 of 3
AST 101 Lesson 1 Homework
Question 4 (6 points): Suppose a star 200 light-years away explodes today. How long will it be until we observe this explosion on Earth?
A)
about 299,000 seconds
B)
about 3.08 million years
C)
about 200 years
D)
about 200 seconds
E)
There is not enough information to answer this question.
Answer: D
Question 5 (6 points): Which of the following sequence shows the correct order of size or distance?
A)
The Sun, galaxy clusters, the solar system, the M31 galaxy, the universe.
B)
The Sun, the solar system, the M31 galaxy, galaxy clusters, the universe.
C)
The Sun, the universe, the solar system, the M31 galaxy, galaxy clusters.
D)
The solar system, the M31 galaxy, the Sun, galaxy clusters, the universe.
E)
The Sun, the M31 galaxy, the solar system, galaxy clusters, the universe.
Answer: B
Question 6 (6 points): What is the ratio of the distance to the Sun to the diameter of the Sun?
A)
About 1,000:1
B)
About 100:1.
C)
About 10:1
D)
About 1:1
E)
About 1:10
Answer: B
Question 7 (6 points): Suppose your friend tells you that light from the nearest star, Alpha Centauri, requires a time of about 4.37 light-years to reach the Earth. What is incorrect about this statement? Explain your reasoning.
Answer: Her statement is incorrect because they confuse distance and time measurements. Light year is a measuremtn of distance and year of time. Question 8 (6 points): The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the total value of all finished goods and services an economy produces. On April 27, 2023, the GDP of the United States was reported as 26.47 trillion dollars. Write this number using scientific notation.
Answer: 2.647 x 10^13
Page 2 of 3
AST 101 Lesson 1 Homework
Question 9 (12 points): OpenStax Astronomy
Figure 1.10
is a photograph of the sky looking south on a summer evening which shows our Milky Way galaxy as a narrow band stretching upward from the horizon. By observing the sky during the year, we can trace this narrow strip of light around the entire sky. Suppose this photograph instead showed the whole Milky Way contained within a circle. What would you conclude about our location in space relative to the Milky Way galaxy? Explain your reasoning in detail using complete sentences.
Answer: If I were to see the Milky Way contained in a circle from my perspective, I would conclude that we were outside of the galaxy looking at it. Like we see the moon or another planet. Page 3 of 3
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