Download Astronomy Test Objective 1: Origins of the Universe Multiple Choice

Astronomy Test
Objective 1: Origins of the Universe
Multiple Choice
1. Recent observations show that the rate of expansion of the universe is _____.
a. slowing down
b. stabilizing
c. constantly changing
d. speeding up
Matching
Match each item with the correct phrase below.
a. inflationary universe
b. steady-state theory
2. Proposes that the universe looks the same on large scales to all observers and that it has
always looked that way.
3. Model that says the universe began as a fluctuation in a vacuum and expanded very rapidly
for a fraction of a second before settling into a more orderly expansion
Short Answer
4. Identify the type of galaxy and write a brief description.
5. How do astronomers explain the formation of the Milky Way galaxy?
6. Briefly explain the theory of the universe which is supported by the most evidence.
Objective 2: Earth-Moon-Sun System
Multiple Choice
1. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes through Earth’s _____.
a. atmosphere
b. orbit
c. shadow
d. umbra
2. Most of the light emitted by the Sun comes from the _____.
a. chromosphere
b. corona
c. photosphere
d. prominence
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Matching
Match each item with the correct phrase below.
a. apogee
b. ecliptic
c. new moon
d. solar eclipse
e. tides
f. waxing
3. Plane of the Earth’s orbit about the Sun
4. Occurs when the Moon passes directly between the Sun and Earth
5. Farthest point from Earth in the Moon’s orbit
6. Period after a new moon when more and more of the lighted side of the moon becomes
visible
7. Waxing period when more than one-quarter but less than half of the lighted side of the
moon’s surface can be seen
8. The daily rise and fall of Earth’s oceans caused by the gravitational pull of the Moon and the
Sun
Completion
Complete each sentence or statement.
9. When the Moon waxes during its lunar cycle, the portion of the illuminated side that we see
__________ in size.
10.
The visible surface of the Sun is called the _________. It is the lowest layer of the Sun.
Short Answer
11.
List the phases of the Moon, beginning with a full moon.
Objective 3: Reasons for the Seasons
Multiple Choice
1. Earth’s tilt in combination with its orbit around the Sun cause the ____.
a. tides
b. full moon
c. seasons
d. Coriolis effect
Matching
Match each item with the correct phrase below.
a. autumnal (fall) equinox
b. summer solstice
c. winter solstice
2. Earth’s position around June 21, at which the northern hemisphere has its maximum daylight
hours
3. Earth’s position near or on December 21, at which the northern hemisphere has its minimum
daylight hours
4. Earth’s position when the lengths of day and night are equal, occurs in September
Completion
Complete each sentence or statement.
5. Different seasons occur because of _______ and Earth’s orbital motion around the Sun.
6. One complete rotation of Earth takes about ___________.
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Short Answer
7. How would conditions on Earth be different if Earth were not tilted on its axis? EXPLAIN your
answer.
8. What direction does the Sun rise and set in? What causes this?
Objective 4: Stars
Multiple Choice
1. The _____ of a star determines its temperature, luminosity, and diameter.
a. mass
b. composition
c. energy output
d. density
2. The main sequence lifetime of a low-mass star is _____ the lifetime of the Sun.
a. much longer than
b. much shorter than
c. the same as
d. sometimes identical, sometimes different than
3. A star that starts with more than about 20 times the Sun’s mass will
a. collapse forever and become a black hole.
b. end up with a smaller mass.
c. continue to fuse iron in its core.
d. become a neutron star.
Matching
Match each item with the correct phrase below.
a. black hole
b. fusion
c. main sequence
d. nebula
e. spectrum
4. Combining of lightweight nuclei into heavier nuclei, such as four hydrogen nuclei combining
to form a helium nucleus
5. Visible light arranged according to wavelengths
6. Section of the H-R diagram into which about 90 percent of stars fall
7. Small, massive, dense object that has a gravity so immense that nothing - not even light - can
escape it.
8. Cloud of interstellar gas and dust that collapses on itself to form a new star
Short Answer
9. Explain the formation of stars.
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10. What type of star is the Sun? What is its surface temperature? What is its absolute
magnitude?
11. Most of the stars shown on the diagram are classified as which type of star?
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Black Holes: One Size Does Not Fit All
Astronomers are concluding that monstrous black holes were not born that big, as once believed, but
instead grew on a diet of gas and stars controlled by their host galaxies in the beginning years of the
universe. An initial look at 30 galaxies indicates that black holes do not precede a galaxy’s birth, but
instead evolve with the galaxy by trapping an amazingly exact percentage (0.2) of the mass of the stars
and gas in a galaxy.
Black holes in the centers of giant galaxies—some more than one billion solar masses—had enough
infalling gas to once blaze as quasars. The final mass of a black hole is not primordial, but instead is
determined during the galaxy formation process. This shows that there is a close relationship between the
black hole mass and the stars that comprise an elliptical galaxy or central bulge stars of a spiral galaxy. In
most cases, the black holes not only bulked up through the accretion of gas, but also through mergers of
galaxies in which pairs of black holes combined.
The Hubble Space Telescope precisely measures the speed of gas and stars around a black hole. This
measurement provides clues for the existence of a black hole. Astronomers determine the mass of each
black hole by measuring the motion of stars swirling around it. The closer a star is to the black hole, the
faster is its velocity.
12. In the chart above, what unit of measurement is used to show black hole mass?
13. What is the mass of the largest black hole on the chart above? What is the mass of the
smallest?
14. What have astronomers learned from the 30 black holes they now study?
15. Other than accruing gas and stars, how else can black holes increase in size?
EXTRA CREDIT
1. Compare and contrast the five types of stars.
2. Describe, IN DETAIL, the reason we have different seasons in the Northern Hemisphere.
Include ALL the following words: aphelion, perihelion, tilt, axis, summer solstice, winter
solstice, fall equinox, spring equinox, ecliptic.
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