final astronomy exam
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San Diego State University *
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Course
101
Subject
Astronomy
Date
Jan 9, 2024
Type
docx
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1.
T
or F. The average distance from the Earth to the Sun is less than one light year.
2. San Diego has a latitude of about 33◦N. Which of the following statements is TRUE for an
Observer located in San Diego?
(a) The south celestial pole is always visible right on the southern horizon.
(b) All stars rise over the Eastern horizon and set below the Western horizon during the course of
24 hours.
(c) The north celestial pole is always located about 33◦ above the northern horizon.
(d) The north circumpolar zone includes all stars located within 57
◦
of the north celestial pole.
(e) Stars do not rise or set but, rather, all circle in a counter-clockwise direction around the zenith.
3. A star that is 10 lightyears away from Earth would, if moved to a distance of 40 lightyears, appear
to be
(a) 4 times brighter than before for an observer located on Earth.
(b) 4 times fainter than before for an observer located on Earth.
(c) 8 times fainter than before for an observer located on Earth.
(d) 16 times fainter than before for an observer located on Earth.
(e) 16 times brighter than before for an observer located on Earth.
4. The “Hubble Deep Field”
(a) is a very deep and detailed image of a small patch of sky taken by the Hubble Space
Telescope.
(b) is a marshy swamp located in Hubble, WI.
(c) is an image of the Andromeda galaxy taken by Edwin Hubble in 1929.
(d) is a quick “snapshot” of the Milky Way Galaxy taken with the Keck telescope in 2004.
(e) is the name given to a mysterious force that is causing the universe to accelerate in its expansion.
5. Observations first made in the 1990s indicate that the universe is expanding faster today than
it was several billion years ago (i.e., the expansion of the universe is accelerating).
What specific kind of observations directly led astronomers to this surprising conclusion?
(a) Observations of Cepheid stars in nearby galaxies.
(b) The precise measurements of the distances to remote galaxies using Type Ia supernovae
As “Standard Candles”.
(c) The discovery of large amounts of dark matter in the Milky Way.
(d) The discovery of supermassive black holes at the centers of nearly every galaxy.
(e) The fact that galaxies today are getting a lot more speeding tickets than they used to.
6. The
weight
of a person on Earth is equal to the gravitational force exerted by the Earth on them, as
given by Newton’s Law of Gravity. Jane weighs 200 pounds on the Earth today. Suppose Jane was
suddenly placed on a new planet that has the same radius, but twice the mass, of the Earth. What
would Jane weigh on this new planet?
(a) 50 pounds.
(b) 200 pounds.
(c) 400 pounds.
(d) 800 pounds.
(e) It is impossible to determine how much she would weigh without being given the numerical
value of Newton’s universal gravitational constant, G
.
7.
T
or F. Dionna places two iron weights on identical scales, and finds that the first one weighs 10
pounds while the second one weighs 20 pounds. If both weights are sent sliding across the surface of
a frozen pond at 10 miles per hour, the 20 pound weight will have MORE momentum than the 10
pound weight.
8. Which of the following statements about the force of gravity is FALSE?
(a) It is a universal force, which acts everywhere in space.
(b) Its strength is inversely proportional to the square of the distance from an object’s center; the
further away you go from an object, the weaker the force of gravity becomes.
(c) Its strength is inversely proportional to an object’s mass; the more mass an object has,
the less gravity it has.
(d) The force never actually becomes zero, no matter how far away from a massive object you get.
(e) It causes the orbital paths of the planets around the Sun to be ellipses and not straight lines.
9. Star ‘A’ has twice the radius of star ‘B’. The ratio of the
diameter
of star ‘A’ to the diameter of star
‘B’ is equal to:
(a) 1/2.
(b) 4.
(c) 2.
(d) 2π.
(e) 1.
10. Which one of the following lists planets in order of strictly increasing distance from the Sun
(nearest to farthest)?
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(a) Mercury, Mars, Saturn, Neptune, Uranus.
(b) Venus, Earth, Saturn, Jupiter, Neptune.
(c) Venus, Earth, Jupiter, Uranus, Saturn.
(d) Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus.
(e) Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune.
11. Which of the following concerning the Sun is FALSE?
(a) The Sun is a star, which generates power through nuclear fusion.
(b) The center of the Sun has a temperature of roughly 15 million degrees Kelvin.
(c) The Sun is supported against gravitational collapse mainly by the pressure resulting from the
thermal motions of gas particles.
(d) The Sun is about 4.5 billion years old, and is expected to continue fusing hydrogen into helium
in its core for another 4 to 5 billion years.
(e) After hydrogen is exhausted in its core, the Sun will continue to fuse progressively
Heavier elements all the way up to iron (Fe).
12. Interstellar gas consists primarily of
(a) iron.
(b) radioactive argon.
(c) mercury vapor.
(d) hydrogen.
(e) small chunks of rock.
13. Which of the following statements about the nucleus of a typical atom (such as the carbon in your
little finger) is FALSE:
(a) The nucleus always has an overall positive charge.
(b) The nucleus takes up a very small amount of space compared to the entire atom.
(c) The nucleus can contain both protons and neutrons.
(d) The electric charge of the nucleus repels the electrons, which move around it.
(e) The nucleus contains most of the mass of the atom.
14.
T
or F. More than 100 planets have now been discovered orbiting stars other than the Sun.
15. Which of the following evolutionary stages is NOT part of the life of a star that will ultimately
explode as a Type II supernova?
(a) Begins life as a main sequence star with an initial mass greater than about 8 M
Sun
(b) Spends a minimum of 10 billion years fusing hydrogen into helium in its core.
(c) Evolves to become a supergiant star.
(d) Rapidly fuses heavier and heavier elements until a core of iron is formed.
(e) None of the above answers is correct, since all of the above stages are part of the evolution of a
star that ultimately will explode as a Type II supernova.
16. A term in the equations of general relativity that has the effect of producing a repulsive quality to
space itself is known as the:
(a) Cosmological constant.
(b) Hubble parameter.
(c) Einstein shift.
(d) Hubble constant.
(e) Schwarzschild effect.
17. When a white dwarf star has matter from a companion star “dumped” onto it, it can erupt as a
Nova. As a result of this eruption, what do astronomers believe happens to the white dwarf?
(a) It is ejected from the binary star system.
(b) It is thought to change very little.
(c) It is destroyed by the sudden burst of fusion.
(d) It is transformed into a neutron star.
(e) It merges with the companion star.
18. Far away from a black hole in a binary star system, which of the following techniques has
been used by astronomers to detect the presence of the black hole?
(a) Search for x-rays being given off as it “eats” part of a companion star.
(b) Look for the pulsed radio waves it gives off as it rotates like a lighthouse.
(c) Look for the neutrinos that always escape from the event horizon.
(d) Notice what a large amount of star light it blocks from behind it.
(e) None of the above — astronomers currently know of no way to detect such a black hole!
19. Of the following experimental “tests” of Einstein’s general theory of relativity, which one had actuall
already been observed at the time he proposed his theory in 1916?
(a) The extra advance in the perihelion point of the planet Mercury’s orbit around the sun
Beyond what was predicted by Newton’s theory of gravity.
(b) The fact that clocks on the top floor of a building run a little bit faster than do clocks in the
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basement, where the gravity is a little bit stronger.
(c) The fact that light leaving the surface of the Earth is found to be gravitationally redshifted
when it is received by an orbiting spacecraft.
(d) The deflection of starlight during a solar eclipse.
(e) None of the above had been observed — one of the amazing things about Einstein’s General
Theory of Relativity is that he proposed it before there was any observational evidence that it
was correct.
20. The type of galaxy that nearly always consists almost entirely of older, reddish stars is:
(a) barred spiral.
(b) elliptical.
(c) regular spiral.
(d) irregular.
(e) None of the above: all of the above galaxy types contain a large proportion of very young stars
in addition to older stars.