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Astronomy 101, Exam #1
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c = 3 x 108 m/s
1 AU = 1.49 ×1011 meters
1 light year = 9.46 × 1015 meters
h = 6.626 x 10-34 J●s
G = 6.67 × 10-11 m3 kg-1 s-2
g = 9.8 m/s2
σ = 5.67 x 10-8 W m-2 K-4
mass of Earth = 5.97 × 1024 kg
mass of Moon = 7.35 x 1022 kg
radius of Earth = 6.38 × 106 m
1 nm = 1 x 10-9 meters
mass of Sun = 1.99 x 1030 kg
mass of Jupiter = 1.90 x 1027 kg
radius of Jupiter = 7.15 × 107 m
radius of Moon = 1.74 × 106 m
1) The planet with the largest diameter is …
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
Saturn
Jupiter
Uranus
Neptune
Mars
2) A body takes 7 years to make one orbit around the Sun. What is the body’s semimajor axis?
A) 4.27 AU
B) 3.66 AU
C) 2.89 AU
D) 3.14 AU
E) 4.03 AU
3) Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto were discovered by …
A) Tycho Brahe.
B) Galileo Galilei.
C) Nicolas Copernicus.
D) Aristotle.
E) Johannes Kepler.
4) A body is 12 Astronomical Units from the Sun. What is the body’s orbital period
around the Sun?
A) 34.56 years
B) 41.57 years
C) 48.78 years
D) 18.05 years
E) 29.12 years
Astronomy 101, Exam #1
5) During its orbit when a planet is at aphelion, it is …
A) at its closest point to the Sun.
B) at its farthest point from the Sun.
C) in total shadow during an eclipse.
D) in partial shadow during an eclipse.
E) closest to the Moon.
6) An astronomical unit is a unit of …
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
time.
distance.
energy.
force.
power.
7) What was a flaw in Copernicus’ model of the Solar System?
A) He wanted the Earth at the center.
B) He wanted the Moon to be at the center.
C) He did not think Mars was a planet.
D) He did not think Jupiter was a planet.
E) He wanted all the orbits of the planets to be perfectly circular.
8) Which of these planets travels the slowest around the Sun?
A) Venus
B) Jupiter.
C) Saturn
D) Mercury
E) Uranus
9) Who used Tycho Brahe’s data to derive his laws of planetary motion?
A) Isaac Newton
B) Galileo Galilei.
C) Nicolas Copernicus.
D) Aristotle
E) Johannes Kepler.
10) The planet Jupiter never passes through which of these constellations as seen from
Earth?
A) Aries
B) Taurus
C) Leo
D) Ursa Major
E) Aquarius
B
Astronomy 101, Exam #1
B
11) Which of these planets has the smallest semi-major axis?
A) Mars
B) Jupiter
C) Mercury
D) Uranus
E) Saturn
12) Which of these bodies has the smallest diameter?
A) Venus
B) Mercury
C) Saturn
D) Mars
E) Pluto
13) Why can’t stellar parallax be seen with the naked eye?
A) Sun is too bright.
B) Moon is too bright
C) Stars are too far away.
D) Precession of the Earth’s rotation axis changes the Earth’s North Celestial
Pole.
E) Direct light strikes the Northern Hemisphere in the summer.
14) Precession causes …
A) the Moon to orbit the Earth at a faster rate
B) the position of the North Celestial Pole in the sky to vary over time
C) bodies to break apart due to tidal forces
D) smaller bodies to impact larger bodies
E) bodies to get brighter as they get closer to the Sun
15) Who determined that the planets’ orbits around the Sun were not perfectly circular?
A) Tycho Brahe.
B) Galileo Galilei.
C) Nicolas Copernicus.
D) Aristotle.
E) Johannes Kepler.
16) The largest tides on Earth occur during which phases of the Moon?
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
first-quarter and third-quarter
new and full
waning crescent and waxing crescent
waning gibbous and waxing gibbous
waning crescent and waxing gibbous
Astronomy 101, Exam #1
B
17) The planets, the Earth, and the Sun all tend to fall in the same plane called …
A) perihelion.
B) aphelion.
C) the ecliptic.
D) retrograde motion.
E) the umbra.
18) All stars in the sky appear to lie on the …
A) celestial equator.
B) celestial sphere.
C) zodiac.
D) celestial north pole.
E) celestial south pole.
19) The comet that was torn apart by tidal forces and also impacted Jupiter was called …
A) Eris
B) Halley
C) Shoemaker-Levy 9
D) LINEAR 50
E) Siding Spring 4
20) Why do the stars in the sky appear to move in the sky over the course of evening?
A) Because the stars orbit the center of our galaxy
B) Because the Moon orbits the Earth
C) Because the Earth is rotating on its axis
D) Because the Sun orbits the center of our galaxy
E) Because the Sun is rotating on its axis
21) In space, a 250 Newton force on a 5 kg body would give that body an acceleration of
…
A) 2 m/s2
B) 5 m/s2
C) 20 m/s2
D) 50 m/s2
E) 1,250 m/s2
22) Which of these statements is not true about the object 136199 Eris.
A) Eris orbits the Sun.
B) Eris has a moon called Dysnomia.
C) Eris was discovered in the 1990s
D) Eris is more massive than Pluto.
E) Eris is now labeled as a dwarf planet.
Astronomy 101, Exam #1
23) Which of these objects is considered a dwarf planet?
A) Ganymede
B) Deimos
C) Mercury
D) Phobos
E) Makemake
24) The fifth planet from the Sun is …
A) Mercury
B) Jupiter
C) Saturn
D) Neptune
E) Uranus
25) The largest moon of Pluto is …
A) Ceres
B) Charon
C) Haumea
D) Makemake
E) Ganymede
26) Which of these bodies is not considered a dwarf planet?
A) Pluto
B) Haumea
C) Eris
D) Rigel
E) Ceres
27) How many meters are in 10,000 kilometers?
A) 1 x 104 meters
B) 1 x 105 meters
C) 1 x 106 meters
D) 1 x 107 meters
E) 1 x 108 meters
B
Astronomy 101, Exam #1
B
28) What is the difference in the definition of a planet and a dwarf planet?
A) Planets have satellites while dwarf planets don’t have satellites
B) Planets orbit the Sun while dwarf planets don’t orbit the Sun.
C) Planets are round while dwarf planets are not round.
D) Planets have cleared the neighborhood around their orbits while dwarf planets
have not.
E) Planets have nuclear fusion occurring in their cores to produce energy while
dwarf planets do not have nuclear fusion occurring in their cores
29) Put these items in order from largest size to smallest size:
Largest  Smallest
A) Our Universe, Our Galaxy, Our Solar System
B) Our Galaxy, Our Universe, Our Solar System
C) Our Solar System, Our Galaxy, Our Universe
D) Our Galaxy, Our Solar System, Our Universe
E) Our Universe, Our Solar System, Our Galaxy
30) Which of these bodies has the most elliptical orbit?
A) Venus
B) Jupiter.
C) Saturn
D) Pluto
E) Eris
31) How many kilometers are in 10 meters?
A) 1 x 104 meters
B) 1 x 10-4 meters
C) 1 x 10-2 meters
D) 1 x 10-3 meters
E) 1 x 103 meters
32) Assume that each galaxy has 1 x 1011 stars. How many stars will be in 1 x 105
galaxies?
A) 1 x 1055 stars
B) 1 x 1015 stars
C) 1 x 1016 stars
D) 2 x 1015 stars
E) 2 x 1016 stars
Astronomy 101, Exam #1
33) Put these planets in order from largest diameter to smallest diameter:
Largest  Smallest
A) Jupiter, Saturn, Mercury, Earth
B) Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Earth
C) Jupiter, Saturn, Earth, Mercury
D) Jupiter, Earth, Saturn, Mercury
E) Saturn, Jupiter, Mercury, Earth
34) A lunar eclipse occurs during a …
A) New Moon
B) Full Moon
C) First Quarter Moon
D) Third Quarter Moon
E) Waning Crescent
35) Seasons on the Earth are a consequence of …
A) the varying distance between the Earth and the Sun during the year.
B) the varying speed of the Earth in its orbit about the Sun.
C) the precession of the Earth's rotation axis.
D) the tilt of the Earth's rotation axis relative to the ecliptic.
E) the tilt of the Moon's orbital plane relative to the ecliptic.
36) Which object is not considered a star?
A) The Sun
B) Ceres
C) Vega
D) Betelgeuse
E) Polaris
37) You are standing on the Earth's equator. Which way is Polaris?
A) On the northern horizon.
B) Directly overhead
C) 45 degrees up in the sky, due West.
D) The answer depends on whether it's winter or summer.
E) 45 degrees up in the sky, due East.
B
Astronomy 101, Exam #1
B
38) How would the force of gravity between the Sun and the Earth change if the Sun's
mass were increased by a factor of four and the Earth’s mass was increased by a factor of
four?
A) The force would be unchanged.
B) The force would increase by a factor of 8.
C) The force would increase by a factor of 16.
D) The force would decrease by a factor of 8.
E) The force would decrease by a factor of 16.
39) What is the gravitational acceleration on the surface of a planet that has 8 times the
mass of Earth and 2 times the radius of Earth?
A)
B)
C)
D)
E)
9.8 m/s2
4.9 m/s2
19.6 m/s2
2.45 m/s2
39.2 m/s2
40) If the Earth were moved to a distance of 3 AU from the Sun, how much stronger or
weaker would be the gravitational force between the Sun and Earth?
A) The force would be 3 times stronger.
B) The force would be 9 times stronger.
C) The force would be unchanged.
D) The force would be 3 times weaker.
E) The force would be 9 times weaker.