Practice_Questions_Week_03
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Apr 3, 2024
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PRACTICE QUESTIONS: WEEK 3 Astronomy Today, 9e
(Chaisson/McMillan) Chapter 1 & Chapter 2 True/False Questions 1) The parallax shift of a star would be greater if viewed from Mars than from Earth. Section Ref: 1.6 2) When a planet retrogrades, it appears to move westward for weeks at a time. Section Ref: 2.2 3) Like the Sun and the Moon, the planets appear to move from west to east from one day to the next. Section Ref: 2.2 4) Like the Sun and the Moon, the stars appear to move from west to east from one day to the next. Section Ref: 2.2 5) Galileo's observations of the entire phase cycle of Venus proved that Ptolemy's epicycles could not be correct in keeping Venus between us and the Sun. Section Ref: 2.4 6) Galileo's observations of sunspots proved the Sun was rotating, like the Earth. Section Ref: 2.4 7) Kepler found the orbits of planets are ellipses, not circles. Section Ref: 2.5 8) The orbits of most of the planets in our solar system have eccentricities close to zero. Section Ref: 2.5 9) Kepler based his theories on the precise planetary observations of Tycho Brahe. Section Ref: 2.5 10) The eccentricity of a perfectly circular orbit is 1. Section Ref: 2.5
Multiple Choice Questions 1) If the angular size of a spherical object is known, along with its distance from Earth, what third quantity can be determined? A) the object's brightness B) the object's mass C) the baseline D) the object's diameter Section Ref: 1.6 2) If the Moon rose tonight at 6 PM, then tomorrow it will rise about: A) the same time. B) 7 PM. C) 5 PM. D) dawn. E) midnight. Section Ref: 1.5 3) Which statement about the first quarter Moon is FALSE? A) It rises about noon. B) From the Earth, it appears 25% sunlit. C) It is the half Moon of the evening sky. D) It is highest in the sky at sunset. E) It occurs about a week after new Moon. Section Ref: 1.5 4) If new Moon fell on March 2nd, what is the Moon's phase on March 14th? A) waxing crescent B) first quarter C) waxing gibbous D) full E) waning crescent Section Ref: 1.5 5) Why is there a two day difference in the sidereal and synodic months? A) The Moon speeds up at perigee, and slows down at apogee. B) The sidereal day is four minutes shorter than the solar day, and it adds up. C) The Earth is closer to the Sun during the sidereal month. D) The Earth is also revolving around the Sun, so the Moon must "catch up." E) The Moslem lunar year is only 354 days long, on average. Section Ref: 1.5
6) Driving eastward just before sunrise, if you observe the Moon in the eastern sky, its phase must be: A) full Moon. B) first quarter. C) waxing Gibbous. D) waning Crescent. E) new Moon. Section Ref: 1.5 7) When the Moon is directly opposite the Sun in the sky, its phase is: A) new. B) waxing or waning crescent. C) first or third quarter. D) waxing or waning gibbous. E) full. Section Ref: 1.5 8) The last quarter phase of the Moon: A) rises at sunrise. B) sets at sunrise. C) crosses the meridian at sunrise. D) rises at sunset. E) sets at sunset. Section Ref: 1.5 9) What phase is the Moon in when it rises around noon? A) full B) new C) first quarter D) third quarter E) None of the above because the Moon always rises around sunset. Section Ref: 1.5 10) Which phase is the Moon in when it sets around 9 PM? A) waxing gibbous B) waxing crescent C) waning gibbous D) waning crescent E) None of the above because the Moon always sets around sunrise. Section Ref: 1.5
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11) The star Wolf 1061 has a parallax of 2.34 arcseconds, while the star Ross 652 has a parallax of 1.70 arcseconds. What can you correctly conclude? A) Both stars are outside the Milky Way Galaxy. B) Wolf 1061 must have a larger proper motion than Ross 652. C) Ross 652 must have a larger proper motion than Wolf 1061. D) Ross 652 is closer to Earth than Wolf 1061. E) Wolf 1061 is closer to Earth than Ross 652. Section Ref: 1.6 12) Which of the following describes parallax? A) It is best measured over exactly one year intervals. B) It is inversely proportional to the distance to the star. C) It was first observed by Galileo with his new telescope. D) It is only applicable to objects within the solar system. E) It is more accurate as the distances to objects become greater. Section Ref: 1.6 13) A star with a large parallax: A) is at a great distance from Earth. B) is moving at a great speed with respect to Earth. C) is at a short distance from Earth. D) is moving at a slow speed with respect to Earth. E) is not moving with respect to Earth. Section Ref: 1.6 2) The most accurate Greek attempt to explain planetary motion was the model of: A) Aristotle. B) Pythagoras. C) Hipparchus. D) Ptolemy. E) Erastothenes. Section Ref: 2.2 14) The Ptolemaic model probably persisted for all these reasons EXCEPT: A) it had the authority of Aristotle behind it. B) it was consistent with the doctrines of the Catholic Church. C) it used perfect circles, which appealed to geometry. D) it accounted well for Galileo's observations of the phase cycle of Venus. E) it explain why stellar parallax was not observed by the Greeks. Section Ref: 2.2 15) The greatest contribution of the Greeks to modern thought was: A) the idea that all the planets orbited the Sun. B) that their mythology was the basis for the naming of the constellations. C) that their observation of stellar parallax proved the Earth orbited the Sun. D) the development of scientific inquiry and model building. E) the invention of the telescope. Section Ref: 2.2
16) The Ptolemaic model of the universe: A) explained and predicted the motions of the planets with deferents and epicycles. B) is the basis of our modern cosmology. C) could not account for the stellar parallax observed by Hipparchus. D) describes the orbits of the planets as being ellipses, not circles. E) always kept Mars and Mercury between the Earth and Sun. Section Ref: 2.2 17) Scientists today do not accept the Ptolemaic model because: A) it is ancient history. B) it was too complicated, compared to Copernicus' heliocentric model. C) it has been shown that Ptolemy faked his data. D) it had no explanation for retrograde motion. E) the work of Tycho and Kepler showed the heliocentric model was more accurate. Section Ref: 2.3 18) On which of these assumptions do Ptolemy and Copernicus agree? A) The Earth must be the center of all motion in the Cosmos. B) All orbits must be perfect circles. C) The Sun was bigger than the Earth. D) Venus must always stay between us and the Sun. E) The Sun must orbit us, but the planets do orbit the Sun. Section Ref: 2.3 19) The heliocentric model was actually first proposed by: A) Aristotle. B) Archimedes. C) Aristarchus. D) Alexander the Great. E) Hipparchus. Section Ref: 2.3 20) According to Copernicus, the retrograde motion for Mars must occur: A) at inferior conjunction, when Mars laps the Earth and passes between us and the Sun. B) at superior conjunction, when Mars lies on the far side of the Sun. C) at quadrature, when Mars lies exactly 90 degrees east or west of the Sun. D) at greatest elongation, when Mars can get up to 47 degrees from the Sun. E) at opposition, when the Earth overtakes Mars and passes between Mars and the Sun. Section Ref: 2.3 21) Which was a contribution to astronomy made by Copernicus? A) The planets move around the Sun in elliptical orbits. B) His theory of gravity accounted for the variable speeds of the planets. C) He laid out the order and relative motion of the known solar system. D) He discovered the Sun was not at the center of the Milky Way. E) His telescope revealed the four moons of Jupiter, a model solar system. Section Ref: 2.3
22) Which of the following was NOT included in Copernicus' heliocentric model? A) The planets of the solar system revolve around the Sun. B) The stars are much farther away than the Sun. C) Apparent retrograde motion is not the actual motion of the other planets. D) The orbits of the planets are ellipses. E) The Earth is not the center of everything. Section Ref: 2.3 23) Which of these was NOT a part of the original Copernican model? A) The Sun lies at the center of the solar system. B) Mercury must move faster in its orbit than any other planet. C) The Earth rotates on its axis once a day. D) Venus can go all the way around the Sun. E) Mercury speeds up at perihelion, and slows down at aphelion. Section Ref: 2.3 24) Which of the statements below is part of both the Ptolemaic and Copernican models? A) The Earth orbits the Sun once a year. B) The Sun lies in the center of the Cosmos. C) The Moon orbits the Earth once a month. D) Epicycles are needed to explain retrograde motion of the planets. E) Venus's epicycle must always lie between us and the Sun. Section Ref: 2.3 25) Which of these was NOT seen telescopically by Galileo? A) sunspots B) Venus's phase cycle C) four moons around Jupiter D) stellar parallax E) craters and mare on the Moon Section Ref: 2.4 26) Which of the following was NOT a contribution of Galileo to astronomy? A) Sunspots showed the Sun was rotating on its axis, like the Earth does. B) The four moons of Jupiter are a model for the solar system motions in general. C) The phases of Venus prove it orbits completely around the Sun. D) The changing appearance of Saturn's rings corresponds to our seasons. E) The craters and mare of the Moon prove it a world in its own right. Section Ref: 2.4 27) Which of these observations of Galileo refuted Ptolemy's epicycles? A) the complete cycle of Venus's phases B) the rotation of sunspots across the Sun's surface C) the revolution of Jupiter's moons around it D) the craters on the Moon E) the visibility of many more stars with the telescope Section Ref: 2.4
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28) Which of these was NOT a telescopic discovery of Galileo? A) the moons of Saturn B) the craters and mare of the Moon C) sunspots and the rotation of the Sun D) the four largest moons of Jupiter E) the phases of Venus Section Ref: 2.4 29) A fatal flaw with Ptolemy's model is its inability to predict the observed phases of: A) the Sun during an eclipse. B) the Moon in its monthly cycle. C) Mercury and Venus. D) Mars and Jupiter. E) Jupiter and Saturn. Section Ref: 2.4 30) It took two centuries for the Copernican model to replace the Ptolemaic model because: A) in Copernicus' time, there were no telescopes. B) the Church wouldn't let anyone talk about Copernicus' model for 200 years. C) there was no scientific evidence to support either model until Galileo made his observations. D) the Ptolemaic model was simpler and more aesthetically pleasing. E) the Copernican model required complicated new terms to explain it correctly. Section Ref: 2.4 31) Galileo found the rotation period of the Sun was approximately: A) a day. B) a week. C) a month. D) three months. E) a year. Section Ref: 2.4 32) Kepler's first law worked, where Copernicus' original heliocentric model failed, because Kepler described the orbits as: A) elliptical, not circular. B) much larger than Copernicus had envisioned. C) around the Sun, not the Earth. D) being on equants instead of epicycles. E) complex, with epicycles to account for retrograde motions. Section Ref: 2.5
33) Tycho Brahe's contribution to Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion was: A) his detailed and accurate observations of the planet's position. B) his observations of Jupiter's moons. C) a mathematical explanation of epicycles. D) a precise lunar calendar. E) the correct explanation of lunar phases. Section Ref: 2.5 34) The most famous prehistoric astronomical observatory is: A) the Sphinx. B) Stonehenge. C) Big Horn stone circle. D) Carcacol. E) Mount Rushmore. Section Ref: 2.5 35) A circular orbit would have an eccentricity of: A) 0. B) between 0 and 0.5. C) between 0.5 and 1. D) exactly 1.0. E) infinity. Section Ref: 2.5 36) Which concept was NOT a part of Kepler's Laws of Planetary Motion? A) All planetary orbits are ellipses. B) The square of the planet's period is equal to the cube of its average distance. C) A planet must move fastest in its orbit at perihelion. D) Epicycles are needed to explain the varying brightness of the planets. Section Ref: 2.5 37) According to Kepler's third law, the square of the planet's period in years is: A) equal to its perihelion distance from the Sun in A.U. B) inversely proportional to its mass in kilograms. C) equal to the fourth power of its average temperature in degrees Kelvin. D) proportional to the cube of its semimajor axis in A.U. E) equal to the square of its aphelion distance in A.U. Section Ref: 2.5
Fill-in-the-Blank Questions 1) When the parallax angle of a star is measured to be 0.002", the distance to the star is ________ light-years. Section Ref: 1.6 2) Because he failed to observe stellar ________, Aristotle wrongly concluded we could not be in orbit around the Sun. Section Ref: 2.2 3) Galileo's discovery of four moons orbiting ________ provided new support for the ideas of Copernicus. Section Ref: 2.4 4) In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, the rare transits of ________ were critical in determining the astronomical unit's length. Section Ref: 2.6 Short Answer Questions
1) If the Moon rises exactly at sunset, what will its phase be? Why? 2) The first quarter Moon rises about noon today; what will its phase be, and when will it rise tomorrow? Section Ref: 1.5 3) How did Ptolemy explain the retrograde motion of Mars? Section Ref: 2.2 4) Explain how Copernicus would account for the retrograde loops of superior planets. Section Ref: 2.3 5) What did Galileo discover about Jupiter that supported Copernicus? Section Ref: 2.4 6) What did Galileo discover when looking at the Sun with his telescope, and how did this support Copernicus? Section Ref: 2.4 7) Of all his laws, Kepler was proudest of the third. Why was it so appealing in his search for cosmic harmony? Section Ref: 2.5 8) Explain how the eccentricity describes the shape of an ellipse. Section Ref: 2.5
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Essay Questions
1) If the angular diameter of an object is 15 arc seconds and it is 1.4 billion kilometers away, how big is its physical size? Show how you arrived at your answer. Section Ref: 1.6 2) How does Kepler's First Law refine the Copernican model greatly? Section Ref: 2.5 3) Relate Kepler's Second Law to the speeds of the planets. Section Ref: 2.5