Download UCCS PES 1050 Astronomy 1 WK Spring 2012 Assignment 1 name

UCCS PES 1050 Astronomy 1
1.
WK Spring 2012
Assignment 1
name: ____________________
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
We would be more likely to get an accurate measurement of the distance from Earth to a nearby star if we
took the angular measurements at times separated by what time interval?
1 hour apart
12 months apart
6 hours apart
6 months apart
12 hours apart
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
A "light year" is a unit used for what kind of measurement?
Energy
Time
Speed
Mass
Distance
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
A star overhead will appear to move through what angle in the course of one hour?
15 degrees
30 degrees
7.2 degrees
60 degrees
0.5 degrees
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
How many individual stars might a person with good vision but without optical aids be able to see as
separate points of light between sunrise and sunset on a clear night from a site away from cities that is not
light-polluted?
At best a few dozen
A few thousand
About 1,000,000
Billions
Hundreds of thousands
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
The Sun is about how many times bigger than Earth?
5
2
450
10
100
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What are constellations?
Configurations of bright stars patterned by humans
Physical groupings of stars all at the same distance from Earth
Areas of the sky each 15 x 15 degrees in extent
Twelve divisions arranged evenly in angle around the ecliptic plane
Galaxies of stars
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Which of the following denotes the region of the sky near which the constellations of the zodiac can always
be found?
Celestial sphere
Ecliptic
Celestial equator
South celestial pole
North celestial pole
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Which of the following phases of the Moon is the one that occurs just after new Moon?
Waxing crescent
Waning gibbous
First quarter
Waxing gibbous
Third quarter
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
The phenomenon known as precession is due to a regular, periodic variation in what property of Earth's
motion?
The rate of its rotation about its axis
Its distance from the Sun
The direction in which its rotational axis points
The orientation of the plane of its orbit around the Sun
The angular amount of the tilt of its rotational axis from the ecliptic
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
How much longer is one solar day on Earth than one sidereal day?
10.1 minutes
3.94 minutes
1.25 minutes
0.73 minutes
5.65 minutes
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
What is the celestial sphere?
An observatory dome.
The Sun.
The Earth.
The imaginary sphere of the sky, on which stars lie.
A tanning salon in the series Futurama
a.
b.
c.
d.
What do we call a specific pattern of stars in the sky, often named for an animal?
A cluster.
A star animal.
A constellation.
The ecliptic.
a.
b.
c.
d.
What is the celestial equator?
A band of constellations through which the planets and Sun appear to move.
The line that the sun traces across the celestial sphere.
An imaginary line in the sky, directly above the Earth's equator.
The cycle of lunar phases.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
a.
b.
c.
d.
What do we call the line that the Sun traces across the celestial sphere?
The celestial equator.
The Mason-Dixon Line.
The extension of the Earth's equator on the celestial sphere.
The ecliptic.
a.
b.
c.
d.
What causes the change of the constellations with the seasons?
It is caused by the Earth's motion around the Sun.
It is caused as the constellations move amongst themselves.
This is merely an illusion caused as the length of the day changes.
The cycle of lunar phases.
a.
b.
c.
d.
The Moon takes approximately ____ to go through a cycle of phases.
1 day
7 days
30 days
90 days
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
You write your home address in the order of street, town, state, and so on. Suppose you were writing your
cosmic address in a similar manner. Which of the following is the correct order?
Earth, Milky Way, Solar System, Local Group.
Earth, Solar System, Local Group, Milky Way
Earth, Solar System, Milky Way, Local Group
Solar System, Earth, Local Group, Milky Way
Solar System, Local Group, Milky Way, Earth,
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Which of the following astronomical systems is/are held together by gravity?
The Sun.
The Solar System.
The Milky Way.
The Local Group.
All of them are.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
If you are standing at the Earth's north pole, which of the following will be directly overhead?
The celestial equator.
The ecliptic.
The zodiac.
The north celestial pole.
The Sun.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Which of the following factors is most significant for explaining why it is colder during winter?
The Sun does not rise very far above the horizon.
The Earth is farther from the Sun.
The Sun generates lower light levels.
Snow on the ground reflects away most of the Sun's light.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
a.
b.
c.
d.
If you saw the Sun setting precisely due west, which of the following would be a plausible conclusion?
It must be the first day of summer.
You must be standing on Earth's equator.
It must be the first day of spring or autumn.
You must be standing at either the North or South pole.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
When do you see the Moon rise at noon?
On the first day of spring or autumn
When the Moon is on the ecliptic
When the Moon is at First quarter
When the Moon is in the constellation Leo.
On the opening night of “Twilight”
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
We do not see lunar eclipses every time the Moon is full because:
the Moon is usually on the wrong side of the Earth to be seen.
the Moon's orbit is tilted relative to the Earth's orbit around the Sun.
sometimes lunar eclipses occur when the Moon is in a different phase.
the Moon often produces so much light that it fills in the Earth's shadow.
the Moon can only be eclipsed once every 18 years.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Three factors that affect the appearance of the sky are: the time of night, the time of the year and ?
Latitude.
Longitude.
Right Ascension.
Declination.
a.
b.
c.
d.
If you were at a latitude 30 degrees South, the South celestial pole would be __________ above the southern
horizon.
60 degrees
150 degrees
30 degrees
0 degrees
22.
23.
24.
25.